Thank you Dave. I will try it with 36" wheels.
Modeling the D&H in 1984: http://dandhcoloniemain.blogspot.com/
I think MDC put some paint and lettering schemes on those bulkhead flats that were taken from longer (such as the TTPX 68' car that Bethlehem Steel built, or the Thrall 90 ton cars) and heavier duty flats. The 1974 Car Builder's Cyclopedia shows some bulkhead flats that generally resemble the MDC car and had high capacities and used 36" wheels -- BUT they were actually longer than 60', and often longer than 70'.
Perhaps in a sense the MDC flat is therefore sort of a shorty like the shortened passenger cars. If you regard it as a stand in for a longer car with the capacity its lettering claims then I'd go with 36" wheels unless that throws the coupler height off (as it does with some "modern" MDC coal gons where I used 33" wheels anyway).
Dave Nelson
I purchased a couple of old MDC 60' bulkhead flat car kits at a show yesterday and want to put metal wheels in them. The trucks show three springs, and the max loading data is labeled 186,000 pounds (and I am not saying that either or both are accurate). Would these flat cars typically have 33" or 36" wheels?
Thanks.