Does anyone on the forum make custom coal loads ? "New Info"

May have been St. Charles Model Works.  John

More crappy photography from me... and, it ain't coal ...but,

On the left, crappy Lionel insert... on the right, very nice insert.  Fits very well and looks great!  I don't know if the Hobby shop makes them or has them made or if they are still in business.  Whoever made it did an excellent job... Five Stars!

Blue Mountain Hobbies is no longer in business.   Don Kane made several coal loads for my MTH, Lionel, Atlas and Weaver hoppers.  

I have watched a couple videos on making coal loads and it doesn't seem too complicated so think I'll give it a try.

Any suggestions on what coal to buy,  is it all the same ?   Where to get it ?

Boomer0622,

I made some coal loads for some Lionel hoopers for my C & O coal train a couple years back. It’s pretty easy. Cut some 1” insulation foam to fit inside the hooper used a rasp to shape the top of foam to look like a rippled load of coal. Painted the loads black then spread Elmers white glue on the top and sprinkled fine coal in the glued area. The coal is used as a blasting media. I bought it at TSC near me. At the time the blasting media was about $8.00 for a 25 lb bag.
Hope This Helps

STE

DC RAIL AND Hobby depot in Unionville VA makes coal loads.  They don’t have a website but have a FB presence and on EBay.

In my opinion, the best of all time were the St Charles Model Works coal and gondola loads. Don't know if they are still in business.

@superwarp1 posted:

DC RAIL AND Hobby depot in Unionville VA makes coal loads.  They don’t have a website but have a FB presence and on EBay.

DC Rail is a good and reliable source.  Contact Dave by email <dcrailandhobby (at) gmail.com>  Obviously (at) = @ and no spaces.  ;-)   

Don Kane is the guy to go to. Made the loads for Weaver. Does great work.

Pat

@boomer0622 posted:

I have watched a couple videos on making coal loads and it doesn't seem too complicated so think I'll give it a try.

Any suggestions on what coal to buy,  is it all the same ?   Where to get it ?

It's not complicated and an easy DIY - the blue foam method works just fine and you can make whatever customized loads to suit whatever car you have in hand.

Here's one of my gons with a real coal load that I sold off in April.

Allow me to second or third the plug for DC RAIL.  Good work, decent price, great service.

Thanks everyone I appreciate all the feedback.  I'm going to try making some loads.  I don't have any pieces of foam and don't want to buy a 4 x 8  sheet but have plenty of scrap wood.  So I've cut inserts from 1/4" plywood and painted them black as starters.  I'm thinking of building up the centers also.

mwb, I really like that gondola, I would have bought it, my last name is really Boomer.

DON KANE a for sure, also a good friend.  Here is his video on how do make a coal load.  I have used it and is very easy to do.  Get the sand blasting black magic from tractor supply.  Easy peasy.

I'd also get some foam, it's much easier to shape the coal load with the foam.  With flat plywood, you'll have to build up the mound of coal, that makes it heavier and also top-heavy.

@boomer0622 posted:

mwb, I really like that gondola, I would have bought it, my last name is really Boomer.

Thanks!  Unfortunate on timing of sale.

But you could always build your own - that lettering set is available from Clover House.  And scratchbuilding building gondolas is pretty easy - done at least 8 in the past 18 months now.

Good point John, hadn't thought about "top heavy".  I've sent an email to Dave @D.C. rail, waiting for a response,  he's only about 20 miles away.

Laz1957,  thanks for the video.

mwb,  198 months......that's 16 1/2 years .....that's really chucking them out..lol

@boomer0622 posted:

Good point John, hadn't thought about "top heavy".  I've sent an email to Dave @D.C. rail, waiting for a response,  he's only about 20 miles away.

Laz1957,  thanks for the video.

Maybe use some “Great Stuff” or equivalent to save weight when building up the coal piles on the plywood base.  One can would make many coal piles.  Don’t forget to remove the base from the car when applying the foam.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'd also get some foam, it's much easier to shape the coal load with the foam.  With flat plywood, you'll have to build up the mound of coal, that makes it heavier and also top-heavy.

True but with the way DON and I have done it, there is not much weight at all to these loads.  

@boomer0622 posted:

Good point John, hadn't thought about "top heavy".  I've sent an email to Dave @D.C. rail, waiting for a response,  he's only about 20 miles away.

Laz1957,  thanks for the video.

Looking forward to hearing the response you get from DC Rail, I was in touch with him some months back, reorganizing and not making loads at the time.

Boomer,

I went the foam route as well. I didn’t purchase any, but recovered scraps that had blown away from construction sites. Good for the environment and my wallet!

@boomer0622 posted:

mwb,  198 months......that's 16 1/2 years .....that's really chucking them out..lol

Fat fingers.....18 months.  That's was only a small portion of the cars built in the same time period.

