any cheap ways to obtain coal scatter?

[truckman060473]

I was looking at a bag of scatter at Modelzone last Saturday and if you had a few wagons to fill, a bag or two of 200g coal (£2) would be adequate. But alas, I have 40-50 wagons to fill and was wondering if there is something you can buy which is not meant for the purpose of modelling but is cheaply obtained and consists of small black coal-like grit. for example, for stone trains, roadside grit works to a degree

 

[jonty14]

I use decoration sand and gravel. You get it at garden centers in little bags or plastic bottles. It is used for indoor plant decoration. It is available in many colours and is cheap. You can get it at Ikea as well. I got a bag of black. It looks like coal and cost only 1 pound.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Do you fill the wagons completely, or do you use a false floor? False floors could reduce you usage by upto two thirds!

 

[Wyvern]

I guess you cant get coal any more ?

Or does it somehow not look right.

 

[jonty14]

Do you fill the wagons completely, or do you use a false floor? False floors could reduce you usage by upto two thirds!

I fill my wagons completely if the material is cheap enough. Same with real coal crushed up. It adds weight to the wagon.

 

[northernrail]

I use stones from the garden and use anything possible to crush them, usually a hammer for 20 minutes but i have been known to break a blender.

But that might just be me in a distructive mood (They do look good as ballast tho)

 

[rail-britain]

If your layout is level then filling wagons might be acceptable
However the extra weight may stress the motors and electrics
If the layout has any gradients then the motors may struggle to haul such wagons up any hills

For those reasons I would avoid completely filling wagons

Therefore consider a raised support plate and then attaching the load to this
Alterntively, a foam insert with the load on top

In N gauge there are loads of "fake loads" and although there weren't many in OO gauge when I was modelling, I am quite sure there are now
The obvious one is the fake load for the HAA and HTA
You can then line this with any other load, to give varying appearance and colour

 

[truckman060473]

If your layout is level then filling wagons might be acceptable
However the extra weight may stress the motors and electrics
If the layout has any gradients then the motors may struggle to haul such wagons up any hills

For those reasons I would avoid completely filling wagons

Therefore consider a raised support plate and then attaching the load to this
Alterntively, a foam insert with the load on top

In N gauge there are loads of "fake loads" and although there weren't many in OO gauge when I was modelling, I am quite sure there are now
The obvious one is the fake load for the HAA and HTA
You can then line this with any other load, to give varying appearance and colour

Stress the loco and electrics? don't think so. have you seen what the latest all wheel drive locos can pull? I have a class 20 (Bachmann) that is happy pulling 20 wagons of loaded stone round and can do much more. the Bachmann 66 can pull more than that, and the Hornby 60 can pull more still (48 loaded wagons). Believe me, I have put many locos on heavy trains and there have been no problems with the engines themselves nor the controller. I should say though that the wagons have completely free running metal wheelsets with hardly any running friction

 

[CallySleeperKid]

Filling wagons with loads is all OK, until one tips over, or even worse you get the domino effect where the whole lot goes over, big time mess to clean up.

Although I have not got as far as filling wagons yet, New Railway Modellers suggests the following.... http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Rolling%20Stock/Wagon%20Modification.htm

Modelzone do some but are not cheap, but you get the idea of what you could do if you had the time to make your own.... http://www.modelzone.co.uk/model-railways/accessories-and-spares.html?limit=32&p=2#bcTop

 

[Eng274]

When I was 10 years old and got a few hopper wagons for my birthday, I improvised the loads by scouring off some of the harling from the outside wall of the house! Not quite coal, but it looked real enough! I was chuffed I could semi-accurately fill my trucks for nothing and random odds and sods filled my other non-hopper wagons.

It was a terrible mess when they derailed round the curves - just as well 91s never did freight IRL, it was a disaster in OO gauge

 

[Don2912]

rail-britain has it spot-on. Completely filling wagons will make them too heavy. Plus, if you have a derailment...! :roll:

I used shaped pieces of thick balsa wood for my modest (?) rake of 22 HAAs.

1. Cut the balsa slightly smaller than the interior of the wagon, and carve and sand the top to a mound shape.
(I added a small fillet of balsa to the underside; this is a "rocker" which assists in removing the load, should you wish to).

2. Paint the balsa black, and allow to dry.

3. Coat the upper surface with neat PVA.

4. Apply your crushed coal. Allow to dry thoroughly before tipping off the excess. You may need to remove a little overspill from the sides too.

5. Place into wagon. Job done.

Alternatively:

To miss out Steps 2 & 3, paint the balsa with cheap matt black acrylic paint (used neat) & apply your crushed coal directly to the wet paint. Allow to dry.

HTH,

Don

 

[truckman060473]

It depends on the type of wagon whether it's too heavy when loaded. I have MEA and HEA wagons which run round the track with ballast in for now to test the loco performance. Even a class 20 Bo Bo can pull 20 of these and it does not derail - the weight is an advantage in keeping the wheels on the rail. A large container like an HTA hopper may be too heavy if loaded fully due to the large volume it can carry. Essentially it is not so much about the weight carried but whether the wheels still run freely. if they do you would be shocked how much a Bachmann loco can haul