# A One Day Project



## R.W. Marty (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi all,
Yesterday I was doing some yard work and noticed that an ore sample from the Reed Mine was starting to deteriorate from the weather.  This sample has been laying out for several years and is starting to crumble, it was one piece originally.










What to do with/about it?   Then I remembered a new Bachmann 1:20 Flat car that had been sitting on the shelf waiting for something to do.
Change the couplers, slap some sides on it, change the lettering, and slap a little weathering on it and it is ready for revenue service.






























In this last shot you can see the ore after I crunched it up a little with a hammer.  I saved the really fine stuff and will pan it out later.
I'm not sure that the railroads ever handled concentrated ore in open gons like this but I know the Reed mine was sending concentrates to Nevada,
to be smelted, on open flat bed semi's back in the early 1990's.

Anyway it makes a pretty good flat load and it's HEAVY.

Thanks for your time.
Rick


----------



## Duncan (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow, Rick!! 
Nice use of mmaterials on hand! 
I've got a couple of shorty B'Mann 1:20.3 20' gons coming, that might make a similar transition. 
While they are gons, and not likely to carry something lumber oriented, the #7 Bentwood Lumber Co. Shay should pull them nicely enough. 
Any thoughts what a gon would carry to or from the lumber mill?? 
(i have no good ideas at the moment..)


----------



## JerryB (Jan 2, 2008)

Rick: 

Great flatcar & load. I really like the combination of great modeling with your relative indifference when reporting the efforts involved! LOL! Your use of actual ore, especially when it's broken into pieces that fully appear to be scale models of the prototype 'boulder' is really unique. 

Duncan: 

Some possibilities: 
* Ship sawdust for various uses such as insulation, etc. Get some of the real stuff (sawdust) from under your sander.
* All RRs need sand, ballast, fill and rip-rap. 
* Cut out the ends of the gon and use it as if it is a flatcar with stake & board sides. That can accomodate everything from sand / gravel to stacked lumber to machinery shipments. Loading a big bandsaw blade that is going to or coming from repair into a gon would be easier than loading it into a boxcar and still provide pretty good protection for the load.
* Always be moving an empty car to pick up something (undefined) just because you can: As in its your RR!!

Again, great modeling! 

Happy RRing, 

Jerry


----------



## R.W. Marty (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Duncan,
Thanks for the reply.  Those short Gons would make good mill slab loads.  
Mill slabs ( the outside edges of the logs cut into 2-4 foot sections) were used a lot for boiler food by locomotives and stationary boilers.  Saw mills shipped lots of them into the woods for use by donkeys and locomotives, as well as moving them to their own boilers.

Hi Jerry,
Thanks for your reply.
Sometimes it takes longer to document and talk about it then it does to do the project.
I wish I had a real flat car load of that ore as it is pretty high grade.  The problem is the high mixture of lead, silver, and copper ore mixed with the gold.

Later
Rick


----------



## DrVibes (Jan 3, 2008)

Hey , a neat load Rick, I'm going to have to find a load for mine now too! What did you use for the lettering?


----------



## traindude109 (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice looking load Rick. It's about time you did something with that flatcar, hehe.


----------



## R.W. Marty (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Chris,
The lettering is really old dry transfer lettering sheets used by Arch & Eng companies.
I don't think they even make the stuff any more.  It's so old and the paint so dry that the letters will hardly transfer.  A real pain to use but can't get anything to replace them with.
They are really handy for spur of the moment projects like this.

Matt,
Where you been boy???  We missed you Saturday.  Could have used a little of your expertise when the 15" gauge diesel derailed because the Steam traction engine ran over the track and kinked it.

Thanks all
Rick


----------



## trainbuffjr (Jan 11, 2008)

Great job Rick! A great inspiration! Thanks for posting.


----------



## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

Great idea Rick! Have you given a thought to interchange? We could use a couple of hundred loads of that ore a week out here in Port Orford.


----------



## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice, Rick. It looks 1:1 for sure. Thanks for the idea.


----------



## chuckger (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Rick, 

Nice work both on the car and load. 

chuckger


----------



## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Rick, very nice. Thanks for the idea. Great flat car use! 

Say, that brake wheel looks a bit bent, was it from a wreck? The reason I ask is I had a derailment last summer and ended up with a couple of brake wheels that looked like that.


----------

