This page details how I construct custom flatcar lumber loads for my model railway. While significantly more work than a pre-made molded and painted or printed resin or plastic load, the result is a more realistic looking three dimensional load with actual spacers and gaps between rows and strapping. It also avoids the cookie cutter look by making every load a little unique from each other by varying the exact combination of bundle sizes and the locations of any gaps or spaces in the rows. It also means I’m not limited to whatever larger lumber companies are featured on commercially available lumber loads, and I have lumber graphics specific to the smaller mills that were actually served by my railway.
Printable graphics for several different lumber companies are provided at the bottom of this page, below the instructions. Feel free to print these and use them to create your own loads. (In fact if you do, I’d love to see them!) There’s also a blank template for which you can create your own graphics or download company logos from online to make your own variations.
The general technique can also be adjusted with different size blocks to model wrapped engineered joist and drywall loads.
Instructions
- Choose a nice, piece of wood, preferably a good quality scrap of pine, with no warps and square edges.
- Rip into strips on a table saw, 13mm* wide (4 scale feet) by 8.5mm tall for standard 2 1/2′ tall bundles. (Fits four rows to a car.)
Some bundles are wrapped to 2′ (5 rows) and 3 1/2′ (3 rows) heights. - Cut the strips into blocks matching the bundle lengths.
- 8′ studs (28 mm)
- 10′ studs (35 mm)
- 12′ studs (42 mm)
- 16′ studs (58 mm)
- Sand any burrs and splinters from the edges.
*HO scale measurements.
- Print out the selected graphics file on regular white paper.
- The printed graphics show black marks at each end; use this as a guide to cut out the graphics into strips using a sharp hobby knife and straightedge
- Cut the strips to length with a small square to wrap the various sized blocks.
- 8′ (44 mm)
- 10′ (51 mm)
- 12′ (58 mm)
- 16′ (72 mm)
- Apply glue to the back (un-printed) side of the paper wrap using a standard craft glue stick.
- Center a wood block of the matching size on the edge of the long side of the paper and press down.
- Fold the wrap over the long sides of the block, making sure it glues down securely. Use your fingers to get a sharp crease in the corner of the paper that extends out past the end of the block.
- Using a sharp hobby knife, cut along the inside of the folded corner beyond to separate the sides and top of the overhanging wrap into separate flaps.
- Fold the side flaps in first. (Re-apply glue if necessary.)
- Fold down the top flap over the end. (Re-apply glue if necessary.)
- If the paper wrap extends below the bottom surface of the block, trim flush with sharp knife to complete.
Note: Spend some time studying older photos of lumber loads on standard flatcars or this actual Conrail reference guide to see how the bundles are staggered and strapped together. In the model world, the load is all glued together, but in the real world it’s all held together with strapping, so the bundles are staggered so that bundles beside each other are connected by being strapped to the one above or below. At minimum, each end of any bundle should be strapped to one above or below it.
For modern centre-beam cars, the central truss structure and ratchet & cable tie downs standard to the car means the bundles can be stacked and secured with no staggering, although some staggering may still occur when different lengths of lumber are included in the same load.
- Cut the bearing pieces for the bottom of the load, short spacers for between the rows and longer ones for between the halves of the stack from scale strip wood. I used 2×6 strip wood for my spacers, but mills might use various stud sizes from 2x4s to 4x4s. The diagrams in the Conrail reference guide linked above show either 2×4 or 2×6 pieces as standard to use for these spacers.
The bearing pieces (bottom spacers) should be the width of the car. Short spacers between levels can be just the width of the lumber bundle. The vertical stabilizers/spacers should be about 10 scale feet, or a little taller than the stack of bundles. - Glue the small spacers to the bottoms of the lumber bundles with white glue, except for the bottom row which should rest on the longer bearing pieces.
- Assemble the bottom row by gluing bundles together end to end. Use glue sparingly. Make sure the row stays straight.
(Assembly of the bundles may be done on the car in question to ensure a good fit. Avoid glue drops or place a piece of waxed paper on the flatcar deck to protect. Don’t glue bundles directly to the car – the load will be removeable when done.) - Assemble the second, third and fourth rows as above, gluing them to the top of the lower row. You may assemble each side independently, or at the same time, gluing the bundles to the vertical centre spacers.
- Let the glue dry before moving to the last step.
- The strapping on the model load is represented with 1/64″ wide black Chartpak graphics tape (obtained online from an art/graphics supply store), which actually roughly scales out to about 1.5″ wide, not too oversize. I applied this after the load was assembled and glued together using tweezers and a pin to insert the tape in between the layers. Apply a drop of glue with a pin or thin toothpick in a hidden place if necessary to secure the tape, so the natural adhesive doesn’t loosen.
