Adding coal to a tender

The old-timers' way to glue coal to a tender was to use thinned (50/50 with water) white glue, applied sparingly with an eyedropper.

I never tried it myself, so I can't vouch for it.

I used E6000 adhesive on advice from someone who makes coal loads professionally.

You can get it from Michael's here:

http://www.michaels.com/E-6000...0181,default,pd.html

Just spread a coat on the surface and sprinkle the coal on top and press down lightly and let dry overnight.   Turn upside down to let any loose coal drop off and then repeat on any bare spots you might have.

--Greg

Best thing I have found is, once the coal is placed exactly the way you want it, moisten it with cheap 70% alcohol, then add Matt Medium thinned to the consistency of whole milk.

spread undiluted white glue on the molded coal load and sprinkle the "real coal" on top. To add more than thin layer, let that dry and add more coal. Then adhere it with diluted white glue. Add a few drops of liquid soap so that the glue will saturate the coal pile easier.

Thanks everyone. Jim I am going to go your route and see what happens.

CHEERS MIKE

Mike, what type of coal are you using, hard or soft?

Hi Dave,

Somewhere inbetween in that its like cork - came out of a packet, rather than the real stuff!

So far I have experimented by trying it out on an MTH Railking Challenger tender. It looks good - I just hope it drys ok.

CHEERS MIKE

Mike, if you e-mail me your address I would like to send you some real coal that I process into gauges Z thru G. Its deep mined out of eastern Pa.. I would love to get your feed back on what you think of it. My e-mail is: zucalslgl@yahoo.com