Freight Car Friday - TTZX 35442

Centerbeam flatcars have been a common sight on the rails for about thirty years. Used mainly for lumber, plywood, wallboard and similar building products, these cars feature a pair of bulkheads on the ends and a tall open wall down the center to help secure the loads. Often the loads are wrapped in plastic, givng these cars a completely different look. One challenge with this design is that the car must be loaded and unloaded from both sides. This process must be done carefully or the car will tip over.

TTZX 35442
?2010 Ryan C Kunkle, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Trailer Train, now TTX Corporation is one of the largest freight car leasing companies in North America. Known for its intermodal flatcars and equipment, TTX also leases general freight cars including centerbeam, bulkhead and other flatcars. This car was passing through Cleveland, Ohio on Norfolk Southern. Its next load could take it anywhere in the country.

The closest model for this particular prototype was recently introduced in HO scale from Atlas. Walthers and Micro-Trains have made similar models in HO and N scales. For more images of centerbeams loaded and empty, see the Open Loads gallery.

For a larger image of this and other freight cars, see the Freight Car Friday Image Gallery.

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Model Railroading Month

November is Model Railroding Month. All around the world, you'll find more ways to enjoy the hobby, from open houses and clubs and homes to public displays in malls and museums. Of course the hobby begins at home for most of us, and there is no time like the present to get something done on your home layout.

Look for fun tips all month long on this site, and stay tuned for the start of a new special project to come!

Happy Modeling!

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Freight Car Friday - LT 8289

Gondolas are the among the most versatile cars on the rails, carying everything from dirt to steel. For modelers, they provide an excelent opportunity to model interesting open loads

LT 8289
?2010 Ryan C Kunkle, licensed to About.com, Inc.

This car belongs to the Lake Terminal Railroad, but was once owned by the Elgin Joliet and Eastern, one of Chicago's belt lines with a heavy concentration with the steel industry. Built in July of 1969, it has held up well for both owners in this demanding service as it nears its fortieth birthday.

While the car is about as non-descript as they come, the load adds a lot of interest. Modeling a pipe load like this would not be difficult. Some plastic tubing or even drinking straws will simulate the pipe. The most important part is adding the wood bracing and cable ties that secure the load in transit.

For a larger image of this and other freight cars, see the Freight Car Friday Image Gallery.

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Model Trains Information

The popularity of model trains is something which has never faded; this hobby has a seemingly eternal appeal to people of all ages. Certainly, collecting and running a model railroad offers many opportunities to use your creativity. Hobbyists often enjoy building the scenery for their model trains to travel through just as much as they enjoy the trains themselves.

If you’re new to this hobby, one of the first things you’ll need to learn are the concepts of scales and gauges. Don’t panic; it’s actually pretty simple. Scale denotes the ratio of the size of a model train in relation to the full size train it represents. The most common model train scales are G, HO, O and N scales. G scale trains are in a 1:22 ration, HO (meaning half O) scale trains are 1:87, O scale trains are 1:48 and N scale trains are 1:160, about half the size of HO scale trains.

Some less commonly seen scales are TT, Z and S scale model trains, with ratios of 1:120, 1:220 and 1:64, respectively. Each scale has its own pros and cons and is better suited to particular uses; and each has its own dedicated following, even the more obscure scales.

Gauge is the other important concept in the hobby of collecting model trains. When you hear a hobbyist talk about gauge, they mean the size of the track, specifically the distance between the rails. Since model trains and tracks are produced by many different companies, industry standard sizes were developed in order to make trains and tracks compatible with each other. Standard and narrow gauge track are the sizes you’ll see the most often.

Scenery is one of the most important things to model train enthusiasts. Hobbyists spend a lot of time and put a lot of effort into creating landscapes for their trains to travel through. You can make your layouts in any way that suits you. As long as you can lay your tracks on it, the only limit to what you can do with your layout is your creativity.

You may see model train layouts with features including hills and mountains, forests, farms, towns and even water features such as waterfalls and rivers. Some hobbyists get very creative with their layouts, even putting together entire miniature cities for their model trains to navigate through.

You can lay your track in your landscape any way you like. You’ll probably want to make your track a loop so that your trains will run continuously around your landscapes, but other than that, it’s up to you. You could use an oval, a layout with several loops or any shape you like. You should avoid making sharp turns though; just like a real train, model trains are not designed for sharp turns and can derail.

Building layouts for your model trains and collecting these models is a fascinating hobby which provides entertainment and a great creative outlet for people of all ages. It’s a hobby which is great for the entire family to do together and offers a wonderful opportunity for parents or grandparents and children to bond.

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