I have one Walthers Gold Line car and received another this week. For the 1st one I added this transformer kit (added holddown chains not shown):
IMG_4511 by Paul Ahrens, on Flickr
So. I’m soliciting ideas for the new one. From looking at google images it seems that electical equipment is common. I saw this one at MBKlein but it is out of stock. Ideas are most welcome.
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Artitec-HO-487-801-57-AEG-Transformer-Cargo-p/atc-487.801.57.htm
Have seen a few large columns and vessels transported into the oil refinery via railcar.
Regards, Peter
You mean, beyond the ones in the pictures?
Ed
I also enjoy building open-top car loads. I made one like this years ago:
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/American-Model-Builders-HO-288-Flat-Car-Load-p/amb-288.htm
Take a look at some of the other AMB loads. They can be fun to build.
I like the Artitec stuff, too.
Ladle_load1 by Edmund, on Flickr
I have since put the above ladles on a heavier flat car!
If you use the “email me when this product is in stock” function at MBKlein it really works. That’s how I got one of the few remaining ladles.
Here’s two others but not for depressed center cars:
I recently did a pair of transformers similar to yours. I’m sure the big insulators should have been left off for the move but… maybe next time.
IMG_9716_fix_web by Edmund, on Flickr
I also made up a sign to go with mine. Seems like I used to see this often with some car loads back-in-the-day!
IMG_9723_fix_web by Edmund, on Flickr
Good Luck, Ed
*MB Klein site is really S L O W for me the past few week
I don’t know if it’s still available or not but maybe the Walthers EMD 567 engine? Probably find one on feebay.
oldline1
I don’t know if you might be able to use this but I once off loader 2 cylindrical tanks that were so long they took up three flat cars each. They were supported by cradles on the two outside cars, with the middle cars simply holding the outter cars apart. The couplers on the middle car had the springs wedged in by 2" thick steel so there was no movement. Just as an aside, in coming from the northern midwest they had to go by way of Alabama to get to Delaware just to clear all the curves. You might be able to do something like this using only two cars. It would be different.
The main reason for using a depressed centre flatcar (or a well-car) is for loads that are higher than normal, and would exceed clearance limits if shipped on a regular flatcar.
GERN Industries, in Port Maitland, often receives processing equipment of this nature. In the photo below, the one on the depressed centre flat car (Authenticast) is taller than the two on the regular flatcar…
Wayne
Another potential reason for using a depressed-center car is that it lowers the center of gravity/roll center.
Some forms of nuclear containment cask might be useful. I saw a couple of these on depressed-center cars going through Germantown, TN eastbound a couple of months ago … like a fool I had no camera with me!
Thanks for the ideas, everyone! The 2-3 car thing could be fun, but a challenge with 26" curves and tunnel entries, certainly with 3 cars.
look up DODX flat cars 39912-39920, lots of interesting shapes to model
They arent depressed center, but they do have large loads that could be copied for ideas
You can always have a load covered by a canvas, leaving the question, “what is it?”
Have fun,
Richard
Thats what the government does.
Bachmann makes a depressed flat car with a missile and launcher on it…
From an old MESTA brochure:
MESTA_forge2 by Edmund, on Flickr
If anyone wants to make up a sign like the one shown you can use these graphics I made from a matchbook:
RR_Postcards_31MM by Edmund, on Flickr
RR_Postcards_31DBSP by Edmund, on Flickr
RR_Postcards_31Disk by Edmund, on Flickr
Occasionally an Overland brass FD flat car comes up for sale with a MESTA load on it, including the blue signage. They sometimes sell for close to a thousand dollars!
Regards, Ed
And strangely (to me) NOT on a depressed-center car:
But it is a well car.
Wayne
Hey, that looks familiar!
NOV_2013_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
NOV_2013_0001_crop_edited-1 by Edmund, on Flickr
Quartz blank made in Willoughby, Ohio by GE. Loaded on to flat car in Euclid, O. for a move to Toledo, Ohio for grinding and polishing, then on to Tuscon, Arizona.
Here is a look at a similar Quartz mirror blank (on the left).
Miss_Quartz by Edmund, on Flickr
The site below has some good construction history:
https://www.noao.edu/kpno/history/reunion_slideshow/
Scroll about half-way down for a photo of it being unloaded.
Thank You, Ed
Is that for Palomar Observatory? I just heard a story on the radio the other day about George Ellery Hale and the mirror for the telescope. That was the second attempt at pouring a 200" mirror, and it took 10 months to cool. It was shipped to Pasadena by rail, but grinding and polishing weren’t finished for years.
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/496074780/engines-of-our-ingenuity Scroll down to 1461
Hello all,
I have several depressed center flat cars. From six-axle to four-truck ones.
Yes, transformers are common but I also built an oversize spool (Precision Design Co., Extreme Load No. Three) as a load for both a depressed center flat car and a scratch built Gunderson Well Car.
They also have two other extreme load kits that would look great as a load or next to a large industry.
Hope this helps.
Chooch Enterprised has some cast resin loads that could potentially look good on a well car or depressed center flat. They seem to be phasing out some of their cast resin stuff so it could take some searching. I am thinking particularly of the large steam boiler casting.
http://www.choochenterprises.com/7282.html
Dave Nelson
