Wood Blocks & Spikes

Hi IrishRover,

The old pictures I have show loads surrounded by rough wood frames.

There were also 45 degree braces facing the ends of the fat car.

Almost 1/3 of the flatcar decks were covered by wood braces spiked to the wooden bed.

Tall items were tied down to the stake pockets using number nine wire twisted to remove the slack.

This might sound like Rivet

This might sound like Rivet Counting, but also think about what you are attaching to on the model load and the car. For example I would suggest not looping tie downs around the stack or exposed pipes as jarring forces would likely damage the load. If you go back through the what's on your work bench threads there are some fantastic models you can look at to see ways to do this.

Irish it is definitely worth your time.

...

I'd think a 4x4 spiked at each end to prevent load shifting, 4x4s along the sides to prevent lateral shifts, tie downs over the crates to prevent vertical shifts.  Otherwise, I don't think you'd need anything between the crates, whereas the crates would brace themselves in place.

I don't know about the boiler, but the main jist looks right to prevent it form falling over and the biggest movements are fore and aft.  Side to Side would be an issue, so there may be cribbing to prevent the boiler from toppling over. 

Blocks and chain

IrishRover, the American Association of Railroads has published standards for securing open loads on railroad cars...you can find them fairly cheap on eBay. They show how to accurately and safely secure everything from pipe to military equipment to boilers and crates!

To sum up, good advice above...AAR would have wood blocks nailed to the deck keeping the crates in place, which should otherwise be secure. Blocks (or angled chocks) would also be set around the boiler frame, but its higher weight and center of gravity requires something more than just keeping it from sliding around on the deck. Anything being hauled (vehicles, equipment, etc.) has eyebolts, hooks or hard points to chain it in place. Chains would be passed around stake pockets, not over the side sill of the car. Chains were never just looped over equipment, like you see on so many models. This would damage the equipment, and may fail to secure the load. So, find these points on your model, or add them...and have fun!

...

I couldn't see any mooring points, hence why I went with wood cribbing...

Thanks for all the thoughts!

The crates will be easy now.  The boiler doesn't have any mooring points, so the wood cribbing will be the way to go, I think, or add mooring points.  Thanks all!!!

As a visual summary, something like this?

Perhaps something like this arrangement? (pardon the quick sketch)

-Eric

References are out there

move the smallest crate

I don't remember the details but one of the loading rules for a flat car is to keep the deck area near the brake clear.  The brake man needs a place to stand while operating the brake.  Putting the smallest crate at the brake end will accomplish that.

John H.
 

Load frame

I built a rough frame for the boiler--not sure if it would work--but it seemed like a good way to ship it.  It's roughly based on the American Model Builders wood crates.  Now the load can be nailed in place, and a few chains securing the frame to the car.

I would also consider --

-- moving the boiler to the "A" (non brake wheel) end, centered over the bolster. Given its weight, it would be more prototypical to place a heavy metal object over one of the trucks, which have the greatest load bearing capacity, then fill out the car with lighter items.

Christopher J. Palermo

Mountain View, CA