Making a Boeing fuselage transporter

[chuck]

737-100 was 94' long tip to tail. Only were 30 produced, 85 passenger capacity

737-200 was just over 100 feet long

737-300 was just under 110' long

737-400 was just under 120' long

737-500 was 102 feet long

737-600 NG was 103' long (glass cockpit

737-700 NG was 112' long

737-800 NG was 130' long

737-900 NG was 140' long

The lost fuselages were 3rd generation, aka 600-900 series. Production for NG (Next Generation) was halted in 2019 as production shifted to the Max.

Earlier planes were shipped in front and rear fuselage sections on separate flat cars. 300 series through 900 series were shipped on a combination 89' flat car plus a trailing 60' flat car to accomodate the overhang. Early series had a custom container on the back end of the 60' cars to accomodate additional parts. These were later shifted to dedicated "containers" bring up the rear of the shipment. BTW, the cars were over standard width as the center cradle extended the width by about 2'-3'. The 737 shared the same fuselage width as the 727 and 707's that preceded them.

You could determine the series by counting the windows if you can find a high enough resolution photo of an entire not partially submerged unit. A scale 700 would be just under 30" long!

A graphic showing the sizes of the various versions, the tail, aka vertical stabilizer and the elevators do not extend that far behind the end of the fuselage.

[philo426]

Wow!detailed info!

[HONDO74]

Pan Am was the kick off customer for the 747. I was working for Air Research at LAX and we got the contract to do the upstairs lounge and the first class in the nose of the plane.

Worked on several executive aircraft back then. We had Hugh Hefner's DC 9 in there for awhile. Until the company decided they couldn't afford to do the job. When it first arrived white bunny had to be painted over. The plane was visible from all the main roads and people were clogging up our parking lot trying to see the plane.

I was working 2nd shift at the time. Only the 1st shift worked on the plane. At night Hugh and friends along with some bunnies would show up and party on the plane. Before the day crew could work on the plane they had to clean up the party mess that was left behind. We had strict orders to stay away from it at night

It left our facility and went to Pac Areo in Santa Monica to be completed. They almost went bankrupt doing the job.

What Happened To The Playboy Private DC-9 Jet?
https://simpleflying.com/playboy-dc-9-jet-fate/

You need a Playboy Bunny DC 9 on your layout and some BUNNIES....

[chuck]

Or this:



Or this:



and if space is no issue, this:



Atlantis Models has issued a re-pop of the olde Aurora DC-9 in 1/72 scale in Hugh's Airwest markings or TWA. This is a model 10 with a fuselage length of ~100'. The Hefner/Playboy plane was a model 32 and was about 20 feet longer. If you really want to build that version you can buy a second kit and cut two 10 foot sections out of one and add them in front and just behind the wing. There are some other differences in the wing flight controls but I doubt the Aurora model is that accurate anyway. There are landing gear doors but no landing gear bays. I have just completed the Atlantis 727 and decided to configure it for in-flight. It is slightly smaller scale than the DC-9 or the Monogram 737 but it was a larger plane. Apparently Heff bought the DC-9 because it had build in air steps which Boeing had pulled from the 727 and never installed on the 737.

[philo426]

Tested it out and it barely cleared the Bridge!I am glad that the set is able to run! https://youtu.be/2efeYqseD2w

[chuck]

Very nicely done. You don't see that kind of attempt at near scale fidelity from the big guys!

I remember MTH's attempt at a "submarine" car. They had a replica of the NR-1 (Nuclear Research 1) stuck on a 50 foot flat car. NR-1 was something like 145 feet long? I guess the MTH version was staffed with refugees from Munchkin land?

The Lionel version was based on the real X-1.



While it could have fit in a flat car I have no idea if it ever did.

Anyway, Kudos. Just remember to mindful of tight curves and anything near them!!

[philo426]

Man I was freaking !I ran the Trainmaster really slow when it came to the bridge,going in was fine but coming out that tail only had about 1/32" of clearance!