After seeing the great little fishbelly flat car that the Texas Western had for sale, I purchased one with the intent of building it last year. I got it home, opened the box and admired the rivet detail and the lettering. I've never been one to count rivets but that little voice that I shouldn't listen to said "Hey, this would be a great car to scale up". Well, after 450 plus .089 diameter holes drilled with an equall number of drive screws and bucked rivets I present to you the 6.3 ft, 85 pound result. Except for the trucks this car was scratch built with 1/8" steel plate and a center beam weight made from 1/4" plate. The deck is made up of 86 wood planks all stained and sealed individualy. Well, gotta go. I've got to pick the next project to keep up with JamesP and his fine looking #56 caboose.
Keep up? I would say you already passed my efforts! That is a very nice flatcar, great project. 450+ rivets... wow! I had enough riveting last year with the mere 276 rivets that I bucked & set on #205's tender, my hands are still buzzing. Anyway, all of your riveting, fabricating and woodwork shows in the finished product! Thanks for posting it. Soooo... what's your next project? I've got a couple of new projects just waiting for that caboose to leave the shop...
I have various builders plans for Frisco TOC boxcars, gondolas, ventilated fruit cars and a few others. Anyone want them to make a 7 1/2" scale or whatever large scale y'all are working in?
Thanks for the comments. It is 1.5" to the foot and 7.5" gauge. I actually have enough material cut up for a second car that I might do a better write up for the METEOR if anyone is interested in a large scale project. After all, flat cars are like potato chips, right? I've drifted from my original plans of having a passenger consist for the 1060 to pull. A heavyweight car is easy enough to make, but the 6 wheel commomwealth trucks are my current stumbling block. They are pricey and I haven't had any luck finding them without a second mortgage on the hacienda. These freight cars that I've started will be pulled by a U25b that I should be finished with this year. Lots of fun. It will be a "whole lot of orange and white in one spot". My next project will possibly be one of the blue boxcars that was in service from the Kellog processing plant. Anyway I've included two more pics from the construction. The first is my X-acto knife at work (a plasma torch), and the Bridgeport mill drilling holes for the rivets.
SABRR, send me a list of what you have. I can count on one hand the Frisco equipment I've seen other than my stuff, and would love to get some cool and unique cars out there in my scale. Darren
Really - Really - Really looking forward to seeing the U25b. Excellent work on the flat - may I ask: How is the planking attached to the deck? RR Bob out here uses 1-1/4 inch boards and attaches each with a small carriage bolt. The work you have done is much more to scale. Thanks, Darren
The planks are held down with a urethane adhesive similar to the stuff that bonds windsheilds in cars. They are bonded to the outside frame and a wooden beam down the center of the car. I've used it for other outdoor projects and it works great. It stays flexible over a wide range of tems and is waterproof. I thought about drilling and installing brad nails on each plank but I haven't got a clear picture of placement or number on a plank to copy. My younger days (read 40+ yrs ago) might find me crawling up on and walking around on a flat car deck and getting 6 shades of filthy. I don't remember how the planks are bolted to the car frame and can't find a good picture to go by. Perhaps if a kind soul who happens to have a good picture of a deck would chime in...
