# How do you make coal?



## Blue North (12 mo ago)

I have empty hoppers. What do you guys use to fill them with coal that would look real but not too heavy? 
I was going to fill them with small pale green marbles (that I already have) to mimic "railroad marbles" but it would be heavy.


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

Woodland Scenics and other scenery suppliers make “coal” in various sizes, packed in small bags. This usually is plastic and light weight. 
You used to be able to buy real coal ground down to scale size. I’m not sure if this is still available but it probably is. 

You can also get one piece “coal loads” for hoppers. These are made from plastic or foam. They are sized to fit into specific hoppers. Probably a better alternative than loose coal, which can be a mess in de-railments. 

Coal is shipped in various grades and sizes according to type and use.


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## kilowatt62 (Aug 18, 2019)

A piece of esther foam, balsa wood, or some such, (no cardboard!) cut to fit, at about 3/8” below the top. Add fine grained simulated coal or whatever you choose as a load to your liking. Then pour a highly diluted white glue (at least 2:1) to make it all solid yet flexible. You can use a piece of wax paper or parchment paper before the foam to keep the glue from sticking to the sides of the hopper so as to be removable. The parchment paper is removed once glue has set.
That way, you can still add weights below to bring the car up to proper weight for good running.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

If you have any extruded insulation foamboard lying around, you can carve out fillers for the hoppers. Even scrub up contours over which the coal would be glued. Woodland scenics makes coal, or use filter sand from aquariums, or even real coal chips if you have a local supply of coal.


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## kilowatt62 (Aug 18, 2019)

“Extruded foam board scraps” and “contouring the tops”... I never thought of that. Great idea Mesenteria.


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

I use Bennans or Conway coal. I don’t think Conway is still selling it though. Here's a link to a thread that tells how. And a few I made recently. The ones pictured below came with plastic loads so I just applied flat black paint and anthracite to the plastic load.

Make Your Own Coal Loads | Page 2 | Model Train Forum


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

Blue North said:


> I was going to fill them with small pale green marbles (that I already have) to mimic "railroad marbles" but it would be heavy.


Just curious; what are “railroad marbles”?


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## Blue North (12 mo ago)

prrfan said:


> Just curious; what are “railroad marbles”?


Rough glass balls, usually pale green, used to melt down to make fiberglass, and shipped in boxcars. You used to be able to pick them up along sidings.
Good article:








Railroad Marbles


In the course of "treasure hunting" once often comes across interesting non-metal artifacts. Researching the history of these artifacts and how they came to be where they were found can be both fun...



www.ohiometaldetecting.com




I bought a lot of them from a marble company and used them to decorate my art car and art boat.


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## Blue North (12 mo ago)

Lehigh74 said:


> I use Bennans or Conway coal. I don’t think Conway is still selling it though. Here's a link to a thread that tells how. And a few I made recently. The ones pictured below came with plastic loads so I just applied flat black paint and anthracite to the plastic load.
> 
> Make Your Own Coal Loads | Page 2 | Model Train Forum
> 
> View attachment 579171


Thanks, looks nice! I also have Reading & Northern. My white and green one came with coal installed, but the black ones are empty. I have some actual anthracite chunks that I could smash, I suppose.


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

Blue North said:


> Thanks, looks nice! I also have Reading & Northern. My white and green one came with coal installed, but the black ones are empty. I have some actual anthracite chunks that I could smash, I suppose.


The thread in the link I posted previously goes into detail. I found that smashing anthracite with a hammer had poor results. I would try Brennan’s. One of the sizes in the link below should work for HO. If not sure, contact Dennis and ask.

Famous Reading Anthracite Coal - 28.5 cu in (brennansmodelrr.com)


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## OilValleyRy (Oct 3, 2021)

mesenteria said:


> If you have any extruded insulation foamboard lying around, you can carve out fillers for the hoppers. Even scrub up contours over which the coal would be glued. Woodland scenics makes coal, or use filter sand from aquariums, or even real coal chips if you have a local supply of coal.


Agreed. This works well for both car loads and track side storage piles. I paint the foam with a THICK coat of black acrylic paint, then just drizzle woodland scenics coal over it while still wet.









