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Post by emd16645 on Feb 23, 2016 7:40:58 GMT -8
Does any one here use live loads in their cars? My club is considering offering live coal and wood chip loads and are interested if how much interest there is. If interested, please indicate what you would pay for such loads.
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Post by Paul Cutler III on Feb 23, 2016 10:11:04 GMT -8
My club used to do live sand loads. After the 4th or 5th derailment that resulted in a hopper car falling over and spilling sand all over the place, live loads were banned. Now, all loads must be one piece loads.
BTW, I can't imagine doing live wood chip loads (sawdust, I presume?). It's bad enough with sand or even coal, but a load that will scatter to the winds every time someone sneezes doesn't sound like a good idea to me.
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Post by atsfan on Feb 23, 2016 11:19:46 GMT -8
Why do live loads?
Are you going to dump them?
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Post by kentuckysouthernrwy on Feb 24, 2016 7:56:44 GMT -8
Why do live loads? Are you going to dumb them?  if that was meant to be dumP yes, exactly. One layout I run does that with coal and some gon loads but has a large group of pre-made, removable loads for the pulp wood fleet of gons and bulkhead flats. Another has pre-made removable loads as well. Some folks actually use their imagination regarding loads. My plan is to use prepared loads for my coal fleet and pulpwood cars. Accurail, athearn and others' plastic loads all look fair, could be improved with some additional 'coal' added. They all are slightly different sized so mixed cars would need load/car match marks of some sort. The loads on Athearn's ready to run pulpwood cars are quite nice, Atlas' on the otherhand a bit too "sheeny" but could be weathered a bit. Realistic empties can be a challenge, too. I weather the inside of all my empty coal cars a light rust color. So did the Seaboard System in the 80s at Hazard, KY  Not sure what one should 'pay' for them. I imagine operability of live loads might be a challenge if done in great numbers. Not sure how loose coal loads would stay in the tapered shape you expect to see as they move along. |
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Post by riogrande on Feb 24, 2016 10:52:33 GMT -8
I knew a modeler back in Syracuse NY who had quite a layout in his basement and he used "live" coal loads. He had set up operating conveyor belts to load coal cars, and rotary dumpers to empty them out - he used Switchmaster slow motion motors to rotate the home built rotary dumpers. It was pretty cool.
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Post by atsfan on Feb 24, 2016 12:31:16 GMT -8
Yes DUMP, not dumb.
I have seen coal loads do this. Not wood chips. Wood chips would be light weight and harder to control.
It will be a good amount of work to do correctly so make sure you really want to do it versus just
having removable coal loads.
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Post by Gary P on Feb 25, 2016 3:50:18 GMT -8
Just thinking about the size of scale wood chips... Like Paul says above, wouldn't they be more like fine saw dust, and be a real mess?
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Post by emd16645 on Feb 25, 2016 4:19:52 GMT -8
Thanks everyone for the input. Based on the comments, there wouldn't be much interest around this forum if these were made available.
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Post by riogrande on Feb 25, 2016 6:54:28 GMT -8
It doesn't sound like it. Live loads seems to be a niche kind of thing and not wide spread.
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Post by roadkill on Feb 25, 2016 7:34:25 GMT -8
I knew a modeler back in Syracuse NY who had quite a layout in his basement and he used "live" coal loads. He had set up operating conveyor belts to load coal cars, and rotary dumpers to empty them out - he used Switchmaster slow motion motors to rotate the home built rotary dumpers. It was pretty cool. There was an east side suburban Cleveland modeler who's name escapes me that used live loads back in the Seventies and Eighties. He had a rotary dumper too but I don't recollect what he used to power them. Got to run on his layout way back when, made quite an impression on my teenage mind. |
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Post by Gary P on Feb 25, 2016 8:51:07 GMT -8
For live loads of things like coal, wouldn't black ballast work well?
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Post by valenciajim on Feb 25, 2016 9:31:57 GMT -8
I knew a modeler back in Syracuse NY who had quite a layout in his basement and he used "live" coal loads. He had set up operating conveyor belts to load coal cars, and rotary dumpers to empty them out - he used Switchmaster slow motion motors to rotate the home built rotary dumpers. It was pretty cool. Sounds like my old Lionel layout when I was a kid. I remember the coal spilling and getting all over the place. |
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Post by gmpullman on Feb 28, 2016 15:03:45 GMT -8
I knew a modeler back in Syracuse NY who had quite a layout in his basement and he used "live" coal loads. He had set up operating conveyor belts to load coal cars, and rotary dumpers to empty them out - he used Switchmaster slow motion motors to rotate the home built rotary dumpers. It was pretty cool. There was an east side suburban Cleveland modeler who's name escapes me that used live loads back in the Seventies and Eighties. He had a rotary dumper too but I don't recollect what he used to power them. Got to run on his layout way back when, made quite an impression on my teenage mind. Harley Smith in Chardon. He and his son, Dale, were (are?) in the ballast business and as far as I know, still supply Scenic Express with various grades of real stone ballast. Regards, Ed |
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Post by Great-Northern-Willmar Div on Feb 29, 2016 7:38:34 GMT -8
I tried a live load ONCE. I put some ballast in a hopper car. Looked very realistic. Then my friend inadvertently bumped the hopper and over it went like Humpty Dumpty. Now I had ballast all over. Thank goodness I was still in the "plywood" phase of construction. But it was still a mess.
I may not be the brightest bulb on the porch, but I learned my lesson REAL quick.
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Post by kentuckysouthernrwy on Feb 29, 2016 16:23:35 GMT -8
For live loads of things like coal, wouldn't black ballast work well? It would work. I have a large quantity of aquarium 'gravel' material that is very much like coal in color, texture and size for HO. A whale of a lot less expensive than anything with a 'model railroad' label on it. I just searched and it said to be calcium carbonate. I bought some at Pet Smart recently called National Geographic aquarium substrate. I did also use it as ballast in the coal mine and yard area on my last layout. I would think that sawdust would be a bust due to it's dusty nature and it's absorbing moisture in the air causing all sorts of issues. |
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Post by Gary P on Mar 1, 2016 5:26:24 GMT -8
A Long time ago, many many years ago when I was a youngster, I had a live load coal car. I think it was either a Tyco or Mantua car, with an unloading ramp that opened the doors on the bottom of the car. It actually worked quite well.....
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jhuteman
New Member
Whut cho doin there Bo?
Posts: 46 
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Post by jhuteman on Apr 23, 2016 16:30:31 GMT -8
Strips of emery cloth cut to just oversize and 'humped up' tucked in just under the top edge of the gondola look like coal loads and are easy to put in and take out.
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