Here are a couple of loads I built from bits and pieces lying around my modelling desk (trying to tidy up, really ).

First is a utility pole load inspired by a Paul Dolkos car I saw in one of his pictures. 1/8" dowels aged in a solution of alcohol and India ink for an hour or two. Stacked and glued around a core of basswood (because I did not have enough dowels).
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Next is a stone block load - I don't know if the prototype of this gon would handle a third block or not. They are placed at the end of the cars to get as much weight over the trucks as possible. Sorry for the poor quailty pics - it's really hard to get the right exposure! The blocks are drywall with the paper removed and drill marks filed into the sides at semi regular spacing.
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These are removable because they stay in place by themselves and aren't messy if they spill - but mostly because I could not decide which one to glue in place...!

I also have a coal load I showed before at "the other place". I will add it here if I can find the pics. Feel free to add your own ideas!

Andrew

Very nice Andrew! Thank you for these ideas.

Al

Nicely done Andrew! Brilliant work on the poles!
Ralph

Andrew, that did turn out well. I especially like the pole load.

I like your idea for the stone blocks.

I was sure that I'd posted my "Get a load of this..." thread here, but it must be back at the old dump (minus the pictures). I'll see if I can find the photos and add them here. In my opinion, all loads should be removeable, as it allows much more use of each piece of rolling stock.

Wayne

A good load for flatcars is lumber:




There's no point in wasting a lot of expensive stripwood just for making the load, though, so here's one method of making it go further:




Another common flat car load is plate steel:






I used Plastruct ABS for the steel plates - mine came in 2' strips, about 1.25" wide, perfect for HO scale. The last picture, above, shows one prototypical method of securing them on the car: the side stakes (and additional blocking for narrower sheets) prevent shifting, while the longer sheets are stacked atop the shorter ones. When the cross blocking is added atop the ends of the longer sheets, then secured, the ends are drawn down towards the car's deck, trapping all of the pieces and preventing them from moving endwise. The cross blocking has a rod or bolt installed through each of its ends, which extends down into the stake pocket. A rod usually has its top end bent-over (like an upside-down "L") with a small plate welded onto its lower end where it extends below the stake pocket - this prevents it from lifting out of the pocket. A torch is used to remove the rod when the car reaches its destination. For my load, I used a nbw castings to represent the top end of threaded rods which extend down into the stake pockets. On the prototype, the bottom of the rod is shaped like a "J", and hooks around the lower edge of the pocket - the washer and nut is then added to the threaded top end and tightened down to secure the load.

Not all flatcars used for a shipment are loaded, either. The one shown below is acting as an idler car for a load of over-length poles in the accompanying gondola:


Here, multiple flat cars and gondolas are used to ship a number of related loads, in this case an overhead electric crane which will be assembled on-site at its destination.










Note that the flatcars do double duty, both carrying a component and acting as idlers for the over-length main bridge girders carried by the gondolas.
The empty gondolas on either end of this train provide space between the large loads and the crews on the loco and caboose and also offer extra braking ability.

This gondola is carrying a couple of industrial pressure vessels, probably destined for GERN. I made them from plastic rolls from office machine paper, plus some sheet styrene for the ends. The fittings are from the scrapbox, while the bracing is built-up from strip styrene "lumber":






Not all cars which appear empty from trackside actually are:






Some photos from the air (courtesy of Secord Air services) reveal more:
A load of crushed stone, a dense material which usually reaches the car's weight capacity before the car is physically full. The load shown is a loose load, which will be dumped back into its container once the load has been delivered:


Some new freight car wheels (so new I haven't yet painted them ):


These are from a Tichy kit for a wheel flatcar, although they're also available separately:


A load of rail:


This is otherwise scrap rail, often brass, but it could also be short leftovers from tracklaying. I usually pile them by size - these are all code 100 brass, stripped from Atlas bridges that have been seen here many times:


While I now doubt that these two loads are prototypically-braced, they were cheap and easy to build. The first was made from the barrels of Bic "Round Stic" pens - (the pens are placed to hide their raised lettering):




This load used the ink cartridges from the same pens - simply slice of the tips with your X-Acto:




Here are some various scrap loads. All are made-up of loose material, leftovers from modelling projects or just "interesting" junk from around the home or workshop:






Scrap axles and tires from Rivarossi passenger cars, blackened with Hobby Black:


Blackened stakes from Athearn flatcars:


Coils of scrap wire, reclaimed from open-frame motors left over from re-motoring jobs - this wire is coated with shellac, so the blackener won't work on it. Instead, after coiling the wire around the shaft of a screwdriver, I placed them all on a metal sheet, then played the flame of a propane torch over them, burning off the shellac and discolouring the wire:


These are what remains of the armatures after the wire has been removed. Once they'd all been separated, I threw them in some blackener, then used them as a scrap load. I'm not sure what they're supposed to be, but they looked very "industrial" to me :


The loads in my hoppers are removeable, too, although, like the crushed stone, they're "live" loads - granular material that's left loose. It's poured into the cars using a paper cup and simply dumped back into the container once the car has been delivered to the customer.
This load, made with locomotive traction grit picked up at work, is meant to represent Anthracite coal:


This one, industrial coke breeze (fines), also from the same source, is my version of bituminous coal. I use it in my locos' tenders, too, as a "live" load:






Continued in the next post...