- Add the guide rails along the sides of the loads; these should be out of 2×6″ stripwood and will be glued to the tops of the extensions of the bearing pieces that stick out beyond the sides of the bundles. Add short retainer stakes to several of the side pockets.
Related Blog Posts
- Wrapped Lumber Bundle
- Assembled Newaygo Load
- Conrail Lumber Loading Reference Guide
- Lumber Traffic on the ACR
Printable Lumber Wrap Graphics
Unless specifically stated, all graphics are sized for printing for HO scale 2 1/2′ tall bundles although you can play around with your own graphics and logos to print out wraps for larger or smaller bundles. To ensure that the graphics are printed the correct size, make sure the “Print Actual Size” option is selected in the printing options. (Note – The PDF viewer built into Edge on Windows 10 doesn’t have the “Print actual-size” option and will always shrink to fit. The alternative Reader app also has the same problem. If you’re on Windows 10, either use the Excel spreadsheet files, or download and install the actual Adobe Acrobat Reader app, so you have full control over scaling when printing.)
Note: I’ve noticed some possible issues with Internet Explorer trying to download the XLSX links. Not sure why, since it’s just a link to an Excel file and Microsoft’s own browser should understand that. If you do get a page of gibberish clicking on one of those links, try an alternate browser like Chrome or FireFox. That seems to work.
Dates in the listings below preceded with ‘~’ may be approximated based on photographic sightings, and may be applicable for a larger date range than stated.
Blank Excel Template
XLSX (HO scale 2’6″ bundle height – most common, 4 rows)
XLSX (N scale 2’6″ bundle height)
XLSX (HO scale 2’0″ bundle height – 5 rows)
XLSX (HO scale 3’6″ bundle height – 3 rows)
Company Graphics By Region
- Maritimes (including Gaspe Penninsula)
- North-Eastern Quebec (north of St. Lawrence R)
- Southern Quebec (south of St. Lawrence R)
- Ontario and North-West Quebec
- Central Canada (Manitoba & Saskatchewan)
- Western Canada (B.C. and Alberta)
- Canada-Wide & International (generally larger companies)
- United States
Gaspé & Maritimes
Cedrico Lumber (Price, QC) – ~2013
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Fornebu Lumber (Bathurst, NB) – ~2013
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Irving – ~1999-2004
PDF – Prototype
(Artwork file courtesy Andrew Castle)
Temrex (Nouvelle, QC) – 2009-Present
PDF | XLSX – Prototype – Model (Taylor Main)
Twin Rivers (Plaster Rock, NB) – ~2011-2012
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
North-East Quebec
Boisaco (Sacre-Coeur, QC) – ~2015
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Donohue Inc. – ~1991 (to Abitibi-Consolidated in 2000)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype – Model (Matthieu Lachance)
Uniforêt (Port Cartier, QC) – ~2004
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Southern Quebec
ARBEC – 2015+
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Clermond Hamel (Saint-Ephrem-de-Beauce, QC) – ~20xx?
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Clermond Hamel – ~2014
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Clermond Hamel (125th Anniversary) – 2015
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Matériaux Blanchet (Saint-Pamphile, QC) – ~2015
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Portbec Forest Products (Quebec, QC) – ~2015
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Northern Ontario & North-West Quebec
Chantier Chibougamau (Chibougamau, QC) – ~2013-2017
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Domtar – ~2000-2010 (sold sawmills to EACOM in 2010)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Domtar – ~2000-2010 *3.5′ Bundle*
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Dubreuil Forest Products (Dubreuilville, ON) – ~1989-1995
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Dubreuil Forest Products (Dubreuilville, ON) – ~1997-2007 (closed 2007)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
EACOM – ~2011-Present
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
E.B. Eddy Forest Products – ~1980s-1990s (to Domtar in 1998)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype – Model (CV)
Kirkland Lake Forest Products (Kirkland Lake, ON) – ~2017
PDF | XLSX – Protoype
Lecours Lumber (Calstock, ON) – ~1999
PDF | XLSX – Prototype – Model (CV)
Lecours Lumber (Calstock, ON) – ~2013
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Longlac Lumber Inc. (Longlac, ON) – 2015-Present
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Malette Timber (Hearst, ON) – 1989-1997 (now Tembec)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Nakina Forest Products (Nakina, ON) – ~2004 (closed 2008)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Nakina Lumber Inc. (Nakina, ON) – 2018-Present
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Newaygo Forest Products (Mead, ON) – 1974-1984 (closed 1985)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype – Model (CV)
Normick Perron (Amos, Senneterre, QC) – ~1994
PDF | XLSX – Prototype – Model (CV)
Olav Haavaldsrud (Hornepayne, ON) – ~2015
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Rayonier Advanced Materials – RYAM – 2018+ (was Tembec)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Scierie Landrienne Inc. (Landrienne, QC) – ~2013
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Tembec – ~2000-2012
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Tembec – 2012-2017 (to Rayonier Advanced Materials 2017)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
