# Make Your Own Coal Loads



## dannyrandomstate

I was asked if I could do up a "How to" for the coal loads I did. So here it is.

These are the supplies needed for the task. I failed to have the Aleenes tacky glue present for the pic. It shows up later. What is needed for this project is.... Pink foam (I used 1" thick), razor saw or anything that will make a nice clean cut, something to measure with, a sure form (to shape the foam), black poster/craft paint, a paint brush, Aileens tacky glue, and the coal.









First thing is to get the measurements of the car that the load is going into. Length, width, and depth. I only measured the short part on the ends for the depth. Now you can make this taller if you want a more robust load, or shorter like I have done here. That's all your preference.









Next we transfer the dimensions to the foam. First I cut the length









And then the width is cut.









The last cut is the depth. I chose to go with 0.33" as that would give me three pieces. Again you could form up one piece to give you a mountain in your car. That's all in the preference. 

















After you have your pieces take the sure form (I got mine at Home Depot for about 5 bucks) and round off the edges leaving a slight bump in the middle.









Once the pieces are rounded off give it a good coating of the black paint. I used poster paint as that's what was laying around. You want something that is going to dry flat.

















If there is something else to be done while the paint dries now is the time. Unless you want to sit there and watch it dry. 

Once the paint is dry give a good squeeze of the Aleenes tacky glue.









Spread the glue all over the top of the painted foam. Make an effort to not get it on the sides. Just the top.









Once the glue is spread, take the foam and place it glue side down in the coal.

















Move the foam back and forth through the coal. Once it is coated flip it over and check for coverage. You can lay it glue side up and sprinkle some on top and push it in with your fingers to cover all the open areas.

And there you have it! One fresh coal load. I found it best to let it dry over night before placing in to the car. 









Now just lather, rinse, repeat for the other pieces you have. And before you know it all of your hoppers will be full!

















Of course you can make the load anything you wanted too. I chose coal as it was on hand at the time.


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## tjcruiser

Danny,

An excellent How To. Thanks for sharing.

I moved your post to a new Thread in the Technical Model section.

Thanks,

TJ


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## dannyrandomstate

No worries. I wasn't sure exactly of where it belonged. 

Hopefully it can help some out.


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## MacDaddy55

*Its a Keeper!!*

Great Share there Danny, We have a new strip mall going in next door and I've been collecting foam insulation like a squirrel...and I already started my coal loads for those 100 Ton Rio Grande Hoppers I got from Rusty Cuda...gotta love Tacky glue and Razo/mitre saw and WS Course Coal....have you seen the prices for two coal pack loads...SHEESH!! Thanks again!:thumbsup:


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## T-Man

That works fine! :thumbsup:

All I do is paint the grass paper and glue to a foam insert.


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## Ren

great tip, Thanks


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## dannyrandomstate

Thanks!

I've seen the prices they want for similar items. Scary. The beauty of this project was the cost was almost zero. It was all items just sitting around that I put to use. I realize there are 101 different ways to skin a cat. I just chose this one.


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## waltr

Great tutorial.

An addition could be to add a piece of steel in/under the foam. Then the coal loads can be pulled out of the cars to run them as 'empties'. The extra weight of the steel would also simulate the added weight of loaded cars.


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## coupman35

THat is great work Danny thanks for showing us am going to try a few my self.


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## gunrunnerjohn

Nice tutorial, looks very simple and to the point, and the results are excellent! :thumbsup:


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## broox

great result.

hey can you take a close up picture of the tacky glue, the back of it please, so I can see the description and ingredients.
Then I can work out what the equivelant is at bunnings.

I think I have a couple of other potebtial uses for a "tacky glue"
Thanks man


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## Sawdust

Well done on the tutorial, very easy to follow & good illustrations. Just a few prototype hints...as cars come out of the separator they may have 2-3 peaks depending on how many coal chutes were filling them, they can also have a flat surface clear across the top of the load while the cars are being pulled out the chutes acted like rakes, & of coarse the more settled load because of the car traveling. These shapes can be carved into the foam very easily like shown in the post. :thumbsup:


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## dannyrandomstate

broox said:


> great result.
> 
> hey can you take a close up picture of the tacky glue, the back of it please, so I can see the description and ingredients.
> Then I can work out what the equivelant is at bunnings.
> 
> I think I have a couple of other potential uses for a "tacky glue"
> Thanks man


http://www.bunnings.com.au/products_product_glue-boyle-100ml-tacky-glue-4221001_P1885360.aspx?search=glue&searchType=any&searchSubType=products


