Concrete Tie Loads
- Thread starter diburning
- Start date
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Gotta keep in mind that Amtrak bought new MoW Equipment not like most RR's that use retired cars for their MoW service. And on top of that they ONLY stayed on Amtrak property.
Um did you miss the last Atlas MP15DC announcement? They are due Jan 2011, I have one on Pre Order so I might have one to sell.
Yes but there might be extras at local shops once they are released.
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Here are a couple pics and notice how the top layer of ties is on both cars. I think a full load would overload that car and thats why they are roughly the same. What I would do is make a false floor with one layer of ties then do the short top layer and there you go, a nice removable load and not using a lot of ties.
Just counted the ties and each full layer is 60 ties with 20 on top.
Just counted the ties and each full layer is 60 ties with 20 on top.
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diburning
AlcoHaulic
Hmm, I'll have to see. Because sometimes things aren't quite to scale in HO so I may not be able to fit 60 in a row. Unless someone makes concrete ties for a load, I'll have to strip all the ties off of a piece of Atlas concrete tie flex track. Then, depending on how much of the gondola I can fill with the ties from one piece of flex track, I'll experiment with creating a removable load.
If I can fill the entire gondola, I'll just glue the ties together. If it doesn't fill the gondola, I'll use a spacer layer for a false floor.
I asked this question because I was watching Extreme Trains last night and Rocla loaded them with wooden spacers (like the ones they use with wrapped lumber loads) onto flat cars
If I can fill the entire gondola, I'll just glue the ties together. If it doesn't fill the gondola, I'll use a spacer layer for a false floor.
I asked this question because I was watching Extreme Trains last night and Rocla loaded them with wooden spacers (like the ones they use with wrapped lumber loads) onto flat cars
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Gotta keep in mind that Amtrak bought new MoW Equipment not like most RR's that use retired cars for their MoW service. And on top of that they ONLY stayed on Amtrak property.
diburning
AlcoHaulic
Well, on the most part.... When Amtrak ran the MBTA Commuter Rail, they left behind a few gons. When Amtrak lost the contract, they never picked them up so the MBTA kept them. (of course, legally, Amtrak just told the MBTA to keep them rather than pay the storage fee).
I will go to the LHS (local is a relative term) to get a piece (or two, depending on the number of ties) of Atlas concrete-tie flex track and use the ties from that and I'll see if I can get 140 ties into the car. (the car is an Atlas Trainman AMTK gondola)
I will go to the LHS (local is a relative term) to get a piece (or two, depending on the number of ties) of Atlas concrete-tie flex track and use the ties from that and I'll see if I can get 140 ties into the car. (the car is an Atlas Trainman AMTK gondola)
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I will have to do that as I have 8 gons and they need to get renumbered and weathered then loaded. Will be perfect behind a couple Amtrak MP15DC's or GP7's.
As for cars being left behind I know the NECR has 11 Amtrak Ballast hoppers on their line that were never picked up by Amtrak to.
As for cars being left behind I know the NECR has 11 Amtrak Ballast hoppers on their line that were never picked up by Amtrak to.
wheeler1963
Aurora & Portland Owner
diburning
AlcoHaulic
Someone needs to make MP15DCs in the Phase V scheme. I want one 
My amtrak gondola will be sitting on a siding next to the "NEC" on the layout at the club which doesn't have catenary, and the track is as bad as branchline track (has kinks and bends in it), but is a long stretch of "straight" track where I can open up the throttle a bit.
Maybe I can park that ballast tamper next to it
My amtrak gondola will be sitting on a siding next to the "NEC" on the layout at the club which doesn't have catenary, and the track is as bad as branchline track (has kinks and bends in it), but is a long stretch of "straight" track where I can open up the throttle a bit.
Maybe I can park that ballast tamper next to it
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Someone needs to make MP15DCs in the Phase V scheme. I want one
My amtrak gondola will be sitting on a siding next to the "NEC" on the layout at the club which doesn't have catenary, and the track is as bad as branchline track (has kinks and bends in it), but is a long stretch of "straight" track where I can open up the throttle a bit.
Maybe I can park that ballast tamper next to it
Um did you miss the last Atlas MP15DC announcement? They are due Jan 2011, I have one on Pre Order so I might have one to sell.
Yes but there might be extras at local shops once they are released.
diburning
AlcoHaulic
Started on the project today. I started by cutting out a strip of cardboard slightly narrower than the ties, but is as long as the inside of the car.
