With the brake rigging installed, the next step was making and installing the truss rods. As per the prototype, there are a total of eight (8) truss rod halves in the car. In my case I made them from pre-painted 0.022" brass wire.

Each truss rod runs from a hole in the end beam, over the truck bolster, under a notch in the queen post and finishes roughly mid-way between the A and B-end queen posts.

Fitting the truss rods into the under frame may seem to be a trivial task but the reverse is true. Care must be taken to ensure adequate clearance between the brake rods, air line and the truck assemblies.

In the above photograph, note the 3-layer needle beams. These were constructed this way to allow for "square" holes in the needle beams to provide clearance for the brake rods. I can only assume that when building the prototype, it was easier to cut square holes most probably with a chisel, rather than drilling round holes.

The photograph below shows the flatcar with the Kay Dee #807 couplers installed and a peeling paint effect on its end beams and side sills. I wanted a "used and abused" look to my new flatcar. This was done by pre-finishing these sections with a razor saw and my black shoe dye / Isopropyl mix, then randomly applying rubber cement in blobs and long streaks. I then painted the sections with an acrylic zinc primer colour. Once this was dry, I used an eraser and some fine sandpaper to remove the paint and reveal the grain. Voila! peeling paint.

The photo also shows the flatcar after its decking was installed. I used pre-stained Mt. Albert O-scale 2"x8" basswood cut to a scale 7' 6" length for the decking.

Click here for part 3.