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Post by oldmuley on Mar 22, 2023 16:13:19 GMT -8
I'm interested building a Wisconsin Central "Mega Log Hauler" for my layout, but I'm not 100% sure on what bulkhead models to start with. My understanding is the car was made from two 50' bulkhead flats that were originally sourced from NS. The thing is, I'm having trouble finding and off the shelf model with the bulkhead that has the same design as what's in the picture. It's certainly not outside the realm of a straight up scratch build, but if there was a model I could start from it would be better. My usual online Wisconsin Central source has disappeared, so I can't get any information from there. Any ideas on available bulkheads to start with?  |
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Post by edwardsutorik on Mar 22, 2023 16:57:43 GMT -8
Sure:  This'll be your Walthers SIECO pulpwood car. You'll have to build your own bulkhead extensions. And some other stuff. Ed |
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Post by 690 on Mar 22, 2023 16:58:02 GMT -8
They look like Sieco bulkheads with an extension at the top of the bulkhead, side stakes added and the A-end bulkhead removed. Walthers offers the base Sieco car, so that would probably be the best starting point.
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Post by oldmuley on Mar 22, 2023 17:19:43 GMT -8
Thanks guys! That gives me a great starting point, and with a local train show coming up in a few weeks, I'e got something to search for.
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Post by pboilermaker on Mar 22, 2023 22:23:49 GMT -8
Is the prototype rigidly connected at the center, or is there a drawbar between them?
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Post by Colin 't Hart on Mar 22, 2023 23:10:56 GMT -8
Is the prototype rigidly connected at the center, or is there a drawbar between them? Drawbar connected. I found this photo (not mine) in a Flickr search for "Mega Log Hauler":  MEG ALOG HAU LER by Brett Kannenberg, on Flickr |
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wictl
Junior Member
Posts: 75
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Post by wictl on Mar 23, 2023 4:24:17 GMT -8
The best starting point would be the Walthers SEICO 50' pulpwood car, removed the required bulkhead, add the needed racks and drawbar the car together. Here is a link to my flickr page that has photos of the cars in various stages of rebuilding as well as some detail photos. www.flickr.com/photos/23293002@N05/albums/72177720296426556 Darin Unlauft A WC, SOO and GBW fan in Slinger, WI |
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Post by oldmuley on Mar 23, 2023 16:41:50 GMT -8
The best starting point would be the Walthers SEICO 50' pulpwood car, removed the required bulkhead, add the needed racks and drawbar the car together. Here is a link to my flickr page that has photos of the cars in various stages of rebuilding as well as some detail photos. www.flickr.com/photos/23293002@N05/albums/72177720296426556 Darin Unlauft A WC, SOO and GBW fan in Slinger, WI Darin, you are a savior! There used to be so much good Wisconsin Central stuff on the old WC2Scale site and I was sad to see it go. |
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Post by bigjdme on Mar 23, 2023 16:51:45 GMT -8
Bob is still on Facebook and if you ask you can get access to his stuff.
James
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Post by csxt8400 on Mar 23, 2023 17:42:50 GMT -8
Bob is still on Facebook and if you ask you can get access to his stuff. James Yep, join the unofficial Wisconsin Central modelers page. |
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Post by marknycfan on Mar 24, 2023 14:59:35 GMT -8
That IS phenomenal!
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Post by oldmuley on Mar 25, 2023 9:06:27 GMT -8
Bob is still on Facebook and if you ask you can get access to his stuff. James Yep, join the unofficial Wisconsin Central modelers page. Unfortunately, I'm banned from Facebook. Hopefully Bob will approve my request I submitted using my wife's account.  |
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Post by Colin 't Hart on Mar 25, 2023 13:27:00 GMT -8
Unfortunately, I'm banned from Facebook.  |
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Post by slowfreight on Mar 26, 2023 6:49:00 GMT -8
The AAR is very picky about drawbar-connected cars, as they can be seen as a way of cutting freight bills in half. But these probably worked by being in captive service on WC, where pricing could be made to work while solving a shipper problem.
