High and wide loads?

[OHCR 4218]

I have been looking around at train shows for the last year or so for a load to put on my depressed center flat car, and maybe a reason to buy a car from N scale kits as well. Thus far I have not been able to find something that looks interesting or realistic. I'm shure that there are a few of you who have built your own loads or can sugest a kit I might not have found. I have been looking at a lot of prototype pictures online, but have not come up with anythng I'm set on. Any Ideas or even a how to would be great.

Brandon

[btsnyder27]

Russ (Swinnerton) might be able to help you with suggestions for high and wides...he has a good knowledge and has seen many in his day...   

I guess it also depends on what era and area you're modeling...nowadays, your dimensional loads are probably primarily wind turbines, tractors, and if you model specific lines out west, Boeing aircraft fuselages and parts.  Olden days, you could probably see wire coils (are those still shipped by rail?), construction and farming machinery, and just general old industrial stuff riding the rails.

Pipe loads not interesting enough for you??  =P

[OHCR 4218]

Pipe loads, unless much larger than what I see here arn't realy what I had in mind. I am looking for a modern load large enough to require it's own special move. I'm looking more for ideas about how to build one than what to build.

Brandon

[Burlington Bob]

You could buy an HO track excavator and take the boom apart and use the two sections as two seperate loads.  You could probably use the bucket as a third load.  If you use an HO model it will look like a large mining shovel.  If you take the wheels off of a Hotwheels mining truck or end loader, you could lay them on their side and stack them two high.  If you could rework the cab to make it close to N scale, you could take the boom off of an endloader and use the body as one load and the boom and detached bucket as another.

Also, anything that is broken and has small gears in it is a potential source for loads if it can be taken apart to see what it might yield. The largest tires that are made are about 12 feet high and about three and a half feet wide so you can keep an eye out for suitable sizes.   

[C855B]

Pipe loads, unless much larger than what I see here arn't realy what I had in mind. I am looking for a modern load large enough to require it's own special move.

Think Schnabel.

[rswinnerton]

Thanks Ben. *shrug*

Anyway, many times high & wides on depressed center cars are electrical switch gear. I've seen guys make intricate loads from styrene but one neat approach is use a plain white shopping bag, cut to size, use CA adhesive on the underside to glue it all together, then heat lightly until the plastic 'wraps' your load (can be block of wood, styrene shapes, etc. it doesn't have to be fancy because the plastic bag gives it a wrapped look. Then you can add a decal of your product manufacturer (GE, Westinghouse, etc) and bingo.

You can also use regular 50' and 60' flats with styrene weathered to mimic plate steel. Also, perhaps a gondola with a long beam load with a flat car idler either end.

Just some ideas.
Russ

Ps. Ben, I hate you man.