# CENTER BEAM FLAT CAR LOAD



## leonpete (Jan 4, 2008)

Not wanting to spend a lot of money on a wraped lumber load for my center beam flat car, I decided to make my own. I wanted a custom logo for my railroad on the wrap since purchasing a lumber mill in Washington State. Printed out a sheet with " B&L LUMBER " on it but that looked to plain.










So I drew some trees on it and scaned it to the paint shop. Then sprayed the trees green and the trunks brown and reprinted the sheets. Looks better with a little color.










I used a Elmers school glue stick to adhere the wrap to the 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" X 7 1/4" wood block. Folding the ends like a wraped gift. Easy to make and works for me.



















I still need to make some wood spacer blocks of wood to place below the wrapped loads and inbetween them. I ran out of Elmers glue stick to finish the other3 loads.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

WHOA! You didn't read the sign stenciled on the center beam... "Load both sides evenly... car may tip!"


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## dawinter (Jan 2, 2008)

Great lookin car. You can't have to many of them.


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

Leon,
Looking great, your added artwork was definitely the right touch to those wrappers. Thanks for sharing.
Rick Marty


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## Bob Vaughn (Jan 5, 2008)

That looks so good I decided to create a page to print some for my wood loads with the name of my lumber company.....I just wonder if there is some thin plastic/vinyl type material that will go thru an ink jet printer??


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

They make a vinyl ink jet paper. I got some awhile back, works great. Print on it, let it dry for a bit, then cut it out and peel off the backing and stick it on. Papilio is the company. They have decal paper also, the vinyl comes in matte and glossy. My cheapey HP printer did not like it, but my wife's Canon had no problem.


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## leonpete (Jan 4, 2008)

Thanks to you all for the compliments. I changed the printed wraper slightly and also made some smaller loads.


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## Bob Vaughn (Jan 5, 2008)

Those looked so good I went and checked my loads and the plastic wrap that came on them had dried out and cracked and broke so I followed your lead and made some for my railroad....Great Job.....


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice, Leon. The different sized loads look much better. Well done....









If you'd like, you could include the trees from a graphics program with the lettering and print them on an ink jet printer to size, attach them to the wood and then carefully spray a few coats with Krylon Crystal Clear Satin. It will last for quite some time.


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## Tom Thornton (Nov 18, 2008)

Now all you need is some banding straps or cables to keep the lumber on the car.

Tom Thornton


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## Biblegrove RR (Jan 4, 2008)

Leon, who makes the IC car, it looks great!


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## leonpete (Jan 4, 2008)

Hi John 
The center beam flat is a USA TRAINS car. Thank you! 
Hi Stan, 
Your right that the different size loads look better. I actually like the smaller loads best. I've made a few of each. Thanks !


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## ort11 (Mar 21, 2011)

Nice post. I have a couple of the USA Trains version. The only thing that I can't seem to figure out is if the loads are 4x8 or 4x16. If 4x16 the 4 count is correct for this size car (about 35') (for length, height is another question. Lot's of real ones are longer. I made some as a test shorter to get the longer car look, but going to make some more to scale. Going to try the 4x8 loads first. Just wondering what it is like in the real world. 4x8 or 4x16. The ones that I have delivered are 4.x8 with 2 4x4 pallets hooked together.

The height that i have in the photo below I think is the right scale height, like 4 stack. So if 4x8 loads that would be about 4x4 or 16. If 4x16 loads it would be 2x4 or about 8?

Comments please.


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