I started out my coal loads the same way using a thin sheet of styrene reenforced with two beams. After spraying the styrene black l dabbed on a layer of liquid electrical tape and applied the coal to that. When it dried, that gave me a base layer to apply the mounds of coal to which I secured with the thin white glue the way I would with track ballasts.
I think I said something incorrect earlier when I said I experimented with burying a KD between-the-rails magnet inside the coal load to allow it to be lifted out with KD under-the-track magnet. Actually, I initially had put the magnets under the coal load between the two beams. I found that the magnet wasn't powerful enough to lift it out. I had planned to try again by putting the magnet inside the coal load which would put it closer to the larger magnet but I haven't actually gotten around to doing that yet. I did all of this last year and didn't quite remember where this experiment stood.
Right now to lift out the loads I used a hobby knife with a chisel blade. This weekend I plan to get around to building a coal load with the magnet inside to coal pile to see if that will work. I'm cautiously optimistic that it will. I'll post some pictures.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
John-NYBWThis weekend I plan to get around to building a coal load with the magnet inside to coal pile
Not sure what you're doing here. If you want to embed anthing in the coal pile I suggest that you use one or two of those large headed steel roofing nails.
You're not going to be able to pull out a magnet with a magnet unless you have magnets with opposite "polarity". Plus nails are less expensive.
You will find that some loads may not pull out easily anyway because the hopper car sides and ends will sometimes bow in slightly.
Here's some coke breeze (the "fines" from coke making). I use it as
"live" loads in all my steam loco tenders, and also use it in hoppers and some gondolas, too.
Wayne
Heartland Division CB&QBelow is a picture I took last night at the coke oven.
Those all look good Garry. Effort well spent and successful.
Another coal train of mine:
-Kevin
Living the dream.
John. Bear, Maxman, Last Spike Mike, Wayne, Kevin ..... Thanks for chiming in with more comments and photos.
Bear: .... Nice photo.
Wayne : .... Your coal in the tender looks real.
Kevin ... Thank You !
Regarding magnets to lift out loads: ..... As I said, I have another method. I can easily pop the loads out with a dental pick inserted between the car side and the edge of the load. It is simple. No magnets needed.
Regarding color of coke: .... Thanks Mike for refreshing my memory. It has been many years since I have seen coke. I recalled it had a blue cast to it as well as somewhat silver. (Maybe my memory is wrong.) I tried adding a blue tint to my loads, but it went away as I used the white glue.
Mike: .... A few days ago you posted in this thread: "The more modern you get the more you'll be tempted by N scale to model coal trains. You'd think N scale was developed specifically for modelling modern unit trains. "
Below is a photo of an operation best for smaller scales such as N or even Z. ... It is recent picture taken with a drone by photographer / railfan Jim Pearson. He lives in western Kentucky and posts many beautiful railroad photos in Facebook.
In the picture you can see a railroad / barge terminal located in Calvert City, KY. He said the BNSF unit in the foreground was the DPU pusher as the train entered the terminal with coal. It is leading the empty train out of the terminal. Another train has Paducah and Louisville (PAL) locomotives, and it is delivering coal. The terminal is located on the PAL, and it is on the Tennessee River only a few miles before it enters the Ohio RIver.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Heartland Division CB&Q Rich ..... The C&NW coal train looks good.
Rich ..... The C&NW coal train looks good.
Love this thread.
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotrainLove this thread. Rich
richhotrain Love this thread. Rich AARRGH!!! I don’t know what’s going wrong with the world, but I’m agreeing with Rich, again!!!
richhotrain Love this thread. Rich
richhotrainUh oh, maybe I should read through this thread again
Heartland Division CB&Q In the picture you can see a railroad / barge terminal located in Calvert City, KY. He said the BNSF unit in the foreground was the DPU pusher as the train entered the terminal with coal. It is leading the empty train out of the terminal. Another train has Paducah and Louisville (PAL) locomotives, and it is delivering coal. The terminal is located on the PAL, and it is on the Tennessee River only a few miles before it enters the Ohio RIver.
