Let's get LOADED!!!.....

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Alcomotive said:
Well this is my new project...

I won these off evil bay...ATHEARN PULP WOOD SHELLS and I will be geeting these up and running. I was bidding on these 3 but the guy was so nice and sent me 4 of them! Cool!

I was doing some research on these little guys. I have a few of these all done from other Athearn kits but none in UP. It turns out UP never really had any as far as I can find. So if any one knows different let me know please. I believe I will model theses as Spokane, Portland & Seattle Ry. if I can find pics of these... we shall see.

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Can anyone help me with finding some pics...thanx in advance!
 
Did you buy them from Donn, in Desert Hot Springs CA? I get tons of Athearn goodies from him.

In any case, I'm afraid finding those cars, or something similar will be tough. The best bet would be on Fallen Flags, but you cannot search by car type. I think those car were actually a freelanced project of Athearn, even though I'm sure there is a similar prototype.
 


The Athearn 40' bulkhead flats were marketed as pulpwood cars but they were almost never used in that service. The main use was for things like pipe loads, where the load was long enough that the side bulkheads, which had tiedowns, and the side bulheads were long enough to help restrain the load. These cars were manufactured in the 1930 to 1940 era and had pretty much disappeared by the mid-50's, when better load restraining systems allowed things like pipe loads to be caried on ordinary flat cars. Some were rebuilt into pulpwood flats like this:

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but they were really too small to be of much use. Others were rebuilt into normal flatcars but most were scrapped. They had been pounded to death in WWII service and most were in bad mechanical and physical shape by war's end.
 
I was hoping to find some pics of the ones used by SP&S but no luck...thanks for that tibit if info...

Josh these are standard undecorated pulpwood cars from athearn....
 
As has been said, pulpwood service was not a big money maker for the railroads. Up until the mid-50's, loading battered old gondolas was the usal method of transport. Use theose Atheearn cars for pipe loads of even finished luumber loads.
 
This issue of RMC August 2009 on page 53 has a nice article on pulwood cars very cool!

ALSO just another GREAT article on EMD diesel power generating plants too! Very good pics...I think I will be modeling some of that on on page 60 for my future layout. Totally awesome!
 


This gets lots of cars loaded. It is a scratchbuilt coal loadout that automatically loads the coal hoppers/gons. I think the only part I bought just for this project was another Tortoise switch machine, the rest was scraps and parts laying around. Once it is set up, I can put the train and loadout controllers down and watch it load a 27 car train all by itself. Why 27 cars? I have 5 lbs of "coal" and that will load 27 cars. Someday it might be featured in Railroad Model Craftsman magazine. I submitted it and Editor Bill seemed to like it.
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Paul, I remember that shot. Very impressive loader, especially since it actually works. I hope to see it in RMC soon.

Larry, that load's a good chance to practice some heavy weathering. :)
 
Some more Loads. 1st one is an 85ft flat w/a 72ft truck.
 
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Steve B said:
Great idea
Here's my little contribution
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I just bought 4 heavy equipment pieces and I want to buy 4 more but I couldn't think of what to do with them....now I know. All I need is a couple of flat beds.

Thanks for the idea. Sometimes you have to think outside of the box.
 


That looks like a Siku wheel loader on the flat car, I,ve got three of those myself, and I think they,re a much better model than the Norscot Cat version.
Ron
 
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