Tada! Here is the completed load on the flat car. I think it turned out pretty well. I learned a few things that I would do differently next time, mostly trying to be more careful to keep the things straight and more unform (but not too uniform).

I installed the vertical load stabilizers down the middle of the load with a small amount of wood glue. I had originally cut the bearing pieces too short, so I had to trim them back and then install some small pieces to extend them out past the edge of the load. I then installed the guide rail using a scale 2”x4”, gluing it to the bearing pieces and then trimming them to length.

Work on the flatcar loads continued with gluing the top section to the bottom sections. The banding was added to join the 2nd and 3rd rows together. I pushed the end of the chart tape in with a dental pick and secured the ends with a drop of CA glue. I also made the vertical spacers out of scale 1”x4”s and 2”x4”s as one piece, then I cut them so the 1"x4"s were about 2 feet long.

Mistakes were made banding the lumber piles together. I glued 2 layers of the piles together Then using some 1/64” inch Chartpack charting tape, I added the steel interlacing bands. I secured the ends of the tape using CA on the underside of the load. The tape works out to a scale 1 ⅓”, not bad as the spec is 1 ¼”. I did not notice the order of the plies and I have made 2 sections that can't stack.

After marking the bad sides, I glued the piles together to form “sticks”, then with the bad sides facing each other I glued on the dunnage, using a scale 2x4 to maintain the spacing between the 2 sides of the layer. This turned out to be more tricky than I thought it would be and I had to redo some of the sticks as I got the stagger wrong or put the bad side on the out side instead of the inside.

I brought out The Chopper to cut the 2x4 dunnage spacers for the piles and then glued them to the underside of the wooden blocks. I am following the AAR Open Top Loading Rules Manual for bulkhead flatcars because everything is a model - Even a lumber pile. I also sealed the bottoms of the completed piles with Varathane so when it comes to the strapping, the CA does not wick away into the wood.

After cutting the paper into strips to wrap the blocks. I located the block on the center of the paper and then scribed where the long edges were with the back of a No. 11 blade. This will create a sharp crease when the wrap is folded over the edge. I then used a glue stick to glue the paper onto the blocks. Next, I cut some relief cuts to make the end folds easier. Voila! Little lumbers piles!

#ScaleModel #ModelRailway #HOScale #Trains #ModelTrains #BulkheadFlatcars #F68AH

After cutting the blocks for the lumber in scale 10, 12, 16 foot lengths, I sanded them to remove the splinters. There is something soothing about handling small smooth blocks of wood I find. I also planned out what sizes a need. The distance between the bulkheads is a scale 62 feet, so I need a row of three 16 foot, and one 12 foot bundles per row. That will allow me to stagger the 4 rows per side I need.

Of course, a flat car needs a load! So, I dug out a old photograph with a lumber load of mine from the 1990s and drew up some artwork in Illustrator for the lumber wrap. I also cut some wood blocks, a scale 4’w x 2.5’h and 12 and 16’ deep. Cutting those small pieces on a table saw was not my favorite activity.

I applied a mix of brown and grey weathering powders to the deck to even the patchiness and monotone color out. I then used a light coat of the brown powder overall to use as a filter to tie the colors together. Finally, I air bushed the model with a light coat of Dullcoat to seal it.

#ScaleModel #ModelRailway #HOScale #Trains #ModelTrains #BulkheadFlatcars #F68AH

Decking is down. The reason I varnished the back of the decking pieces was to seal them, so the CA glue doesn’t get sucked into the wood - You get a better bond that way. After lightly sanding the plastic, I glued down the 2x4s on the ends using carpenter’s glue. Not as tedious as you would think, just one of those things to take your time with.

Here are the scale 2x4 end boards and the laser cut wood decking pieces. I have tried something new here: a vinegar and steel wool stain. The stain reacts with the tannin in the wood to age it. It has turned the basswood a rusty brown color (My camera is making the reds more vibrant than they actually are.
I stained the decking the same way too and then sealed the back of the pieces with Verathane.

Weathering the trucks (or bogies). I first airbrushed them with a base of Testors Dark Skin tone, after they had cured, I bushed on some aim weathering powders (dark rust and dark earth etc. I weathered the couplers at the same time. I haven’t applied a fixative clear spray yet and may adjust the powders later once they are on the model. Once they are clear coated, the powder’s intensity will lessen anyway.

Having reached the “Oh No! What have I done?” stage of weathering. Working from some photos for reference, I have added some rust and dirt. First I applied a very light spray of Testors dark skin tone enamel from the airbrush, after that cured, I followed up with a the oils, the usual suspects of Winsor and Newton oils, vandyke brown, raw umber, burnt sienna and mixing white (for a the faded chalky paint look).

I was able to remove the end pieces without much trouble, as the end were only glued on with 4 pins and I was able to pull them off by working the part gently. I then cleaned up the ends of the car and trimmed off top metal piece of the end part. Once the ends were off I, touched up the cut ends with some Tamiya yellow-green paint to hide any white plastic and because I would know if I didn’t do it.

After looking at some prototype photos on https://rrpicturearchives.net/ to get a feel on how these cars weather and to verify the size of the boards used so I can order some. Looks like there are 26 2x4s on each end in the pictures and this agrees with what is on the model. I have ordered the scale lumber from Fast tracks (https://www.handlaidtrack.com/) so it should be here next week.

Hey, I have found some Scaletrains bulkhead flats, as one does - I forgot I had them . They are nice cars but I have noticed that there is a mismatch in the wood.
The wooden decking on the ends is a plastic part, but the main decking is laser cut wood. I`m pondering replacing the end boards with scale lumber to make the ends match when I apply the weathering.