Trainworx Flat bed trailers in at MBK

[unittrain]

Picked up a few flat bed trailers and SCL and an L&N. Hope to see the flexibility van flats soon.

[cfritschle]

These are indeed really good looking trailers.  The simulated wood deck is very well done!

It is also interesting that the two "modern" trailers sold out so quickly.

Carter

[wazzou]

I've got some NP and older red ones coming.

[cfritschle]

Here is a photo showing the simulated wood deck!


These trailers also have a hollow king pin, in which the hole will accept a piece of 0.035 inch brass rod.  This is really helpful for those of us who like to use smaller king pins!


Carter

[nkalanaga]

I'm one of those using the smaller kingpins, and they do look better, although it doesn't matter when the trailer is on a tractor or flatcar.  My real reason is that I started using them MANY years ago, when money was short,  trailers were rare in N scale, TOFC cars even rarer, and there were no standards.  Since I basically had to build my own, and 1/32 brass rod was cheap, that's what I used.  When better trailers became available, I didn't see the point of changing my stuff to a standard that looked worse. 

So, now, I have to plug all of my hitches and drill new holes.  Not hard, except for the flatcar hitches made from unglueable plastics...  Closed trailers are easy, just cut the pin off, drill a hole, and add the new pin.

If I'd known that I would still be doing that 45 years later, I would have used smaller wire.  0.020 would be closer to scale than 0.035.  For anyone interested, this page has a dimensioned photo of a standard kingpin:

https://www.etrailer.com/question-42403.html

Way off topic, but if you think railroads have done some strange things, here's evidence that truckers are just as odd.  No, I've never heard of this either:
https://www.etrailer.com/question-99556.html

[cfritschle]

I'm one of those using the smaller kingpins, and they do look better, although it doesn't matter when the trailer is on a tractor or flatcar.  My real reason is that I started using them MANY years ago, when money was short,  trailers were rare in N scale, TOFC cars even rarer, and there were no standards.  Since I basically had to build my own, and 1/32 brass rod was cheap, that's what I used.  When better trailers became available, I didn't see the point of changing my stuff to a standard that looked worse. 

So, now, I have to plug all of my hitches and drill new holes.  Not hard, except for the flatcar hitches made from unglueable plastics...  Closed trailers are easy, just cut the pin off, drill a hole, and add the new pin.

If I'd known that I would still be doing that 45 years later, I would have used smaller wire.  0.020 would be closer to scale than 0.035.  For anyone interested, this page has a dimensioned photo of a standard kingpin:

https://www.etrailer.com/question-42403.html

Way off topic, but if you think railroads have done some strange things, here's evidence that truckers are just as odd.  No, I've never heard of this either:
https://www.etrailer.com/question-99556.html

My experience was very similar.  Back in the late 1960s, the only decent looking flat cars for intermodal use were the Atlas and Aurora 50 foot cars, neither of which had hitches for the trailers.  And, since my modeling era was 1968, and all of the prototype trailer flats that I saw had collapsible hitches, I had to make my own hitches from styrene.  My smallest drill bit at the time was the #62 bit that came with the Kadee drill and tap set that I was using to body mount Kadee MT-5 couplers.  I would use the #62 drill for the hole in the 5th wheel plate, as well as the hole for the king pin, usually a Boyd Models or Con-Cor trailer.  I would then look around the house for something that fit through the hole.  I was a teenager at the time with a very limited modeling budget, so I generally used the thickest straight pins that I could find for the king pins.

A few years later (1970 or 1971) Revell was getting out of N scale, and they had their Rapido auto racks at the blowout price of around $1.25 each.  I bought as many as I could afford, and "de-racked" them with a razor saw to make 85 foot flat cars to which I added my scratch built hitches.  I used those "Revell" trailer flats until the Micro-Trains 89 foot flat cars became available around 1990.  I soon discovered that I could force some styrene rod into the Micro-Trains hitches, and then drill a #62 hole for the king pin.

So, that is how my "standard size" for the king pins on all my trailers came to be.   

Carter

[nkalanaga]

Carter:  I was a little luckier than you, having snagged one of the Arnold/Rapido TOFC cars in 1969 or 70.  It even came with two trailers, and very nicely detailed they were, although not "prototypical".  They were actually 40 ft containers on chassis, "lettered" for the Santa Fe, with the lettering on clear plastic tape stuck to the sides!  I still have those two trailers, and one still has the original tape.

