Model Railroading on the Cheap

    This shows what can happen when an improperly secured load of pipe gets a hard hit such as rolling into a stopped string of cars probably at the hump yard. My friend sent me a photo that he shot near Youngstown Ohio of a shifted load of pipe. We modelers take inspiration from photographed prototype happenings. I thought I should try to make a similar happening.

    The car inspector has condemned road movement of this poorly loaded car. The switcher has just left this bad load at the car shop in Hillton. The workmen were over-heard to say: “Where is the DO NOT HUMP sign?” The man in the yellow shirt is on his cell phone “What do you want me to do with this thing?”

The Athearn car has had its frame cut and the weight removed to allow the car to set lower on its trucks. That requires that the coupler box be raised into the car end sill frame. I glued the Kadee #148 box to the bottom of the car floor. Then I concealed some weight in the removable load. This gondola will look better by setting lower on its trucks but will be light weight and derailment prone when empty. 10- 2013