I have about 50 N scale hoppers of various types that I need bulk loads for. I am trying to avoid buying them ($$$$). Most would be for ballast or various size rock (no coal). I have found several write ups on making my own but they typically involve carving foam to fill the car then topping it off with whatever load you want to represent. I don't want to carve 50 hoppers worth of loads and try to make them fit right. I would prefer to mold something then use that as a base to add the rock material to the top for the right look. A related factor is that some of my hoppers have an internal bracing structure that I do not want to remove when the load is installed. I also want to include some metal in the load so I can remove it with a magnet. As a result, I am thinking that the following process will work. Looking for feedback or better ideas.
1) Lay a piece of plastic wrap over a hopper and tuck it down into the hopper to conform with the shape of the hopper.
2) Pour in something (plaster?) to fill the bottom of the car. Fill it up to the level where the bottom of the load would be. Let it harden.
At this point, the hopper made with steps 1 and 2 will become the master mold for performing steps 3 through 6 below as many times as desired to build loads.
3) Lay another layer of plastic wrap over the car but tucked down into the car to form a bowl that conforms to the shape of the car above the casting inserted in step 2.
4) Pour in a shallow layer of something (plaster?) that will harden into the removable base that I will top off with my load. Insert something metal into the plaster so it can be removed with a magnet.
5) When plaster is hard, remove it and peel off the plastic wrap. This should leave me with a solid base to build my load on. I assume the plastic wrap will easily peel off. If not, cut it along the edges of the casting
6) Top off the load base with suitable rock, ballast, etc to represent my load. Seal it with an adhesive like done with ballasting track.
This casting should conform to the shape of the hopper and sit in place like it was a full load yet be easily removed with a magnet.
Any better ideas?
Paul D
N scale Washita and Santa Fe RailroadSouthern Oklahoma circa late 70's
You might take a look at latex mold products from Micro-Mark.
https://www.micromark.com/hobby-supplies/casting-molding-supplies
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
If your hopper loads will represent rock or ballast, then the cars would be only half-full or-so, due to the greater density of rock as compared to coal.
I bought a bag of limestone screenings (about five bucks for 50lbs.) from my local lumber yard, then ran it through several different sizes of screening in order to get a useable size for ballast...
Either the ballast-size stuff or the larger or smaller sizes could be used for live (loose) loads, or you could line the cars with plastic wrap, then add the rock, wet it thoroughly and apply diluted white glue, as you would when ballasting.
You'd likely need to let it dry for at least a week, due to the thickness, but this should yield removeable loads. If you have different brands or styles of hoppers, the loads should be labelled on their underside to specify the cars which will accept such loads.
Limestone screenings contain a lot of dust, so it's best to do the sizing outdoors, and perhaps once the individual grades have been sorted, to use water to remove the excess dust. The dust can be used for low grade ballast, especially if combined with other materials, such as real dirt or coloured tile grout.
This train on the Maitland River bridge has live loads of Woodland Scenics ballast...
Wayne
Wayne, how do you load the live loads? Is there a scale model facility where you are loading them? Dan
Forgot about resin as a casting material. I think I would prefer it to plaster.
On some cars I can make a single cast to fill car but on others that have internal braceing (removable), the braces prevent that and I do not want to remove them to install a load. I want to be able to convert from a loaded hopper to an empty hopper by simply removing the load with no need to reinstall he braces.
PEDOn some cars I can make a single cast to fill car but on others that have internal braceing (removable), the braces prevent that and I do not want to remove them to install a load. I want to be able to convert from a loaded hopper to an empty hopper by simply removing the load with no need to reinstall he braces.
Southgate Wayne, how do you load the live loads? Is there a scale model facility where you are loading them? Dan
Paul,
I model HO but my method may work for N scale. I used masonite cut to size, (thin bass wood may work just as well). Add ballast, apply glue, let dry. Place a washer on the bottom of load so you can remove with a magnet.
Good luck.
Frank
I just finished making eight more sugar beet loads for some Accurail hoppers. One thing to think about is making the loads light enough to not add significant weight to the cars. If your hoppers are already at or near the NMRA recommended weight when empty, you don't want to add a couple more ounces of weight with your loads. For this reason, I make my loads by gluing 1/2" thick pieces of styrofoam to rectangles of .040" styrene cut to fit slightly loose inside the hoppers. Once the glue is dry, I trim back the styrofoam to match the edges of the styrene rectangles. Next, I use 40 grit sandpaper to quickly carve the styrofoam into the proper load shape. Remember that the actual load material (in this case anise seeds to simulate sugar beets) will add thickness to your loads so carve the styrofoam a little thinner to account for the load material. Paint the load cores flat black and let dry. Next, apply matte medium or white glue to the top of the styrofoam and sprinkle on the load material. I tend to apply the anise seeds a little over the edges to ensure that only the seeds show when the load is in the car. Once the cores are covered with your load material, add a couple coats of diluted matte medium or white glue to permanently fix in place. Sand/grind the edges of the load material back to the edges of the load core and check the fit in the actual cars. You want the loads to slip in easiliy as well as fall back out when you turn the car over. Finally, I drill a small hole through one end of each load and insert a length of .020" wire (with one end formed into a small loop) through the hole and fixed in place with a drop of CA. Once the cars are delivered to the sugar beet plant, the wire loops allow the use of an uncoupling skewer to lift each load out of the cars without derailing them. Yes, the loads were time consuming to make but being able to load and unload the hoppers during ops sessions is well worth the effort.
As has appeared in MR, you could use a steel washer in/under your load and use a magnet to remove the loads. However, the anise seeds aren't very robust and the load smacking the magnet over and over would likely start to break the seeds loose from the load.
Hornblower
I use old mattress foam, as described in this post on my blog.
http://cprailmmsub.blogspot.com/2010/05/easy-coal-loads-from-foam.html
John Longhurst, Winnipeg