I was mobilization NCO for my unit, and I've tied down a few military loads for rail transport in my time. You need about another three flatcars. The tanks and self-propelled artillery are too heavy to be combined with another vehicle on those flats - one per flat, centered on the deck. You could get away with three (maybe four) jeeps per flat or two trucks per flat, no problem. The half-tracks could be shipped two per flat, but remember the vertical clearance. If it could be folded down, it usually was. The missile would be loaded on a separate car, off the truck. It fits the absolute definition of hazardous cargo, and would be well blocked and tied down by itself. Check the 'net for photos - it may have the fins disassembled for transport, but that particular one was before my time. Keep that car away from the locomotive or any car carrying personnel.
Also, put wedges of wood (usually new lumber) against the front and rear of each tire or tank tread to keep the load from shifting. Use thread painted to look like steel as tie-down cables (or really fine chain). Two tie-downs per side, front and rear (a total of four per vehicle), one tie-down from the vehicle goes straight ahead, and one from the vehicle to the other side of the flatcar deck to prevent cross-swaying during movement. Anchor points on the vehicle are usually inside the tires or treads on the body of the vehicle.
Two final things. If any load overhangs the side of the flat, don't forget to check for clearance on things like loading docks and bridge girders on the bottom of the load. We use to have to build up wooden blocking on the flatcar decks to raise the bottom of the treads so the tanks wouldn't wipe out the bridge as the train went through. It's no lie that you could have built a nice house with all of the brand-new 2x10s we used to prepare an armored cavalry troop for rail movement. And the route has to have adequate clearance between buildings and other tracks (like in rail yards), so it may require special routing to get the loads from one place to another on your railroad. Fortunately, I thought of this well before our movement and brought it up with the railroad personnel, or the unit would have been sitting on its collective thumbs waiting for the equipment to show up at the deployment site. You may want to add a passenger car or caboose for the guards assigned to protect the equipment.
The vehicles (as opposed to the flatcars) don't need to be weathered much if at all, other than hit with a matte finish instead of glossy. We had to wash down the vehicles before movement to prevent bringing foreign animals or plants with us and to allow for proper inspection of the tie-downs by both railroad and military inspectors.
If you wanted to, you could paint the construction equipment olive drab too. The combat engineer company in our brigade had a couple of those. Other painting notes - the faces of the treads for the US equipment would be black, and the edges (inside and out) a dark rust - they were bare steel, and weren't painted. Foreign vehicles (Russian and German WWII) should be dark rust - they used steel treads. Canvas, like the seats on the jeeps and trucks, would be a lighter shade of olive drab,more like a greenish tan from weathering in the sun. You've got a nice set of loads there. Have fun with it, and don't forget you can set up some special operating instructions for running them. I'd definitely like to see some photos when you're done.
Thanks for all that help, I just removed the missle and now need to find more flats. Here of some photos so far cool chocks will have to wait until I get some scrap wood.
What an amazing resource! Thank you for posting all of that! Coincidentally, I'm also building a military unit-train soon as well (I just bought all the rolling stock, but haven't received them yet). Mine will be modern (present-day).
Comments
First photo
Good start
Good start, keep us posted.
Joe
Modeling Missouri Pacific Railroad's Central Division, Fort Smith, Arkansas
Don't Forget the Tie-Downs and Chocks
I was mobilization NCO for my unit, and I've tied down a few military loads for rail transport in my time. You need about another three flatcars. The tanks and self-propelled artillery are too heavy to be combined with another vehicle on those flats - one per flat, centered on the deck. You could get away with three (maybe four) jeeps per flat or two trucks per flat, no problem. The half-tracks could be shipped two per flat, but remember the vertical clearance. If it could be folded down, it usually was. The missile would be loaded on a separate car, off the truck. It fits the absolute definition of hazardous cargo, and would be well blocked and tied down by itself. Check the 'net for photos - it may have the fins disassembled for transport, but that particular one was before my time. Keep that car away from the locomotive or any car carrying personnel.
Also, put wedges of wood (usually new lumber) against the front and rear of each tire or tank tread to keep the load from shifting. Use thread painted to look like steel as tie-down cables (or really fine chain). Two tie-downs per side, front and rear (a total of four per vehicle), one tie-down from the vehicle goes straight ahead, and one from the vehicle to the other side of the flatcar deck to prevent cross-swaying during movement. Anchor points on the vehicle are usually inside the tires or treads on the body of the vehicle.
Two final things. If any load overhangs the side of the flat, don't forget to check for clearance on things like loading docks and bridge girders on the bottom of the load. We use to have to build up wooden blocking on the flatcar decks to raise the bottom of the treads so the tanks wouldn't wipe out the bridge as the train went through. It's no lie that you could have built a nice house with all of the brand-new 2x10s we used to prepare an armored cavalry troop for rail movement. And the route has to have adequate clearance between buildings and other tracks (like in rail yards), so it may require special routing to get the loads from one place to another on your railroad. Fortunately, I thought of this well before our movement and brought it up with the railroad personnel, or the unit would have been sitting on its collective thumbs waiting for the equipment to show up at the deployment site. You may want to add a passenger car or caboose for the guards assigned to protect the equipment.
The vehicles (as opposed to the flatcars) don't need to be weathered much if at all, other than hit with a matte finish instead of glossy. We had to wash down the vehicles before movement to prevent bringing foreign animals or plants with us and to allow for proper inspection of the tie-downs by both railroad and military inspectors.
If you wanted to, you could paint the construction equipment olive drab too. The combat engineer company in our brigade had a couple of those. Other painting notes - the faces of the treads for the US equipment would be black, and the edges (inside and out) a dark rust - they were bare steel, and weren't painted. Foreign vehicles (Russian and German WWII) should be dark rust - they used steel treads. Canvas, like the seats on the jeeps and trucks, would be a lighter shade of olive drab,more like a greenish tan from weathering in the sun. You've got a nice set of loads there. Have fun with it, and don't forget you can set up some special operating instructions for running them. I'd definitely like to see some photos when you're done.
Janet
Thanks for all that help, I
Thanks for all that help, I just removed the missle and now need to find more flats. Here of some photos so far cool chocks will have to wait until I get some scrap wood.
Done for now at least...
Well now I'm out of flatcars....
So how'd I do? I just need
So how'd I do? I just need to get my second GP-7 working so I have enough pulling power for that train.
Janet: You're awesome!
What an amazing resource! Thank you for posting all of that! Coincidentally, I'm also building a military unit-train soon as well (I just bought all the rolling stock, but haven't received them yet). Mine will be modern (present-day).
Eclictic mix :)
That's looking good. The mix is odd, to say the least; I see German and American gear there. The backstory could be interesting...
I would say why but
I would say why but then......
....yeah