Lumber load for a flatcar

G

Glen Haasdyk

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Feb 2, 2004
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I worked all weekend (well spare time weekend) on my lumber load for a 40' flatcar.

lumberload2.jpg


only the top layer of the load is full length boards. the rest of the stack is hollow with only the ends represented. even still it took about 10 2' long basswood strips to do the whole load. I still have to add the banding on the top of the stakes. I think thread will do the job to represent it.

lumberload1.jpg

maybe I went a little to high?
 
Looks good. What is the make of the flat car? Also, the ends of boards I see at the lumber yard are often painted/color coded. Does anyone know when this practice began, or have info as to what the individual colors mean?

Kevin
 
Looks good, Glen, and thread will work just fine for tying the tops of the stakes together. If you make a continuous loop to join each pair of stakes, you can insert a small piece of "lumber" between the two strands, then twist it to tighten the thread, just like the prototype does. Sorry, but I couldn't find a better photo to illustrate this.
2007-01-10_5131.jpg


As for the painted ends on the boards, I was told that it's to prevent splitting, due to the ends drying out too quickly. The most common colours that I've seen are green, red , and, more recently, blue.

Wayne
 
Thanks I was surprised how much lumber the one load took and how long it took to assemble them.
Wayne I see that you divided your load vertically as well as horozontally. Useing a stick in the thread is a good Idea. I was wondering how to get the tread to look 'right' when finished. After you tightened the thread did you use CA to lock it in place?
Kevin I think the flatcar is an old roundhouse kit. I'm planning to re-paint it in Canadian National or Canadian Pacific in the near future.
 
Glen,

You can also "nail" some scale 2x4 across between the uprights. Note that the verical spacers are only required if the dimension of the lumber do not multiply out to make a tight fit between the uprights.

I believe that painting the ends was done more for grading/sizing than for protection. It is only relatively recently that anything approaching finished goods are shipped on open flats (bulkhead/opera window); this is due in part to the protection afforded by wrapping.

Here's a link to my lumber load...

http://forum.zealot.com/t98788/

Andrew
 
Did you use scale lumber, scraps, or ties?

As far as too tall, I know the DSP&P made many concessions in car design to the lumber companies (the biggest shipper was Hallack Bros Lumber)...most of the concessions were related to allowing the lumber companies to stack lumber far taller than the sides of the cars.

A reasonable density for lumber would be 38lb/cu ft...with it going as low for some pines as 20lb/cu ft and as high as 70lb/cu ft in some special circumstances...

So if the flat car was 10' wide and 50' long...with a capacity of 50ton...the lumber could be stacked to more than 10' tall.
 
Here's one more shot with the banding on the top. Wayne, thanks for the tip on twisting the thread. it woked out well.
I used 3/32 square basswood from a local craftstore to build the load. I thought it looked about right for unfinished lumber that my sawmill would produce.

2008_02170005.jpg
 
Is that "like, fer sure...!" or "like, ok, eh? Does he get some back bacon with that, hoser?". ;) :D

I'm thinking the second, although I am entirely sure that Glen's layout is set in the GWN, eh? ;)

Andrew
 
"Worked all weekend (well spare time weekend) on my lumber load for a 40' flatcar," says Glen?

Well, you're going to have to work a little faster than that. We've got raw logs on Vancouver Island waiting to be shipped!
 
Yes my layout is set in the GWN (took me a minute to relize that wasn't a railroad) The LPB is trying to get some help by the gesturing but everyone else has headed for the 'cold one' at the bar just a couple doors down.
 
Glen, I like your lumber stacks, they look very real. Nice job. A few years ago I found lumber stacks in the Walthers catalog and put those in my display on flat cars and trucks. They look more like the finished lumber I see daily rolling down I-5 here in Norcal, some from Canada. But, I really like logs as that's more to my heritage. Here's a couple of examples from my layout. Bob
 

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