...continued

Even open cars which are supposed to represent empties often aren't truly empty. Dirt and debris left from previous loads often clutters the floor of supposedly empty cars:








Sometimes this refuse is the left-over dunnage from the previous load, sometimes the remnants of the load itself, and sometimes it's extra stuff dumped into the car by the last consignee (cleaning up their loading dock, perhaps). Just remember that when one of your road's customers orders an empty for loading, they can refuse a car that's not clean - a good excuse to model a clean-out track if you have a little space to spare. All of the "non-loads" shown above are loose - if I wish to add a load, usually the loose lumber is removed, while the dirt/coal/gravel is brushed to the ends of the car.

Finally, here's a load in an open car that wouldn't normally be seen when the car is in transit. The car is only "open" in the sense that its door has been opened, too, but I thought this offers good possibilities for a loading dock scene:


The sacks are from Tichy - for this load, I used most of the 64 provided , but you could stretch them by cementing them to a core built-up from sheet styrene.


I hope that this has provided some further inspiration for you to create some loads of your own.

Wayne

Great ideas and superb execution DocWayne. That issome fine modeling!

Great stuff Wayne! Thanks for rebuilding the posts.

One question (for now... ) - What does the placard on the side of the slab steel load say?

Thanks,

Andrew

Amazing Doc---even your scrap loads are works of art

doctorwayne Wrote:...Even open cars which are supposed to represent empties often aren't truly empty. Dirt and debris left from previous loads often clutters the floor of supposedly empty cars...

Outstanding, the "no load" is the best load I have ever seen

MasonJar Wrote:Great stuff Wayne! Thanks for rebuilding the posts.

One question (for now... ) - What does the placard on the side of the slab steel load say?

Thanks,

Andrew

Sorry for sorta overwhelming your thread, Andrew, but I didn't want to appear snooty by starting another one on exactly the same topic.

The placards on the load of plate read "DO NOT HUMP". Running this car through a hump yard in my operating era could have resulted in the load shifting upon impact with a stationary car. If it broke free, it could cause a lot of damage, not to mention injuries to anyone nearby.

Placards are available from Jaeger HO Products, and include four sheets of "UNLOAD THIS SIDE", "UNLOAD OTHER SIDE", "DO NOT HUMP", "GLASS - DO NOT HUMP" AND "CAREFUL - AUTO PARTS", all black lettering on white card, and in several different fonts, along with one green card with "HOME SHOP FOR REPAIRS - DO NOT LOAD" and "RULE 1 - DO NOT LOAD - HOME FOR REPAIRS", again in several different fonts. The part number given in the link is the same as for the set I have - not sure why they don't have a picture, as these things have been around for a while. I'm not aware of a "Set 1". Note the grain doors available, too.

The cards need to be cut out (straight edge and a fresh blade in your X-Acto) and glued in place - mine's attached to the stake, which is part of the load. You can also use them on house cars:


I think mine were attached with Weld Bond, but if you want them to be easily removeable, Woodland Scenics Accent Glue might be a better choice.

Wayne

Nice loads(Any one remember Eoads?).

The armatures look like leftover material from stampings, heading to a mill for melt down and recycling.

doctorwayne Wrote: ... This load, made with locomotive traction grit picked up at work, is meant to represent Anthracite coal: ...

No kidding! Locomotive Traction Grit!

I always wondered what that stuff was that I've used as toppings for some home-made removable hopper loads and coal loads for tenders and spillage at coal loading areas, as well as at the coal dealer's bins!

My daughter and I gathered up about eight 1 lb. coffee cans* full of that stuff on one of our Saturday afternoon visits to the small railyard in downtown Lansdale, PA before heading for our weekly trip to Hennings Hobbies together. She's 26 now, and remembers those excursions well as fun times with Dad. (I'm holding on to the Conrail GP38-2 and several Athearn Blue Box kits that she built, for her son when he's old enough. I supervised the building of the kits, the airbrushing thereof and then I applied the decals -- I figured decals would be too much for a six year old!)

But thanks, doctorwayne, now I know what that material is and that I had gathered it for all the right reasons!

* Yeah, it's been a heavy box of stuff to move each time i've had to move! Much like the box that's marked "LS&W - STRATA" that my former spouse never questioned when we packed to move each time. It said "LS&W" and so she never gave it a second thought. 8-) But she never would agreed to paying to move a box of rocks, but I have since pulled a couple dozen gorgeous latex out-cropping molds from chunks of coal, red shale and the like from upstate Pennsylvania! :mrgreen:

BiL, I'm not sure when that traction grit came into use.  The diesels at the steel plant where I worked originally used sand, but at some point (late '90s, I think) switched to this stuff.  I noticed it alongside the track one day and, not realising what it was, thought it would make good HO scale coal.  I called the Yardmaster to ask about it, thinking that it was something that had sifted out of a passing car, and he filled me in.  "Meet me at Door 33 in ten minutes, and bring a container." he said.  I hopped in his truck and away we went to the fuel and sanding area, where I filled a heavy-duty plastic bag with about 10 or 15 lbs. of the stuff.  Some of the particles are slightly magnetic, so exercise care around open-frame motors.  I've since learned that it's very similar in appearance to a product called "Black Beauty", which is a sandblasting medium.  A two bay Athearn hopper loaded with it weighs in at 8 oz., limiting coal train length to 12 cars and a caboose, and requiring two locomotives.  Careful train handling is also suggested.    

Wayne