Got this in from Sam on weathering rolling stock – and it’s a cracker too: looks great and saves a load of money:
“Hi Al,
Thanks for the constant flow of info – really gets me inspired when I can’t really be bothered!
I’ve been working on a ‘how to’ guide for wagon loads, inspired by some of your readers. Thanks to many useful posts on your site I have been encouraged to experiment with many aspects of model railway systems.
Due to the expense and often the lack of realism with plastic ‘loads’, I have come up with a fairly easy and certainly very realistic method of creating bespoke loads for your rolling stock. Hope you find it useful.
All you need is some expanded polystyrene, cling film, a hot wire cutter and of course some empty wagons.
To cut the polystyrene neatly and accurately I use some wooden blocks to hold the wire at the correct height then simply push the block through.
Use a metal rule to guide the hot wire cutter when trimming to length.
Shape the blocks or leave square depending on your load.
Make sure they fit snuggly in your waggons but not too tight.
Lay the cling film over the wagon and carefully push the polystyrene block down into the wagon.
Wrap the excess around the bottom taking care not to pull the block back out. This will stop the load getting stuck to your wagon (unless you want a permanent load!)
Add your load.
Stones, large coal pieces, rocks etc. can be dropped onto a film of PVA, then watered down PVA can be painted on to hold the load in place.
Weathering rolling stock:
Leave to dry fully. This has taken a couple of days in my experience.
You may find although the top is dry you will need to wipe off any PVA that has seeped under the polystyrene block.
Maybe best to leave to dry some more out of the wagon.
You can touch up any visible white areas of the underlying polystyrene at this stage with acrylic paint and any other acts of realism!
Once dry you can fit to your rolling stock and enjoy.
The scrap wagon load was made with bits and pieces from my ‘scrap’ drawer along with bits of wire, old model car wheels, chain and pretty much anything you have. Once dry I painted it with shades of rust coloured acrylic paint.
Sam”
A huge thank you to Sam for taking the time to share his weathering rolling stock ‘how to’.
And don’t forget, there are lots more like this in the Beginner’s Guide.
That’s all this time folks. Please do keep ’em coming.
Best
Al
PS
Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.
Very good Sam, I have used this method myself but not with the cling film tip, excellent idea. Mike S
One suggestion – only cut the polystyrene block to about 1/3 the length of the wagon, and glue a piece of card the size of the wagon floor on top of the block, so that the block is central. Then glue the load on top of the card. That way the load is easier to remove as pushing down on one end of it tips the other end up.
That’s is really good work i wound never thought doing that.
nice work!
Eugene
This is a good idea.
It can also be done to American rolling stock (non-European rolling stock)
Try it guys
Don J
This is a very awsome tip. I love it and will be using it for sure!
Just an addition to Sam’s great idea, paint the top of the poly block black first, then it wont show white through the stone, coal etc.
Still a brilliant idea, cheers mate.
Fantastic idea! Truly imaginative. Cheers! NJ Mark
for the past several years i have colecting pits and pieces to build an n scale layout your posts have enspired me to believe that now is the time
thank you for the inspiration
bob
Brilliant, simply brilliant.
That’s a good idea, I need to try this.
I usually get plastic coal loads, then cover with real coal
From across the pond. I have recently moved and waiting for new home to be complete. In the meantime, I am planning my new layout, all in 3-rail O gauge.
With a nice collection of “wagons” of different mines in the west, this is the best how-to for creating loads for those that did not come from factory with loads.
This is about as good a How-To as can be created.
THANK YOU, SAM!!
