I’ve got a 10-car train of beet gondolas. The kind Southern Pacific used to haul sugar beets across the system, especially in California. HO scale beet cars are out there, but they’re pricey. So I built my own. Cheap plastic gondolas. Not perfect, but they work. I call them 10-foot models. They look fine from 10 feet away.

I made two types. One has panel extensions made from styrene. The other has wood plank extensions made from coffee stirrers. Simple and fun to build. The photos below show the process.

The last photo shows the difference between a Red Caboose sugar beet car and my 10-foot model. The 10-foot model is missing a lot of hardware below. But considering the cost savings, I’m fine with the simplified look.

For the load, I used wheat berries to mimic the sugar beets. Big mistake! A mouse got into the garage. It ate the “beets” and left droppings all over the layout. Gross. Lesson learned.

Now I need a new way to represent sugar beets. Something that doesn’t attract critters. Suggestions welcome.