Tip: Freight Wagon Loads Date: 23-02-06, 19-10-2019 new photos

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Hi All,

How many of you have a large fleet of empty goods/freight wagons moving around your layout and

wished you could improve the overall look of them? I decided to add removable loads to all my wagons

and found with a little time and patience the visual impact was dramatic and well worth the effort. The

three different types of wagon shown below each presented a different challenge to make the load appear

real.

First let’s take the easy one, the high sided gondola (see brown wagon above). The wagon is rectangular

so the load insert is very easy to make. I cut the foam inserts using a hot wire cutter to form the basic

shape.

The size of the blank is 145x30x25mm (L x W x H). The height of the wall before it is chamfered to the

apex is 18mm. Each blank was checked for fit and sanded where required. To get a feel for how the load

would sit/look in the wagon I poured in loose ballast material and when I had enough material I tapped

the wagon sides so the load would settle, this was the natural look I was after. I next shaped the load using

a medium file to get the profile I was after (see photo above) When I had cut all the inserts required they

were painted on the top with black flat acrylic.

After the paint was dry I applied white glue on the top only, using a rag to wipe off the excess that flowed

down the sides of the insert. The fine ballast material was sprinkled over the top to get an even cover and

left overnight to dry. Please note as the ballast material is very dry it will tend to soak up the glue through

the grains of ballast.

Tip: Freight Wagon Loads Date: 23-02-06, 19-10-2019 new photos

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The next day the excess ballast material is shaken off and any ballast on the sides of the load insert is

removed and sanded as required to get the final perfect fit.

The time to make 8 load inserts for this type of wagon was just on 4 hours.

As an aside, over the years Märklin has increased the number of freight cars it supplies with loads and

weathering of the wagon has also increased which can only be to the benefit to us all.

The next freight wagon for a load insert is the ore car used on the French State Railways. This wagon is

more difficult as it has a raised ridge that runs the length of the wagon and it also has internal ribs. The

problem here is to get the load insert to sit horizontal at all times as it doesn’t have a flat surface to sit on.

This is how I chose to overcome the problem, Märklin also has made load inserts for these wagons which

I don’t like as they buckle and the load looks unnatural.

Tip: Freight Wagon Loads Date: 23-02-06, 19-10-2019 new photos

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Because of the rib I choose to cut cardboard 100x30mm then cut high density foam 6mm thick in two

pieces with a chamfer on one side. This was glued to the card and when dry I cut notches to match the

ribs and ensured a nice fit. I then shaped oval mounds from foam and glued them to the top of the card

(sorry no photo taken) the method of applying the iron ore was the same as the first example. The reason

for the success of the insert is the card sits on top of the ridge running the length of the wagon and the

6mm thick foam aligns its self with the sides of the wagon and is very horizontal.

These wagons are very detailed and the loads further enhance the look of the wagon

A large train with 16-20 wagons is a site to behold.

Tip: Freight Wagon Loads Date: 23-02-06, 19-10-2019 new photos

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The last example is the era I coal hopper car.

The foam was shaped as shown. Note the small bits of card glued on the

ends. This was done to overcome the rounded corners of the foam so the

coal would fit into the shallow corners at boths ends of the wagon.

The foam was painted black and the coal was glued as in the first example.

The next step is to weather the wagons. I hope this inspires you to make some load inserts.

As always enjoy your model trains.