Large Scale Central

Loads for AMS Drop bottom gondolas

Modeling
#1

I started out by cutting some 1/4" PVC to size and made generous clearance cuts around the stakes. this platform sits down inside the car.

20251110_145143
20251110_1451431920Ă—3413 242 KB

next i glued blocks of foam to the topside with spray glue, and let sit and cure overnight

20251110_145120
20251110_1451201920Ă—1080 87.3 KB

checking fit

20251110_145309
20251110_1453091920Ă—1080 124 KB

I them sculpted the foam to the desired shape, one as a coal load, and the second as ashes and cinders,then painted the topside appropriate color, and after another overnight applied coal and cinder material to each with white glue. then when dry today i cleaned up and checked fit on the cars.

20251111_144030
20251111_1440301920Ă—1080 267 KB

Here we see the finished product.

20251112_153337
20251112_1533371920Ă—1080 298 KB

20251112_153344
20251112_1533441920Ă—1080 287 KB

I have installed an screw eye in each end of these loads to facilitate removal, and am going to upgrade my previous high side gondola loads with the same. you have to look hard to find them.

AL P.

3 Likes
#2

Wow. You are going to have a great looking loaded train!

#3

Those look super. We don’t often see an ash/cinder load. I wonder how it would be to be behind that car when cruising down the track?

#4

Todd;

You may have answered why so many freight yards used cinder ballast during the steam era. There was a ready supply of cinders from the locomotive servicing facility, and those cinders did not need to be transported far.

Regards, David Meashey

#5

Although it makes for poor quality ballast, it is easy to dig ties out of!

#6

I was thinking about the uncovered ash load moving down the track Dave. If the train was going fast enough the load might blow out by the time it reaches its destination. The cars behind it would be coated with dust.
It makes sense to use the ash for ballast in the yards like how some timber operations used wood chips.

I wonder if Al has an ash pit on his RR?

#7

Todd, funny you should ask. I have started a small one on the turntable lead. i have yet to finish, as ground cover here has yet to be fixed.

20251115_121722
20251115_1217221920Ă—1080 333 KB

Al P.

#8

That is cool Al, we don’t see too many of those modeled.
I have seen a photo somewhere of a worker cleaning out an ash pit and shoveling by hand into a low sided hopper. I can’t imagine doing that all day long but someone had to do it.

#9

Talking about ballast, working for the electric company, they tried an experiment. Back in the late 1960’s when they built the repair shop I work at, they used fly ash from the coal generating stations as the sub-base for truck driveways and parking lots. Maybe a good way to market the waist. Well no, it failed. Few years later, a section at a time, they removed all the base and replaced it with the usual large crushed stone.

#10

Well not a drop bottom gondola, but a gondola just the same.

this is a load of mine props. supposed to be 8’ length, somehow the interior length didn’t divide up , so there are some shorter ones. even with a false floor, this consumed a far amount of dowel stock. i really need a second one , but if i do i will raise the false floor even higher.

20251221_140634
20251221_1406341920Ă—1080 286 KB

The dowels were distressed with a coarse razor saw, then treated with two colors of stain, followed up by brown, black , green, and grey acrylic paints.

Al P.

2 Likes
#11

that must be a very work intensive way to load a gondola.
do you have pics of 1:1 sized loads of this type?

#12

Nice load, I’ve not seen that before. Nice distressing on the tops of the gondola walls and coloring of the logs, very authentic looking.

To save dowels, and perhaps you did this, the ends (and in-between supports) of “buried” horizontals need to be only partial, like 1".

#13

They used to load lumber into boxcars by hand as well.

image
image1000Ă—742 90.5 KB

image
image629Ă—799 88.8 KB

1 Like
#14

Bob, you reminded me of reading something years ago, where you could purchase a whole house and it would be sent by boxcar.

I had to look it up, again. I was quite a popular thing to do as I understand.

IMG_2306
IMG_2306650Ă—1011 110 KB

From the web:
The Sears Kit Home Shipment Process

  • Transportation: The complete house kit, typically weighing about 25 tons and containing over 10,000 to 30,000 individual parts, was packed into one or more railroad boxcars.
  • Delivery and Unloading: The boxcar was shipped to the customer’s local train station, usually placed on a siding. The new homeowner was responsible for unloading the entire shipment, often with the help of friends, family, or local carpenters, within a strict 24 to 48-hour window to avoid penalty fees.
  • Logistics: Due to the logistics of moving tens of thousands of pieces of lumber and other materials, most Sears kit homes are located within a couple of miles of an old railroad track.
  • Contents: The shipment was like a giant, numbered “IKEA-style” kit, complete with pre-cut lumber, a 75-page instruction manual, blueprints, shingles, windows, doors, and all hardware, including doorknobs and nails.

IMG_2307
IMG_2307986Ă—988 266 KB

Pretty cool…

#15

When I was a kid, I remember being taken downtown to a railroad siding. One Uncle had a truck, other Uncle had bought an Alladin Home. Came in a boxcar, and they had one day to empty the boxcar. 1959.
I just had to sell the house to continue to pay for my Aunt’s care in Assisted Living.

#16

This was the inspiration:

http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Mine-Props-td13533.html

Al P.

3 Likes
#17

Not to jack up Al’s thread but I noticed some VERY interesting stuff in the pic BD posted (circled in red).

I see what appears to be pre made brackets/ gable ends for delivery. But the notched very long 2x4’s I’m head scratching here. I’m only guessing and maybe you guys know but I’m wondering if they are part of a system to secure and level the load for another level perhaps?

BD Boxcar - Copy
BD Boxcar - Copy629Ă—799 143 KB

#18

whow!
thank you!

15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

#19

One of the premade kit homes of the day and those look like 4x4s. I see assorted lengths sizes and a couple rolls of tar paper right in front by the gable ends, along with sheet stock? leaning

#20

I don’t think they are 4x4s though. Looks like the notching might fit the brackets with some nice overhang. Fancy chicken shelter…Ahhh, wait perhaps a 1:12 scale Buddy L passenger shelter kit??