For car loads you can do the same. If you want them magnetically removable theres a few ways to do that. I prefer a drywall screw with the head face left bare. It has a function over form, but a bare face screw prevents a magnet from mashing the coal every time it is removed. That’s the sole reason I don’t bury them completely.


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

Blue North said:


> Rough glass balls, usually pale green, used to melt down to make fiberglass, and shipped in boxcars. You used to be able to pick them up along sidings.
> Good article:
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks! Like Johnny Carson used to say: “I did not know that!”


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Well, in direct answer to the question….



> Coal formed millions of years ago when the earth was covered with huge swampy forests where plants - giant ferns, reeds and mosses - grew. As the plants grew, some died and fell into the swamp waters. New plants grew up to take their places and when these died still more grew. In time, there was thick layer of dead plants rotting in the swamp. The surface of the earth changed and water and dirt washed in, stopping to decaying process. More plants grew up, but they too died and fell, forming separate layers. After millions of years many layers had formed, one on top of the other. The weight of the top layers and the water and dirt packed down the lower layers of plant matter. Heat and pressure produced chemical and physical changes in the plant layers which forced out oxygen and left rich carbon deposits. In time, material that had been plants became coal.


 😁


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## 65446 (Sep 22, 2018)

Is there a reason why pulverized charcoal briquettes for the backyard BBQ wouldn't work ?


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

telltale said:


> Is there a reason why pulverized charcoal briquettes for the backyard BBQ wouldn't work ?


It might, but I think it would be soft and dirty. Why not use the real thing? Brennnan's is anthracite. Maybe Woodland Scenics is actual coal too. They call it a “natural, realistic product..


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Lehigh74 said:


> It might, but I think it would be soft and dirty. Why not use the real thing? Brennnan's is anthracite. Maybe Woodland Scenics is actual coal too. They call it a “natural, realistic product..


I have always found coal -- even anthracite -- to be dirty. I'd rather use fake stuff. I do like the WS stuff. It isn't real coal, though. Walnut shells or wood chips, maybe?


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

From the Woodlands Scenics site:



> ALLERGY CAUTION: Ballast contains tree nut by-products


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## kilowatt62 (Aug 18, 2019)

I think the ground up walnut shells thing is a great idea for various uses in our hobby.


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## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

I used to get walnut hulls to use in a tumbler to clean spent shell casings when I was reloading metallic cartridges.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

I like the idea in principle, but I have not found it to be nearly as functional, especially when gluing it, as real grit. I have used local beach sand and remnants from purchased 'sharp' sand that you get for playgrounds at the box stores in 40 pound bags.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

I usualy start with several million years and add dead compressed foliage and dinosaur remains.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

MichaelE said:


> I usualy start with several million years and add dead compressed foliage and dinosaur remains.


I never made coal, thanks for the tip, I should start now.


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## Don F (Dec 5, 2015)

I've been making coal loads for O S and HO using Black Beauty blast media. I use either luan plywood or masonite as a base, and water base urethane as the adhesive. For HO, I've used various materials for bases depending on the inside profile of the car. I've used thin aluminum strips, and Structo-glass fiberglass sheet. Here is a short video of the process. I find that the base makes for easy removal of the load.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

And no one has mentioned that first you start with a lot of plants and cover it with mud and compress it for a few million years and if your lucky you get coal?


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## Don F (Dec 5, 2015)

Lemonhawk said:


> And no one has mentioned that first you start with a lot of plants and cover it with mud and compress it for a few million years and if your lucky you get coal?


Skip the coal, go for the diamonds!


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Lemonhawk said:


> And no one has mentioned that first you start with a lot of plants and cover it with mud and compress it for a few million years and if your lucky you get coal?


I think I just said that....


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Lemonhawk said:


> And no one has mentioned that first you start with a lot of plants and cover it with mud and compress it for a few million years and if your lucky you get coal?


I mentioned it, back in post #13…..😁

Do you read all the posts…..?


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## Chaostrain (Jan 27, 2015)

Personally, I don't have a need to make coal. I literally have hundreds of pounds of the real stuff downstairs in the coal locker that came with the house. I think I'm going to need a LOT of cars.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

The last house I lived in in Fostoria, O (1950's) has a "stoker". It was a big metal box the connected to the coal furnace and my job was to keep it filled. I think it would last over a day (no longer really remember), but being small I could not use the usual coal shovel, so I had a short handled gravel spreader shovel that was just right for getting a scoop of coal from the coal bin and lifting it up and dropping in the stoker! I still have and use the shovel, but its back spreading stuff in the garden!


