Centerbeam Flatcar | Basic Construction
Introduction Part of the plan for my BNSF Lakes Subdivision layout includes modelling the Potlatch operation just west of Grand Rapids, MN in the 1980s. Potlatch was a manufacturer of Oriented Strand Board (OSB), a sheet material fabricated from wood chips which are combined with a resin and compressed under heat and pressure. The material is shipped in 4' x 8' sheets and used for home construction. I don't have any photos of carloads coming out of the facility, but it is likely that Burlington Northern used their "opera window" centerbeam flatcars manufactured by Thrall. These cars are available commercially as ready-to-run, but I thought I would take the opportunity to build three of them from scratch in N scale. I have never scratch built any freight cars before, so everything here is new to me. At this point, I don't expect to create something that I would have evaluated for the NMRA Achievement Program . They should be adequate to meet th