Municipal waste trains: recycled intermodal equipment
ends do not protrude into the interior. The removable cap for an open con- tainer is built in a similar manner as the cap for a closed container. However, since the cap will not be cemented on, bend the flanges slightly inward so they will apply pressure to the contain- er sides and hold the cap on. Once the flanges have been bent inward, the an- gle of the bend can be reinforced by ap- plying a line of thin cyanoacrylate in- side the bend joint. To add a load to the open container, small scraps of paper or other “garbage” can be mixed with white glue and paint to form a “sludgy” com- pound for the floor of the container. A full load can be fabricated using a removable foam insert cut to the con-
To construct a removable load use a shaped foam insert and cover it with a sludge made up of white glue, paint and ground-up paper and dryer lint. It should not look like a gondola load of scrap metal but, rather, like a mostly indistinct mass. “Weather” the load to break up the color.
tainer’s inner dimensions, then shaped to form a crown in the center, just as one would do to make a coal load for a hopper car. Once the insert has been shaped, apply a thick coating of white glue and a coating of dryer lint over the top. Mix in small paper scraps and ash- es for texture, then brush the entire in- sert with diluted white glue. (To stop the insert from getting glued to the container line its inside with plastic wrap beforehand.) When dry, the insert may be painted dirty white, then over-
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sprayed with a mixture of Grimy Black and brown, yielding a removable load for an empty/load scenario.
Building a recycled flatcar Unfortunately for the modern-era modelers there are no “correct” models of the specialized railcars used for carry- ing municipal waste, but many railcars used in waste service have been ac- quired secondhand and adapted to serve this specific purpose. Two cars which are readily available
in HO scale are the 86-foot or 89-foot flat cars from manufacturers, includ- ing Athearn, Accurail and Walthers. With a few modifications any of these cars can easily be adapted to a munici- pal waste car and the factory decorated finish left intact.
Adapting a conventional TOFC flat- car to waste service requires removing the trailer hitches, bridge plates and trailer guide rails along the deck, mak- ing it a true flush-deck flat car. Then the container mounting pedestals get
JUNE 2012
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