Large Coal Piles made easy

[Black Davy]

To make large piles of coal without a mess and waiting for glue to dry deep inside a pile I choose to sculpt a foam base first and test fit into the pocket and then coat with black paint full strength. I then wrap with saran wrap to protect the outlying structure from glue and place it in the pocket, add lots of full strength glue to the visible structure with a brush making sure to get it down in all sides.
I then add a generous amount of unwashed Conway Coal of any grade over the glued area, pressing the coal down into the corners, after pressing down give another coat. You can add glue down at the bottom of the pile for coal run off from the pile. When they dry remove from the pocket and saran wrap, you will find the glue still wet on the sides but will dry very quickly when the wrap is removed. You can then place your coal pile back into the pocket. I place a straw into one of the piles so my screw conveyor could go right into the pile.

 

[Black Davy]

additional photos

Finished piles in pockets, I will need to detail out the edges of the piles.

 

[NScaler]

Looking good! That is a neat little process for making the coal piles.

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[trailrider]

Something for variety: I just received a copy of the Burlington Route Historical Society bulletin. One little tidbit was the picture of a hopper car with a full load of coal. But the surprising thing was green dots sprinkled on top of the coal, representing a green-marked brand of coal! I would suppose this would be good for 1940's and '50's era. But it would be a different detail. No, the whole pile is NOT green. Just some dots here and there.

 

[blackz28]

Nice I love it

 

[Greg@mnrr]

Forum:

For coal, gravel and ballast piles I use plaster or Sculpa-Mold (sp?) to form the basic shape of the pile and when dry paint it a base color that matches the material. When dry, I coat the pile with full strength white glue and cover the pile with the selected material.

Greg