mrhsmith8 Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Hello All: As someone who is considering a outside railway in 1:32 scale, I am enamored with the idea of using actual coal in my PIKO two-bay hoppers. But it looks like it might take 3 pounds of coal to fill up the hopper! And if you are running a string of 15-20 hoppers, that's a lot of weight before you even think about ascending a grade. Now I could still use a live load but use, say, ground black rubber as the coal. The reason for the interest in live loads is I also want to do some animation. Coal tipples that actually load coal cars and coal piers that discharge those coal loads into a ship. My guess is that if I do run live real coal loads I would have to repower the locomotives, weight them and use brass/steel gears. I would like to especially hear from those who have actually wrestled with/have experience with this issue. Hilary Smith Pacific Northwest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 I would say unless your layout is going to be really flat you may have issues pulling them up any kind of grade. I think you are right to be concerned about the locomotive drive trains in the long term as it will accelerate wear if the engine has plastic gears. Ground black rubber might be the best way to go if you are ok with the look of it. Depending on how many engines you planned to use in the consist you might have to add a bit of weight to it/them if you do have a grade. I haven't tried using real full loads but I do pull really long coal consists up a decent grade so I do have some experience in dealing with sizable pull forces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry B44 Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Kidman's sell a cast coal load for the Piko's and one other load. About $8 each I think. Could just fill a few cars with real stuff and the rest have this. You can make your own fake load with real coal. Just have a board that fits inside, drape some saran wrap in the car first, put in the board, then put in the coal. Use a 50/50 mix of white glue and water and that will glue it down and not show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrhsmith8 Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 I very much appreciate the comments so far! Very helpful. Hilary Smith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I tried running heavy loads in my Aristo hoppers. It created all kinds of new issues. I thought it would help when I had pushers shoving the train up hills. I wish all brands used the full metal trucks like on most of the Ultimate USA cars. They seem to stay on the rails the best and you don't need to worry about weighing down the cars. I'm switching to all body mounted couplers to see if that will fix a lot of issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I'm switching to all body mounted couplers to see if that will fix a lot of issues. Joe you will see a big diff.! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I agree, body mounting of couplers is the best way to go hands down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamPower4ever Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Not coal, but chickpeas and something we call "rasp" here. That's breadcrumbs according to Google translate, but I wouldn't pick that word myself. We're simulating sugar beet and grain loading. Jens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrhsmith8 Posted December 18, 2015 Author Share Posted December 18, 2015 More good replies! Many thanks guys! Hilary Smith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xl_special Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 Here's a picture of a Piko 2 bay hopper that I cut down width wise, replaced all the molded on handrails etc. Its shown with an AMS 40' boxcar and a MTH tank car. I would never attempt another one. Its just too much work, but it does produce a nice 2 bay hopper. Larry on Orcas Island, Wa. St Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 Nice looking hopper SP XL! I guess if you won't do another than I will skip it. I wanted to modify a Aristo 2 bay too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
du-bousquetaire Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 I made coal loads for mine using styrofoam covered with real coal smashed to bits with a hammer and glued down using the same technique as for ballast put it on dry and spray it with detergent and water and use a glue made of white glue half and half with water. You drop small drops at a time it makes convincing loads. Dont forget to paint the styrofoam black before gluing the coal. You could use the same technique for any other material: ballast etc.. its lightweight and removable. I didn't make any photos of this yet but I did my whole rake of 12 hoppers. I didn't bother with the cutting down to scale width it is too much work for too little difference, but it is the way to go if you want exact scale, nor the handrails as that means a repaint... It is well worth doing though. I did get some spare brake gear and wheels from Piko and installed them in the end under the incline plane. Congratulations on the job you did on yours Larry. and happy new year to all from France. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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