Modeling a removeable scrap load for a gondola
me to come up with a use. After all, one can’t waste good junk. I didn’t have enough for a load as Jim had made, but the thought occurred to me that it was really only the very top of the load that needed to have the look of separate, three-dimensional pieces. Follow along with the pictures and see if you agree that my simple, cheap and effective ap- proach for making a realistic looking scrap metal load for a gondola works. First, cut a ¹⁄₄″ thick piece of balsa to fit in your car. (I used an Athearn 52- foot gondola.) Glue the trimmed pieces and shavings from the balsa to the top of the block to get a start on adding a 3- D look and break up the flat wood. Since the finished load will not take too much handling, I added loops of wire through the balsa toward each end to facilitate removal. I do this on loads for coal hoppers as well. Removal of the load to return the car as an emp- ty can then be done using tweezers. Next, cut small rectangles of varying size from an old photo print. These are meant to represent sheet steel panels. Imagine them coming from the RIP (repair in place) track where rusted- out side panels are being replaced in older hopper cars or scrap plate from nearly any source on or off your layout. The resulting pieces are glued ran- domly onto the balsa sub-base. When you are satisfied with the look of things, paint it with random mixes of Weath-
The author started with a ¹₄″ thick piece of balsa cut to fit inside an Athearn 52-foot gondola (top left). The pieces trimmed off the side were randomly glued on the top to break up the flat surface. Note the wire loops at each end, which can be grabbed with tweezers to remove the load. An old photo was cut up to represent scraps of sheet steel (left). These pieces were glued to the top of the balsa (below).
is required. Some time ago, I saw and was impressed by a scrap steel gondola load my friend, Jim Homoki, displayed at a prototype modelers meet in Collinsville, Connecticut. It had a won- derful, three-dimensional look, as if each piece was individually placed. Due to the number of pieces needed and the time required to add them I found myself totally intimidated by the tediousness of the work that seemed to be involved. I put the idea on the “do it some day list” and didn’t give it much further thought. Now, fast forward 18 months and I find myself adding a lot of scale-size junk to the coal mining areas on my layout. When I judged the scenes com- plete, I still had a lot of bits and pieces left over. They sat in open trays on my work table for some time, waiting for
46 AUGUST 2013
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