Coal load glue?

You might try using something like a piece of Styrofoam or cardboard in the bottom of the hopper as a stopper and leave about 1/4" space from that to the top. Then use a piece of plastic wrap as a liner on top of that draped over the edges of the car.

     After that is in place mix in with the stone some thinned down white glue with a few drops of dish washing liquid added (the same way you put ballast down). Put that in the top of the hopper and arrange it to your liking. 

     When that has dried completely you can pop the load out of the car and remove the Styrofoam or leave it in and make some more coal loads.

     This is the least expensive way to produce what you want.

Dave, LBR 

A diluted white glue mix will work.  It's a couple parts water to a part white glue, and use an eye dropper.  Just drip it over and it will hold together.

I'm sure there are other ways, but that one came right to mind!

Great minds think alike!

Use matte medium.  Soak the load with it, let it dry.  It dries without a shine and will be permanent.

.....

Dennis

I've used white glue and also super glue when using real coal. Real coal should have a sparkle or shine to it, so don't dull it out.

Dave, trying to visualize what you are describing.  Am I correct in thinking that I would end up with a 1/4 - 1/2" thick "wafer" of coal when I pull it out of the "mold".  How do you attach that to the hopper? Thanks for the great suggestion.

the hopper is sloped so the load will just sit there.

Woodie,

     That depends on how thick you want the load.

     If the load fits tight enough then it will just press fit in the car. You may want to glue a foam support in the middle so it won't slip down too far into the hopper.

Dave, LBR

P.S.- Stay on the lookout for our NEW L.E.D. lighting E-DOTS, T-DOTS, C-DOTS coming soon

Dave, thanks your last remark cleared up my last question, thanks to all for the information

41Woodie,

     If you don't mind please show us a photo when you are finished with the coal load in the hopper.        OK?

Dave, LBR

Will do, I'm off to pick up some white glue this morning. Mike H.

Good choice, white glue is cheap and dries clear. I go 50/50 with water. Just mix what you think you will use.

artists matt medium

Picked up some Elmer's Glue-All, mixed it 50/50 with water and a few drops of detergent.  Used a craft brush to kind of drizzle it over the "coal". It seems to be drying ok, but I'll give it overnight.

Even if this works well I think I'll try a spray bottle for the next one. The drizzle and dab method was pretty unimpressive. The "coal" wanted to stick to the brush and generally be unruly. More tomorrow when I check out the results. Thanks to all. Mike

I guess I really didn't make myself too clear. What I meant was to mix the glue mixture and gravel together in a plastic bowl. Then place the mixture in the car that had been prepped with the Styrofoam and plastic wrap.

Dave, LBR

Use a spray bottle of water and wet the coal first it will draw the glue mixture in. Use an eye dropper to apply the glue. And yes wait 24 hours for the glue to set.

Dave, NOW you tell me, just kidding. I'll see how this one turns out in the morning and then try doing it the way you describe.

If you just moisten to whole are with cheap 70& alcohol , you will not need anything else, and the diluted glue will "follow" the alcohol into the scenery material. I still prefer Matt Medium.

 My method of making a coal load is similar to some of the other forum members, but with a "twist". I have 85 fishbelly hoppers and it is pulled by a Y6b, N&W steam loco, MTH, so I want that realistic look as much as possible.

 Anyway, being an electrician in the construction world at one time, one could wheel & deal on a jobsite with other trades. In this case it was with the insulator, who occasionally wrapped pipes with a product called "insaflex". It was "spongy, flexible, black, & cut with a good sharp (non-serrated) knife to fit into the inside of the hopper.  Then the ceiling guy's would give me some ceiling wire which was 1/8th in diameter. The wire was cut 1/4 inch shorter than the size of the insaflex so it wouldn't scrape the inside of the hopper. The wire was shoved through the insaflex (2pcs.) to keep it from curling when the glue was applied, then dried later. Naturally the insaflex was snugly fit into the hopper, and before getting to the next step, I would put a piece of Saran Wrap under the inserted insaflex.

The next step was to cut small hemispherical pieces off of a 4 inch Styrofoam ball, purchased in a craft store, take 4 of these mounded pieces and spray them with black paint and let dry thoroughly, place them on top of the insaflex that was already in the hopper, and lay the coal in the hopper carefully with a spoon, to my liking.

 The coal that I got came from a steam locomotive's tender (#40 of the New Hope & Ivyland R.R.) where I was a fireman;by the way, by hand with shovel). The coal accumulated on the back of the tender and always was swept at some point and discarded.The little pieces were already the perfect size, so I started taking it home & put it in a container.

 When it was time to apply the glue, it was white Elmer's glue, which was mixed 50/50 with water and a drop of dishwashing soap into the mix. I sprayed a little water onto the coal for flowing, then applied the mix to the coal with an old Elmer's bottle that had a twist top, and put it on well. 

 The car usually sat for 3 - 4 days to dry the glue. Next step was to take the Saran Wrapped coal load out of the hopper, remove the plastic, let the load sit another day because the insaflex was damp and there might be some liquid glue in the plastic wrap, which was contained, so not to leak into the hopper. The final step was to put the coal load into the hopper carefully and enjoy! The Styrofoam mounds gave the appearance that it was poured from a coal tipple.

               Steam Forever

                    John 

Well, I can now testify with authority on the wrong way to do this.  I let the coal sit overnight and this morning removed it from the "mold".  As seen in the photo I ended up with two small coal wafers and a lot of loose coal.  

The glue did not penetrate uniformly and had only dried on the exposed surface of the top layer. So...I'll regroup and try it again by soaking the coal in the adhesive/water mixture and see how that goes.  More later

Woodie,

     It may take a day or so for the glue to dry on the next go around. A hair dryer on low and away from the load about a foot or so will help the dry time.

Dave, LBR

Just an update my latest attempt has been drying for three days so far.  I changed several changes, I filled up more dead air space under the load so the coal load would be thinner.  Hopefully this will decrease the weight and reduce the time needed to dry properly.  I followed the amended directions and made up enough adhesive to completely soak the coal prior to creating the load.  So far it looks good, the white of the glue has disappeared and the top seems firm enough.  Think I'll give it a couple of more days just for good measure and then report on the outcome

Hi - What I have in place is a piece of the Styrofoam in the car pushed down to allow

about 1/2 from the top, I then filled to the top real coal and used no glue.

The coal does not get thrown out of the car when running and it appears that the

coal car is completely filled with coal. I do cut the Styrofoam a little tighter then needed which seems to help with any shifting.

In any case, this works for me.

Ok, finally here is the completed project.  Lots of drying time but I like the results.

Woodie,

     Look'n good like we knew it would   

Dave, LBR