Large Scale Central

Alternative coal load appearance

Modeling
#1

I have never been pleased about the look of the plastic coal load that comes with the 1:22.5 three bay coal hoppers. Over time I have tried one or two paint finishes but even so they still did not look correct to my eyes.

Someone gave me a bucket of fine black coloured granules recently; they are the sort that make a form of spongy tarmac which can often be found in children’s play areas. I did a trial of a coal load, made using the granules and the clear glue that came with them, on some static display cars which looked quite satisfactory. So, today I applied a coating of glue to the plastic coal load and then sprinkled the granules on the glue. It will be twenty four hours before I know how it has turned out but I am sure whatever the end product is it will be an improvement.

Incidentally, a couple of years ago I painted a couple of these plastic coal loads to look like used ballast. I found that they fit quite nicely into Aristo 1:29 gondolas.

I know many of you guys like pics. I don’t think the new loads will photograph well, but we will see.

#2

Marty(who’s Marty)(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Just had an article in GR about just this subject!

#3

I’p partial to real loose coal myself. Because a hopper full of real coal is too heavy for a model car (especially a string of them) I use pink foam cut to fit in the hopper to fill all but about a half inch, then I pile crushed coal on top of that. Looks great but when you have a derailment you need to call in the clean-up crew just like the 1:1 (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)

#4

Indeed John. a hopper full of the stuff I used would weigh heavy. It needs to be on foam. a former or as I described, to keep the weight tolerable.

#5

I made a form out of foam, painted it with charcoal coloured paint, and then glued crushed coal to it. It does look better then them awful plastic coal loads that come with some cars.

#6

Very nice David.

I’m not as fussy as you guys so I have used just the foam. It looks good enough from 5 feet away and it is light as a feather.

Not the best photo but you get the idea.

#7

I am wondering about the real coal? I don’t know that I have ever seen a piece up close. Is it a dense material or is it that just a full hopper is to much? While reading this thread I was wondering about vermiculite painted black, its porous and light; but after seeing real coal on foam I doubt this would be necessary.

For use in ponds, Great Stuff makes a black colored expansion foam http://greatstuff.dow.com/products/pond-and-stone/ this may be of interest. need to paint the foam and it would fill the hopper.

#8

Some use black aquarium gravel.

#9

In my HO days I used a product for sand blasting called Black Beauty. It is a bit too fine for G scale. Aquarium gravel would be a good alternative.

#10

Devon Sinsley said:

I am wondering about the real coal? I don’t know that I have ever seen a piece up close. Is it a dense material or is it that just a full hopper is to much? While reading this thread I was wondering about vermiculite painted black, its porous and light; but after seeing real coal on foam I doubt this would be necessary.

For use in ponds, Great Stuff makes a black colored expansion foam http://greatstuff.dow.com/products/pond-and-stone/ this may be of interest. need to paint the foam and it would fill the hopper.

Just be careful with “Great Stuff.” It expands quite a bit and can overfill a hopper real quick! It will also stick to the inside of the car and be virtually impossible to undo. It probably makes for a bad dessert topping, as well.

-Kevin.

#11

Real coal will work very well. I use it in my tenders. I haven’t (yet) gotten around to making proper coal loads for my hoppers yet, but when I do, it will be foam inserts with coal dusted and glued on top, similar to how I do my tender loads.

The only issue with using real coal is that if you want “washed” coal (i.e coal of a consistent size), you’ll have to screen it yourself. My locos burn “run of mine” coal, so the lumps vary considerably in size. I’ve seen where some folks have luck using aquarium filter charcoal for coal. Alas, the stuff at my local PetCo is not suitable–too small and too round; it looks more like pellets than lumps of coal. Yours may have different stuff.

Later,

K

#12

Kevin,

Yes great stuff would be more or less permanent. If one didn’t want it permanent then the car could be lined with plastic wrap or some such stuff and the foam then shot in. As an open hopper if an over fill occurred it would just ooz out over the top and then trimmed to the desired shape for a real coal topping. The stuff does expand like crazy and it pretty much is a one time use so have what your going to do all lined out for one shot. The stuff is a night mare but has its advantages.

