I fooled around with some different materials for open top loads the other day and came up with this. The whole thing took about an hour to put together, and overnight to dry. I'll post some pics to see wach y'all think.

First up is a scrap metal load.[attachment=16072]It's made from a foam board base painted light brown with rust glued to it. The rust came from cleaning out the ARHS F-3b a few weeks ago at Steamtown. I felt that the rust would be a fitting load on my layout.

Next is a load of real anthracite coal .[attachment=16071] This car has a shaped block of foam painted black, and covered in Blue Coal from Ashley PA. That there is the real stuff, so it better look good. Compare it to the load in the next car.

[attachment=16070]This one is constructed the same , but I covered the foam core with glass beads used as a sand blasting medium. It is some what more shiny and a deeper shade of black then the real stuff.

All of these loads have a washer imbedded in them so that they can removed easily with a magnet.

Thanks for sharing. The results are self explanatory. Looks like nothing was wasted from the F3 restoration project!

Matt

Nice. What looks more like rusted metal than rusted metal!?

Ralph Wrote:Nice. What looks more like rusted metal than rusted metal!?

Why Gern Brand Scale Rusty Metal Flakes of course, with 3% Extra rustiness and 3% Extra flakiness.

You of all people should know that by now Ralph.

Happy New Year my fellow Big Blue Members.

Heres hoping all our 2014's are filled with 3% Extra Gern Goodness.

Mark

Those loads look great e-paw

Cheers,

Kev

Great looking scrap load..I like it.

I wonder if a steel mill would reject that load of scrap as being to rusty? IIRC mill scrap had to be "cleaner" then most scrap like being free of dirt,aluminum,glass,wood etc..

I thought I had a photo of this:,.......
A load of "junk":
[attachment=16094]

e-paw Wrote:...

My favorite load! Now I need to find a source.

Well Bernhard,, If you have an old car, that's always a good source. And if you don't, ask a friend that does if you can " clean it up a bit " for them. . Or volunteer at a near by rail museum... I'm sure there is plenty of rust their that you could gather up. 8-)

Or you could put a small piece of unpainted steel outside and let nature do the weathering for you.
Just remember to note where you put it.
Mark

If you dig a hole and bury it , it will probably "weather" faster.

This post has inspired me to build some of my own. One of the goals on the Whiskey River Railway is to make every visible load removable. Using what I had available, which was 1/8" aluminum sheet, I cut it to the size of the inside of my MDC 40' gondola. I decided to make two different loads, one being scrap metals and one being old railroad wheels. I Gorilla Glued everything in place and then hit it with both a coat of rusty dirty brown and a coat of the Japenese equivalent of Dullcote. And here's how they came out.

e-paw Wrote:Well Bernhard,, If you have an old car, that's always a good source. And if you don't, ask a friend that does if you can " clean it up a bit " for them. . Or volunteer at a near by rail museum... I'm sure there is plenty of rust their that you could gather up. 8-)

Thanks for these wondeful ideas. And sorry, the cars are sanctuaries here, most clean, waxed and polished without each mark of rust - in most cases. However I know a scrap dealer near to me, so I will look on his yard. I am sure that I will have success there!
And our rail museum will be the second address.

I built a few more scrap loads, this time for some gons that I painted for the home road at least 15 years ago :o . When I look at them now I can see plenty of things that could use improvements,, but that another project.[attachment=16128] The camelback in the background is even older.

Nice work and a good shot! By the way, the rust is already found for my gondola!