eTraxx
Member
The Jul 1938 issue of Popular Science has some simple plans for a loading platform. While the materials have changed in the last 72 years .. the dimensions shown for the platform haven't. 
A Loading Platform for Model Railway
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Well. Thanks. This is done for my own purposes .. example the loading dock (minus one ramp) will go on my layout. What I am doing is using Sketchup .. and as all the 'bits' are 3D .. I can play around, spin it, try different things. Once I am happy .. figure I should share. I get so much back from these forums .. want to 'pay back' the little I can.
Title Block?? !!! .. oh .. darn. Knew I forgot something!
Anyhoo. Like I said, I'm dropping one of the ramps .. have inserted it (platform) into my Acme Oil 'complex' that I am developing. Scratch-building is down the road ..
Me .. I would make 'em from plaster. The platform as is .. is a 30' version (figure it was 'selectively compressed' from a car length of around 40' at the time). Even this one has 18 footings plus the two larger ones on the end. If you built one for more modern freightcars and you went to a 60' length then you are talking about 36 footings. They are 18" square which is about 0.2" in HO. You could simply slice off as many as you need from some 3/16" styrene. I will probably make a simple mold from two pieces of 3/16" stripwood glued 3/16" apart and pour plaster in. Then, I have a plaster square stock I can slice off as many 'footings' as I need.
That way, cut them just a 'tad' long and glue them down, paint them, flow the dirt, ballast etc. around them, then run sandpaper wrapped around a sanding block across them to level and touch up the tops w/paint and they would be ready for the posts.
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eTraxx
Member
Army Corps of Engineers Loading Platform Dimensions
It may be of interest to see the dimensions the Army Corps of Engineers consider necessary for Loading Platforms:
Publication Number: EM 1110-3-150
Title: Engineering and Design - Storage Depots - Mobilization Construction
Proponent: Army Corps of Engineers
Published 09 April 1984
Chapter 3 is titled "Open Storage".
"Side-loading platforms should be a minimum of 20 feet wide and one car length long. The length is preferably two car lengths. The platforms should be located such that the side face is 6 feet 2 inches from the center line of the track, and the elevation of the top of the platform should be 3 feet 9 inches from the top of the rail. Ramps up to the platform should have a slope no greater then 15 percent. If the platform is also to serve flat cars in which the cargo is to be unloaded from the end of the car, an end-loading platform should be constructed. The dimensions should be similar to the side-loading platform except that the width of the platform at the end-loading portion should be 32 feet wide."
Side Loading Platform
Combination Side and End Loading Platform
It may be of interest to see the dimensions the Army Corps of Engineers consider necessary for Loading Platforms:
Publication Number: EM 1110-3-150
Title: Engineering and Design - Storage Depots - Mobilization Construction
Proponent: Army Corps of Engineers
Published 09 April 1984
Chapter 3 is titled "Open Storage".
"Side-loading platforms should be a minimum of 20 feet wide and one car length long. The length is preferably two car lengths. The platforms should be located such that the side face is 6 feet 2 inches from the center line of the track, and the elevation of the top of the platform should be 3 feet 9 inches from the top of the rail. Ramps up to the platform should have a slope no greater then 15 percent. If the platform is also to serve flat cars in which the cargo is to be unloaded from the end of the car, an end-loading platform should be constructed. The dimensions should be similar to the side-loading platform except that the width of the platform at the end-loading portion should be 32 feet wide."
Side Loading Platform
Combination Side and End Loading Platform
eTraxx
Member
I completed the Loading Platform with both ramps. In my version the ramps are slightly longer (about three feet) and the platform is 8" wider. That was an accident but since the original was 12' wide .. and mine is then 12'8" wide .. and the US Army Corps of Engineers suggest that for a side-loading platform the width should be 20' .. I think that will work fine.
I re-created the plan in PDF format. You can download from my website (the are scale plans .. you could build directly on top of them). I made them for N, HO and O scale.
