I use the foam method as stated above but another way to do it is to take a piece of notebook paper and cut it so that it's a bit larger than the hopper bay. Start forming the notebook paper into the conical shape of a sand load and then glue it into the hopper bay. Paint some elmers glue onto the top of the notebook paper and sprinkle your favorite sand load on top of the paper. Be sure it covers the entire notebook paper form then wait for the glue to dry. It makes a nice looking load.
I make my loads from plain old pine. Saw a piece of 3/4" thick pine board to fit just inside the car. Then with a rasp or a plane or just a pocket knife, shape the up side of the load to look like a pile of whatever. I've been making coal loads, so I paint the wood black, then cover it with Elmer's white glue, and sprinkle it with HO scale coal. Let the clue dry and it's good to go. For yellow sand, paint the wood sand color, add the glue and cover it with something good and fine and the right color.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
I have a couple of nice coal loads made from blue/pink foam. Cut it to fit inside the car, leave a litle space at the top, loads settle. Then take a piece of Saran Wrap, put it over the car (so it won't get paint on it) and push the load in place. Find a paint the color you want your load (be sure that it is foam compatable), paint the top of the load and sprinkle a little of your finished sand on it. After the paint is dry, lift out the load and remove the wrap. Also, you may find that a textured paint may give you enough texture for sand. If you want to be able to remove the load easily, bury a washer in the load and get a pick up magnet at your local automotive store.
Good luck,
loathar, pete and bruce thanks for the info on sand loads. all of what you have told me has been invaluable and will make it easier foir me to make my own gondola sand loads. mine will be combonation of green florist foam blocks with sand lightly sprinkled on them. sand in michigan's benzie, grand traverse and leelanau counties is light brown, almost like brown sugar.
Those green florist foam blocks work great.(not the Styrofoam ones) You can easily cut and sand them to shape. They are porous so all you'd have to do is paint it a sand color and your done.Not my best work, but you get the idea.
Sand varies from place to place and this variation would need to be reflected on your own layout by modeling the kind of sand used by the prototype you model.
Being able to identify the kind of sand that is common in the area where your models run in important. If this is an inland area, then you will need to determine where in the country the sand your prototype uses originates from and then model that.
Sand is found in various grades from quite course to almost a powder. And in color from black iron/volcanic sand to white coral sand. Sand in Bermuda has an almost pink tinge to it where as sand in the volcanic areas of the Pacific, well, their sand is black - other places sand is grey. That is just ocean sand I'm mentioning here. Then there is river sand and that can be different again.
I have used sand from Redington Beach in Florida and I've used carved and shaped foam - the kind modelers use on their layouts to make hills and cliffs etc., to make a nice shape to fit in a gondola with the top of the foam carved in a shape that would look like it was sand. Once the foam is fitted in the gondola you can then slowly and, in small increments, sprinkle sand over the shaped foam so that the final appearance gives the impression that the gondola load is all sand. The wet water and diluted white glue method used to keep track ballast in place will secure this load from leaving the gondola.
I hope this help some.
Bruce
I made my own sand loads for my hoppers by using a cut piece of styrene painted a sand color and topped with silt from our retention pond dried and glued with white glue/ water mix like ballasting track. I did not use sand. Sand in HO scale would be stone around 1 1/2 inch size. Some people use a sandy grout for tiles for loads. I used the silt / glue deal for the price. Like the comercial said FREE IS BETTER.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
i have been unsuccessful in finding any of CM Shops' sand loads for the athearn 50 foot fishbelly gondola. i was thinking about making sand loads myself, even though i have had no experience making loads. what would be a good material to use as a base for the sand to sit on? are there any places through walthers or elsewhere that sell sand to be used for scenery or as freight car load? what would be good glue to use to anchor down real sand onto base?