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## ERIE610 (Jan 19, 2015)

Tractor Supply has Black Diamond Coal Slag for a very reasonable price. They also carry Walnut Shells in different grades as well.




Search Results for sandblast media at Tractor Supply Co.


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## Madman (Aug 22, 2020)

*How do you make coal?

Kill a bunch of trees. Bury them in the earth. Wait a few years.....LOL*


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## Bama39648 (11 mo ago)

Blue North said:


> I have empty hoppers. What do you guys use to fill them with coal that would look real but not too heavy?
> I was going to fill them with small pale green marbles (that I already have) to mimic "railroad marbles" but it would be heavy.


my grandad worked in the coal mines in AL for years unti he retired si I have plentyf real coal.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Madman said:


> *How do you make coal?
> 
> Kill a bunch of trees. Bury them in the earth. Wait a few years.....LOL*


You forgot the word "million" between "few" and "years" !


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## HD FLATCAR (Feb 21, 2011)

TRACTOR SUPPLY sells 40# bags of coal for $9.99:

Keep the fire burning with Kimmel's Coal and Packaging 1818 40 LB RICE Premium Rice Coal.
This premium rice coal is convenient, clean and easy to store.
You'll love the value in this 40-lb. bag of quality anthracite coal, made in America.


Kimmel's premium rice coal is convenient and clean
Rice-size coal is ideal for furnaces
Easy-to-store design makes storage easy


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## ERIE610 (Jan 19, 2015)

HD FLATCAR said:


> TRACTOR SUPPLY sells 40# bags of coal for $9.99:
> 
> Keep the fire burning with Kimmel's Coal and Packaging 1818 40 LB RICE Premium Rice Coal.
> This premium rice coal is convenient, clean and easy to store.
> ...


Thanks HD FLATCAR. The Kimmel's coal may be a better fit than the Black Diamond Coal Slag. Kimmel's being the size of an uncooked grain of rice may be sized just right. Priced at $6.49 for a 40# bag is $4.50 less than the Black Diamond Coal Slag priced at $10.99. I will probably go ahead and use the Black Diamond since I have several bags out by my media blaster. 40# or 50# should help make quite a few coal loads.


LINKS
Kimmel's 40# bag
Premium Rice Coal, 1818 40 lb. Rice at Tractor Supply Co.

Black Diamond 50# bag
Search Results for sandblast media at Tractor Supply Co.


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## Don F (Dec 5, 2015)

ERIE610 said:


> Thanks HD FLATCAR. The Kimmel's coal may be a better fit than the Black Diamond Coal Slag. Kimmel's being the size of an uncooked grain of rice may be sized just right. Priced at $6.49 for a 40# bag is $4.50 less than the Black Diamond Coal Slag priced at $10.99. I will probably go ahead and use the Black Diamond since I have several bags out by my media blaster. 40# or 50# should help make quite a few coal loads.
> 
> 
> LINKS
> ...


What scale are working with? If O, then the fine Black Beauty scales to the size of Chestnut, the most common size. If HO, then it scales to double that size, or Egg, or Stove coal, which was also transported by rail. S gauge would be in between. Raw unprocessed coal was also carried by rail sometimes and the sizes would be all over the place.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

Any one have a picture (with a ruler) of the rice coal? The coal I shoveled was about the size of baseballs. The prior furnace used large soft coal, I was too small to get anything up to the furnace opening and then manage to get it in the furnace. The smaller anthracite (and a few extra years of growing) and shoving the coal was at least doable!


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## Don F (Dec 5, 2015)




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## Madman (Aug 22, 2020)

Chaostrain said:


> Personally, I don't have a need to make coal. I literally have hundreds of pounds of the real stuff downstairs in the coal locker that came with the house. I think I'm going to need a LOT of cars.
> 
> View attachment 579266


My how that reminds me of my grandmother's house in n South Philly. When we visited, my brother and I would go down and play with the coal. Of course we caught hell later. Not because we were messing anything up, but rather that my grandmother would have to give us a bath.....LOL

In winter, I used to sit near the floor grating to smell the coal burning. It was a comforting aroma, to me.


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