# Caterpillar Tractor-Crawler Flat Car Load



## rhyman (Apr 19, 2009)

The Caterpillar Tractor Company was formed in 1925 with the merger of the Holt and Best companies. Both companies had been independently developing and manufacturing tracked machinery. Until farm tractors with rubber tires became widely available in the 1940’s, Caterpillar was heavily involved in the farming market. Their most popular small tractor-crawler was the Model Twenty-Two. It was built in Peoria, Illinois and was in production from 1934 to 1939. Powered by a four cylinder, four stroke kerosene engine, the tractor-crawler was rated at 30 HP and weighed about 6600 pounds. 15,156 total units were built. It was the first Caterpillar vehicle to be painted in the now familiar yellow color.



















The tractor-crawler is actually a 1:16 scale model from Norscot Die Cast Models. Although the tractor-crawler is considerably oversize in relation to the Bachmann 1:20.3 scale flat car, it is visually acceptable to most viewers for two reasons. First, unless the viewer is a tractor-crawler enthusiast, they probably do not know how small the Model Twenty Two actually was. Secondly, most viewers are familiar with modern Caterpillar bulldozer equipment of the same color and expect them to be large.



















The Norscot model comes in a pristine condition and looks like a brand new piece of equipment, fresh from the Caterpillar factory. I weathered it with powdered pigments and India ink to get it to the well-used, but still serviceable, condition you see in the photos. I then locked-in the weathering with a couple of light oversprays of clear flat spray paint (the cheap kind from Walmart.) I still need to add some tie-down chains and a couple of planks for blocking, but you can get the general idea of what it will look like from the photos. Just wanted to pass on a handy tip I learned a long time ago ... don't be afraid to mix scales to create an effect!


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Awesome










Looks great weathered, and on a nice looking Bachmann flat too. 



Mixing scales for loads like these is an excellent tip, but sometimes doesn't work out so well if the scales are too different.


I wanted a vintage tractor load but couldn't find any close to our 1:22.5 scale. Most were 1:16 like your crawler. Unfortunately 1:16 is too big in my opinion for anything smaller then 1:20.3. But then I got lucky and found a pair of what I think are close to 1:25 scale metal tractors on eBay. They needed new paint and lettering. But after some work, I think they make a nice flatcar load:














Any idea what you'll use for chain tie downs? I need tie down chains as well and would like to use Ozark Miniatures. But I'm not sure if the lengths mentioned on their website and in the catalog are scale or actual.


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## rhyman (Apr 19, 2009)

Matt, 
I bought a five-foot length of Ozark Miniatures blackened brass chain, P/N 1023, to use for my tie-downs. It is 8.5 links per actual inch. In 1:20.3 scale, each link scales out to 2.4 inches. For 1:22.5 scale, each link would scale out to 2.64".


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks Bob.

Is the five feet actually five feet? Or is this a scale 5 feet?


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## rhyman (Apr 19, 2009)

Yes. It is an actual five feet of chain. Should be enough to make lots of tie-downs, chain hoists, and numerous other little clutter details.


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