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PRR Railroad Barge


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It was brought to my attention that I could combine my life long love of trains and my new found interest in Tug Boats. There is still an operating barge system between NY & NJ run by PRR.  
I am going about this in what could be considered reverse order as the barge will be built before the tug as it will be a scratch build, the tug is a kit, PRR. The scale of the tug was a serious consideration as I wanted to use the cars, track and possibly other things that I already have. 
So far I have what will be the deck with the track plan. Have small parts on order, hope to receive this week.

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Hey Nick:

Have you given any thought as to how the rails on the barge will connect to the rails on the dock?  Wouldn't it have to be some sort of joiner that is temporary? I wonder if the real rail barges use something like a life size Split Jaw joiner? Do you know what they use?

 

Will you have it floating on real water?

 

sounds like a fun project.

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Nick:

 

I found this video/webpage that clearly shows the devices that align the barge with the rails.  They are big steel pins that side forward from the dock and pass through hoops on the barge.  It's a little hard to see clearly the place where the rails meet, but I don't think I see any rail joiners at all.  But I do see wheel flange guiding rails on the inside of the main track rails on both the barge and the dock tracks.  Since the barge rails must be at the same height as the dock rails guessing that the height of the barge can be adjusted by filling the barge hull with water (to lower) and pumping out water (to raise).  see: https://untappedcities.com/2017/02/02/behind-the-scenes-at-the-floating-freight-rail-line-that-crosses-the-hudson-river-in-nyc/

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Grant, thank you for the encouragement.

John, that is the exact one I am going to emulate.  I did mis-speak in my first post.  I was reminded that the PRR is long gone. I should have said it will be done in the 60's.  The tug is named Jersey City with the PRR logo on the stack, and yes I also hope to make the connecters that are on the barge and do hope to float it.  The track will be 'welded' to the steel deck without using the usual wooden ties.    LiG

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Sean,  LOL

Nick

I was wondering when you finish this ....(you were referring to the Salvage Tug) ( if you do :Smiling_Face_with_Tightly_Closed_eyes_large(24x24): ) were you going to build a car float ,... so you car move some box cars... QUOTE

 First have to attach wood strips below where the individual rail be fixed.  Then the whole thing will be primed with a sealer.

John: I did see where on the NY side there is a crane like mechanism that actually lifts the end of the barge to the height of the pier.  Only one side of the barge mates with the land, the other side has bumpers of sort to stop the cars.  

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Hi Nick:

I think you're right about the crane for raising one end of the barge.

 

At 58 seconds into the above Hudson river video there is a very clear but quick overhead shot of the barge/dock rail union.  You need to pause the video to have enough time to study a still photo.  There are clearly no rail joiners at the rail unions just before the cars pass over.

 

The HO guys seem to have a lot more experience in building car floats than the large scale guys.  (There are even model kits in Walther HO).  On You Tube you can see lots of videos showing scratch and kit built ones.  There also more videos of actual ones.  Seems that most of the scratch built ones are made from plastic or styrofoam.    See videos here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=railroad+car+float

 

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 John:  yes, 14 - 16 sec into the video are two  very large wheels that have cables and lift the barge to meet the pier.   thank you.   

Grant:  love the deer, or Australian equivalent,  munching the pop corn. did I see that correctly?       LiG

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Since I am using 1/4" underlay for decking I felt the need to add stringers below deck following the rail profile to give the nails a better bite and also secure the deck from flexing. A pic of a tie plate cut in half. I saw a pic of what looked like that welded to the deck with the rail secured to it. Made two track gauges from scrap wood, crude looking but non the less accurate. Making progress. LiG

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I have made some progress in the build. Fashioned what looks like the bow of the one in the pic. Taking the advice I received here and also on another forum, filled the ballast area with foam, have enough left over to also install in the cars I intend to use, thank you for sharing that Jack. as I'd hate to loose 11 cars in an event.  Planning on using Kilz as a primer sealer since it won't be in the water for more than one hour at a time, other suggestions welcome.   

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 Got some great advice from someone who has already built and successfully sailed one.  I believe that what I have so far is just too light and will probably bob like a cork on the water.  I have added a skirt to the existing build.  Instead of adding lead weight as advised I am planning on adding PVC pipe, plugged on one end and with a screw cap on the other so I can add or subtract sand so it rides in the water at the proper draft.  Building a crude pond to test the buoyancy.     LiG

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My scratch building in the spring also goes into slow motion. There's too much else to do. Like a switch being thrown, it will be too hot to do some things. Then, we can go back inside and fiddle some more. Just set your goals and keep the ship pointed towards the goal.

Soon we will be back raking leaves and preparing for the snow. So enjoy!!!

Oh, and nice work BTW.

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Joe, you are spot on.  Previous owners removed almost all the trees in the yard, so it gets unbearably hot during the summer days.  Morning and evenings are great for running trains.  Lower level of the house is below ground so nice and cool on those hot summer days, that's where the hobby rooms are.    LiG

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As I had previously mentioned it looked like the tie plates were welded to the deck and the rails attached to them. To achieve the appearance of that I split each 4 hole tie plate and am individually spiking each to the rail and deck. I also dismantled a standard Aristo turnout and am using it as the rails are already machined to allow the fit of the moved rails. Individual spiking of rail is a new and learning experience for me. What you see is a few hours of trial and error. I will appreciate advice from those that have already done this. Thank You.

 EDIT: finding that my Al rail is slightly twisted, so I had to remove it and force it the other way, it is now straight.  Thinking of using nails with larger heads, color won't matter as it's all going to be painted.     LiG

 

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