Removable Coal Load

[Drew1125]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum to put this in, but it is something I whipped up from scratch, & although this particular one is N scale, this would easily work in any scale.
I just built this little car, so I needed something for it to haul...so I thought I'd show how I made a removable load of coal my favorite way, cheap, fast, & easy.
I start by cutting a piece of styrofoam roughly to the dimensions of the car, & then using sand paper, smothing the top into a rounded shape.

 

[Drew1125]

Then I painted it with some flat black craft paint...

 

[Drew1125]

Onto this I brushed some full-strength white glue.
I had picked up a piece of coal of the tracks near my house...I crushed it with a hammer, & sprinkled this onto the wet glue.
I sprayed the whole thing with some hair spray to seal it, & this load is ready to roll.

 

[Tyson Rayles]

Fine looking load of coal you got there!

 

[spitfire]

Charlie that's a great idea! Especially the part about smashing up a piece of real coal. It's my feeling that sometimes there's nothing like the real thing (as Marvin Gaye once said)

I tried unsuccessfully to match the colour of our local dirt with paints and finally ended up using some from the side of the road, ground up finely. The price is right and you can't beat the colour match!

Cheers
Val

 

[Drew1125]

Yeah,
I wanted to use the real coal...
But if you wanted to do this, & did't have access to the real thing, you can find commercial model coal, which would also work.
You could also use this technique to make loads of other materials, such as ore, ballast, sand, etc...

 

[Catt]

The only other place I could think of to put this would be in Tips-n-Tricks. Nice job buddy.

 

[Matthyro]

Great "how to" Charlie.
Thanks for posting it.

 

[jon-monon]

Originally posted by Charlie
Yeah,
I wanted to use the real coal...
But if you wanted to do this, & did't have access to the real thing, you can find commercial model coal, which would also work.
You could also use this technique to make loads of other materials, such as ore, ballast, sand, etc...

I was just thinking what else might work without the scavenger hunt I wonder how charcoal would come out, or maybe black chalk.

 

[Drew1125]

I thought about both of those too Jon...didn;t try either one...
I would think the charcoal might be a better stand-in than the chalk...& you certainly can't beat the price!

 

[Vic]

Another Coal Load

My friend Gilbert who worked for NS called me one afternoon and told me to meet him at the local yard and bring a bucket. Seems that a hopper full of black roofing granules sprung a leak. I got a lifetime supply and they make pretty good coal.

 

[NYCentral]

Very Nice Charlie!!

Vic, want to send some my way?

 

[cidchase]

Good lookin' work, guys!!
BTW Vic,
Ifn' you decorated that gondola, where did you get the herald ???
TNX

 

[jon-monon]

Originally posted by Charlie
I thought about both of those too Jon...didn;t try either one...
I would think the charcoal might be a better stand-in than the chalk...& you certainly can't beat the price!

I think either one would benifit from a coat of dull coat. I wonder if you can still get the fake coal made of ground up black glass like stuff. It was pretty good.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by cidchase
Good lookin' work, guys!!
BTW Vic,
Ifn' you decorated that gondola, where did you get the herald ???
TNX

Hey Cid, Both ThinFilm and MicroScale have that herald in their D&RGW NG freight car sheets. The Microscale is the stencil version and the ThinFilm is the solid version.

BTW...As best as I know there ain't no prelettered HON3 cars...The one in the pictures is a Grandt Line Drop Bottom Gondola. Although it has a wealth of details due to the extremly high quiality of the kit it was a breeze to assemble.

 

[sumpter250]

BTW...As best as I know there ain't no prelettered HON3 cars...The one in the pictures is a Grandt Line Drop Bottom Gondola. Although it has a wealth of details due to the extremly high quiality of the kit it was a breeze to assemble.

Vic, I was going to ask about that gon. Years ago Model railroader ran an article on scratchbuilding that car. I just might have to try it.
The gon looks great with the load in it!
Pete

 

[Vic]

Thanks Pete....I believe I've seen that article too. Unless you just want the scratchbuilding challange get the kit. Its under $25 and you'd spend that much on the detail parts and trucks alone. But I don't know if its still in production being as Mr. Grandt has passed on.

 

[sumpter250]

Vic,
The article was in the March 1958 MR, and included fabrication of all the detail parts. Might also be a good On30 project!
Pete

 

[Vic]

Hey Pete, If I was gonna......definitley ON30....much easier on the bifocals and these old stiff fingers 'Sides that....you'd have something hardly nobody else had!! Do 'Ya get the feeling that I'm trying to get you started on it? Do I smell a potential contest winner?...LOL!!

Thanks for the refference on the article...I'll definitely look it up

 

[sumpter250]

Vic,
Actually, the size wouldn't matter, but I don't model D&RGW, so On30 freelance would be a better choice. Unfortunately, the project list is way too long right now to include this one. Maybe some time down the road I'll let you know when to start "holding your breath".
Pete