White River Forest Products (White River, ON) – ~2017
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Manitoba & Saskatchewan
Edgewood Forest Products (Carrot River, SK) – 2012-Present
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Alberta & British Columbia
Aspen Planers (blue logo) (Merritt, BC) – ~2007
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Aspen Planers (redlogo) (Merritt, BC)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Babine Forest Products (Burns Lake, BC) – ~1990-Present
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Canadian Forest Products (CANFOR) – ~1990
PDF | XLSX – Prototype – Model (Craig “BNML2”)
Canadian Forest Products (CANFOR) – ~2003-2006
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Canadian Forest Products (CANFOR) – ~2010-Present
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Canadian Forest Products (CANFOR) Red – ~2015
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Carrier Lumber (Prince George, BC) – ~2013
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Conifex Timber (Fort St. James/Mackenzie, BC) – ~2014
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Decker Lake (Burns Lake, BC) – ~1995
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Decker Lake (Burns Lake, BC) – ~2005-2012
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Dunkley Lumber Ltd. (Hixon, BC) – ~2003-2012
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Finlay Forest Industries (Mackenzie, BC) – ~1990 (to Abitibi-Consolidated in 2000)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Finlay Premium (Mackenzie, BC) – ~1996 (to Abitibi-Consolidated in 2000)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Foothills Forest Products (Grande Cache, AB) – ~2016
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
International Forest Products (INTERFOR) #1 – 2011-Present
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
International Forest Products (INTERFOR) #2 – 2011-Present
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Nechako Lumber (Vanderhoof, BC) – ~2010
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
parallel55 (Prince George, BC) – ~2004
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Riverside-TOLKO (Kelowna, BC) – ~2005-2015
(2.5′) PDF | XLSX – Prototype
(3.5′) PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Skeena Sawmills (Terrace, BC) – 2013-Present
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Slocan Group (Quesnel, BC) – ~1990
PDF | XLSX – Prototype – Model (Craig “BNML2”)
Slocan Group (Vanderhoof, BC) – ~2004 (to CANFOR in 2005)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Stuart Lake Lumber (Fort St. James, BC) – ~1980s
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
(With assistance from A.J. Shewan)
Stuart Lake Lumber (Fort St. James, BC) – ~1996-2004 (closed 2007)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
TOLKO – ~1990
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
TOLKO – ~2005-2015
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
West Fraser – ~1974
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
West Fraser – ~1986
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
West Fraser – ~2004-Present
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Westar Timber (Watson Island, BC) – ~1986
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Country-Wide & International
Abitibi Bowater – 2007-2011 (renamed Resolute Forest Products in 2011)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Abitibi-Consolidated – 1997-2007 (to Abitibi-Bowater, 2007)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Abitibi-Consolidated (Finlay Premium) – 2000-2007
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Canadian Wood Products
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
iLevel Lumber (Weyerhauser) – ~2009
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Kruger – ~2005
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
MacMillan Bloedel – ~1995
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Resolute Forest Products – 2011-2017 (was Abitibi-Bowater)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Resolute Forest Products – 2017+ (was Abitibi-Bowater)
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Weyerhaeuser ‘Shed-Pak’ – ~1972
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Weyerhaeuser Building Products – ~1976-1985
PDF | XLSX – Prototype – Model (CV)
Weyerhaeuser Lumber – ~1985
PDF | XLSX – Prototype – Model (Craig “BNML2”)
Weyerhaeuser Lumber – ~2004-Present
PDF | XLSX – Prototype – Model (Tim Nicholson)
United States (West)
Clearwater Paper – ~2011
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Idaho Forest Group – ~2014
PDF | XLSX – Prototype
Hi Chris
Have you thought of using magnets embedded in the bottom lumber load to hold the load to the car, but make it removable during an operating session? Seems doable to me.
Regards
Blair
(Good news – up to my ears in a new house, complete with big train room and thick roof for Rasa. Bad news – so much to be done to finish new house and liquidate old holdings that I’ll be another year before I catch my breath. Oh well! We’ll be down in March for the double header tour, unless we make it before then)
I haven’t found that necessary so far, but there’s some pretty small rare earth magnets you can get, and it should be pretty easy to drill a hole in the bottom of one of the lower blocks to glue in a magnet (probably using epoxy to make sure it stays in there).