Here is another aerial view of the geographic area. If you look closely there are actually two wyes in the photo. The upper wye is just below the race track to allow coal trains to enter and exit from either direction. The lower wye, farther south is where the coal trains rejoin the mainline.
In the following photo, you can see the string of empty coal cars exiting the racetrack from the opposite direction from the train in the drone photo.
In the final photo, you can see the apparatus used to load coal in barges on the Tennessee River.
Rich ... Thank you for sharing the images of the Calvert City terminal. Even with N scale , it would require a lot of space to model it.
Last Spike Mike: ... Thanks for sharing your memories about color of coke.
Update.
I worked on coke loads for the coke oven.
First photo: .... Loads in coke hoppers. Closest to camera are loads tinted with blue/gray coloring in an attemot to look like coke. Behind are two cars which still are black and look like coal.
Second photo.....
The load in the side dump car has been tinted with orange as well as blue / gray to look like red hot coke from the oven . The EMD-40 will next shove it into the quench tower to cool it.
My "to do list" includes scratch building a quench car to replace the side dump car. If that works, I might make a more realistic looking locomotive for the quench car. However, I have lots of other projects on the "to do list", and this is not high priority.
In the picture, you can see scratch built machines on the decks of the coke oven.
Easiest solution I know for removable lids, roofs, or loads is to use magnetic washers. Little ones near the corners if you want magnets in the cars to hold them down; big ones for weight and to facilitate removal. Use a 'cheap' NIB magnet or glued stack from a source like Harbor Freight, on a stick or on a string, for the removal; you can glue a little piece of thin rubber over it to cushion any 'impact' and simplify releasing the magnet when the load is lifted. Experiment to get the best balance and position, and don't be afraid to make and use two tools simultaneously (or the equivalent of a handle between two magnets, like a cabinet handle) to make lifting or installation easier.
I believe there are differences in the shapes of the coal piles in the hoppers/gons represented by the loads, depending on the specific methods (e.g. flood vs. conveyor loading) and the pattern of coke from a larry probably won't look like loading from overhead. I am no expert but I suspect a little research in pictures will show what you'd need to see.
Has anyone modeled Top Gons and their loading/unloading?
Overmod Has anyone modeled Top Gons and their loading/unloading?
I'm not sure what a top gon is. ..... Regular gons were used at coal mines early in the 20th Century.
A “Top Gon” is a nominal 100 ton three bay coal hopper modified by NS to have a solid bottom.
maxmanA “Top Gon” is a nominal 100 ton three bay coal hopper modified by NS to have a solid bottom.
Name is probably the logical pun from the movie; if I recall correctly these didn't have rotary couplers but could only be unloaded from 'the top' -- I understand car shakers were commonly used.
OvermodThey are so called because their top sills are made so that loaders can run across them, and car to car, for loading and unloading.
Never heard or seen that before.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
zugmannNever heard or seen that before.
ISTR they were used in tie service, which wouldn't involve car-shaker unloading and that was said to be a miserable job to unload.
I mean some wound up in scrap tie service after they were done hauling coal. But I don't think the top gon were any different from other hoppers/gons used in MOW service that had backhoes/unloaders running on them?
zugmannBut I don't think the top gon were any different from other hoppers/gons used in MOW service that had backhoes/unloaders running on them?
Here's a video of the self-launching that could get a loader in position. To me it has a kind of Russian semi-suicidal flair:
https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/19677740901
Overmodmaxman A “Top Gon” is a nominal 100 ton three bay coal hopper modified by NS to have a solid bottom. EDIT: Perhaps they are so called because their top sills are made so that loaders can run across them, and car to car, for loading and unloading.
I don't think so, at least not originally.
Discussion of Top Gons here:
http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/161365.aspx
More recent info here:
http://www.nscorp.com/content/dam/nscorp/bizns/2014-BizNS-Articles/fall2014/BizNS_Fall2014.pdf
I remember seeing these cars loaded with coal pre-2000 waiting to be unloaded at the METED Titus generating station. That plant had a single car rotary dumper.
maxman More recent info here: http://www.nscorp.com/content/dam/nscorp/bizns/2014-BizNS-Articles/fall2014/BizNS_Fall2014.pdf