Railroad Tie Gondola Loads

 Greetings All,

Railroad Tie Gondola Loads

Watching various railroad videos from different era I've observed gondolas loaded with non treated and treated railroad ties being moved in different trains. Having a good number of gondolas and always in search of realistic loads I thought this would be something I could make on my own. 

I consulted with PC Ralph and Sir Neal about adding these loads to our PCCM gondolas for movement between our layouts and we agreed this would be good for our PCCM rail traffic.

A Prototype View of

Untreated Railroad Ties Drying

"DryingRailroadTies" by uacescomm is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
 

Modeling the RR Ties

I took a trip to a big box craft shop where I found the wood strips I wanted to use as the base for the loads.

Woodpile skinny sticks were selected to be used as the ties.

The PCCM gondolas that will carry these loads are from three different manufactures and have different inside lengths and widths. The bases are measured, cut and marked for the cars they will occupy.

After measuring the width of the gondola interiors I marked and cut the wood sticks and did a test fit.

The PCCM gondolas are from left to right IHC, Athearn BB and Walthers.

Raw ties get shoved by the PC NW-2 for future movement.

Some loose ties were placed on top to replicate loads I've seen in photos and videos.

The raw wood timbers will be heading to a tie treating plant for use as railroad ties.

Pressure Treating the Ties

Koppers with headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA in the largest provider of pressure treated cross ties in North America.

Railroad ties are treated with preservatives, primarily a coal tar-based substance called creosote, by injecting it into the wood under pressure to protect against insects and rot. Some ties undergo a dual-treatment process, receiving a borate treatment before creosote for enhanced protection. This process uses oil-based preservatives like creosote, which does not dry out, to ensure the wood's long-term durability in harsh outdoor conditions, unlike water-based treatments used for other lumber.

"South Side 'L' Track Improvements" by Chicago Transit Authority is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Treated RR Ties Arrive

Gondolas of treated ties arrive in Terminal Yard.

Not bad for some hobby sticks, strip wood and rattle can flat black paint!!

A second coat of rattle can flat black improved the look of the ties and gave them that oily look common in freshly treated ties.

Two Sided RR Tie Loads

Leave it to Ralph to come up with the idea of two sided railroad tie loads, something I never would have thought of. This was good advice!!

The two sided RR tie loads fit very nicely inside the gondolas. Raw ties are loaded in Walthers PC gondola 576104.

The tie load in PC gondola 576123 has been flipped to show the treated ties. Have to say this makes storing them easier and increases the height of the loads making them more visible.

Old RR Tie Loads?

After seeing this photo I thought that adding some old tie loads to the gondolas would be another set of interesting gondola loads. But not like these!!!

"Discarded RR Ties" by dok1 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Final Thoughts and Comments

This proved to be a pretty simple and inexpensive project that yielded twelve railroad tie loads, six raw and six treated plus some leftover skinny sticks for use in other projects like the above used tie loads.

 I used a steel rule to mark the "ties" in groups of four to six and cut them with pruning shears. Elmer's Glue was applied to the wood base and the "ties" were placed on the base while it was inside the gondola. They were straightened out as the process went along and allowed to dry overnight inside the gondola. 

I do plan to make some scrap tie loads in the future with the scrap pieces from this project and leftover hobby sticks

Additional Info and Links

Railroad Tie Composition and Treatment.

Railway Tie Association.

Creosote Council.

Koppers Railroad Products.

Thanks for reading!!!

See you soon!!!