Scratch building a ca. 1900 well car


Vince-RA

Well-Known Member
The inspiration for this build is a well car designed in 1900 by Edward Blossom of the Woodbury & Hardwick RR. This was to be used for shipping large granite slabs that would be too wide for flat cars.
Looks like Barclay Bros borrowed the car and did a little custom relettering for this photo :)

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The design is ingenious, with the supporting bits designed to be removed easily, and the car converted back to a normal flat if needed.

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Making the model convertible is more work than I want to do, so my version will be permanently a well car. First step, making the flat car frame. This is made using the same jig I made for a 36' flat car which I posted about a long time ago - but with the middle two timbers left out of the jig, and glued in manually, leaving space for the well. Then added supports for queenposts and a place to anchor the (future) truss rods. Note the pile of pre-stained decking timbers in the back :)

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Next, added the decking. I cut them a bit long on purpose so I can move faster when installing them.

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Then, cut the well out of the middle, and sanded the edge of the deck to size.
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More to come - I have the beginnings of the well floor made up, but now waiting on some scale 12x12 timbers to be delivered so I can finish the part above the deck.
 
Nice start on an interesting project.

Are the deck beams 12x12? From the drawings it looks more like they are narrower than they are high, maybe 8x12 on edge?

Many artists and craft supply stores carry basswood shapes, if there is one in your area you might be able to get dimensional wood there more quickly.
 
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tichy is good to deal with, they have a lot of detail parts for circa 1900 rolling stock there..
this may save you some time, maybe not .. anyways i do have a truss rod flatcar on thingiverse ...
it can be built from basswood strips, 3d printed with a fdm printer, or cnc'd out of one piece of wood..
i have used all of these ways in the past ... you still need the archbar trucks and detail parts also
 

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Nice start on an interesting project.

Are the deck beams 12x12? From the drawings it looks more like they are narrower than they are high, maybe 8x12 on edge?

Many artists and craft supply stores carry basswood shapes, if there is one in your area you might be able to get dimensional wood there more quickly.
Not sure to be honest - I am guessing they are square based on the overhead view of the 45 degree cut in them. I figure I'll mock it up and see how it looks, then adjust if necessary. My lumber order has made it to UPS but unfortunately I'm now waiting on USPS surepost :)rolleyes:). If I don't have them by the weekend I may just try to run some down elsewhere.
 
tichy is good to deal with, they have a lot of detail parts for circa 1900 rolling stock there..
this may save you some time, maybe not .. anyways i do have a truss rod flatcar on thingiverse ...
it can be built from basswood strips, 3d printed with a fdm printer, or cnc'd out of one piece of wood..
i have used all of these ways in the past ... you still need the archbar trucks and detail parts also
Those look great! I have been thinking about getting a 3D printer for a long time, this may just push me over the edge. I have a lot more flat cars I want to build, and the underframes are always the most time-consuming part of it.
 
Are you going to scratch-build some granite slabs for them? And outta' what? :)👍
Yeah of course! In fact I already did, using some leftover scrap from my kid's unused Pinewood Derby car kit - https://modelrailroadforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/lets-get-loaded.4048/page-36#post-541930

The bigger ones I stuffed lead sinkers into as well since the flat cars tend to be pretty light.

Not sure I can fit weight into a load for the well car, but shouldn't be too bad to work something reasonable up using basswood scraps again.
 
Carry the car forward until mid-Depression (1934) and you can even carry a 200" telescope mirror:


and


FWIW, I do remember reading (in a book about the telescope itself, not just about the transport) that the railroad route chosen was carefully checked for overhead clearances before moving the mirror. I would have too.

Great project, yours, and pretty unusual too. In that earlier era I do have the idea big stone--marble--was transported just this way. Marble used to build some of the big monuments in D.C, for example. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and others.
 
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Still not sure whether the timbers are square or rectangular profile, but 12x12 looks good enough to my eye:
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At first I tried to punch the truss rods all the way through to the timbers on the deck, which worked, but there wasn't really enough support to keep them looking decent so ended up putting some small blocks under the deck instead.

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Using a piece of scrap wood under the deck and above the well floor I was able to get them to line up pretty evenly.

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Painting is always my least favorite part for whatever reason, but at least flat cars are easy! I may have to pull the trucks off yet as the timbers I placed to hold the end of the (lengthwise) truss rods seem to be rubbing on the wheels. I carved off a little bit, we'll see if that's enough, or if I need to do a proper job of it.

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Last step, working on a granite load for it, just need to wait for the paint to cure a bit before I finish it off.
 
Nice car.

By the way, Tichy sells tubes of small diameter phosphor bronze wire. It is stiffer than copper, making it easier to keep straight, and comes in smaller diameters than most brass wire. I use it for piping, grab irons and rodding on my models. I find it very useful for my rolling stock projects..

I know it well! The vertical truss rods are made from 0.015 PB wire from Tichy :) Horizontal are made from fishing line because it's much easier to deal with rather than bending wire to the right shape. I'm not sure what the wire is on the granite load, it's about the same diameter as the 0.015 PB but much more flexible, I think it came with a kit, meant to be used for brake lines. Next time I'll just use the PB instead, I couldn't get this stuff nearly as straight as I wanted.
 



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