Wood Chip Loads

[wcu boy]

I recently read a thread on this bulletin board that shared wonderful ideas for coal loads. I need to make my own wood chip loads. I know that you are purchase wood chip loads from Rail Stuff, but I wanted to use the same concept and make my own wood chip loads. There is a product called Fuzz which looks very similar to wood chips that one could add to plastic foam after painting the foam a "wood chip color." Do any of you have any suggestions for wood chip loads and how to make them?

[WCfan]

The only thing I could think of would be saw dust. Not the large chips, but the powder. Not sure how "in scale" it would be though.

[GN-Rick]

I have made woodchip loads several times using a method that works very well for me.  I work in a woodshop (making wood windows) and what I do, is to take and rip strips of fir stock to fit the bevel in the interior of my woddchip cars-mine are Walthers' Gunderson ones and the inside is beveled.  Then I rip the upper side of the piece to about a 10-degree peak, then I cut the pieces to length.  Note that there is a bit of cut-and-fit involved, but this works well.  Then I take either hand sandpaper-or a power sander-to round the sharp edges of the peaks and randomise the shape of the pieces.  Then with a liberal application of carpenter's glue, I sprinkle sifted sawdust over the pieces.  Repeat as necessary to cover any thin spots or gaps and you will have, in my opinion, very good woodchip loads. I use fir, because that matches best the color of the prototype chip loads I see out here in Washington. I find that this is also a very good mass production technique because of its ease to do.  Hope this helps.

Were I as good with computers as I am with carpentry, I'd post a photo or two, but, I'm not.