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Post by Mr. Trainiac on Mar 26, 2023 7:29:23 GMT -8
The AAR is very picky about drawbar-connected cars, as they can be seen as a way of cutting freight bills in half. But these probably worked by being in captive service on WC, where pricing could be made to work while solving a shipper problem. Interesting point, I never thought about the implications of these cars before. Drawbar and articulated cars are common in intermodal, but not so much general freight. I still see these cars on the CN, so they might still be in some kind of captive service, but the larger CN system gives them more range. |
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Post by csx3305 on Mar 26, 2023 9:53:25 GMT -8
Did they use only SIECO cars for the conversions, or some Greenvilles too? CSX got some of NS’s Greenville woodracks, they look similar but have several detail differences.
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Post by slowfreight on Mar 26, 2023 12:16:05 GMT -8
The AAR is very picky about drawbar-connected cars, as they can be seen as a way of cutting freight bills in half. But these probably worked by being in captive service on WC, where pricing could be made to work while solving a shipper problem. Interesting point, I never thought about the implications of these cars before. Drawbar and articulated cars are common in intermodal, but not so much general freight. I still see these cars on the CN, so they might still be in some kind of captive service, but the larger CN system gives them more range. To that point, in intermodal service shippers are charged by the box, so there is more incentive to get creative with the railcars. |
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Post by jbilbrey on Mar 26, 2023 19:59:17 GMT -8
The AAR is very picky about drawbar-connected cars, as they can be seen as a way of cutting freight bills in half. But these probably worked by being in captive service on WC, where pricing could be made to work while solving a shipper problem. Interesting point, I never thought about the implications of these cars before. Drawbar and articulated cars are common in intermodal, but not so much general freight. I still see these cars on the CN, so they might still be in some kind of captive service, but the larger CN system gives them more range. I became interested in this thread/topic because I have seen the ex-WC Mega Log Haulers on CSX track down here in Middle TN in 2021-22, so they are (or were not at the time) in captive service on the CN system. |
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Post by upcsx on Mar 27, 2023 5:53:46 GMT -8
You can see Mega Log Haulers on the ELS and about the Walthers SIECO pulpwood car can you still find them.
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Post by edwardsutorik on Mar 27, 2023 8:39:49 GMT -8
The AAR is very picky about drawbar-connected cars, as they can be seen as a way of cutting freight bills in half. But these probably worked by being in captive service on WC, where pricing could be made to work while solving a shipper problem. I'd like to hear more about that. I didn't think the AAR got involved in rate-making discussions. I do note that back in the olden days (1966), GN assembled and ran several drawbar-connected flats for farm implements. And I'll note that the cars are listed in the ORER (the WC ones), so the potential for interchange is there. Ed |
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Post by csxt8400 on Mar 27, 2023 9:14:53 GMT -8
Interesting point, I never thought about the implications of these cars before. Drawbar and articulated cars are common in intermodal, but not so much general freight. I still see these cars on the CN, so they might still be in some kind of captive service, but the larger CN system gives them more range. I became interested in this thread/topic because I have seen the ex-WC Mega Log Haulers on CSX track down here in Middle TN in 2021-22, so they are (or were not at the time) in captive service on the CN system. Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I was on the CSX in Chicago and shot an S501 one afternoon back in 2011 or so (Cincinnati bound) and it had a handful of WC pulpwood cars in train as well. As a lifelong WC fan, I was happy to see them but also puzzled, as pulpwood hasn't historically been a long-range commodity to my knowledge. But there are shots and some odds and ends (waybills, etc) that I've been able to find that show WC cars going towards NY, and down South as you say. Neat to know it is still happening. |
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Post by cemr5396 on Mar 27, 2023 10:03:10 GMT -8
I have seen Mega Log Haulers here in Western Canada a couple times, loaded. I want to say the last one I saw was headed east, which likely means it was loaded in Alberta or British Columbia timber country. No idea where they may have been headed but clearly those cars are not only staying on the old WC any more.
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Post by kentuckysouthernrwy on Mar 30, 2023 15:57:39 GMT -8
I see them frequently on the CN between Escanaba/Gladstone and Manistique/Gulliver by Zellers pulpwood transload site, sometimes in the siding near Isabella alongside US-2. All I've seen were still in the grey with maroon paint.
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