Flatcar loads!


7

747flier

Well-Known Member
Slowly building up an inventory of HON3 rolling stock for WP&Y, probably during the wartime 40's when she was flush with war business and much infused with rolling stock and engines. A while back I did both an APA and LSM which I designed a lot of deck loads, jeeps, tanks, DUKW's and whatnot. A beauty of 3D is it is easy to rescale items, in this case to 1:87.

Currently I have a print running of a WWII vintage Cat D7 as used by the Army. These came out quite well in 1:120 and 1:133 for the ship models so we shall see. In 3D printing placing of supports and orientation are critical so the first model doesn't always come out perfect. Not a push button technology yet!

If this comes out OK I'll try to post a photo of this and some other flatcar and scenery objects!

Cheers: Tom

D7.jpg
 
Another one of the recycled items for a really full flatcar load (they did have a depressed center unit) is this M36 Tank Destroyer, a lighter and somewhat more mobile unit than a M4 Sherman. Probably about the biggest item that could be transported on the YP&Y. In rough primer, these look a lot better in Army colors with decals etc.
M36 HO.jpg
 
Printed up a few more load items, Jeeps with and without canvass tops, 75 mm pack howitzers, which suitable for Alaska Yukon defense as they could be broken down into loads carried by Reindeer? I can also print up a DUKW, suitable for an area without many bridges? The D7 came out well but I really need to design a Duce n a Half, probably the most common vehicle on the ALCAN Hwy project.

I am currently printing in Phrozen Rapid Black, a fairly fluid resin which yields a semi translucent black object which is hard to photograph without a primer or other paint coating. The D7 weighs in resin .5 oz but has some room fro additional small lead shot or even a larger weight between the tracks. The HON3 flatcars are feathery light without loads. Some have used the "liquid lead" (Very small shot) though I have not sourced this as yet.
 
I searched about a bit for the liquid lead small lead shot. Not available as far as I can tell, but I found very small #12 shot, 1.3 mm, was available from reloading suppliers. The 11 lb bag should be a lifetime supply? Shipping was nearly as much as the shot, a common occurrence when you are near the end of our tenuous supply chains. Ballisticproducts, in Minnesota.

Cheers: Tom
 
747flier said:
Here is the 75mm Pack Howitzer, capable of being broken down into Camel, Reindeer and Mule loads. The Rapid Black resin comes out somewhat translucent in thin sections but holds good detail.

View attachment 159746
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Glad and surprised you mentioned the mule loads. My dad was in the Army, Korea, and his unit specialized in pack mules. He trained at Camp Carson in Colorado and had many interesting pics of those loads. Taught me the "diamond hitch" as well.

Thanks for posting, Dave
 
Thank you Dave!

The item I printed yesterday was a DUKW, which was based on the Duce n Half truck. My printed version weighs an ounce and a half which is plenty of weight for a narrow gauge flatcar. However it takes up a whole 30' flatcar with a small amount of overhang on the sides. The gondolas if empty have the same issues weight wise as the flatcars (just have some stakes and boards added). The jeeps and Pack Howitzers are airy light and have no significant weight and no place to really add much. I did hollow out the engine compartment of the jeep and the rear seat so some small (1.3 mm) lead shot. Each flat car can carry several jeeps, Howitzers, or jeep trailers. The jeep trailers can hold a number of 55 gallon drums, which I think I can print hollow and add some weight.

In 1969 when I rode the White Pass, still as an active freight and passenger railroad, there was no road to the coast so lines of flatcars were full of vehicles being transported to Skagway to join the Alaska Ferry.

Cheers: Tom
 
logandsawman said:
Glad and surprised you mentioned the mule loads. My dad was in the Army, Korea, and his unit specialized in pack mules. He trained at Camp Carson in Colorado and had many interesting pics of those loads. Taught me the "diamond hitch" as well.

Thanks for posting, Dave
Click to expand...
Dave,
I was posted to Fort Carson, as well, a long time after your father. We didn't have horses when I served but I did learn to drive a stick-shift, while there. Glenn
 
One of the more unusual "flatcar" loads is a 30' tank, making the unit into a tank car, WP&Y found the framed tank cars tended to crack so they ended up bolting the Tank on blocks to a flatcar.

