Another Carfloat question

I have the Walther's carfloat. Would the cars on it be tied down at all or would they just depend on the brakes to hold the cars in transit? There is no indication that there are/were provisions for tie downs of any kind on the deck of the carfloat.

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In the case of Great lakes carferries, as far as I recall the cars were almost always tied down with chains -- and there are pictures of how it was done in "The Great Lakes Car Ferries" by George Hilton (1961).

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That doesn't mean there weren't any there in real life. Every car float or car ferry that I've ever heard of used blocks and tie-downs of some sort or another.
BTW: for a real treat, see if you can find a back issue of the March 2007 Railroad Model Craftsman. It has a seven page illustrated article on the construction of a spectacular HO scale Southern Pacific car ferry* named the "Solano", that worked the upper San Francisco Bay until 1930.
The model is of jaw-dropping quality, and must be seen to be believed.
*A misnomer: the Solano was actually a "train ferry" in that it transported entire passenger trains all at once; including the locomotives!
Pete

wrote
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I have seen the model of the Solano. It was at the Gratiot Valley RR club's show n sale all the years that I was there. It was also at the National Convention and the owner said that it was being donated. I forget where it was going to, though.
Thanks for all the replies. I am going to see if it is practical to at least have the chains on the deck as if they were going to be used.

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down at all or
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transit? There is
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any kind on
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On the floats I used to see there were wheel blocks and chains. The chains had those turn-buckle type things built in for tightening them up.
In HO I suspect the chains would actually be pretty small, and hard to see. And if the model can actually have cars loaded & unloaded they are probably left off so they don't accidently get across the rails and cause a derailment.
Len

On 9/9/2007 3:27 AM Len spake thus:
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Probably some lengths of thread painted silver ought to do the trick.

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From the Walthers catalog:
A-Line Products:
116-29216 Chain -- 12" Brass, 40 Links Per Inch     HO     3.50 Sale: 2.98 116-29219 Preblackened Brass Chain (12" Long) -- 40 Links per Inch     HO     3.95 116-29222 Chain -- 12" Silver, 40 Links Per Inch
Detail Associates:
229-2210     Safety Chain -- 12" Long-40 Links Per Inch (black)     HO     2.75
116-29216 & 229-2210 are not instock.
Paul -- Excuse me, I'll be right back. I have to log onto a server in Romania and verify all of my EBay, PayPal, bank and Social Security information before they suspend my accounts.
Working the rockie road of the G&PX

It may be easier to use cables, rather than chains.
Go to any fabric/sewing/craft shop and purchase a roll of metallic thread - it comes in a number of different colors. I've usually used a silver(y) metallic thread that I've given a black or brown wash.
It makes for a very effective cable.
Andy

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Thanks, Andy and Paul. I knew about the chain, but not the thread. I will look into both.

On Sun, 9 Sep 2007 17:04:00 -0700, Frank A. Rosenbaum posted in
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Some craft stores and Wal Mart carry "tiger wire", used in beading and jewelry making. Stranded, comes in about 28 or 30 ga. on a spool.

snipped-for-privacy@pimin.wan.vpn (Paul Newhouse) wrote in
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*snip*
I used the A-Line chain on a recent project. It's not too bad to work with, about like string, but more flexible. I ran out twice, 12" just isn't much chain when your average link is 1.5 - 2".
Puckdropper