N scale anthracite

[NtheBasement]

What area do you model? I wasn’t aware of unit train anthracite on CSX?

Yup.  Even during anthracite's heyday in PA I don't think any of the direct CSX predecessors carried it.  I do wonder if any loads show up at Newport News these days, more likely just coke.

Boilers today work by spraying small particles of coal into a firebox where they airflow suspends them for burning.  So the ideal coal in N scale would be some kind of powder.  But I need it to flow thru the loader and dumper and powder clumps.

I've gone back to using ballast.  Main reason is not the way the coal looks, its that it would look unprototypical to have four engines haul a 25-hopper train.

[Mark5]

Although I concede it'd be peak Railwire to model specific grades, sizes, and lithotypes of coal in N scale... 

I don't intend to model the full spectrum, but I do intend to model different sizes - as this is what I saw sometimes trackside in the 60s and 70s.

[Maletrain]

The "fine powder" of bituminous coal was called "slack" at the mines.  It was basically just the dust from mining.  It was usually separated early in the process and sent to a covered loading hopper.  Shipping it was an issue, since it would blow our with the wind.  The industrial fire boxes that burned fine coal particles typically had crushers in the feed mechanisms to crush larger lumps to the size specified for the boiler. So the coal shipped to, say a distant power plant would not likely be "slack". 

But, see https://www.sizes.com/materials/coal_bituminous.htm  and https://heatinghelp.com/assets/documents/73.pdf .

[NtheBasement]

Ideally I would be modelling this prototype photo.

[Mark5]

Ideally I would be modelling this prototype photo.

Nice! That art sand should serve you well.

[Mark5]

Thanks to the OP for opening up this can of worms for me. 

Seems that loose coal options are much fewer than the last time I had a layout. 

My initial plan was to simply model two (possibly three) "grades" (sizes) of coal - use the "N scale" for the bulk of the loads and "HO scale" for the "chunkier loads".

Peco makes real coal in multiple scale sizes, but unobtanium stateside.

More fun. 

[bbunge]

I picked a couple of chunks of B-coal while at the Strasburg and later picked up a piece of A-coal in Minersville, PA while observing CNJ #113.  I have crushed both up to put on locomotive tenders and hopper cars.  The A coal won't really crush, I have to use a knife to scrape it and create a fine dust.  They do look different, even at the 3th foot distance if I put two hoppers side by side. 

Bob

[nkalanaga]

I have plenty of real coal, living and working in eastern KY and western WV.  For grading, I just use common screens.  Anything that will go through ordinary window screen is suitable for "lump" or "block".  Next, I have a screen colander designed for kitchen use.  That makes good "large coal" for graded coal.  A tea strainer produces smaller coal.  Modeling 1974, those three sizes do fine for Montana.  I also have some Highball "coal dust" if I want the real fine stuff.

I just crush mine with a hammer. in a plastic bag.  Anything that won't go through the window screen gets crushed again.

[Mark5]

Nice. I have a few lumps I accumulated from the ROW over the years, I might try that.

[wm3798]

I admire your intestinal fortitude modeling live load coal in N scale.  I have way too many thumbs for that.

On my WM layout, I represented the Anthracite coming off the Lurgan from Reading by simply taking the stock load from an Atlas 55T car and shooting it with gloss black to get the shine.  For finer textures, I'd apply a schmear of white glue, and face-down the casting into some craft sand obtained from the late great Ben Franklin, then apply the black overspray.

To make the load removable, I would file enough of the edges of the load so it rode loosely in the hopper, and glued a small steel washer to the underside so it could easily be snatched out with a magnet wand.

Lee

[davefoxx]

Neither photo looks "dull" to me.  This leads me to believe that the "Art Sand" I've got, although glossy, is a passable representation of the type of coal mined and used by UP.

I used to have a piece of coal that I picked up from the right-of-way at the foot of the former Southern Ry.’s Saluda Grade in 1994.  It could have just fallen off a moving unit coal train descending the grade, but I’ve wondered if it was left over from a spill at the runaway track located there.

Anyhow, it amazed me how shiny much of the surface of this little piece of coal was. So, when I came across the black art sand at Michael’s, it was the sparkle in the sand that made me try it.  I still like it- below is a photo of one “coal” load of three that I made this week from my years’ old lifetime supply.  I just painted full-strength white glue on the plastic load and sprinkled on the sand.  As the white glue soaked through the sand, I kept sprinkling on more sand.  Allow the glue to dry, dump off the excess sand, use a sanding stick to clean up the edges of the load, and voila!



DFF

[nkalanaga]

I made my coal loads with a piece of balsa, and the coal glued to the top.

Except for the Trainworx 100-ton hoppers, with those modern flood-load castings.  Those I turned upside down, filled with coal, and glued down like ballast.  The cars could use the weight.

[Maletrain]

But doesn't that make the weight addition too high for stability on curves?    

[nkalanaga]

You'd think so, but they run fine on my 18 inch radius curves and the yard's #4 turnouts.  I seldom have more than 1 or 2 in a train, no unit trains, but those trains are often 20 cars long, and these cars can be anywhere in them.