Friends,

I am curious if anyone has developed a technique for simulating the wire “twisted” and used to secure the wood verticals for gondola pipe loads across the tops of the load in HO scale (see photo)? My layout sees through trains to the port of Baltimore at Locust Point and many 1940 and 50 period photos have pipe loads presumably for export. I have reviewed the various period AAR diagrams and period photos and the AAR recommendations don’t seem to have been followed all the time, so I am only trying it on a few loads. 

My photo shows some .006 brass wire I started to twist to get close to scale size of the multiple wire sizes recommended to be wrapped together to secure the load from too much movement. I am curious if anyone has tried this and their techniques before I go down the rabbit hole and build a jig to twist the wire.

Thank you for your input  

Bruce D. Griffin
Ashland, MD
https://bomodeling.com/blog/

 

Attachments:

• 4CBD0B22-B97E-4EA8-8AF4-E81493B62169.jpeg

On Mon, Dec 12, 2022 at 12:37 PM, Tim O'Connor wrote:

In the past there has been HO scale wire cable available...

I don't think he's looking for cable as he's trying to model the soft iron wire that was looped around the tops of the stakes (sometimes several strands) spliced to itself, then twisted with a bar to draw the stakes tight. I would start with a super flexible cord like lamp cord and separate a few strands. The more flexible the cord, the smaller the strands and the more of them. Standard AWG (American Wire Gauge) sizes go down to 40, which is .003 in diameter, which is 1/4 inch in HO scale. The strands should be dead soft so they can be twisted back on themselves to splice. Bonus points if you can find wire that is pre-tinned, as that will be the correct color.

Dennis Storzek

Remington Industries sells tinted magnet wire down to 40 AWG. I twisted strands to make tie-down cable for my tractor loads.

High Quality Wire and Raw Material Distributors | Remington Industries

Nelson Moyer

On Mon, Dec 12, 2022 at 12:37 PM, Tim O'Connor wrote:

In the past there has been HO scale wire cable available...

I don't think he's looking for cable as he's trying to model the soft iron wire that was looped around the tops of the stakes (sometimes several strands) spliced to itself, then twisted with a bar to draw the stakes tight. I would start with a super flexible cord like lamp cord and separate a few strands. The more flexible the cord, the smaller the strands and the more of them. Standard AWG (American Wire Gauge) sizes go down to 40, which is .003 in diameter, which is 1/4 inch in HO scale. The strands should be dead soft so they can be twisted back on themselves to splice. Bonus points if you can find wire that is pre-tinned, as that will be the correct color.

Dennis Storzek

Friends,

I am curious if anyone has developed a technique for simulating the wire “twisted” and used to secure the wood verticals for gondola pipe loads across the tops of the load in HO scale (see photo)? My layout sees through trains to the port of Baltimore at Locust Point and many 1940 and 50 period photos have pipe loads presumably for export. I have reviewed the various period AAR diagrams and period photos and the AAR recommendations don’t seem to have been followed all the time, so I am only trying it on a few loads. 

My photo shows some .006 brass wire I started to twist to get close to scale size of the multiple wire sizes recommended to be wrapped together to secure the load from too much movement. I am curious if anyone has tried this and their techniques before I go down the rabbit hole and build a jig to twist the wire.

Thank you for your input  

Bruce D. Griffin
Ashland, MD
https://bomodeling.com/blog/

You can get spools of stainless steel wire from Jewelry Suppliers, you can get very thin wire.

-Hudson

Rule in 1942 for poles, pilings, on flatcars, between stakes, 11 ga wire, 6 strands 3 wrappings.

p. 10 of the 1951 Rules calls the same. One full loop (or wrap) around two stakes is considered 2 strands. So 3 loops is 6 strands. Put a piece of scale 1x4 between the loops and twist till taunt.

11 ga wire is 0.1205 or 1/8” as called out in the AAR rules

I have super fine stranded wire that is .004, or as Dennis points out, ¼” in HO, or close to 7 ga wire 7 ga only calls for 2 strands or a single loop. Lamp cord will yield about the same.

 

Doug Harding

https://www.facebook.com/douglas.harding.3156/

Youtube: Douglas Harding Iowa Central Railroad

 

From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> On Behalf Of Bruce Griffin
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2022 1:13 AM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: [RealSTMFC] Securing Pipe Loads

 

Friends,

I am curious if anyone has developed a technique for simulating the wire “twisted” and used to secure the wood verticals for gondola pipe loads across the tops of the load in HO scale (see photo)? My layout sees through trains to the port of Baltimore at Locust Point and many 1940 and 50 period photos have pipe loads presumably for export. I have reviewed the various period AAR diagrams and period photos and the AAR recommendations don’t seem to have been followed all the time, so I am only trying it on a few loads. 

My photo shows some .006 brass wire I started to twist to get close to scale size of the multiple wire sizes recommended to be wrapped together to secure the load from too much movement. I am curious if anyone has tried this and their techniques before I go down the rabbit hole and build a jig to twist the wire.

Thank you for your input  

Bruce D. Griffin
Ashland, MD
https://bomodeling.com/blog/

 

Attachments:

• Figure30poleloadingrule1942.jpg
• MD-5 p 10 1951 wire tie.jpg

On 01/05/2023 11:28 PM Bruce Griffin <bdg1210@...> wrote:

Friends,

So I took this detailing effort down a little bit of a rabbit hole, looking for scale size and prototype accuracy. My first attempt in the attached photos was using .006 brass wire that I had on hand for some reason. I painted it grey after twisting. I built a jig for twisting the width of the load (and second for a wider load, see photo) to wrap the wire and twist it. See the brass plate photo with three nails. Clearly I couldn’t get enough twists to mimic the prototype, fail. But it is twisted wire similar to the prototype.

Following advice provided I ordered some much thinner stainless steel wire and will see how that works  I wanted to share the intermediate steps and see what advice was available. Thank you for the previous insights that led me to this point.     

Bruce D. Griffin
Ashland, MD
https://bomodeling.com/blog/