Someone mentioned the "liquid lead" which seems to be unavailable. However I was able to get an 11 lb bag of even finer shot from Ballistic Products Inc, in Corcoran Mn. They had prompt shipping and sent it via flat rate box, which probably irritated the PO.

Next load and scenery vehicle job underway is a Duce n Half truck which with some cab mods could be a civilian truck of the 30's and 40's.
 
Printed a couple of Duce n a Half trucks in a smaller scale (1:120), suitable as deck cargo for an APA I did a couple of years ago. Right now printing two in 1:87 as scenery and flatcar loads. I like to print trials to see what needs to be improved and added. Need to add headlights, tow hooks, maybe a winch and a few other items still. I left the area under the drivers seat, engine compartment and the space between the frames open so as to be able to add some shot for increased mass. Generally for printing vehicles doing the wheels separately works out well. besides stacks of tires are always useful! I need to print some hollow 55 gal drums, such that I can fill them with shot as well. Great truck and flatcar loads!
 
There was a reply about the DUKW, which seems to have disappeared. In my first career before I started flying big airplanes, I was involved in research in Yukon for both the Foundation for Glacier Research and the Arctic Institute of North America at Kluane Lake. One of the major tasks of the railroad was supporting construction of the ALCAN Highway. Yukon is and was lake and river country, with even fewer roads and bridges in the day and a DUKW might have been quite handy. The prototype HO Scale 2 1/2 ton trucks are ready to fish out from the printer downstairs. Certainly these were quite ubiquitous during the construction of the ALCAN, many photos of them stuck in the mud up to their axels! Beds full of tundra flowers (55 gal drums). Could be worse, might print a 26' Motor Whaleboat which also makes a great flatcar load, great for fishing trips up and down Lake Bennet, or perhaps sitting on a dolly at Skagway.

Work in progress!
 
Looked over my trial 2 1/2 ton trucks and added a few items, tailgate, headlights, tow hooks etc. Reasonably pleased with the printouts. They come in at only 0.2 oz. However I left quite a bit of room between the frames, under the drivers seat and in the engine compartment to add weight. Hoping I can get the weight up a fir bit with the small lead shot.

I may work on the hood a little more but these capture the feel of the Army workhorses. Received screws, nylon washers etc from McMaster-Carr for mounting trucks and couplers.
 
As it turns out a HO Duce n Half weighted with shot from below and an empty bed weighs in at 1.1 OZ. I also printed some hollow 55 gallon drums which weigh in at 0.05 OZ when filled with small shot. In other words 16 weigh in at 0.8 OZ.
 
I have six trucks printed currently, which should be enough for the present. Some will be just parked near the loading ramp. Back in the Day when I rode the WP, (1969) there wasn't a road to the coast yet so many vehicles transited on flatcars and were unloaded driving from flatcar to flatcar and to a ramp at racks end. Guessing something similar was used during WWII as most of the vehicles used for construction of the ALCAN in Yukon would have passed over the railroad. I also have a collection of Jeeps to spread around. I may be able to modify the Duce to make a mid 30's Mack Truck. 3D design allows some pretty radical modification! Also printed some 5 gallon Jerry Cans which came out quite nicely!
 
During WWII the military classified the D7 as tractor, Heavy and D6 as Tractor medium. Today WP&Y uses a D7 to help maintain the right of way for snow and debris removal. I guess it's exciting to walk one across a high bridge or trestle. Surprisingly it wasn't till the 50's that CAT began to make their own tools (Blades, rippers etc). Le Tourneau was a popular provider of such implements. Printed last night and not yet retrieved is a D6 wit the overhead frame LeTourneau cable blade. As much for ALCAN construction the CAT's were used as drawbar tractors with a aft winch to pull scrapers etc, trucks out of quagmires etc. So I may make a couple of D6's just as tractors. Back during the Alaska "Pie-pline" I ran a sweet D6 with a 6 way blade!
 
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