# Coal Loads from Aquarium Filter Material



## rhyman (Apr 19, 2009)

Here are a couple of photos of coal loads for F Scale made from an aquarium filter material called “Black Diamond Premium Activated Carbon.” It is sold in most aquarium supply stores; I got mine at Petsmart. It is made by a company called Marineland. It is actually made from bituminous coal.



















Here is what the product looks like: 













I lined the gondola and tender with plastic wrap. I placed a block of Styrofoam in the gondola. (It was the actual packing material that came in the AMS gondola.) I cut a piece of 1/8” thick Plexiglas to fit in the tender. Rather than trying to make a rough shape for the loads, I simply spooned the activated carbon onto the flat surface of the Styrofoam and Plexiglas until the shape looked right. I sprayed the activated carbon lightly with a fine mist of “wet” water (water with a drop of dish detergent added.) I prepared a glue solution using equal amounts of Elmer’s Carpenter’s wood glue and regular tap water. I added a single drop of detergent and about a dozen drops of black India ink, and mixed the solution thoroughly. Using an eyedropper, I soaked the activated carbon with the glue solution and left it to dry overnight. The next day I removed the coal loads from the gondola and tender and disposed of the plastic wrap. I let the loads dry for an additional day before putting them back into the rolling stock.


----------



## Les (Feb 11, 2008)

Impressive. Thanks for the tip and the pixes.

Les


----------



## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

When I saw the thread title I was a bit sceptical, but the pictures look great. I guess the proof is really in the pudding! 

Thanks 
Alan


----------



## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I've been using that stuff as well--I think it's really just about perfect. It sits well and it's close to uniform in size but varied enough to be convincing, especially in a 1:29


----------



## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks good. What kind of price are we talking for the material used? Later RJD


----------



## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

You can get it in a couple sizes at the big pet stores--I think I paid eight bucks for a container the exact size of a quart carton of milk


----------



## Ron Hill (Sep 25, 2008)

Walmart has Activated Carbon for about $6.00 for a 9 oz. container. I have use this stuff in all my coal cars. I use 1" polystrene foam insulation (Dow Chemical blue board, Owens Corning pink board or Green Guard green board) that can be purchased from a building supplier. It runs about $10 to $12 dollars for a 4' X 8' sheet. One sheet will make a lot of coal cars! I shape the foam insulation to the interior to the coal car and then spray paint the foam flat black. I then glue the carbon to the foam using white glue cut with water (3/4" glue to 1/4" water) in layers till I get the amount glued down that I think's ok. It makes a lot better looking coal that the plastic inserts that come with the freight car!


----------

