IrishRover

I love flat cars--so much variety in what can be seen on them.  I would like to have one REALLY unusual load--something that will make everyone who sees it do a double-take--yet be believable.

One thought I had:  Take a naval miniature wargame battleship, put it on a flatcar--then bedeck the car with "Buy War Bonds" signs and 48 star American flags.  Any other ideas?  (A naval wargame battleship miniature is just right for a small flatcar load.)

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Mycroft

well, one way to go

Adair Shops - they have a bunch of kits.

http://www.adairshops.com/

 

 

James Eager

City of Miami, Panama Limited, and Illinois Central - Mainline of Mid-America

Plant City MRR Club, Home to the Mineral Valley Railroad

NMRA, author, photographer, speaker, scouter (ask about Railroading Merit Badge)

 

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On30guy

My most unusual load

This is probably the strangest flatcar load I have:

img_1957.jpg 

Hauling slabs of marble. I saw some pics on line of flatcars leaving a quarry loaded like this and I just had to build up a load like that for the R&T. The "marble" is cast plaster with some edges broken, to represent the raw stone edge, and the "straight" edges had a series of holes poked into the semi hard plaster with a wire and then snapped along that line when dry. This is to simulate the drill holes that the real quarrymen used to cut the stone.

It was a fun little project and looks most interesting rolling through Pioneer Pass.

 

Rick Reimer,

President, Ruphe and Tumbelle Railway Co.

Read my blogs

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pipopak

Probably just anything...

... that does not fit into a boxcar/tank/container will end up on a flatcar. Just make appropriate bracing for it. Jose.

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CM Auditor

Lets go for a real load

This is a 25 ton block of white sandstone from the Colorado City Quarries in what is now the City of Colorado Springs Red Rock Canyon Park.  The Colorado Midland ran quarry spur about a mile and a half back into the quarry to load quality sandstone, white, red and purple, used in the 1880s for construction all over Colorado and as far east as Chicago.

  %20stone.jpg 

CM Auditor

Tom VanWormer

Monument CO

Colorado City Yard Limits 1895

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ctxmf74

I've seen large ship propellors on flatcars

  also Army tanks, caterpillar equipment, transformers, fabricated factory equipment, an excavator on an 89 foot flat picking up old ties, etc.. More interesting to me are lumber loads as that is what most of the flatcars around here carried. In the 1950's they were stacked on the flats with 2X4's in the stake pockets to keep them from sliding off ,then later on bulkhead flats and centerbeam cars..DaveBranum  

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pipopak

Here are a few unusual ones

loads_pp.jpg 

load_pp1.jpg 467267_z.jpg load_pp1.jpg load_pp1.jpg yo1_1280.jpg 

Have fun!. Jose.

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numbersmgr

Unusual Loads

Hi Irish

Here a couple of more ideas.  Remember you said UNUSUAL:

A completed statue.  Since you mentioned a War Bond theme - how about a replica of the Marine Flag Raising on Iwo Jima with Buy War Bonds.  Or a statue of anything that is complete - can also be in sections to be assembled at the destination.

A dinosaur or dragon in a cage.

Alien spaceship - crashed or un-crashed

Any odd shape under a tarp with "Top Secret" or "U S Govt property" stenciled on it.  It will drive people nuts trying to figure what it could be.  (Note:  I fall into this category - I hate tarped loads - they drive me crazy.)

Long/narrow boat like a sail boat or a PT boat. 

Several airstream trailers or RV's depending on your era

Rocket sections or missiles

Well, all I can think of at the moment.

 

Jim Dixon    MRM 1040

A great pleasure in life is doing what others said you were not capable of doing!   

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kLEROYs

Might not be....

exactly what you are looking for but:

Kevin

NOOB in progress

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JRG1951

WWII Tanks

Prototype loads

ankLoads.jpg 

More links for WWII loads here:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,1189077

Regards, John **********************************************************************************************

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. <> Thomas Jefferson

BBA_LOGO.gif 

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ctxmf74

"A completed statue."?

     Looks like these  guys were waiting for the flatcar to show up? .DaveBranum2021.jpg 

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bgfireman

Fire Trucks???

I have lots of these.

flat_car.jpg loaded_0.jpg 

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kjd

Here's one I did

awhile back.  I don't have it anymore but I have seen it in Jurg's amazing photos.  You can find proto pics on rrpicturearchive if you search the qttx car series for QTTX 130553.

ss850228.jpg 

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skiwiggy

Are we sure its Sandstone?

That is quite the load on that flatcar.  I was curious this being a sandstone block on the Rutland flatcar. The Vermont Marble company had quarries in Colorado and the blocks were shipped back to Vermont to be finished in the plant.  Maybe they did work with other stone material.  The marble block that became the Tomb of the unknown soldier were quarried in Colorado.  

