Custom-Made Flat Car with Engine Loads

Was it Geller toy trains? They also do military loads too!

http://gellertoytrains.com/mca...EHICLES+ON+FLAT+CARS

Probably Ralph's Trains. 

You probably are talking about the diecast Caterpillar Diesel Generator sets mounted on a flat car.  I have one.  I built it myself.  Not that hard and I am not really that gifted when it comes to making up my own cars.  I picked up the Cat Diesel Generator set from ebay.  It is a diecast model made by Norscot.  I then modified the engine to fit on two flat cars, depressed cars so that it could be fit in my clubs tunnels. 

There was someone who built many cars with those Norscot (sic?) engines. Very nice workmanship. Think they were for sale on "you know where" place.

Steve could probably whip one up for you.

I made one of those as well (although these are not what the original poster was talking about, I don't think). The Cat diesel engine (which is diecast) originally had a large plastic fan unit on it, which I removed, and did some other mods to it (mostly with a Dremel with cutting wheel) and fiddled with the plastic base, and fitted it on this Lionel depressed flat car. (I painted the wood deck portions of the car with spray textured paint, and lettered it for UP.)

You can make easily these yourself. Use Lionel scale flatcars - most of the newer ones have real wood decks (there are shorter and longer versions available in many road names). Then just buy a diecast piece of equipment of your choice from any of many vendors out there (Diecast Direct is just one), set it on the car and fasten it with small chains or elastic straps, and you're done. Those Allis Chalmers graders and scrapers shown at the Geller site are available from quite a number of sources - I have both of them and they ride on a couple of those Lionel flatcars with the wood decks. (I think they're made by First Gear, and are really nice models.)

Yep.  That is exactly what I did.  And I mounted the radiator on another depressed flat car. 

I believe you are probably talking about Ralph's Trains.  He is usually at York in the Purple Hall.  Does very nice work and is very helpful.

Buzz

Digges, Ralph

151 Ruth Lane
Williamsburg VA 23188

rdigges@cox.net

ralphstrains.com

(757) 871-0200

He is always in Purple hall at York, Sorry dont know his name

I work at Caterpillar & all the recent engine die-cast models including the 3516 from the earlier reply, from Norscot or from Classic Construction Models are 1:25, not O-Scale. There were some other models in the past in possibly 1:12 for a smaller engine but I have not seen any in 1:48 or 1:50. Conrad made a 1:50 scale MAN engine model in the past.

These are just my opinion.

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

The engines don't have to be scale.  In fact, they are just the right size where they look really cool on the flat car.

“Just right” must be a personal preference. Having worked in the engine business, the 3516 or any engine in 1:25 scale seems way too big on an O-Scale depressed center car. I got a 1:25 scale Caterpillar C175 engine / generator at work, but having seen the 1:1 scale engine, it looked ridiculously big & wide on a regular flat car. Being a die-cast model, it is also very heavy. I still have it on my diorama but haven’t decided what to do with it.

These are just my opinion.

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

Really????   Try putting a 1:25 scale dozer on your 1:48 scale flat car, depressed center or not, and see how THAT looks.

The diesel generator set works just fine and looks really cool.  I will post pictures when I have time.  But not today.  I am at work.  I can't speak for a dozer.  I do have military dozers I purchased from MTH on UP TTX flats.  They are probably not 1:25, more like 1:48.  They look well balanced.  The diesel generator engine looks just fine and does not look outsized compared to the rest of the loads.  It is just a large engine being hauled.  Does not have to be any scale other than it has to fit on the layout and has to be able to be hauled.

Regardless of scale, I like the Norscot DG models and they do look good on a flatcar.  I've stood beside Cat and Cummins diesel generators that are up to my chest and others that are above eye level at the top - and they all look about the same except for size. 

something to keep in mind is that the Noscot models aren't cheap.  The 1:25 units cost around $100 - $150.  They are big and very good looking, but they will likely cost more than the car carrying them. 