For the time, this was a very nice car, solid metal, although a little short, about 83 feet long.  The same car was made later by Model Power, in plastic, usually warped, and ConCor made a lengthened metal version, by adding one panel to the underframe.  It looks weird with 40 ft trailers, being well over 90 feet, noticeably longer than true 89 ft flatcars.

Spookshow has a page on this car, in the same black Trailer Train scheme as mine,  although I would dispute the "86' " description:
http://www.spookshow.net/freight/arnold86flat.html
Look closely, and you can see the tape the lettering is printed on.  I never saw one of the original cars sold by CC, but will take his word that they were.  There were a lot of things that weren't sold in Pasco back then.

The oddest thing was that, while the Arnold car had hitches, the kingpin was on the hitch, with a hole in the trailer floor.  Once other trailers and flats were acquired, that had to be changed.

I still have that car, with body mount 1025s and MT trucks, and sometimes run it, as I haven't found a better model of that style flat.  It has been repainted, having acquired a lot of scrapes and chips, but since it isn't an accurate model of any known GTTX car, I kept the black paint and "GTTX 104" reporting marks.

And, yes, I have used straight pins for kingpins in the past, as well as roof vents, stove pipes, truck exhaust pipes, signposts, and lot of other things, especially where I wanted a silver color, or strength.  Having lived with cats longer than I've had trains, the value of durability was learned from the beginning!

[cfritschle]

I am not sure if lucky is the right word, I have one of the Arnold Rapido GTTX 104 flatcars in my box of "retired" equipment.     The reason it is a little short is because the flatcar was used as the under frame for the Arnold Rapido hi-cube boxcar!

Getting back to the Trainworx trailers, here is a view showing the "hole" in the center of the king pin.


And, I need to find a photo of the prototype hauling one trailer on another so I can appropriately place the tie downs.  The hay haulers in Idaho frequently run doubles, but will load the second trailer on the first trailer when they are returning empty.  I am sure that makes for much better handling on the highway.


Carter

[nkalanaga]

Carter:  I've seen both the Arnold boxcar and the piggybacked truck trailers.  I remember seeing the flat in the late 60s MR ads, but not the boxcar.  If that's the case, then they may have decided to recycle the flatcar, rather than designing it for double duty.  I have one of those boxcars, but have never run it, because it "just doesn't look right".  The autoracks aren't too bad, with some work on the bolsters, but the MT and Athearn cars look much better!

I've seen a few trucks with the stacked trailers on I-64 here in eastern Kentucky, but as you said, they seem to be quite common in the Northwest.  I suspect that's because the western states have long allowed full-length doubles, while most eastern states only allow two short trailers, or one long one.  The few I've seen back here were probably transporting new, or excess, trailers somewhere, rather than simply returning empties.

For anyone wanting to duplicate Carter's load, if you plan to keep the load together, I would definitely replace the kingpin on the top trailer.  They don't show on coupled tractor-trailers, or trailers on flatcars, but this one stands out.

[wazzou]

Living in the NW, having a family owned trucking company and driven trucks, many years ago, I have never seen 40' doubles.
I have seen 40' combined with 20' and 32' with 28' and double 28' but never a tractor with two 40' trailers.

[Missaberoad]

Living in the NW, having a family owned trucking company and driven trucks, many years ago, I have never seen 40' doubles.
I have seen 40' combined with 20' and 32' with 28' and double 28' but never a tractor with two 40' trailers.

Like anything truck related in the United States it is a pretty complicated subject once you scratch the Surface.

40' doubles (and later on 48' and 53') were common in states that allowed Turnpike doubles since at least 1959 (mostly in the North east and the western states east of the Rockies) they were also pretty common on the Canadian Prairies (as are 53' doubles today)

They were not allowed on the west coast however. (I know Washington had a law restricting the max trailer length to 68' including the dolly) so you would more commonly see Western doubles (Two 28' trailers) Rocky mountain doubles (35' or 40' + 28' combo) or a B train Set up (two trailers up to 33' with an integral fifth wheel (ie: no dolly) (with those lengths being the max)

This is an admittedly very basic summary, each state had different laws that came into effect at different points in history and prior to the early 1980's there wasn't much agreement between states. I'm yet to find a good historical reference of all of the rules/changes.

a good article on the larger doubles.

https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hcc/2010/10/Thruway-Doubles/3690831.html

I was able to find this undated map showing which states allowed various trailer combinations.




