On the general idea of weathered flatcar loads ... some years back I saw a cracking tower being moved by rail (a huge load that needed idler flatcars at either end) and it was clearly a "used" item. I don't think they'd go to the expense of shipping it like that if it was merely to be scrapped so I suspect there is a market for large used stuff like that
And the big Bucyrus Erie factory in my home town reconditioned older shovels and draglines so there would be loads of obviously worn and used equipment incoming.
Dave Nelson
About ten or so years ago I biult a sixteen wheel flat car for a Crankshaft & Cradle Flat Car Load. Crank shaft painted in red. Those were made around 1900 for steam or water plants. I found a photo in a model train book. I do not have a photo hosting site now.
Do a search for the car. A similar car was built during the Civil War tp ship a cannon.
I think I found the construction article in a Kalmbach book.
There were a few photos at one time in the MRH forums for these type of loads.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Went with the red lead look, had a can of restolium that is not quite flat.
The red lead treatment was very common for stuff that moved as "open" loads, while most machinery, such as lathes, drill presses, and milling machines, etc., would be painted either grey or "industrial" green. A lot of machinery would be crated for shipping, either as fully-built or as parts in smaller boxes.
These castings are painted in my version of industrial green...
Perhaps a little too red to be considered red lead, these processing tanks are headed for GERN Industries in Port Maitland...
Wayne
I didn't think of the red color, as for era, late 1930's.
Most large industrial equipment was nicely finished especially in the "old days". Usually the unmachined surfaces would be painted machine grey or green with the machined surfaces coated in cosmoline for shipment. Rotating parts might be coated a bright contrasting color for safety. Machines with scraped ways would have heavy grease and oilcloth for protection but it was rare for anything valuable not to be crated for transport, the exception being equipment too large to box for transport. Usually large transformers for power stations or transfer stations were painted and shipped in the open with isolators and so on attached later to avoid damage. A new stationary engine, steam or otherwise could be out in the open and just blocked in place if it was making a short trip from the company depot to a destination within a days trip. Just my J.R.
mbinsewiIt would be interesting to see the load.
I did mine in a shade of red that was made to look like "red-lead" primer of old:
Team_track by Edmund, on Flickr
Brownhoist by Edmund, on Flickr
I'll have to see if I have any other photos of it.
From the LaserKit web site:
Good Luck, Ed
I would imagine that most heavy stuff on flatcars would be going from the factory to the first owner, so it should be in pretty good condition. Things like loads of John Deere tractors would be going to a dealer.
You see new cars on autoracks, but the next time you'd see those cars on a train would probably be in a gondola as part of a scrap load.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
It would be interesting to see the load.
Mike.
My You Tube
I guess that depends on your era.
If you model the steam era it could be brand new on the way to a customer painted shiny black. If you model modern times, it could be all rusted up on the way to the scrap pile.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Just finished building a Laserkit kit for a stationary steam engine load. It comes with machinery semi in peices and all kinds of blocking. Built all the special blocking, rebuilding some peices with stripwood and stained it. Now I am to the point of painting the machinery ityself. Was going to do my standard rusted up stuff but with the blocking fiqured a paint job was in order. Sugestions?