Photos of my Plate C P&LE Flatcar

[tom]

I completed the weathering of my Plate C P&LE flatcar that is available from 3D Central.



The car is a very well done printed car that comes with a nice laser cut wood deck. The decals were from Mt Vernon Decals that are made specifically for this car.



The kit is very well done and assembled per the instructions without any problems. Instead of using the etched metal flat grabirons I instead used 0.0125 wire from Tichy. The car comes with a weight but I added a little more using sheet lead to bring it up to the NMRA standard. I also used Kadee short shank couplers (#153).



As mentioned the car comes with a laser cut wood deck but I beat it up to represent a car running in the PC era. I first scribed the gap between boards deeper and then gouged out the boards here and there. I did paint the car first and then added the wood deck. I weathered the car using pencils, airbrushing and Tamiya panel Line accents.  I used India Ink to color the wood deck.  The ACI panel is from Tangent.



The Tahoe Model 70-ton trucks with Tangent wheels completed the car.  Still need a load for the car.

[riogrande]

Very nice looking flat car!

[jacksong1218]

Great work!! Loving everything 3D central had been doing.

[simulatortrain]

Tom, that is a beautiful car!

[csxt8400]

Love some P&LE! Another good one, Tom. Thanks for sharing.

[scl1234]

Nice work, Tom!

Plate C must have width stds. - which I was unaware of.

[nsfantodd]

Great modeling and great weathering! Especially like the draft gear!

[tom]

Thanks! It is great to be able to have new models of prototype cars that were not produced in great numbers.

[win70rob]

Awesome looking car! Great job!

[ernestbaron]

www.mountvernonshops.com/products/ho-p-le-951-f-108-f-flatcar-decals

Here's the decal set Tom used. Looks to be pretty well researched.

[grahamline]

Is this strictly a P&LE car, or are there very near cousins?

[simulatortrain]

May 21, 2024 14:16:43 GMT -8 grahamline said:

Is this strictly a P&LE car, or are there very near cousins?

P&LE only. There were some somewhat similar B&LE cars which were not cushioned and if I remember right had a different number of stake pockets.

[schroed2]

the second car in ths picture looks like PLE 741 and the bulkheads are quite visible

www.ebay.com/itm/335290035648

I do NOT think that it was very easy to load two M109 (?) howitzers on a flatcar w 12" bulkheads, but...

Disclaimer: I have some experience with driving M109 and M110 howitzers during my days in the german army including loading them on flat cars

[edwardsutorik]

Open hatches??


Ed

[markfj]

Based on the photos and Tom’s excellent modeling skills, you would be hard pressed to tell that this model wasn’t injection molded. Nice!👍
Mark J.

[tom]

May 23, 2024 7:18:12 GMT -8 markfj said:

Based on the photos and Tom’s excellent modeling skills, you would be hard pressed to tell that this model wasn’t injection molded. Nice!👍
Mark J.

Thanks but Plate C takes the credit for making it look equivalent to an injection molded model. I did not have to do any sanding or other surface prep prior to painting.

[cera2254]

I have been working on mine as I get time. Kudos to Plate C for making an oddball car that’s just so unique you just have to have one!