I agree with all who state the Norscott Caterpillar 1/25 scale diesel generator is too big for O Scale. However, with a little bit of selective shedding of parts and kitbashing, it can be made to look a credible size. 

Very nice!  I found this  Norscot 1:25 CAT CG260-16 4.3 MWA generator - which was only recently released - at a good price.  The model is 14.5 inches long by 3+ wide by 5 high, and frankly it does look alot like much bigger diesel generators I've worked with.  So regardless of scale . . . 

The real one weighs 56 tons -but at 1:48 this one, on my layout it will be equivalent to a 30 MVA low-speed nat-gas recip generator weighing about 400 tons.  Very cool.  I'll build a very special car to carry it - with lots of wheels! 

Lee, with your talents that should look awesome!

With respect to argument posted by some above regarding the engines being too large, I have no problem with the size of the engine (as shown in my photos above). I just characterize it as an engine intended for shipboard use, for example, a tugboat. 

A spirited discussion!

Naveen, you're right, I am fairly diligent about scale and wanting a realistic look.

I only run MTH Premier engines and rolling stock except for a few Lionels I bought before MTH was really a presence in the marketplace.

Ralphs trains sounds familiar and the website has some nice-looking cars, although  I recall seeing more engines and out of the ordinary equipment at the Greenberg show than the usual CAT excavators.

I once looked at dcmodelsonline and Norscot because I was looking to build my own, but work got in the way and I put it aside.

I do like the real wood floors, but I'll check if MTH has anything like that w/o a load so I can add my own.

You're really missing a bet if you've been heading this direction. Lionel's scale flatcars are far more detailed, and nicer, than the MTH versions. You should look at them.

After I saw these I had to make some. Here are the ones I have done Might be a little big but I think they make nice looking cars. they always get nice coments at show when I take them and run them on the Modular lauout.

Those look fantastic.  I love 'em.

Don "Industrail Models" Smith did a pair of flats with the 1:25 Norscott Cat Diesel and radiator. The radiator is huge and needs to be mounted on a drop-center flat or you'll have potential height clearance issues. The most plausible argument is that it's a marine application. They look great. I have the flat cars but never got around to mounting the engine and radiator.

Do marine engines need a radiator? I thought they used Sea Water for cooling.

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

Here are some O scale models of modern flatcars in use today.

Well, it arrived.  It is possible - just possible, mind you - that it is a bit too big to mount on any type of railroad conveyance.   Here it is with a DD35A.  It is a very cool generator.  Wish I had two 1:48 models but this will do nicely at work, with my models of wind turbines, transmission towers and such, particularly given all the distributed generation/microgrid stuff we're doing now.

No, but the sea water does NOT circulate through the engine, as the salt water would totally ruin all the steel parts. A very large heat-exchanger is used, and in addition to the engine's cooling system pumps, there are also raw water pumps that circulate the sea water through the heat-exchanger. Naturally, the raw water pumps are NOT steel/cast iron, but bronze, and the piping is stainless steel.

Lee, I have what DOC posted above and it looks fine.  Yours does look a little on the large side.  You are essentially moving a large ship engine  as a wide load on a specially modified freight line in your world. 

Do completely assembled ship engines of this size ever need to be moved by rail?

My employer builds large MaK branded medium-speed 4-stroke marine engines at the Baltic Sea coastal facility in Kiel, Germany & all the shipyards (that I know of) are also located at coastal locations. For comparison the Caterpillar (EMD) 710 2-stroke, 16-cylinder engine has a displacement of 186 liters & the 3516, 4-stroke, 16-cylinder engine has a displacement of 78 liters

This information might seem irrelevant but we are pretending that a 1:25 scale engine model is appropriate for a 1:48 / O-Scale / O-Gauge freight car. Yes there are larger engines like the MaK VM43C marine engine with a 1,088 liter displacement & if any model manufacturer made them in O-Scale would have similar dimensions to this 1:25 scale 3516 Norscot models but I can’t see a reasonable scenario where VM43C need to be transported by rail.

These are just my opinion.

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

Here is an O-scale 16-axle flatcar that could handle a large diesel generator model.