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(erielack) DL&W flats



In a message dated 7/18/01 9:27:08 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
bnchmark_@_eclipse.net writes:

> Nor have I been able to find suitable DL & W
>  flat cars. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough? Anyone else have any info?

The DL&W's flat cars were home built at Keyser Valley to USRA designs, but 
the Tichy flat car is very close to perfect.  Just the post holes are 
different, the model offers an extra rib that the DL&W cars didn't have.  You 
can file the relief off the two-dozen-plus tiny parts, or just paint the cars 
black and roll with 'em.  

These Tichy flats were also used to make the first of the piggyback flats in 
1954 and '55, and the fabricated steel additions would be easy to make in HO 
scale.  The rest of the piggyback flats were made from boxcar and hopper car 
underframes -- the same can be done in HO scale. The decks were mostly steel 
plate with wooden plank inserts, and the rest of the car was made from 
standard plates and construction shapes.  Instead of throwing out those old 
hoppers with the huge cast on details, take the centersills and bolsters and 
build flat cars on 'em, just like Keyser Valley.

My crystal ball sees Matt Forsyth busy already.

                    ....Mike

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