I have been making my own small 23’ flat cars. The wood used to cut the main flatcar top was out of maple 1’ by 3” I cut off 1¼” from it’s length which gave me an almost exact 23’ car. (Made quite a few with loads)

Here’s how I made mine. You will need a pair of bogie wheels and a pair of Kadee #5’s apart from the wood.

As will be seen from the photos below, the first stage after cutting the main flat top is to scribe the planking effect. I used a craft knife and T-square for this job; Next, is to mark out the underneath for the three pieces of wood. The centrepiece is ¼” by 3/16” and is 1” shorter than the overall main top. Kadee #5 boxes fit either side.

Two small pieces of 1/8” square (Hardwood) are placed at each side the full length, all are glued in place with either contact glue or epoxy glue. Once all is assembled, spray paint the lot with what ever colour you wish, then when all is dry, the sides will have to be drilled to accept small brass rod to enable the chains to hold the load. Find a nice looking load and the job is done. For my latest flat car I added a fire truck and trailer.

Have Fun.

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