The Double O Gauge Association

The Double O Gauge Association

DOGA Logo

Removable Wagon loads

an excerpt with colour photographs from the latest Journal.

What's more convincing on a layout, a wagon that goes one way empty, the other way full, or one that's got the load fixed in? It's all very well seeing a nice, well built up slope on a coal wagon load, perfect colour or texture on stone loads, but if you've been labouring on your scenery to the -nth degree why spoil things at the final level of detail with loads that you can't remove?

Anyone who's seen my layout or stock will have noticed that all loads come out of the open wagons.

The platform, upside down

Let's take mineral wagons first. If you buy the Airfix/Dapol kits, you will find a moulded platform for the 16 ton BR mineral wagon. That will give you the height of the load from the bottom of the wagon. It's a good start, and all you have to do is fix a more convincing load to the said load platform. Like the song says, 'Paint It Black', but only if it's coal, and use a matt paint. Leave to dry and add p.v.a., sprinkle generously with ground-down coal and shake off surplus that hasn't been fixed by the white stuff. What I have is a sizeable plastic box that came with a portion of Belgian chocolates, full of finely ground coal that I liberated ages ago from North Woolwich Museum. A fist-sized lump, I first put it in a plastic bag, took a hammer to it and went on to the next stage: making it smaller. Another crack with a hammer reduced the lump size further and to finish off broke up the bits in the jaws of a pair of pliers. Result: more or

Empty wagon

less scale sized clumps of coal that would have passed muster by a 4mm scale 'screen supervisor' at the local colliery - even for locomotive coal! I take a sheet of paper from a notepad and fold it lengthways to stand the load platform on.

When the coal has been sprinkled the loose stuff can be funneled back into the box. As a certain TV meerkat tells us, 'simples'! ...

Thanks go to Alan Lancaster for the original article.

Loaded wagon

Please note, that is not the entire article. The intention here, is to give members some colour photographs to enhance the Journal's content. Also, to show visitors who are not yet members what can be expected in the Journals.

Anyway, let us know what you think. If this idea is popular, other excerpts will follow.

Load being removed/added

Click on images to open them.

The remaining images from the article

What's more convincing on a layout, a wagon that goes one way empty, the other way full, or one that's got the load fixed in? It's all very well seeing a nice, well built up slope on a coal wagon load, perfect colour or texture on stone loads, but if you've been labouring on your scenery to the -nth degree why spoil things at the final level of detail with loads that you can't remove? Anyone who's seen my layout or stock will have noticed that all loads come out of the open wagons.
		The platform, upside down
	Let's take mineral wagons first. If you buy the Airfix/Dapol kits, you will find a moulded platform for the 16 ton BR mineral wagon. That will give you the height of the load from the bottom of the wagon. It's a good start, and all you have to do is fix a more convincing load to the said load platform. Like the song says, 'Paint It Black', but only if it's coal, and use a matt paint. Leave to dry and add p.v.a., sprinkle generously with ground-down coal and shake off surplus that hasn't been fixed by the white stuff. What I have is a sizeable plastic box that came with a portion of Belgian chocolates, full of finely ground coal that I liberated ages ago from North Woolwich Museum. A fist-sized lump, I first put it in a plastic bag, took a hammer to it and went on to the next stage: making it smaller. Another crack with a hammer reduced the lump size further and to finish off broke up the bits in the jaws of a pair of pliers. Result: more or
Empty wagon
less scale sized clumps of coal that would have passed muster by a 4mm scale 'screen supervisor' at the local colliery - even for locomotive coal! I take a sheet of paper from a notepad and fold it lengthways to stand the load platform on. When the coal has been sprinkled the loose stuff can be funneled back into the box. As a certain TV meerkat tells us, 'simples'! ... Thanks go to Alan Lancaster for the original article.
		Loaded wagon
	Please note, that is not the entire article. The intention here, is to give members some colour photographs to enhance the Journal's content. Also, to show visitors who are not yet members what can be expected in the Journals. Anyway, let us know what you think. If this idea is popular, other excerpts will follow.
Load being removed/added		Click on images to open them.

The remaining images from the article