Moving coal on the Claptowte Railway

David1226

David1226

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The Claptowte Railway has need of three mineral (coal) wagons. A loaded one will be one of the eight different models used in the shunting puzzle. One loaded and one empty coal wagon will stand on display in the coal siding.

As usual, the starting point for the model will be an LGB Toytrain wagon. In this case, the high sided open wagon which was the starting point for the tarpaulin wagon.
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Having dismantled the wagon, the first step, as before, is to carfully remove the planking that formed the balcony
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The next stage is to saw through the body so that it can be extended.
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For this conversion the sides of the body are then cut out, as they will be replaced with new ones. The floor is extended with plasticard which is scribed to match the planking and woodgrain.
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New plastcard sides are fitted, again scribed with plank/woodgrain effect.
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The detailing is then completed. Side strapping from plastic channel, brake lever from plasic strip, lamp irons from GRS, metal wheels from Al Kramer.
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A paint job and lettering to complete.
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David
 
The below is the `empty wagon`. It may have been emptied but still has to be swept out.

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Below is one of the loaded wagons

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David
 
Nice work....
 
I could do with 'borrowing' these for our 'Coal Train Day' gala coming up!
Very nice work..
 
Nice job, love how the Wagons change Colour between Mods. Sorry but you never mentioned how you load the Coal Wagons. Are the Loads removable, then you can run Loads in Empties out of a Station. I do this with all my Wagons that carry Coal.
JonD
 
Great transformation.
The painted inner planking is especially effective.
 
Nice job, love how the Wagons change Colour between Mods. Sorry but you never mentioned how you load the Coal Wagons. Are the Loads removable, then you can run Loads in Empties out of a Station. I do this with all my Wagons that carry Coal.
JonD
Click to expand...

John

I would like to say that I did it to bring more more colour to the thread, but I am sure you realise the truth of the matter, the donor wagons were different colours to start with, and I converted them as a batch, I had to photograph what I had ready at the time. You will notice that the wagon in the Tarpaulin Wagon thread also changes colour.

The coal loads are removable, although the way the the Claptowte Railway runs, they will probably never be removed. The bases were made up of some scrap timber and MDF. This was topped off with some expanded polystyrene which was roughly shaped (messy business). I then painted it satin black to take off the whiteness. This actually gave a not bad representation of coal in its own right. I then coated it with white PVA glue and sprinled on GRS Loco Coal. For those not familiar with this it is a very realistic sythetic coal with a rubbery texture, it`s actually very hard to find real coa,l in my area, these days.. When dry, I flooded it with dilute PVA clue with a drop of washing up liquid, to really lock it all together.

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David
 
I was going to ask about the coal - it looks really good in the trucks (the latter being lovely conversions).

I tried gluing gravel to shaped (humps of) polystyrene - the glue worked fine, it was just the wrong spray paint which dissolved the polystyrene!

Thanks for posting how you made the coal loads.
 
David,
Thanks for your reply re loads. Great job, interesting about the GRS Coal. Never seen it. Presumably you mean their Loco Coal at just under £5.00 a bag:-

http://www.grsuk.com/Loco_Coal_100g-M2802

I imagine it is quite lightweight. Important if you have a big Train if Coal Wagons.

If you want the real thing, you could try BBQ Coal. Just put it in a bag and smash it with a Hammer. I have Bonsai Sieves and a Garden Sieve so can get varying sizes out. Oh you can also use the BBQ Coal for a Barbie too. Just the thing for todays perfect Weather in in UK and St.Neots.
JonD
 
David,
Thanks for your reply re loads. Great job, interesting about the GRS Coal. Never seen it. Presumably you mean their Loco Coal at just under £5.00 a bag:-

http://www.grsuk.com/Loco_Coal_100g-M2802

I imagine it is quite lightweight. Important if you have a big Train if Coal Wagons.

If you want the real thing, you could try BBQ Coal. Just put it in a bag and smash it with a Hammer. I have Bonsai Sieves and a Garden Sieve so can get varying sizes out.
Click to expand...

John

Yes that's the stuff. I don't know about the weight. I would imagine it's lighter than real coal, at the end of the day a 100gr bag still weighs 100gr. I am not sure what you mean by BBQ coal. If you mean charcoal, that would definitely be lighter, but I would imagine crushed charcoal would be a lighter shade of grey than coal. The GRS stuff is definitely coal black and shiney. The weight of whatever topping you used would be a relatively insignificant part of the total weight of the woodblock/MDF base.

David
 
David,
I have had varying types of Barbie Coal, some quite Coal Like others quite different. Worth a look at the disposable Barbies to see what they have. Thinking further I also have a Bag of proper Coal that I got for my Multi Fuel Burner. So perhaps that is what I have used as well. I have some stuff that looks just like Coke, all of this has been sifted to even finer Grades for use on my 00 Coal Mine Railway that I am building on Rainy Days. That little Railway as come on in leaps and bounds this Spring!
JonD
 
The sun is out today and it`s brought out the entire Claptowte Railway mineral wagon fleet for an outdoor photo opportunity. The wagons are now sporting their new `Makers`s Plates` as per the `Claptowte Railway on a plate` topic.

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David
 
Is that real grass on the lawn David?

Damn good gardening if it is!!
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Ian

Yes real grass, mown about an hour before the photograph was taken. Below is a wider vew of the garden taken September 2012.

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David
 
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