The three bottom boards that form the base of the wood cradle have been set in place and the first length of pipe glued on them (above). Note the added chocks at each end of these boards to keep the pipes from rolling and shifting. The second pipe was placed parallel
to the first. Since the pipes are fragile, tweezers are a big help while doing this (above right). Once the bottom row was finished, three more boards for the wooden frame were installed and the second row of pipes added (below left). Here’s the completed frame (below).
Once the pipes were glued in place, I glued the final set of cradle boards to the top row of pipes. I set this stack aside to let everything dry thoroughly. While the glue was drying, I built the second stack of pipes and then set it aside to dry. When all the glue was dry (overnight) I took some scrap basswood and built the cradle sides. This was done by measuring the distance be- tween the cradle bottom and top boards. I then cut the basswood to size and glued it in place with wood glue. I repeated this for all the bottom/top cra- dle frame boards. When the glue was dry, I used a fine pen to mark nails at the joints. Small bits of painted brass or plastic could also be used to mimic iron straps at the corners. There is no need to weather the cradle lumber since it is normally new lumber that is used for this type of blocking and support. Finally, I glued the two stacks of pipe into the well of the gondola and at- tached some blocking support to the floor of the car. Small black felt pen dots on the blocking represent bolts.
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
The pipe loads are constructed to be removable, but I chose to glue mine down to reduce the risk of damaging
the pipes. This type of load could be used for gondolas, bulkhead flat cars or standard flat cars.
This finished load of pipes makes an interesting flat car load. Note the wood cradle’s many little details: the nail hole marks on the side boards, the iron straps on the frame corners and the small wood chocks on the horizontal boards that help to hold the pipes in place.
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