Then, I took a piece of Atlas flex with concrete ties and took the rails off. Then, I spent hours removing the connecting pieces and the flash from doing that with a knife.
I glued the ties to the piece of cardboard to make the load removable. Here is a shot I took a few hours ago with me experimenting.
There are 30 ties on the bottom row, and as you can see, it's already beyond the halfway point on the car. I've since finished the bottom row (no photos yet though) and the gondola holds exactly 50 ties on the bottom row (10 short of the prototype)
I also glued down two ties on the end and then one on top of it (for the second and third rows) to see how tall the stack would be. As you can see, the load isn't quite up to the inner rim of the car like in the prototype photos. The distance between the top of the tie and the inner rim is about 1/3rd the thickness of a tie. I'll have to shim the load up with a layer of foam or something. This will be a slight challenge as the ties are slightly narrower than the car, and the shim would be visible as the bottom row of ties would be elevated.
After I finish the second layer, I'll put enough ties on the third layer to the 1/3 point on the car to give it the illusion that it looks like the prototype.
Then, I took a piece of Atlas flex with concrete ties and took the rails off. Then, I spent hours removing the connecting pieces and the flash from doing that with a knife.
I glued the ties to the piece of cardboard to make the load removable. Here is a shot I took a few hours ago with me experimenting.
There are 30 ties on the bottom row, and as you can see, it's already beyond the halfway point on the car. I've since finished the bottom row (no photos yet though) and the gondola holds exactly 50 ties on the bottom row (10 short of the prototype)
I also glued down two ties on the end and then one on top of it (for the second and third rows) to see how tall the stack would be. As you can see, the load isn't quite up to the inner rim of the car like in the prototype photos. The distance between the top of the tie and the inner rim is about 1/3rd the thickness of a tie. I'll have to shim the load up with a layer of foam or something. This will be a slight challenge as the ties are slightly narrower than the car, and the shim would be visible as the bottom row of ties would be elevated.
After I finish the second layer, I'll put enough ties on the third layer to the 1/3 point on the car to give it the illusion that it looks like the prototype.
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diburning
AlcoHaulic
Here's a photo of the car with the bottom layer of ties.
I am still working on it as I am typing this. It takes a while to cut the connecting strips from between the ties, and then cut the flash off. Here's a photo of what I am doing. The tie on the left is ready to be glued in, the ties on the right are what I am working with.
And here's a photo of a small pile of ties ready to be glued in.
I am still working on it as I am typing this. It takes a while to cut the connecting strips from between the ties, and then cut the flash off. Here's a photo of what I am doing. The tie on the left is ready to be glued in, the ties on the right are what I am working with.
And here's a photo of a small pile of ties ready to be glued in.
diburning
AlcoHaulic
And now I am finished!
The load started curling after I glued in the second layer of ties due to the capillary action causing the glue to get in between the ties and gluing them together.
To kill two birds with one stone, I decided to use something rigid for the shim so that the load could be straightened out, and slightly shimmed up to match the prototype height. So, I used popsicle sticks
Because of the slight curling, the load doesn't look as neat as I wanted it to be, but still acceptable in my opinion
As I said before, the gondola only fits 50 ties in one layer instead of 60 on the prototype so I have 50 for the first two layers, and 16 (roughly one-third) on the third layer. (the ties on the prototype only go up to the 4th rib so thats as far the HO scale load will go) It doesn't look like there are 116 ties instead of 140 to the naked eye, but if someone was really nitpicky and decided to count them, they would see that it's not quite a prototypical load.
The load started curling after I glued in the second layer of ties due to the capillary action causing the glue to get in between the ties and gluing them together.
To kill two birds with one stone, I decided to use something rigid for the shim so that the load could be straightened out, and slightly shimmed up to match the prototype height. So, I used popsicle sticks
Because of the slight curling, the load doesn't look as neat as I wanted it to be, but still acceptable in my opinion
As I said before, the gondola only fits 50 ties in one layer instead of 60 on the prototype so I have 50 for the first two layers, and 16 (roughly one-third) on the third layer. (the ties on the prototype only go up to the 4th rib so thats as far the HO scale load will go) It doesn't look like there are 116 ties instead of 140 to the naked eye, but if someone was really nitpicky and decided to count them, they would see that it's not quite a prototypical load.
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railBuilderDhd
Active Member
looks nice - how many flex tracks did it take to make the load?
dave
dave
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