Hi there, I am in the proscess of joining a model railroad club and there's a member that has a Union Pacific U.S. Army train; probably not the most prototypical consist but very interesting indeed! Anyway back to the purpose of this thread; I love oversized rail equipment and I've wanted to do a train showcasing the biggest rail equipment of North America for quite some time! The locomotive must of course be the UP DD40AX "Big Jack" and the other cars I would like to be UP or private owned and be somehow related to electrical equipment (transformers, wire spools, poles, tower components) also most importantly they must be mostly cars with over four axles!
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Hi Steven:
How about one of these:
https://www.walthers.com/spectrum-r-380-ton-schnabel-car-w-transformer-load-ready-to-run-red-black-gray-load-silver-trucks
If I counted correctly there are more than four axles!
Seriously, it could allow you to use a couple of Big Jacks in the train. I doubt that the Schnabel car would be towing anything else so you could set up a second train bringing along all of the rest of the equipment.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
cascadenorthernrr The locomotive must of course be the UP DD40AX "Big Jack"
I have worked for the UP for 37 years and have NEVER heard anyone refer to a DD40 as the "Big Jack". 6900, Centennial, DD40 yes. Big Jack no.
I would like to be UP or private owned and be somehow related to electrical equipment (transformers, wire spools, poles, tower components) also most importantly they must be mostly cars with over four axles!
Of all of that, the only things that would travel on something more than a 4 axle car is a transformer. Everything else is light enough to move on a regular car. The UP would not have put a DD40 on a wide load special. Huge waste of fuel and horsepower.
Having said all that, since the entire train would be made up, that means you can do whatever you like. Just buy whatever cars you can find and slap behind the engine. You are good to go. Just don't waste your time looking for a prototype photo of a DD40 pulling a wide load special with poles and cable spools.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Well I'm actually not looking for a prototype train only prototype cars!
And here is where I got "Big Jack" from!
"The DD40AX is a 6,600 hp (4.92 MW) D-D diesel-electric built by the General Motors EMD division of La Grange, Illinois for the Union Pacific Railroad. Nicknamed "Centennial" and "Big Jack", the DD40AX uses two diesel engines (each 3,300 hp (2.46 MW)) and is the most powerful single-unit diesel locomotive ever built, although more recent locomotive designs such as the GE AC6000CW and EMD SD90MAChave come close. It is also the longest single-unit diesel locomotive ever built.[1]"
-wikipedia
But I'd be more than happy to refer to it as "Centennial" instead!
...and you believe what wikipedia publishes as fact? fact checking by voluteers...
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
NO, but its a good enough source of information for those who do not know much about trains. (like me!)
Now back to the point of this thread, I'm looking for HO scale flat cars, depressed center flat cars, heavy duty flat cars, ect...
The consist I am building is for a large electrical substation therefore a lot of heavy equipment needing large multi axle heavy duty flat cars to transport them to the construction site! Hope that clarifies everything.
Schnabel cars in service
http://southern.railfan.net/schnabel/schnabel_cars.html
Schanbel car train on NS (empty)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFugeAIcff8
Train on CSX (loaded)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s1VgRwdBLs
Review of Bachmann HO model
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewgNEa3YlVI
Scratch built model
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJTKt1JjixQ
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
cascadenorthernrr And here is where I got "Big Jack" from! "The DD40AX is a 6,600 hp (4.92 MW) D-D diesel-electric built by the General Motors EMD division of La Grange, Illinois for the Union Pacific Railroad. Nicknamed "Centennial" and "Big Jack", the DD40AX uses two diesel engines (each 3,300 hp (2.46 MW)) and is the most powerful single-unit diesel locomotive ever built, although more recent locomotive designs such as the GE AC6000CW and EMD SD90MAChave come close. It is also the longest single-unit diesel locomotive ever built.[1]" -wikipedia
Edited wikipedia, requesting a source for the unverified information.
Ok then, glad that's settled.
cascadenorthernrrOk then, glad that's settled.
Until Wikipedia can be trusted, you can read some information here:
http://utahrails.net/articles/up-dda40x.php
I cannot attest to its authenticity, but it has some good information.
Somewhere I read that the "Big Jack" name was tossed around by a group of Northern California railfans and, as these things become legend, kind of stuck.
Many railroaders had names for equipment that would sound Greek to us.
For instance, any carbody type i.e. Alco FAs, PAs; EMD F and E units would all be refered to as "Covered Wagons".
