Returning empty Cars
- Thread starter scroggin
- Start date
I understand and share the spirit of what you want to do. We do run into some conundrums at times.
scroggin
Member
Good question,that is the alternative. I were thinking it might be quicker and more convenient to make a cradle that could pick up a full length of flexitrack with all the cars on it rather than picking out the loads, but Im open to being educated if thats not very good.
Will landers
Guilty bystander!
Most of my coal cars have real coal loads.that are permanent out of 175 of of them about 80 is loaded
Rico
BN Modeller
I've thought about that, wouldn't be too hard to do.
Also thinking of live loads and a Walthers rotary dumper if I can find a realistic coal replacement that is anti static.
I like the idea of two industries on opposite sides of a backdrop with tracks running thru for MT's and loads exchange.
Also thinking of live loads and a Walthers rotary dumper if I can find a realistic coal replacement that is anti static.
I like the idea of two industries on opposite sides of a backdrop with tracks running thru for MT's and loads exchange.
scroggin
Member
Have you tried real coal with a varnish on it so it doesnt crumble and give off dust?
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Boris
Beach Bum
That's what I do, with the inbound coal loads for my power plant. I cycle the scrap gondolas the same way. Steel Plant A consumes scrap, steel stamping plant B generates scrap. After all, if you are going to do the "staging" thing and try to operate your layout like the real thing, there are some compromises. Load in, empty out can be staged also.
Joe
Steve S
Member
Model Railroader's Clinchfield project layout used that technique. The mine was on one side of a mountain and the track made a descending loop inside the mountain. The power plant was on the other side of the mountain at a lower elevation.
Steve S
If you were to use a rotary dumper (can you get couplers that allow this?) then, on the plastic imitation loads, sand the edges down so they are a loose fit in the car, maybe glue a weight under the load to make sure that they'll fall out, would that do the job?
Trussrod
Well-Known Member
Say Scroggin,
I think Adam's suggestion of removing the coal loads, as long as you don't have yours glued in, makes the best sense as that way you have empties to return so your loads can be replaced for the return trip.
As Toot pointed out it isn't too hard to get the loads to be removable fairly easily. In fact, if you want to make up your own loads with varying amounts of coal and if I'm correct Woodland Scenics does have real/simulated Coal, just line the car/s with thin plastic food wrap, uncut, and fit some styro-foam into the well and dump in whatever quantity of Coal you want and use a mixture of 1 part white/yellow glue to two parsts of water and a couple drops of dish soap for a wetting agent and drop this on with an eye dropper or a fine tipped squeeze bottle to glue everything within the plastic wrap in place and then remove the plastic wrap which ads a bit of extra space so they can be removed and replaced easily.
Now for some added fun, you can make a simple pick-up tool, to remove the coal loads from the cars, provided they aren't a tight fit, buy using an old piece of Styro-foam or decent size piece of wood, onto which you apply some Woodlands Scenics Hob-e-Tac and let it dry, which gives you a simple way to remove the Coal loads while the car is still on the rail and the bobby tack should allow the Coal load to be removed easily. Once the Hob-e-tac looses it's hold, just recoat the pick-up piece your using and once dry your in business again.
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Make the loads loose, glue a piece of steel under them, lift them out with a magnet.
trailrider
Well-Known Member
I have two trains of hoppers. Both have nearly identical cars, one with coal (plastic) loads and the other empties. On one side of the layout (about 14 feet from the other) is a coal mine. On the other side of the layout is a 1950's era coal-fired electric generating plant. The coal mine is a combination underground and open pit, with a tunnel entrance from which the loaded cars appear, running underneath loading towers. A pair of GP7's pull the loaded cars out to the main yard, where they can be picked up by "road" power, either multiple F-units or a 2-10-4, or a pair of double-heading 2-10-2's (depending on the whim of the dispatcher...me). The loaded hoppers are pulled up a 4 percent grade and around the long wall, to the Denver yard, where the waycar (caboose) is uncoupled, with a flagman standing by down the track. The hoppers are then pushed in behind the electric plant to be "unloaded". Only, they don't get unloaded. You see, prior to the loaded hoppers being pushed onto the siding, the road switchers down at the mine have pushed the string of empties up a hidden track (at least it is partially hidden) so they appear from behind the electric plant. The motive power, having uncoupled the caboose, backs the loaded hoppers until they can couple to the empties. It then pulls them out onto the main, couples them to the waycar, and then uncouples the loaded ones from the empties, and backs the loaded cars onto the track behind the power plant. The engine then uncouples from the full cars, couples onto the empties, and proceeds around the return curve going eastbound with the empties. Meanwhile the two road switchers go through the tunnel to pick up the loaded hoppers and return them downhill through the tunnel to the mine entrance. The empties will be returned to the vicinity of the mine, stored on a siding until the loaded cars are switched out to the yard lead. This can be continued as long as you like.
Likewise, although this is done in plain sight, several stock cars can be "loaded" at a cattle pen and transported a shorter distance to an Oscar Meyer packing plant. A few hoppers also are reserved for a siding near a farm house, where a farmer is unloading sugar beets. These hoppers (right now, just two...that's all the siding at the Great Western Sugar processing plant can handle...are assembled with whatever other cars make up a turn. Empties from the plant are returned to the rural siding. Etc.
Likewise, although this is done in plain sight, several stock cars can be "loaded" at a cattle pen and transported a shorter distance to an Oscar Meyer packing plant. A few hoppers also are reserved for a siding near a farm house, where a farmer is unloading sugar beets. These hoppers (right now, just two...that's all the siding at the Great Western Sugar processing plant can handle...are assembled with whatever other cars make up a turn. Empties from the plant are returned to the rural siding. Etc.
Beachbum
Member
Yeah, there was an article somewhere about embedding a magnet in the homemade coal load before the casting resin set up. To remove the loads, the author held another magnet over the casting.
hdsdcouple
New Member
does anyone make a coal car with working traps? If so let me know i have an idea.
It would be better to not use 2 magnets unless you were absolutely sure of the polarities of each so they didn't repel each other instead of attract.
Rico
BN Modeller
Here's one http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-TYCO-V...643129?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item1e74536c39
lookup mantua tyco operating hoppers
lookup mantua tyco operating hoppers
scroggin
Member
Marklin make some of them just search for;
4413 Dump Car
4631 Dump Car
You will need to make sure you get insulated wheelsets not the standard marklin wheels
Boris
Beach Bum
When Mantua first came out with this car, my buddy had one, that I later acquired. For the time, it was a good looking car. However, it had clamshell type discharges that theoretically opened when run over the built in actuator on the coal trestle.
