I got lucky on this one. A fellow railroader friend of mine gave me a baggie full of Real coal he brought back from England. The granuals are perfect in scale. It actually washes up on some shore line. Problem is now my other coal loads look bad-Can't have both on the table at the same time............
hi
i buy the black beauty form a local supply house and it is cheep i get a 50 pound bag for about 7 bucks and 50 pounds goes a long way check the yellow pages for your local area and good luck phil
Wayne
Found some references to "Black Beauty" called Cleaning Media for Sand Blasting or Sand Blasting Media. There is also something called "Black Diamond" but apparently is a lot more dusty than Black Beauty (Basically a form of 80 grit sand).
Other details from a web site:
Star Shape has more sharp edges and cleans faster than other media. Black Beauty will not wear and shrink like glass beads or silica. 100% Bio-Degradable and environmentally Friendly. No Toxins like in glass beads and silica. Seems pricing is under $20 for 25lbs or under $15 for 10lbs on eBay.
Co-owner of the proposed CT River Valley RR (HO scale) http://home.comcast.net/~docinct/CTRiverValleyRR/
I discovered, by chance, that the locomotives at the steel plant where I worked had switched from using sand, for traction, to a black product that looked, to me at least, very similar to anthracite. With assistance from a helpful yardmaster, I was able to obtain several pounds of it. I think that it may be similar to a sandblasting medium called Black Beauty, which is made from the slag produced by coal-fired power plants.
While probably not appropriate for use in my layout's power plant, that's where much of is destined, as I have several train-loads of it. I run "live" loads, with a loaded Athearn 2-bay hopper tipping the scales at 8 ounces. A 12 car train, plus caboose, weighs in at 100 ounces, and requires doubleheaded Mikes or Consolidation to move it from the interchange to the power plant, with the other limiting factor being the length of my passing sidings. The material is relatively dust-free, with most granules .030"-.060" in size, with randomly angular facets. Some of it is slightly magnetic, which hasn't posed any problems, although most of my locos have can motors. It can also be used to make a "load" similar to what most modellers use, as I have used diluted white glue to add some over the cast-in-place load in a loco's tender. It should work equally well over carved styrofoam blocks. Here's some in a hopper:
And here's the same stuff glued atop the cast coal load of an Athearn Mikado:
Here's a LINK to one supplier.
Another product which I use is coke breeze, which is basically the "fines" from the industrial coking process. While it's not really black (more like a silvered dark grey) I like its texture for use in loco tenders, as it ranges from irregular lumps of 1/8"-or-so to fine dust. (I've screened mine to remove anything larger.) It is rather dirty (pouring it into the opened coal bunkers of my tenders causes a small dust cloud), and is abrasive and possibly corrosive. Still, I like its looks, and have had no problems using it or the traction grit. Here's a hopper loaded with the coke breeze:
And in some tender coal bunkers - all are loose loads:
I'm not sure where the average modeller could obtain coke breeze, but the blasting medium should be relatively cheap, and made even moreso if a number of modellers were to purchase some as a group - even the minimum order should produce many unit trains-worth of pre-fab loads.
I never realised how many different types of coal there were ntil I watched Allen Keller's video of Jim Hertzog's Reading. The undisputed model railroading coal mining expert. After the education the best thing I have found for mine run coal is real coal. I found a guy locally on craigslist.com selling off what was left of his coal supply for a coal fired furnance he had in his home.
I think 50lbs cost me like $5.00 What I do is put it between tow pieces of metal old plates I had laying around and smash the plates with a hand sledge. I would say each piece is about the size of a piece of your thumb give or take before you start.
(Great for taking out the frustrations too by the way) If the lumps are still too big just whomp em some more. I figure if nothing works better then real dirt for scenery then why not real coal.
I have made some coal loads using WS medium cinder ballast. I never really cared for the look of WS coal. I also have some chunks of anthracite I'm going to try and pulverize.
Nick
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
As I understand the term, "Mine run" coal is basically ungraded, consisting of everything from dust to whatever maximum size the primary (and only) crusher is set for. It is in common use today, since the major coal users (power plants) will pulverize it to fire their boilers.
Back in the day, the anthracite roads burned culm - which is why their locomotives had those wide Wootten fireboxes with their comparatively large grate areas. Most railroads burned lump coal.
The pototype mines I'm (approximately) modeling shipped three sizes, 40mm>, 100>40mm and 100mm<. The screens of the rotary separator were sized accordingly - big lumps to one side, medium lumps to the other and fines in the middle. I'd love to figure out how to build an accurately-scaled working model.
Present plns call for using charcoal from pool filters, sized as necessary, for live coal loads. If that doesn't work, my fall-back position will be thoroughly pulverized real coal.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
a lot depends upon what era you are modeling. most coal today looks about the same since the mechanized mining processes seem to pulverize it a bit. in times gone by, coal was graded by the size screen it would fit through. everything from large lumps down to dust or culm. loads would vary in appearance by the grade/size. the little information i can find shows about 6 basic sizes.
pulverized=1/4" to dust--stoker=1" to 1/4"--nut=2" to 1"--stove=3" to 2"-- egg=5" to 3" and lump=5" and over.
i made a few HO scale loads using arizona rock and mineral coarse grade and they looked pretty good to me.
grizlump
hey guys. what do you all use to make real coal loads for your hoppers? I bought the WS "mine run" coal, and I think it looks like garbage...
its like... weird shapes. Not lumps. It looks more like rice grains than coal. Maybe its just too small for HO? Now, I know that coal isn't perfectly spherical, but when you shrink down the scaling to HO scale, its impossible to see... you might as well be using flour, or sugar, or another powdered substance.
WS also has "Lump" coal. Whats the difference, in intended use? I just want to make more realistic-looking coal loads.
Actually.... i think I get it now, from looking at Kadee's mine-run coal load: is "Mine run" coal coal that is straight from the tipple, BEFORE it's taken to the prep plant? and, then, would "Lump coal" be processed coal?