Ed
Ok thanks!
gmpullman cascadenorthernrr Ok then, glad that's settled. Until Wikipedia can be trusted, you can read some information here: http://utahrails.net/articles/up-dda40x.php I cannot attest to its authenticity, but it has some good information. Somewhere I read that the "Big Jack" name was tossed around by a group of Northern California railfans and, as these things become legend, kind of stuck. Many railroaders had names for equipment that would sound Greek to us. For instance, any carbody type i.e. Alco FAs, PAs; EMD F and E units would all be refered to as "Covered Wagons". Ed
cascadenorthernrr Ok then, glad that's settled.
Interestingly enough, utahrails is the listed source for that wikipedia article, but a search of the website yielded no hits for "Big Jack".
Interesting! Now I'm looking for HO scale freight cars with loads related to electrical substations, trainsmission lines, ect. can anyone help?
Search E-Bay for flat cars, schnabel cars, depressed center cars, etc. Even if you don't want to buy them it will show a lot of what there might be out there on the market (which isn't much).
Great! Where can I find loads such as transformers, utility poles, wire spools, transmission tower components, substation parts, ect?
cascadenorthernrr Great! Where can I find loads such as transformers, utility poles, wire spools, transmission tower components, substation parts, ect?
When I need this type of data, I find that Google is an ideal source to track it down.
Rich
Alton Junction
Ok thanks.
Original message deleted by the author......................
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I am new to the hobby, I am 16, I prefer to model the 1950's, I do not have a layout, and I use HO scale. I am asking all these questions because I think getting the information straight from the horses mouth is the most effective way for me to learn.
Hi Steven,
The strongest piece of advice I can give you, as a young(er) modeler myself (29), is to go build SOMETHING. I'm like you, I like information, and there's a ton to be had here, Google, and many other places. But you'll learn most effectively by building something. You've asked a lot of good and interesting questions. Now it's time to put things to use.
As an example, I model a grainger RR in 1988, and I have many Accurail 3-bay ACF hoppers. When I started, my weathering was rough, glue joints inconsistent, and my results were sub-par. But through practice, I got better. I also learned about the 3 phases of these cars, prototype paint schemes, etc... I now have 20+ of these that are prototypically done in paint and weathering, but that wasn't possible without the ones that I screwed up, and re-did, or sold on ebay.
How does this relate to you? Practice makes perfect. You asked about these generator loads, wire coils, etc...? Take one of your flats or gondolas, or go to your LHS if you don't have any. Look up some generator photos on google images, and scratchbuild one. Use Styrene, wood, cardboard, or something else. You'll learn alot this way, like:
1) what materials you like working with.
2) What parts of the hobby you enjoy most
3)How to handle small parts.
4) working with a hobby knife (do NOT cut towards yourself!!)
5) working from photos, and scaling down measurements.
There's nothing wrong with asking questions. Just give building something a shot, it's worth it, I promise.
-Mike
Modeling whatever I can make out of that stash of kits that takes up half my apartment's spare bedroom.
Bundy74There's nothing wrong with asking questions. Just give building something a shot, it's worth it, I promise.
Cheers, the Bear
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
I think I will try building a layout then!
The probelm with looking on the internet is wading through all the junk to find what you want if it is even there. Why not ask a question here and maybe get it answered faster. I have been looking on the internet for two days now trying to find out something very fustrating to say the lest.
I find no problem with the OP asking questions here, is that not part of one of the reasons for this board?
Modeling on the cheap
That is so true!
fourt The probelm with looking on the internet is wading through all the junk to find what you want if it is even there. Why not ask a question here and maybe get it answered faster. I have been looking on the internet for two days now trying to find out something very fustrating to say the lest. I find no problem with the OP asking questions here, is that not part of one of the reasons for this board?
fourtThe probelm with looking on the internet is wading through all the junk to find what you want if it is even there. Why not ask a question here and maybe get it answered faster. I have been looking on the internet for two days now trying to find out something very fustrating to say the lest. I find no problem with the OP asking questions here, is that not part of one of the reasons for this board?
Yes, the purpose of the forum is to ask questions. Having said that, the OP has started over 2 dozen general "fishing expedition" threads in the last month.
He asks a question here because he is unwilling to "Google" for an answer. Yet he expects the people who answer the questions to provide information. Half the time somebody asks a question the first thing I do is Google the question to find the answer. If he doesn't want to waste his time to try and find an answer, why should I waste my time to Google it for him? If he is having to sift through a bunch of junk on the internet, maybe he need practice on figuring out how to better define his searches so he gets less junk. After so many general, broad questions, the people who like to answer questions start to get burned out.
I would suggest that rather than having us type a book for him, he might want to read some books or read some on line material and answer some of the basic questions himself so he can ask more focused questions.