And it is waterproof

#13

Devon Sinsley said:

I am wondering about the real coal? I don’t know that I have ever seen a piece up close. Is it a dense material or is it that just a full hopper is to much? While reading this thread I was wondering about vermiculite painted black, its porous and light; but after seeing real coal on foam I doubt this would be necessary.

For use in ponds, Great Stuff makes a black colored expansion foam http://greatstuff.dow.com/products/pond-and-stone/ this may be of interest. need to paint the foam and it would fill the hopper.

There are 2 different kinds of coal; Bituminous and Anthracite. Bituminous is softer and not as dense as anthracite and it doesn’t burn as hot. A 3" piece of anthracite will probably weigh as much as a same size chunk of granite. Since Bituminous is not as dense it would lighter. I got a couple pieces of Anthracite off a buddy with a coal stove, stuck a piece inside an old sock and pounded it with a hammer to bust it up to use for coal loads. Did more damage to the sock then it did to that hunk of coal, but I did manage to get enough small pieces for a couple of coal loads.

#14

Kevin Strong said:

I’ve seen where some folks have luck using aquarium filter charcoal for coal. Alas, the stuff at my local PetCo is not suitable–too small and too round; it looks more like pellets than lumps of coal. Yours may have different stuff.

Kevin,

The aquarium charcoal is a good idea. While much of it is pelleted the good stuff isn’t. When I raised freshwater angelfish I used a brand whose name escapes me now but it was what I would call raw. It had chunks not pellets. I wont go into details on why I liked this stuff but it had a nice look for what we are talking about. It wasn’t the brand below but looked the same. Plus it is light weight.

#15

Ken Brunt said:

Devon Sinsley said:

There are 2 different kinds of coal; Bituminous and Anthracite. Bituminous is softer and not as dense as anthracite and it doesn’t burn as hot. A 3" piece of anthracite will probably weigh as much as a same size chunk of granite. Since Bituminous is not as dense it would lighter. I got a couple pieces of Anthracite off a buddy with a coal stove, stuck a piece inside an old sock and pounded it with a hammer to bust it up to use for coal loads. Did more damage to the sock then it did to that hunk of coal, but I did manage to get enough small pieces for a couple of coal loads.

Thanks for the lesson. Coal is not prevalent in my area and I don’t think ever was except on the RR. I could be wrong on this but the closest coal comes from like Billings Mt area. I see train loads of it coming west but that’s about it. Wonder if BNSF would mind if i wandered across the yard and climbed onto one of the hoppers and threw down four or five chunks to take home???(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-innocent.gif)

#16

Wonder if BNSF would mind if i wandered across the yard and climbed onto one of the hoppers and threw down four or five chunks to take home???(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-innocent.gif)

They probably wouldn’t miss it, just don’t get caught…(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

My mom used to tell me stories of doing that during the depression, when they lived up in Minersville, PA. My uncles would get up on top of the hoppers and shovel it down to their sisters(my aunts) who would scoop it up in buckets and take it home to heat the house.

#17

And don’t forget there is “blue coal”.

#18

Well the blue coal might look more pretty than black but I don’t really want to have to get more special hoppers for the loads.

Regarding coal loads it is worth remembering that they need to be removable. After all when the cars are returning to the load out they are usually empty. I did look at the five loads that I did yesterday and I was more than pleased with their appearance. The adhesive was not quite set so a photo was not advisable just yet.

I am unlikely to apply my methods to my Aristo 2bay offset hoppers and they are reasonable in appearance but I do have a Bachmann coal tender which will benefit with this application. Some years ago I replaced the log load on a ten wheeler with small pieces of cherrywood. When the weather is warmer and drier some platforms and a grade crossing will be made replacing the present pieces of vinyl dark wood kitchen laminate whilst not too bead in appearance can be bettered with this tarmac look-alike process.

#19

Here’s what I did for coal…

http://tjstrains.com/877/bachmann-coal-tender-improving-the-look/

Best,

TJ

#20

Aquarium Charcoal does work a treat for this. I did the same for my K-27 Tender. But I made an insert to fit into the tender and then did the glue/dry/dump/repeat routine. The insert sits in the tender above the electronics. I, also, added a shovel and a few spilled chunks to the Tender deck and bridge plate to dress the whole thing up. It looks right to me.