i have a fixation with flat cars. despite them being the most dangerous cars on the railroad, i still like them.
i am constantly fabricating loads of one sort or another for flats and gondolas some with the load overhanging an idler car.
the one thing i have never tried yet is a multiple load where the load is borne by two adjacent cars or even a triple load with an idler between. long poles, structural steel beams, refinery towers etc.
i am going to experiment with this in HO scale and see how it operates on 36" radius curves and through switches etc.
have any of you done it? any examples or tips would be appreciated.
grizlump
If you intend to try a long load pivoted at two points with an idler car between, be aware that the center of that load may shift inward well past the side of the idler, even on comparatively broad curves. Likewise, the outer ends could swing outward with an overhang worse than an accurately-assembled articulated.
The prototype handled loads like that as special, low-speed movements, and had to route them to avoid places where the clearances were too low.
Schnabel cars can actually shift the support structure sideways, sort of like a bulky man swivelling through a narrow door. The kind of loads you’ve described don’t have that option.
Your best bet would be to model something narrow, like a single plate girder. I have seen assembled deck girder bridges handled as multi-flatcar loads. On a model railroad the extra width could be a deal-breaker.
Having typed that, I’d best remember it - since I, too, am fascinated by such loads.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I haven’t tried this yet, but AMB-Laserkit sells bolsters to put on flat cars, that will articulate (rotate) when the cars go around curves or thru switches. They look very interesting. They also sell large loads. Click on the HO Scale, then Freight Loads.
Gil
thank you Gil and Chuck. the bolster and load items look interesting. i will check on them some more.
i think my greatest concern about this is how much if any of the pulling force should be through the load. or, should i rely on the draft gear of the cars like the prototype does.
on the prototype, multiple loads usually had the uncoupling mechanism disabled or the pin lifter wired down so the cars could not be seperated. i can achieve that by removing the trip pins on the kadee’s
as for what chuck said about clearance problems with the overhang, i spent some time working in the yard office and a lot of my time was spent securing routes for high-wide loads. it was an involved and time consuming process that required my interaction with the car department and the clearance bureau in Philly. the old PRR had so many restricted clearance areas in the east it made for a full time job. we even had to make out clearance forms once in a while for empty gondolas. sometimes an old beat up gon would come in that had the sides spread so much the car dept would declare it excessive dimension. (still wonder why PC went bust?)
even with my best efforts, we still make a few convertibles out of station wagons at the west end of Gallitzin tunnel.
once in a while i would get lucky and have an OK Normal Route but back then even auto racks and high cube box cars required clearance paperwork. a real nightmare since i came from the old NYC (the water level route) and we used to just send everything east and let Avon do the work. you know, like kill them all and let God sort 'em out.
heck we even adjusted loads the old fashion way. for instance, if a load of poles was shifted too badly, we would just try kicking the car down against a standing cut real hard and try to get them to slide back where they belonged. sometimes this worked and sometimes we just make things worse or tore something up.
While perhaps not exactly that for which you’re looking, here are some loads using multiple cars/idlers:
All of the above loads would probably benefit from some tie rods or cables to prevent them from shifting, and all are removeable, as units, with their blocking.
This pole load and idler is another multi-car effort, with the load also removeable as a unit:
For a load up to at least the length of two flatcars, I’d think that it would be easier to ship in on a single car, with an idler at both ends. Single loads carried on two cars would likely need specialised cars or equipment to allow movement on curves, especially on a model railroad, where even a 36" radius is a tight curve compare to the real thing.
Wayne