Operating “high-wide” loads

Prototype railroads operate special trains for loads that are very wide or very high or very heavy, compared to conventional equipment, though of course such loads must still pass under all bridges and within the width of tunnels. Particularly when these are very heavy loads, they usually ride on special railroad cars. And as a possibly interesting complication to layout operation, they usually run at considerably reduced speed.

I have wanted to try and add such trains to my operating sessions occasionally. For this purpose, I have already created a few loads that would qualify. One of them merely comprised assembling a Class One Model Works load, which I described in a post last year (you can find it here: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2024/05/building-classone-model-works-car-load.html ). The load was then placed on a Class One flat car. I repeat a photo from that post below.

A second example is a truly large crosshead for a hydraulic press. I described preparing this load for service in a post awhile back (see the post at: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2020/06/blocking-for-big-loads.html ). It’s shown below riding on one of Southern Pacific’s 200-ton flat cars, a Funaro & Camerlengo model; construction was described in a series of posts (the concluding one is here: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2020/05/sp-200-ton-flat-cars-part-5.html ).

Another example is a 3D-printed heat-exchanger vessel I purchased from Dimensional Modeling Concepts, as I related in a previous post (see it at: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2020/07/another-impressive-load.html ). This can be carried on a suitable 70-ton car. For example, I have loaded into a 65-foot mill gondola. The gondola is a Precision Scale brass model, with some added detail and weathering by Richard Hendrickson. Here Consolidation 2575 powers the one-car train leaving Shumala westward.

A rather long-term project, on which I’ve slowly advanced for a number of years, was stimulated by finding at a train show (and purchasing on impulse), a very old Fleischmann 16-wheel heavy-duty flat car. This model had been modified to accept horn-hook couplers, but was otherwise stock, including typical European end buffers. My first job was to remove the couplers and their complex mounting, and to saw off the buffers. I could then insert Kadee no. 158 whisker couplers in their own boxes.

Next I needed to letter the car. Since it isn’t actually a U.S. prototype as far as I know, I had some freedom in doing this. I used some large-capacity data from an SP heavy-duty flat car decal set, and gave it reporting marks for General Electric (GEX), though not a number of an actual GEX car.

One version of the model as sold by Fleischmann had a large turbine included as a load. That was the version I acquired. The timber cradle for the load is visible above. I did want to change the label on the turbine, which originally read “Brown Boveri,” a perfectly appropriate European name, but not what I wanted. I needed to replace that sign.

A major American manufacturer of turbines for many years has been General Electric; their classic logo is readily found by Googling it. Signs were made and then applied to each side of the turbine. And speaking of signs, “DO NOT HUMP” signs were obtained from a Jaeger HO Products placard set and applied to the car at all four corners of the car.

From what I have read, equipment like this turbine could be bolted to the railcar using the attachment points that would be used when the turbine was installed for service. Accordingly, no hold-down straps or extra blocking was used, beyond the side support timbers. With all work completed on both car and load, here is the car in action on my SP main line. (You can click on the image to enlarge it if you wish.)

In the photo above, the car is being operated as a “high-wide special,” with the load being wider than the railcar, though not especially tall. In the view below, the power is Baldwin DR-6-6-1500 no. 5212, a re-detailed and custom painted Stewart model with aftermarket decoder and sound, shown passing the engine terminal in my town of Shumala.

As a contrast to other mainline trains, a “high-wide” special occasionally makes a contrast in an operating session. I expect to continue to operate them.

Tony Thompson