The loads are removable, and so far gravity/friction seems to do a fine job on a bulkhead flat.
Aside from N and HO I also model in Z scale.Would it be ok with you if your PDFs were converted to Z scale and posted on Z Central Station ( http://zcentralstation.com ) ?
Catt:
Sure thing!
My goal with doing most of this was that others would find it useful.
Chris,
I have a flatcar load of lumber on CN Newfoundland. It came from the Mainland somewhere. It is not the greatest photo. If I send it to you, can you have a look to see if you recognize it? Most of the lumber shipped were stacked on flatcars with no covering.
Thanks
Andrew
Sn42 CN Newfoundland
No promises, but try me.
chris at vanderheide.ca
Hi Chris,
I found the load that I was looking for. Now to figure out how to make the paperwork so I can print off to cover the lumber.
http://www.jwdpremiumproducts.com/duha-11283-20-irving-plastic-wrapped-lumber-ho/
Andrew
Hi Chris awesome work you have done. I know you’re a 1:87 modeller but have you any advice for converting your graphics to 1:160 (N) ? I guess mainly for the wood blocks. I think the conversion for the wraps would be like 54% or something similar.
Thanks in advance!
Eric ??
Hi Eric, the prototype size of the bundles is generally 2’6″ high x 4′ wide x 8’/10’/12’/14’/16′ long. Measuring against my scale rule, that works out to an actual size of 0.175″ or 4.5mm high x 0.300″ or 7.6mm wide for N scale.
The technique for making the graphics file is as follows:
When laying out the template Excel file, you can size the row height to a specific printed height. Insert the image, resize so it fits the row height exactly, then adjust the column width so it fits exactly to the image. (Highlight multiple columns to resize them all the same at once – then insert/delete extra columns as necessary.) Then copy and paste to the other cells ad nauseum to tile the image. Then print out, cut, and glue as per the instructions at the top of this page.
Do any pre assembled loads for us poor folks with little modeling time?! 🙂
I’m not sure *I* have that much modelling time either! 😉
There’s a certain amount of effort involved, I think pre made would sell for a decent amount to make it worth while.
Philip
Well, there are ‘fake’ loads, like the Walthers one for their Centerbeams:
https://www.walthers.com/wrapped-lumber-load-for-walthersmainline-72-centerbeam-flatcar-weyerhaeuser
but I doubt that’s what you’re looking for. Individually wrapped bundles, stacked, spaced, and fastened together? I can’t see that. It takes quite a bit of work to do enough for one of these cars. I spent most of a day sawing lumber to dimensions last month, and the yield was enough to do about 25 cars. I figure I can make those 25 loads in about another 3-4 days effort, maybe more. So if you work it out, that’s about an hour and a half per carload, maybe more. How much do you get paid per hour?
I look forward to your results Blair.
Hi Chris, I model 1983 on the SP in Oregon, and would love to have a few Weyerhaeuser wrapped loads on some bulkheads. I thoroughly understand the time and craftsmanship involved. Just was curious to know your thoughts and feelings, and level of interest in the project. Thanks for the time.
Philip
WOW! All l can say Chris is WOW! You have done the hobby an incredible service! l am modeling a BN branch line which did lumber loads from all over N.A. in the mid 80’s to mid 90’s in N scale. Cannot thank you enough. Gonna try printing ’em on white decal paper, see what happens. Not ready to work on ’em yet. Recognized quite a few of the logo’s from back then. Thanks again, Lord bless you for your hard work and generosity!!! J. Barrett
Thanks John.
It’s good.However it doesn’t help if you have no Nscale.
Great website cant wait to start building ho lumber loads.do you have wrappers for osb a d plywood as wait a go guys this great.do I have to have windows 10 to do this?
No, you definitely don’t need to have Windows 10! 🙂
I have done several types of these loads and have found them to be tedious but very satisfying when finished. I construct mine the same way. I find that gluing the paper to the wood eliminates that “puffy” look that some modelers get. Gluing the stacks of wood together is also an excellent Idea. I have found that if you use poster putty (sort of a sticky Play Dough substance found at any craft store) it makes the loads removable from the car with no damage to loads or the car. I just bought two Exact Rail 67 foot bulkhead flats and am gonna do the same treatment to them. Your loss look great and thanks for the info and paper designs. Will send photos when finished.
Great stuff Jimmy!
Thanks for doing the hard work and then making these available. During the the 2000’s I worked as a printing press operator for a company that made a lot of these lumber wraps. Kinda nostalgic, seeing these logos, they look great to me.
Thanks again