Here is a HO scale flat car with load that is nearly finished. Needs four truss rods and decals. The decals will be the difficult part as all the companies I looked at do not have the sets I need. It will be one letter or number at a time.
The arch bar trucks are from Kadee and the metal wheelsets are from Reboxx to add a little more weight.
Tichy parts are used also. Basswood frame. Home made span bolsters for the trucks. Not prototypical, but the under side of the car is not seen. My choice.
Are you sure? Th 4 truck setups that I know of, the Lincoln car I made included, don’t have trusses, unless it’s under the car. The trusses would get in the way of the trucks, and the trucks are doing the same basic job.
I’d say makem, but I’d bet you need white, dont ya…
Very nice job! Did you follow the Paul Larson article that appeared about half a century ago in MR?
IIRC, the truss rods were arranged with a single king post under the middle of the car, since the trucks would have been fouled by the usual queen post arrangement.
My own 16-wheel flat is a bit more modern - swing end platforms instead of bolsters and a dropped floor supported by bridge girders between, pivoted on the platforms half way between the body bolsters. It was a commercial product, Class ShiKi60 - except that the JNR wasn’t rostering any such class during my era! (Toymaker’s foobie, anyone?)
The Wabash Railroad had two cars like this built around 1897. This one was 37’, 6” long at 60 ton capacity with a build date of 1897. The second was two feet longer but rated at 55 tons. They were used to haul large rolls of cable for building street car lines. White says he doubt cars like this were used in interchange. Quite a few railroads built twelve wheel flat cars for heavy loads at the time. Many were of wood construction though steel versions were beginning to be built.
The crank shaft is for a large stationary steam engine, probably 2000 to 4000 HP power plant. There would have been a high pressure and low pressure cylinder. There were many power plants like this being built around 1900.Some vertical engines were nearly fifty feet high which shows you how inefficient steam engines were compared to todays internal combustion engines.
I have a photo from 1901 showing the car and load outside an Allis & Chalmers factory in White’s, The American Railroad Freight Car, page 386.
I have an article describing building this car written by Gordon Odegard in MR magazine, June 1960, page 52.
In 1869, the PRR has a sixteen wheel flat car, but with 26 inch wheels for hauling massive naval guns. It had a lower of center gravity.
Here is a link to an old two cylinder power plant.
Are you sure? The 4 truck setups that I know of, the Lincoln car I made included, don’t have trusses, unless it’s under the car. The trusses would get in the way of the trucks, and the trucks are doing the same basic job.
I am very sure. Track was very rough and the car builder would want a smooth ride for the President, though he never used the car while alive.
Also, Wayne Wesolowski did an article on the Lincoln funeral train in MR Magazine, Feb. 1995, page 92 which includes drawings in “O” scale. You cannot beat that.
I read in a Civil War group about three years ago that one or two manufactures went the cheap route and connected the trucks to the bottom of the car.
Bitter Creek may even have the span bolsters in HO scale.
I also cannot find that. I spent many weeks googling the Car. Found the model of it, I htink is his, but never anything f a drawing
Where did they put the trusses then? I don’t see them in the photos (which are admittedly not all that clear) And I had no room.
I couldn’t get around the track diameters. In my head, having them mounted like that would jam up in turns, though I never tested t to prove mself wrong. Since I was building the first one for looks, and I doubted it would be posed on a curveI built a tongue around the pre-existing bolster on the Roundhouse car and pivoted the inside truck around that Yeah, not right, but the hole was here and it was easier.
Purchase the magazine I mentioned. I happen to have a copy and the drawing is very clear. It is in “O” scale in the magazine. Go to the website of the magazine. That is what I do. I have been able to order a back issue right from the MR link in these forums.
If MR does not have the magazine, contact the Kalmbach Memorial Library. For a small fee, they can send you a copy of the article with the car drawing. Use some ingenuity to design your own span bolster.
Contact Jeff at Bitter Creek. He may have a span bolster you can use. He may also have the trucks. The trucks would be wood beam type. Possibly the Bitter Creek T22 wood beam freight might work. The prototype car had 4 foot wheel base wood beam trucks and 33 inch wheels.
The span bolsters would connect at the pivot of each truck and the center would drop down a few inches where the bolster from the car would connect. I think Bitter Creek would have the proper car bolster.
Be advised, the prototype had extra wide wheel threads to cover 5 foot gauge and 4 ft, 8 1/2 inch rails. You will not find these.
My flat car uses 1/16 inch bass wood for the car bolster which is kind of thin. The bolster is 1/16 inch PC board and connects to the two Kadee trucks so the car is the proper height. You can see that in one of the photos. This cannot be seen normally so it works for me.