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## dannyrandomstate

Sawdust said:


> Well done on the tutorial, very easy to follow & good illustrations. Just a few prototype hints...as cars come out of the separator they may have 2-3 peaks depending on how many coal chutes were filling them, they can also have a flat surface clear across the top of the load while the cars are being pulled out the chutes acted like rakes, & of coarse the more settled load because of the car traveling. These shapes can be carved into the foam very easily like shown in the post. :thumbsup:


I had thought about the peaks in it. Or just making the height taller and having the top raked off too. Maybe on the next few.


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## Sawdust

What you done looks great because most loads settle very quickly after they leave the coal yard. The peaks only look good when their still sitting in the yard area.


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## dannyrandomstate

Sawdust said:


> What you done looks great because most loads settle very quickly after they leave the coal yard. The peaks only look good when their still sitting in the yard area.


Thanks!!!


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## broox

dannyrandomstate said:


> http://www.bunnings.com.au/products_product_glue-boyle-100ml-tacky-glue-4221001_P1885360.aspx?search=glue&searchType=any&searchSubType=products


cheers for that. gotta see if my local stocks it.

bunnings used to be awesome, but as some of their competition has shut down, their product range has shrunk... more chineese stuff instead of quality brands, you know?


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## sjm9911

Just added " make coal loads" to my to do list. Thanks!


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## coupman35

Hum i cant get coal here just woundering if i try cat litter not used one lol That will look like a gravel load.


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## sjm9911

Try the pet store aquarium gravel
Looks good. Works good. Im a newbie but it seems I keep pushing this stuff. I like it.!


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## MarkVIIIMarc

Thanks for the.good post. I think I have the EXACT railcar needing something to hide the weight I have in it.


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## dannyrandomstate

One of the reasons behind me doing this was just that. Hiding some weight.


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## gunrunnerjohn

Well, if you want weight, just fill the hopper with coal, it'll be heavy!


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## Don Trinko

The charcoal used in aquarium filters would add wieght and looks very real. It needs to be washed before use because just like real coal there is a lot of black messy dust. Don


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## FJX2000

Could this process be used to make a coal load for a locomotive? I got a shay recently that came without a coal load so I am desperately wanting it to have one so I can install a speaker underneath and have sound for it.


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## Cycleops

Interesting isn't it, at one time a lot of us would have a bucket of this stuff sitting around but now we have to buy it labelled as 'Scenic Material'.


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## Lehigh74

I saw this old post and thought I would add something I had put on the OGR forum back in April. I noticed that a few responders had a problem getting coal in 2013 and didn’t find any other posts here on Brennan or Conway coal (I used both). I do a few things different than Danny (the OP). I don’t bother with glue. I just put the coal on while the paint is still wet. Also, my post was for O gauge so a few things (for example the coal sizes) will be different for HO. I also wouldn’t recommend using a table saw when cutting the foam for HO unless you have a good supply of the Wound Seal that BobS recommended.


Some time ago, I made a few coal loads, but I used anthracite that I had smashed with a hammer and the size of the coal varied wildly. After reading two recent posts here [on OGR] about coal loads, I bought 2 bags of Conway Coal and 2 bags of Brennan Coal (way more than I needed). I made loads for all my hoppers to replace various plastic loads and to redo the foam ones I had previously made. I made half of the loads with Conway and half with Brennan. On average, I used about ½ oz. of coal per load. Here’s a brief comparison and a few steps on how I made them.

Conway Coal # 14 comes in a 12 oz bag. Brennan #3 is sold by volume, but a bag is about 13 oz. These are the sizes that they recommend for O scale. Brennan #3 is a wee bit larger, a little less uniform in size and a little cleaner (can coal be clean?) than the Conway #14. Conway also sells completed coal loads for some hoppers. I like both the Conway and the Brennan coal. All the loads came out looking great so I can’t really recommend one over the other. They look very similar when done. 

BTW, the Brennan coal is Reading anthracite and the Conway coal was delivered to Conway years ago by either the Lehigh Valley Railroad or the Lackawanna.

Use 1” thick pink rigid foam insulation. Cut the foam into a rectangular shape so it fits snuggly in the hopper. If cut to the right size, it will fit snuggly after painting and won’t require anything to secure it in place. A table saw works great for cutting the rectangular shape but it has to be done CAREFULLY. You might want to use an old blade because if you don’t feed the foam perfectly straight, the blade will grab it and send it flying and/or melt foam onto the blade.

