Coal Load where to buy?

He got his from Scale University...

http://www.scaleuniversity.com..._virtuemart&Itemid=1

A friend asked for coal for Christmas. His wife went to a local dealer and for 75 cents got all she could carry. Now he gets to take out all his frustrations by pounding coal.

ChipR

Better than pounding sand...

By accident, I found a great substitute for coal. I did not have any styrofoam from packaged meat or from a fast food place that I usually use for a base to glue coal on, so I cut out had some black, spongy packing foam that came as part of computer packaging. When I placed the cut side up in the hopper, it looks exactly like the coal itself, no need for additional material to glue on. If you get your hands on some of that foam, you can fill hopper after hopper and it can be easily removed if need be. I will try to add some pictures later.

Rick

My favorite source for O-scale coal is Smith & Son Ballast. Their coal comes in 8-ounce bags for $1.25 each and sizes available are:

Slack (essentially dust)
Unit Train
Stoker
Nut
Egg
Lump
O-scale lump (pretty large)
Mine Run (mix of sizes)

You can also get samples of each size for 35 cents each. I have received a small discount when buying several bags at train shows. They have no website but can be contacted at:

Smith & Son Ballast
13630 G.A.R. Hwy (RT 6)
Chardon, OH 44024

(440) 286-4890

GOOD TIPS. THANKS

i have some coal missing on my new northern s3 tender. i have contacted lionel and they want me to send the whole train in; that i am not going to do for some missing coal. does anyone know what material or mineral lionel use for their coal? and where i could purchase some? thank you.

Try a pet store that sells fish, look for the black gravel for the bottom of the fish tank.

any idea what it is or called? thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by anzani racer:
i saw some at a.c.moore arts and craft store.it was priced around $1.00

i will check it out. this coal is very realistic it looks like some kind of black mineral mica or quartz? thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by DM:
Try a pet store that sells fish, look for the black gravel for the bottom of the fish tank.

the nearest ac moore is in erie pa. and i live in st. clair shores mi. i will try a local craft store. thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by anzani racer:
sorry i don't know the name of it. i think it was in the model section in a small 3x5 clear bag. if you go to one of these stores print a 50% of coupon from their web pages. pets stores maybe good as mentioned above. fish filters use activated carbon that comes in round pellets. you could smash it up into sizes you want..rob

I have seen alot of scenery products here lately, and I've noticed some things kinda pricey for what they are. For instance, I needed a tumbleweed, looked at them and found out that if you have an old piece of carpet that is tore on a end and that stuff balled up makes a perfect tumbleweed. A cactus, I used three green pipe cleaners and fairly impressed by it. Now I got the chance to get my hands on some "ground cover" well egg shell foam put in a blender and died green is a close match. I've seen some people with a dead plant not to sure what it is painted green. Juniper maybe? Not sure. Well the other day while at my moms I noticed an old coal seam near the creek. Guess what? yep used that too!!! Nothing a hammer and a canvas sack can't do. Any other tricks? Maybe kitty litter for the tracks.....unused. Gravel from own driveway? I just see alot of money with bought items and well other trains need bought too!!!
Any other secondary tricks out there?

As a substitute for real coal, I use aquarium charcoal for my coal loads. I prefer the finer grade over the course. I can’t take the credit here. This has been mentioned before in a previous post.

 

Marc

Real coal mekes an awful mess- plus, it breaks down over time.  I go to the feed store & get chicken feed for hardening chickens' egg shells.  It s very hard.

I rinse it in a strainer to get the dust off, dry it then spread it on cardboard- spray it with semi-gloss black- dry, turn it over and paint again.

throw it in a car and glue as you would ballast.

Voila!