Maintenance-of-way trains and equipment
work car service. Work cars are typical- ly repainted and re-numbered into a common scheme used only for company service.
A model of these trains may be staged off viewed portions of the layout and simply pass through or over your section of the railroad. These trains are typically operated as extras, having low priority over the railroad. Lesser numbers of work equipment transport cars may also be handled in lower pri- ority freight trains. For the same purposes, track ma-
chinery transport trains and camp cars may move in their own train (or com- bined with track machinery cars). Camp cars house track workers during the work project, and one camp car may sleep from four to ten workers. Lockers, washing facilities, seating and tables normally round out the interior. Each car may be sub-divided into two or more rooms.
RAILROAD MAGAZINE COLLECTION: 1915
er bars, cable slings, chains and extra freight car trucks. Boxcars may hold smaller supply items that have to be protected from the weather (extra ca- ble, wood blocking, grease and oils, etc.). A dedicated passenger coach and a dining car would be included, as these work crews will be on-site until the wrecking operations are completed. For the same reasons, one or more sleeping cars may also be included. Modeling a wreck train can get quite elaborate, especially if you insist on modeling every conceivable car and de- tail. Remember though, unless you have a large terminal yard, you’ll likely have little space to visibly stage these trains. A small train could be kept, limited to only the crane, tender and few supply flats and boxcars, on most layouts’ mod- est yards. Don’t forget to load the flats with wrecking supplies. You may even model an open boxcar door to show off detailed tools and supplies inside. Track machinery transport trains are often seen as the mobile track re- pair crews that replace rails or crossties are moved from project to project location. These trains are often strings of flatcars equipped with rails mounted on the car decks. Medium to large work machines are typically driv- en up ramps to reach the decks of flat- cars. Smaller pieces of equipment are normally lifted with a crane onto flats or into gondola cars. Boxcars may be included to supply crews with the grease, oils and the many spare ma- chine parts required in keeping these crews operating.
The most difficult part of modeling these trains would be assembling the work equipment machinery from kits,
72 OCTOBER 2013
but that would make for an impressive looking train. Quite often, older, lesser capacity flatcars were downgraded to
These cars vary in design and con- struction from railroad to railroad, but many were converted from older box- cars and passenger cars. Several rail- roads even reused World War II troop
CHRIS D’AMATO: DULUTH, MN; OCT. 7, 1978
Southern Rwy.’s 100-ton steam crane No. D36 (top) was used for clearing wrecks and other heavy lifting. This Grand Trunk 150-ton crane (above) is part of a Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific wreck train. Built in 1922 as a steam crane, it was later converted to diesel power. Old passen- gers cars were assigned to wreck trains to house workers. This string of Erie-Lackawanna cars (below) includes a troop sleeper, an Erie Stillwell car, a gondola and tender for the crane.
CHRIS D’AMATO: PORT JERVIS, NY; MAR. 28, 1976
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