Place the rectangular foam block in the hopper so it sits on the slope at the ends of the car. Some cars have gussets so you may need to trim a bit off the foam to clear them. There is usually about 3/8” of the rectangular foam block sitting below the top of the car. Scribe around the foam along the top perimeter of the hopper. 

Shape the foam to create coal mounds. Use a pen knife to cut a bit below the scribe line and make the rough shape of the mound. Use sand paper (60 and / or 80 grit seems to work well) to fine tune the shape. 

Paint the foam with flat black latex paint (Krylon Chalkboard Paint or similar). Lay the paint on thick and cover it with coal. Let it dry overnight. After the paint is dry, remove any pieces of coal from the sides of the load and touch up to hide any pink.

It doesn’t take much time to make the loads and it doesn’t cost much.

Bob


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## DonR

And a repeat of suggestions in an earlier post:

Don't glue the loads in. Attach a piece of metal to
the bottom of the load. A magnet will help you
remove it. You can take an empty hopper to the coal mine
and pull a full hopper from it to the power plant allowing
the HOG to do the loading and unloading.

Don


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## Lemonhawk

Yes, Cycleops my youth was spent shoveling coal into our furnace! We eventually moved to a house that had a Stoker, so the coal was in smaller chunks and it only need to be fill once a day! Most fun was removing the "klinkers" which went on the alley behind the house. 
By the way there was a Trainmaster video on "Loads" and some sort of glitter was used on the coal load to make it really sparkle! Made the molded plastic tender loads look much better.


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## Cycleops

Lemonhawk said:


> Yes, Cycleops my youth was spent shoveling coal into our furnace! We eventually moved to a house that had a Stoker, so the coal was in smaller chunks and it only need to be fill once a day! Most fun was removing the "klinkers" which went on the alley behind the house.


Well, if you want to get nostalgic, like you I remember coal was the mainstay for energy in the fifties in the UK. Guess it was a similar situation in the US. Every home had a open fire. Then in the winter fog combined with the pollution to produce smog, a horrible thick choking mix. You could hardly see your hand in front of your face.
Sorry to stray off topic a bit.
BTW, those Lehigh valley hoppers are the cleanest I've seen!


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## CTValleyRR

We had a coal stove growing up, but also an oil furnace (later converted to gas).

Today, if I want some coal, I just head on down to the Essex Steam Train and pick up one of the many pieces lying around.


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## DonR

Back in the depression and the peak of the coal mining,
chunks would regularly fall off the hoppers during switching
and the yard tracks were lined with them. Folks would bring buckets
and get their coal for heating and cooking for free.

Don


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## Lemonhawk

I can remember a coal train derailing somewhere near Toledo, Ohio and there was a real "Gleaners" traffic jam along the highway next to the tracks!


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## CTValleyRR

DonR said:


> Back in the depression and the peak of the coal mining,
> chunks would regularly fall off the hoppers during switching
> and the yard tracks were lined with them. Folks would bring buckets
> and get their coal for heating and cooking for free.
> 
> Don


I have also seen posters from that era warning people of the dangers of doing it. Getting hit by a passing train was not uncommon.


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## CTValleyRR

Lemonhawk said:


> I can remember a coal train derailing somewhere near Toledo, Ohio and there was a real "Gleaners" traffic jam along the highway next to the tracks!


Heck, it's not just coal. About a month ago, I had a tree come down on my property.next to (but not blocking) the road. By the time I got home from work, it was gone. And by gone, I mean stolen. I would have cut it up and used the wood.


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## thedoc

waltr said:


> Great tutorial.
> 
> An addition could be to add a piece of steel in/under the foam. Then the coal loads can be pulled out of the cars to run them as 'empties'. The extra weight of the steel would also simulate the added weight of loaded cars.


You could certainly use steel if you need that, but using printers leads and slugs would get away from the magnetic aspect if that is what you need and just need weight. These are a lead alloy but you might need to hurry as most print shops are getting away from lead type and disposing of these materials, it might already be too late in many places.


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## CTValleyRR

If you want to use a magnet, you can also just embed a large steel washer in the top of your load, just under the layer of coal.


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## Cycleops

Magnets now. This is technical stuff!


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## Patrick1544

Excellent procedure. Ill definitely try it.


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