Model Railroading > Oddity: The Short Line

I belong to the San Diego Model Railroad Club and a couple of the members have created "The Short Line". The idea is that the cars can be any type but can only have two or less axles (although we do allow 3 axles if it is a heavyweight truck).

I built a flat car for this train a few years ago. The deck was only about an inch long. And it runs real well.

Then I started to get creative and the result is in the attached picture. I built an open-end gondola to haul pipes. But since the pipes are longer then the gon, I needed a couple of idler flats. The idler flats are indeed one axle cars and are actually coupled to the gon.

Charles

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Here is a shot of the entire "short Line". Note that all of the cars are numbered in fractions or decimels.

Charles

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A very 'cute' original idea. Kudo's! Did the locomotive have actual power? What is the wheel guage?

Yes, the locomotive has a 44-tonner truck under it. However, it will not pull the entire "Shirt Line". I have found a couple of older locomotive which have the motor as part of the truck and I am trying to turn them into a cow/calf unit and a A-B-A set of cab units.

And FYI, the flat car I mentioned in orginal message is just behind the pipe gon.

Charles