A good bit of information on how to with those wagon loads Sam …well done ..Dangerous Dave
Thank you Sam (and Al). Cling film is a clever way of removing the load easily, if needed. Good ideas about using blocks and straight edges to guide the hot wire cutter, but I always worry about hot wire cutting of polystyrene – is there anyone out there with expert knowledge about the dangers of the fumes to our health?
wowee
great idea sam
Ive been using my ‘carts’ to store junk parts for years…
makes for..great ‘detailing’ and ‘realism’
I very seldom ‘seal’ them tho like your cello wrap idea
great idea for me tho…
because whenever I have a train wreck there are parts scattered all over that need to picked up and put back in the carts…
…like I said… ‘REALISM’….hahahahaa
good stuff here today Alistair…!!!
keep ’em runnin’ fellas…!!
stjohn in long beach calif
Thanks Sam for a very useful idear which can be used in any scale. I operate in G1 and have a garden railway, but will use this system when building wagons. It has the advantage of allowing the wagon to run empty or loaded with different types of loads.
David
Thanks for the encouraging comments BUT I should have mentioned (for health and safety reasons) to only cut polystyrene with a hot wire cutter in a well ventilated room or with extract – fumes are toxic!!
Fantastic hint/tip..
Very well presented also…
John from California
Best tip for wagonloads, is work from pictures of the real thing. Most wagon types were dedicated to particular sorts of loads, and most loads were carried in a particular way, and very often secured as well, or sheeted over to protect them from weather or wind. Some long loads that stuck over the end of a wagon would have an empty runner wagon marshalled next to them. Also, bulk loads like coal or stone vary in weight, so a 5-plank wagon might be ample for ten ton of stone, but a seven plank for coal, and for something very light like coke you usually had a couple of “rails” (raised planks) on top as well. Few loads came right to the top of the wagon sides as you didn’t want to lose cargo in transit or to brain someone on a platform with a lump falling off.
Rod
Great idea Sam, many thanks – this looks a great way to consolidate a load of clutter that builds up over the years and be constructive and effective Cheers Andrew
Great idea. thanks for sharing.
Trevor, Olympia WA USA
Good work but would somebody please remind me of a suitable total weight for a typical 4-wheel 00-gauge British Big 4-period wagon? I usually add odd nails, lead, nuts, bolts etc. before limestone, coal on top. If I recall, most goods wagons are on the light side. I suppose total weight should be per axle, which can then be applied to passenger coaches of any length? Many thanks.
awesome idea, love the bit on how to cut the blocks to size.
what a great easy to do going to try it out.
All I can say is WOW! You guys are Geniuses! I can’t believe all of these incredible tips and secrets I have learned from Y’all! Thank you so much for sharing them! Keep them coming! Absolutely the Best!
Have just tried Sam’s lod method with a few of my cars (American gondolas) and the system works perfectly everytime. Thank you Al and Sam for providing this information.
Regards, Tom, from Maryland, USA
Good work! Looks good. I have done something similar but instead of using a hot wire cutter, I used a sharp knife with very realistic results. But I had even more realistic results when I used a rough saw. I then used poster paints and acrylic paint mixed together with a bit of watering down to colour the various loads.
Very Good, looks good
Nice job Sam….. I will keep this post in mind.
Sam A Great Idea but you can use anything to shorten the load, Styrene sheets cut to size like I did. stiff card board plastic. The whole Idea is to lighten the load especially when loading different aggregate & 75% water 25 % white glue to bind the load
The Critic
That’s a great idea and a great thank you for sharing that going to try that soon hopefully it turns out as good as yours did. Chris
Great and simple tip! I’ll give it a try . Thanks for sharing !
Great Idea Sam, I use a similar method, with one small difference, I put a small metal plate underneath the load, more or less in the middle of the load, then I can lift the load out with a strong magnet.
Great shout for loads!
I have used in similar vein bits of foam board topped with the load of choice. Might add that there really isn’t anything more like coal than, well, coal. Alas crust it up well, I have seen many loads which look way over scale.
Cheers all and many thanks Al for hosting.
JohnD
Superb !
Bravo …………
Greetings. David (in GWR land) 🙂
I like the work you did. I hope mine turns out that good.
Ive done it in the past but there are some good ideas here. THanks
This I will use for sure. Thanks!