Making steel slab loads for gondola's

During our last train show I discovered just how many gondola's I had with no loads. I usually make loads as I purchase new cars, obviously that didn't work out to good. (Didn't keep up!) Most of the loads I have are removable, with a few exceptions. I came up with and easy way of making slab loads. I know this may sound unorthodox but I use 1/16" X 1/2" hard wood strips. For as many as I need, woods cheaper. I usually make the loads 5 to 6 slabs per stack, after cutting the wood to a desired lenght (these I very as well), I use between 240 and 320 grit sand paper to smooth the cut ends. Then I glue the strips together and set aside to dry, once dry I paint them with Floquil "reefer grey". When they are dry, I run my thumb across the wood to remove any remaining fuze from the slabs. Then I glue on the cross boards they set on. These are basically unstained scale railroad ties. The last thing I do is to find newspaper flyer's with bar codes. The bar codes are cut into long narrow strips vertically to the lines. The strips are no thicker than a slab, they make good labels for the ends. Keep in mind that most loads are viewed from a distance. They may not be prototypically correct, but to me they look just fine. You be the judge.