Figure 2a
Quick and Easy Hopper Loads by Charlie Comstock
I
f you’re tired of watching empty hopper cars rolling along on your layout here’s a quick way to fill ‘em.
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I paint the foam black (or gray or brown depending on the commod-
ity being modeled) with acrylic, not solvent based paint. I carefully hot-glue a fender washer to the bottom of the load (don’t melt the foam!). This let’s me unload hoppers with a strong magnet. I paint the top surface of the loads with full-strength white glue and liberall sprinkle on Woodland Scenics coal or ballast to represent coal or gravel.
Figure 1: Hopper cars, loaded with caol, rolling through Oakhill on my BC&SJ.
Figure 2a,b,c: Cutting the foam to length, width, and thickness.
I cut 1” thick pink rigid foam insulation to fit inside the hoppers. I slice the foam in half so it’s about 1/2” thick. I use a bandsaw, but a jewlers saw also works for these cuts (Figures 2a,b,c). I bevel the top of the pink foam blanks to represent the shape of the top of a coal or gravel load.
Figure 2b
Figure 3: A pair of pink-foam blanks ready for shaping to simulate the crown of a coal or gravel load.
Figure 2c
Figure 3
Figure 1 Page 39 • Issue 6 • Mar/Apr 2010 • The Scenery Scene - Quick and Easty Hopper Loads, page 1
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