Large Scale Central

Oil ender converted to coal

Modeling
#1

I started this thread over on MLS, figured I’d post it here as well. A little background. I have a LGB sumpter Valley Mallet that I conerted to a smallish 1:20 mallet. But, I was never a fan of oil burners so I set out to convert the tender to a coal load. I’m gonna try Kevin Strong’s technique of making a removble coal load. Here is what it pretty much looked like to start. (i admit i forgot to take a before picture)

Front frame

Testing the fit of the boards

Overall pic. The slide switches are for frequency settings on the Airwire. The silver Jacks are for battery charging, the gold jack is for the phoenix P5 interface.

Everything installed and painted, boardsinstalled.

Closeup of the back. It always amazes me how a camera highlights dust an dirt…

Laying the groundwork for the removable coal load. Thanks again for the idea Kevin.

The Glue drying pretty much bogged e down for awhile, so I’m gonna work on another project. I’ll post pics on that to. I’ll post more pics as I make progress. Terry

#2

looks good so far.
Thats not dust its weathering.

#3

I like those coal loads. I have a couple of hunks of coal I pound into small pieces and use in my tenders. I carve up a piece blue foam and sprinkle the coal on top of that.

(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/rgseng/RGS0003.jpg)

#4

Ken,

How did you pound the coal into small chunks? I have tried the sock method and a couple of other ideas. I keep worrying about “black lung” because the dust is so bad.

#5

I just pounded the coal this morning. I put mine in a heavy zip lock freezer bag. No dust.

#6

I’m a smoker Ric…you think I’m worried about “Black Lung”?

Gotta use a heavy duty work sock. or a couple of’em. Usually end up with a few holes in them when your done, but you’ll get enough small chunks for a couple of loads.

#7

Use a dust mask from the Big Box Store. They cost about a buck for two of them.

#8

Here’s some more progress. Like I said above, I pounded the coal in a heavy zip lock freezer bag. I checked the glue soaked paper towel this morning and it still wasn’t dry. My patience (of which i have none) got the better of me and I made a shelf out of 0.10 styrene. I split it so it would slope down towards the front.

(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/paintjockey/coalload2001.jpg)

I put some blue foam in the front to fill in the gap.

(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/paintjockey/coalload2002.jpg)

Plastic in and ready for the coal

(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/paintjockey/coalload2003.jpg)

I used roofing tar to hold the coal down, then dribbled white glue on top to secure it. When thats all dry, I’ll mist it with more glue and put coal dust on it.

(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/paintjockey/coalload2004.jpg)

(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/paintjockey/coalload2005.jpg)

#9

Looks good!

#10

The sock/hammer method is too small scale for me. I built a breaker. Plywood box built around a thick patio block abont an inch bigger on all sides than a 10x10 tamper. Put lumps on the patio block and smash with the taper. I stop when my buiggest piece is under 1/4". I work outdoors and it’s best if there is wind.

I end up with sizes from 1/4" to dust. I sift it through several screens using the largest lumps in coal hoppers, the medium chunks in tenders and the dust for weathering.

#11

What about the charcoal they sell for aquarium filters? It is pretty small size.
Ralph

#12

I use real coal cause I have a fairly large pile of it. Free is better than cheap.

#13

Free is good. I pick mine up off the old RR ROW’s around here.

Ralph - I’ve tried crushed blacktop, others have used aquarium charcoal. They are both OK if you can’t get the real stuff, but nothing beats the look of real hard coal. Charcoal just doesn’t have the shine.

Your tender conversion looks great Terry. Maybe I can convince the guys up at CAMA to convert Hawaii #5 to coal using your example. It smells SO much better :smiley:

None of my loads are glued together or attached to the loco. I just make a pile of loose coal in the tender after sealing up any openings with styrene. I find little pieces of coal all over my ROW, just like the big boys!

#14

Terry is trying to make a coal load for an oil burner and I’m trying to make an oil burner for a coal load.
About half my motive power is oil, the other is coal, and I prolly should standardize it. :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

#15
Jon Radder said:
Ralph - I've tried crushed blacktop, others have used aquarium charcoal. They are both OK if you can't get the real stuff, but nothing beats the look of real hard coal. Charcoal just doesn't have the shine.
The aquarium charcoal has a good shine. I do have a place in the yard with pretty good size pieces of coal. There must of been a house or cabin here that burned coal at one time. I have a wood tender I want to convert to coal. So now I have another use for old socks :) Ralph
#16

Failure.

While it killed me to wait for the sealant to dry, I did. I found it strange that it wouldn’t set up for me. Then I read the tube of sealant I used, and I quote “will not shrink, crack or HARDEN”. The glue set up nicely on top but if I pull the plastic wrap out the sealant just oozes slowly to the sides sealing the load to the tender wall. So, I went back to the hardware store and got Black tub and tile caulking which will set up. The other thing is I got a few emails and a post on the coal size being too large. I pretty much have to agree so I’ll do that over. Thanks for the tips on that I really do appreciate it. I’ll be back with more pics after York. :slight_smile: