Although I’m in the process of thinning my operating accessories and O27 type rolling stock, I am interested in using the Lionel 497 Coaling Station as a static display. It would be to represent an Aggregate Loader for my FEC rock train and I would have an MTH Florida East Coast Ortner Hopper underneath it. The bay doors underneath the 497 also would provide a somewhat realistic look. I plan on buying an old 497 one that’s for parts only.
My two questions are:
- I want to repaint it to a shade of white/gray to be like the typical aggregate loader one sees at a limestone quarry and cement plant. I’ve never repainted anything before and am sure that I can’t just put the paint over the red and green without those colors not showing through. What is the process? Do I need to remove the red and green paint first, and if so, how?
- I know that the amount of the coal load in the bin tray that gets dumped into the station fits per design. Can the station hold more load than that or is it limited to the capacity of the bin tray? My reason for asking is that if I do decide to get an old 497 that works, I wouldn’t mind releasing the doors once in a while with enough “limestone” to fill FEC Ortner Hopper parked underneath.
I plan on doing the same FEC display in both O and N Scale. With the N Scale, though, I will just use the part of the Walthers Glacier Gravel Company along with one of the conveyor belts.
Here is photo image of a YouTube video showing the FEC Medley Aggregate Unloader in action illustrating the shade of white/gray that I'm looking for.
Here is another image of an aggregrate loader, this time in N Scale.