I re-created the plan in PDF format. You can download from my website (the are scale plans .. you could build directly on top of them). I made them for N, HO and O scale.
eTraxx
Member
Thanks, Ed. I appreciate the download and your efforts to make it available. Where is your title block?)
Regards,
Jon
Well. Thanks. This is done for my own purposes .. example the loading dock (minus one ramp) will go on my layout. What I am doing is using Sketchup .. and as all the 'bits' are 3D .. I can play around, spin it, try different things. Once I am happy .. figure I should share. I get so much back from these forums .. want to 'pay back' the little I can.
Title Block?? !!! .. oh .. darn. Knew I forgot something!
Anyhoo. Like I said, I'm dropping one of the ramps .. have inserted it (platform) into my Acme Oil 'complex' that I am developing. Scratch-building is down the road ..
eTraxx
Member
Update: I added a Note page to the front of the pdf's. I was thinking that I may not have been clear about the height of the platform and the length of the ramps .. and how this all interrelates ..
The deck shoud end up between 3'9"-3'10" from the top of the rail. That being said .. what track you use and roadbed will affect that. I drew up the plans using Atlas Code 83 Flex Track and a roadbed (it's a yard) that is actually some cork shelf lining.
If that's not enough .. the 3"x12", 8"x8" and 8"x10" lumber used in the drawing .. I doubt seriously if you will find that exact measurement. You will have to use what you can get. This will also .. affect the height.
I suggest that the Platform is built as far as the deck, cross beams and stringers. Put your track/roadbed in, temporarily put the footings down and then block up the Platform until it meets that 3'-10" height. That way you can get a pretty good measurement of the height needed for the posts.
That will then allow you to measure out how long you need to make the ramps. Mine are actually too steep as suggested standards for ramps are 1:12 max (the Army Corps of Engineers says 1:15). That would mean the ramp needed for a rise of 55.8” (what I came up with for platform height) would be for the 1:12 slope .. would be 55'-9” !!
Guess my little guys will just have to push harder ..
The deck shoud end up between 3'9"-3'10" from the top of the rail. That being said .. what track you use and roadbed will affect that. I drew up the plans using Atlas Code 83 Flex Track and a roadbed (it's a yard) that is actually some cork shelf lining.
If that's not enough .. the 3"x12", 8"x8" and 8"x10" lumber used in the drawing .. I doubt seriously if you will find that exact measurement. You will have to use what you can get. This will also .. affect the height.
I suggest that the Platform is built as far as the deck, cross beams and stringers. Put your track/roadbed in, temporarily put the footings down and then block up the Platform until it meets that 3'-10" height. That way you can get a pretty good measurement of the height needed for the posts.
That will then allow you to measure out how long you need to make the ramps. Mine are actually too steep as suggested standards for ramps are 1:12 max (the Army Corps of Engineers says 1:15). That would mean the ramp needed for a rise of 55.8” (what I came up with for platform height) would be for the 1:12 slope .. would be 55'-9” !!
Guess my little guys will just have to push harder ..
eTraxx
Member
Jeff,
Me .. I would make 'em from plaster. The platform as is .. is a 30' version (figure it was 'selectively compressed' from a car length of around 40' at the time). Even this one has 18 footings plus the two larger ones on the end. If you built one for more modern freightcars and you went to a 60' length then you are talking about 36 footings. They are 18" square which is about 0.2" in HO. You could simply slice off as many as you need from some 3/16" styrene. I will probably make a simple mold from two pieces of 3/16" stripwood glued 3/16" apart and pour plaster in. Then, I have a plaster square stock I can slice off as many 'footings' as I need.
That way, cut them just a 'tad' long and glue them down, paint them, flow the dirt, ballast etc. around them, then run sandpaper wrapped around a sanding block across them to level and touch up the tops w/paint and they would be ready for the posts.
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)