Hi, Over the last few weeks I have been making my own small 23’ flat cars. The wood used to cut the main flatcar top was out of maple 1’ by 3” I cut off 1¼” from it’s length which gave me an almost exact 23’ car. (Made quite a few with loads) Here’s how I made mine. You will need a pair of bogie wheels and a pair of Kadee #5’s apart from the wood. As will be seen from the photos below, the first stage after cutting the main flat top is to scribe the planking effect. I used a craft knife and T-square for this job; Next, is to mark out the underneath for the three pieces of wood. The centrepiece is ¼” by 3/16” and is 1” shorter than the overall main top. Kadee #5 boxes fit either side. Two small pieces of 1/8” square (Hardwood) are placed at each side the full length, all are glued in place with either contact glue or epoxy glue. Once all is assembled, spray paint the lot with what ever colour you wish, then when all is dry, the sides will have to be drilled to accept small brass rod to enable the chains to hold the load. Find a nice looking load and the job is done. For my latest flat car I added a fire truck and trailer. Have Fun. Paul
Paul, Nice work!!!!! And a GREAT way and idea to up the fleet of rolling stock in a reasonable in expensive way!!!! I have made a few flat cars simular to that but longer to 40' and 50' with alittle extra detal and so on but nice looking and i done it all and painted the side sils and side stake pockets and so on and stained the planking with a dark stain and/or india ink and alcohol.... and left them emply to look like returning cars for loads to show the detailed decking.... And they are cheap and beats most of the cost in buying the marketed ones!!
Im my 00 and 0 gauge days I used to scratchbuild virtually everything, but these days, now I am in N scale, my scratchbuilding of rolling stock is limited to patterns for new kits Logging roads are soooooooo tempting, as I do enjoy working in wood. I once scratchbuilt an 11-road roundhouse in wood complete with all internal supports, etc. plus lighting, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Excellent work, as always, Paul!
A few years ago I remember seeing an article in one of the model magazines about building a fleet of N scale boxcars out of blocks of wood. Does anyone remember such an article? Has anyone done something like this in N scale?
There have been several articles in "N-Scale" magazine about scratchbuilding boxcars, but not out of "Blocks of wood". I scratchbuild some myself using a basic body made up of bottom, top, and ends of 1/8" basswood, over which plastic, metal, and or wood sheet and details are applied, with weight added to the basic body prior to assembly.
I found the article in the Model Train Magazine Index. It is called "N Scale Niche: Boxcars for the fun of it" published in the Sept 1991 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. I don't have the magazine. If someone does, can they look at the article and tell us about it?
