I imagine this has been covered but didn’t find it. What materials do you like for making pipe loads in HO. I’m thinking 18 - 36" pipeline sizes. What works well, including bands or chains to hold in place? Thanks as always!
For that size pipe in HO, look at the various diameters of plastic straws. You may have to shop around, but they now make straws big enough for what’s called “bubble tea” drinks, etc, which are Asian drinks with large pieces of tapioca in it. Paint them flat black or whatever you prefer (some water pipe is in a sort of aquamarine plastic, so depends.)
For tie-downs, I like to use black elastic thread I can find at Michaels. It makes banding loads easy. Simply put a little dab of CA on one end, use a catalyst on it to set quickly, then wrap the load while applying a little pressure, tacking down the other end the same way. The elasticity keeps things taut.
Paul,
Here is one way and info for other projects:
Frank
I used Plastruct plastic tubing for mine but the straws would be a lot cheaper and have a thinner cross section. .030x.030 or .040x.040 stripwood will work for the stakes. I use 1/32 black pinstripe tape to simulate 3 inch steel bands in HO scale. It is made by Line-O-Tape.
Charlie
Sorry, I couldn’t get pix to display. And neither the “reply” nor “quick reply” give me an icon that allows posting a picture. Sometimes they do. This time they don’t.
Here is just the URL for the picture, maybe it will still allow you to at least click it…
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/511/StLBMgon.JPG
This is N scale. not HO. I used coffee stir sticks, and mylar striping tape for the banding.
Last month’s Model Railroader had a nice article, with pix. It involved a large threaded bolt and aluminum foil. Wrap a strip of foil, longways around the threads. Rub in, and then carefully unscrew your new corrugated pipe from the bolt. Then make little strip wood crates, holding 6 pipes each. Looked like fun, although the resulting aluminum foil pipes look pretty delicate.
All gons are not created equal. The internal width seems to vary, so you need to make a measurement of the width to make sure your assembled load will fit.
The following pictures show an initial attempt at a pipe load of the type that I sell at train shows. For P2K and Tangent 52’ 6" gons I use 3/8 inch Evergreen tube. The cribbing is an item that I have a friend laser cut. The bands on this model are made with EZ Line. The lettering is white artist’s pencil.
I have since improved the item. I had decals made for the company name. Instead of EZ Line, I now use upholstery thread.
The first three pictures show some of the assembly. The fourth shows the load in a gon. And the last shows the load on a flat.