Funaro & Camerlengo offer Rutland flatcar kits with marble loads.

 

 

Greg

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Stoker

Marble, Colorado

Greg, I think the marble quarries you are referring to are in or near Marble, Colorado . The front range quarries were all "redrock" sandstone. Anybody who has walked around older neighborhoods in Denver has walked on redrock slabs. Originally the roads, curbs and all were redrock in Denver, although the roads have all been replaced, you can still see the redrock curbs in a lot of areas. This goes for all of the front range cities. Most of the old part of Boulder is still all redrock, although they tore up most or all of it on Pearl street about 15 years ago. This stone was shipped all over, I have heard that Chicago had a lot of these redrock sidewalks as well.  The only redrock quarry that I am aware of that is still in operation is a big one up in Lyons.

 

Redrock was also used for buildings. Here is the "Molly Brown" house in Denver, you can see that all of the lintels, ornately carved trim(the gable facades and frieze work is wood), ballusters, steps, decking, etc. is made of redrock. A lot of this red sandstone was sent east, where it was known as "brownstone".

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pipopak

Note the elaborate...

.... blocking used for all those unusual loads and study the pics to figure out how it prevents the loads from shifting in every direction. This is the hard part to model and figure out. Loose or improperly tied loads usually do not stay on board for long... Jose.

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hudsonvalley

how about two flats worth?

from "RAILROADS AT WAR" by S.Kip Farrington (great book!)

img.jpeg 

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pipopak

About securing loads

This load needs to be secured down. They seem to be marble sheets. The whole pallet would be tied together and then both secured to the flatcar deck.

This load would have been shipped in a gondola with sides high enough and wood blocks separating the piles.

Jose.

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IrishRover

broad gauge...

I have actually contemplated doing something with a broad gauge static display, since S-gauge track is too wide even for Britain's broad gauge trains, and I'm not about to build a custom track.  That could be a good way to display something with a broad gauge.

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skiwiggy

Rutland Flat Cars with marble loads.

These marble loads would travel between the quarry and finishing plant without any tie downs.  So the Rutland loads being loose are proper.  They most likely did not travel hundreds of miles.  They were so heavy shifting wasn't a problem. The flat car with the smaller pieces was probably just moved within the finishing plant.  I have not found a photo of one of these in a freight train.  I doubt the train traveled at a high rate of speed.  In one of my books on the Rutland, a photo showing a 4'x4'x8' block with a weight on it of 23,500 lbs.  

I have seen modern day gons with these size blocks inside of them.  Still with only two blocks per car right over the trucks.  Others I have seen smaller size blocks with four in a car.  

I really like this thread since, I have been fascinated with unusual loads for a long time.

Funny thing too is that, I just finished one of these flatcars.  I already have several and plan on modeling a marble plant one day.  

_paint_3.jpg 

Greg

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Benny

...

When the rocks are that big, they don't shift.  No matter how fast you go, within the normal limits, they won't shift...a sudden stop might induce a little motion, but that's only if the handler runs into something.  Otherwise, a mass in motion stays in motion, and a mass at rest stays at rest.  The force of gravity down is greater than the force needed to overcome static friction...

--------------------------------------------------------

Benny's Index or Somewhere Chasing Rabbits

Reply 0
pipopak

As they say...

... speed does not kill, the sudden stop does (like bumping cars in the classification yard). Jose.

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Reply 0
steamfan1211

Flatcar loads

Have a look here for some ideas. https://picasaweb.google.com/106663774442065839209/FlatcarLoads

Michael

W%203052.jpg 

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albabbitt

Flat Car Loads

IMG_0351.JPG Thank you to all of you that have posted marble loads on the Rutland. I am modeling the Rutland in 1960 and have a small quarry scene. I have been using gondolas for most of my marble transport, but do have 4-40' flats that will see sheet marble loads. It is my understanding that these were not tied down due to the sheer weight of the loads and the short distance and low speed traveled. On my railroad a single RS3 is used from the quarry loading site to the processing plant, speed is restricted to 15mph and travel distance is just 12 miles.

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Bill Wehmeier

AMB

Have you seen the Naval gun barrels by American Model builders?

The absolute best flatcar load I have ever seen was a car loaded with a LARGE cow and an even LARGER chicken load. I am assuming they were some type of advertising. The cow would be 'O' scale and the chicken was the same size as the cow, so it could be 'G' scale?

 I saw the picture in back of some train magazine. I have the magazine here somewhere. Someday I hope to find it again and try to recreate this unusual load for my layout!

Bill Wehmeier

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