And since all this is pretty useless without pics 

Here's a Doug Grieve photo of a 40' flatbed "Turnpike double" ready to head into the States in Welland Ontario.

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/doug_grieve/dg_tallman_transport_frtlnr_coe.jpg

David A Bontrager Photo of Safeway 40' doubles on Kansas Turnpike in 1965

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/bontrager/60s/dab_safeway_frtlnr_turnpike_dbls.jpg

Very early shot of Cooper "Turnpike doubles" on the Indiana Toll road

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/fgruin/c/fg_cooper_jarrett_1c.jpg

1970's shot of Maislin 40' doubles

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/dfaust/2008/01-07/maislin_kw_k123_pikers_promo_70s_re-done.html

Inland Express

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/macneil/vintage/frm_prints/p3a2/inland_exp_frtlnr_trnpk_dbl.html

DC

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/dfaust/time_dc/df_time_dc_mack_tp_dbls1.html

Red Star Express lines/TNT

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/donq/red_star_white_9564.html
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/dfaust/2009/03-22/file008.html
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/dfaust/2009/03-22/file007.html
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/dfaust/2009/03-22/file009.html
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/dfaust/2009/03-26/scan10978.html
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/donq/red_star_white_9564.html

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/dfaust/2007/09-16/red-star-piker-2.html
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/dfaust/redstar/red_star_tnt_frtlnr_tp_dbls.html
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/dfaust/2009/03-30/scan10941.html
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/dfaust/2009/03-30/scan10992.html

[cfritschle]

Ryan,

Thanks for the great info!

This link is to a Google Street View of a hay hauler's yard area that is not far from my home.  https://www.google.com/maps/@43.5834317,-116.3937158,3a,75y,87.91h,95.66t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1seZ7DTIVetO7otCLXtKZGNw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

However, this hay hauler generally uses COE flatbed straight trucks with short(er) doubles.  Nevertheless, it makes for an impressive consist when the truck and trailers are loaded with hay.  Now if I can just find the one that uses the 40-ft doubles.

Carter

[Missaberoad]

Hay haulers are fun and since many are privately owned and don't face the same level of scrutiny that interstate trucking companies do they seem to get away with alot more...

Hard to find big trailers as doubles tho... I have to think that the weight would become an issue at that point...

I did find this one that looks like two slightly less then ~40' trailers

http://doublehphoto.blogspot.ca/2011/03/hauling-hay.html

and some other interesting doubles (some 40' all with smaller trailers)

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/alberta_trucks/highway2/june2002/kw_hay_hauler2.jpg
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/dfaust/misc/agl_kw01.html
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/dfaust/misc/agl_kw02.html
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/dfaust/misc/unidentified_kw_hay02.html
http://s571.photobucket.com/user/norseman77/media/usa-fall12-2/DSC_5961.jpg.html
http://bulk-share.slickpic.com/album/share/jDMzNTDNjzhA1N/6311250.0/1200/p/DSC_0268.jpg
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/alberta_trucks/highway2/june2002/kw_hay_hauler1.jpg
http://bulk-share.slickpic.com/album/share/iMNN5DjN5NzjTA/9160874.0/1300/p/DSC_8671.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/ab/ee/f4/abeef476c838635c20d537b5b42df3b4.jpg

 

[AlbertSpor]

Ryan,

Thanks for the link to the Safeway trailer picture.
 I hope to model a freelanced Safeway distribution center down the road.
This will help add more to the scene.
Also the other info has interesting to read as well.

Thanks
Albert Spor

[Missaberoad]

Ryan,

Thanks for the link to the Safeway trailer picture.
 I hope to model a freelanced Safeway distribution center down the road.
This will help add more to the scene.
Also the other info has interesting to read as well.

Thanks
Albert Spor

Albert,

Lots of great Safeway shots on Hankstruckpictures worth digging through

here's a couple to get you started...

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/dab_60s.htm

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/df_safeway.htm