Top heavy is easily countered by putting a sheet of 1 or 2 mm lead sheet under the foam,

@mwb posted:

Top heavy is easily countered by putting a sheet of 1 or 2 mm lead sheet under the foam,

If you're using sculpted foam, there shouldn't be an issue with top heavy.  I was talking about flat pieces of plywood, those you'd be heaping coal onto to made a good looking load.  Those I questioned if they would be top heavy.  I don't see sticking 2mm of lead under the foam as a solution in many cases, that would really increase the weight of the cars, perhaps too much.

Of course, there's also the cost and availability of sheets of lead.

There's also the handling precautions of dealing with cutting and handling lead.

How Lead Exposures Can Happen

Lead Poisoning Is a Real and Present Danger

I got a good response from Dave at D.C. Rail.  Said he would give me a quote but needed exact info on each car.  Also said he has a backlog of 90 days.  They make loads for over 250 different cars, all gauges.

@Hot Water posted:

In my opinion, the best of all time were the St Charles Model Works coal and gondola loads. Don't know if they are still in business.

Unfortunately they are not in business. I've emailed them a few times in the past year and got no reply. You can't order from their website which I did on several occasions.

Hands down, they made the best drop in coal and gondola loads. I think I have like 4 gondola loads for my Atlas 52' gondolas, with the coiled wire being the best. They were pretty affordable too.

I bought some coal loads on eBay from a seller who uses real anthracite coal glued to a styrofoam base. I also bought a few coal loads from somebody in PA who uses wood blocks as a base. I wasn't impressed with either so I pitched them. Fortunately I found some Weaver coal loads for my Weaver 4-bay hoppers and they were a perfect fit and looked the best. I miss Weaver Models.

Just a quick update on my coal load project.  I glued an additional strip of wood in the center of each flat insert 1/4"x3/4' leaving a 1/2" at each end and beveled the edges.  Then painted it black and while the paint was wet I sprinkled the coal on it.   

I went to Tractor Supply and got a bag of the blasting sand called Black Diamond.  It only came in a 50 lb. bag,  3- lifetimes supply so in anyone wants any let me know.

This in only 3 applications of the sand, 2 or 3 more should and it should look pretty good.

I used real coal collected from the ground of a tourist railroad that operates a steam locomotive. I have several gallons of it. I break it into whatever size I need for whatever project I am working on (G scale, HO scale, N scale, etc.)

I 3D printed coal inserts in lightweight resin. The surface was "coal-like" in mounds that you might get from a loader.

It did not need to dry or cure overnight  just  spray paint.  the only issue was that there are many sizes of coal cars so each needed to be a bit differently sized.

these are four curves that were lofted together.

@boomer0622 posted:

Just a quick update on my coal load project.

Looks good enough!

Remember, the load will be heaped up at the mine but by the time it gets to the unloader, it will have settled and flattened out.

Boomer, My Tractor Supply store has 2 grades of Black Diamond media. Did you use fine or medium?

Thanks

Foam insert painted black and a bag or two of MTH or Lionel coal. If they are too shiny for your liking, hit 'em with a light mist of some dullcoat.

Good looking and doesn't get much easier than that.

I've made many coal loads for the pw lehigh valley hoppers using leftover black shingles cut to exact length and a little oversize on the width so they can be bent a little to form the arch to resemble real loads. Quick and easy and they look good.

Jerry,  I got the medium, I did see the fine and I'm sure it would look better with a little of it mixed in but I didn't want another 50 lb. bag .  I'm only doing 7 cars.

Charles, that's an interesting idea.  Share a couple pictures here.

Thank you Boomer0622.

After making the 7 loads using the plywood they did seem a little heavy and added drag.  I was able to find a 2'X2' piece of foam at Lowes for about $6.  So I decided to start over. ( after all I have a 50 lb. bag of coal) .  What I'm showing here is the difference in the weight using the plywood  vs  Foam.

This is the plywood base.

This is the foam base, over 1/2 lb. difference in just 7 cars.

I'm having so much fun making these I've filled 13 hoppers and 6 gondolas.

@laz1957 posted:

DON KANE a for sure, also a good friend.  Here is his video on how do make a coal load.  I have used it and is very easy to do.  Get the sand blasting black magic from tractor supply.  Easy peasy.

Easy peasy to get the black magic, but what name brand of urethane is used and where do you get it?

@jini5 posted:

Easy peasy to get the black magic, but what name brand of urethane is used and where do you get it?

Here is what I used, you can use a oil base too but will be a little odorous.

@laz1957 posted:

Here is what I used, you can use a oil base too but will be a little odorous.

Thank you for the info. Thats easy enough