I found a way to make some very realistic iron ore loads for the U29 24 foot ore jennies used by the DM&IR. In order to model what I want to & have it look real, I needed a lot of ore cars. During the 40s-50s, at any given time there would be as many 1,000 empty or loaded ore cars at the Proctor yard. I looked at what was available commercially & decided there had to be a cheaper way to go. I was raised on the Iron Range & remember the Yellowstones hauling as many as 160-180 loaded cars.
To make my ore loads, I first measured the inside of the ore car. The Walthers cars are nice copies but are not prototypical for the DM&IR. I cut 1/8" foam board to the inside dimensions of 1 3/16" x 2 3/4". I used dampened facial tissue to model the various ore loads some humped up & others slightly flattened & glued it to the foam board using white glue. Then I took a white glue/water mix & covered the tissue. Next I took sifted builders sand mixed with road grit & poured it over the tissue. When this dried, I painted it with a mix of Rust, various shades of brown & a wash of black. The ore load fits perfectly in the car & I think they look more realistic than what is available commercially. So far I have made 85 loads at a cost of probably 10-15 cents each. My plan is to model part of the Proctor Minnesota yard & one of the DM&IR ore docks in Duluth.
Earlier I said the Walthers ore cars are not prototypical for the DM&IR. I believe the DM&IR was the only railroad to mount the brake hoses at shoulder level, not down with the coupler. So another project is to accurately model the air hoses in the correct location.
I would be interested in hearing from anyone who models the DM&IR.
I will have to make believable carnotite ore loads for my narrow gauge road. This is traditionally a gray schist with canary yellow carnotite over a large part of the surface of the stone.
I plan on using 1/8-inch pebbles that I paint gray, let dry and then allow them to fall, randomly, through a yellow paint mist from an air brush. Next, I will place a close fitting, elevated basswood platform in the gondola that is removable and then, hand glue a layer of this finished ore material on the platform.
Carnotite is a uranium ore and very colorful. (potassium uranium vanadate) It was the mainstay product of Colorado U mining. Vanadium, the vanadate, was also extracted from the ore. I attach a typical sample of this ore, as mined. I am told that this ore made for a really colorful ore train against the box car red wooden gons.
Uravan, Colorado was named as a contraction of URAnium-VANadium.
The American indian was no stranger to carnotite. They powdered it and used it for sand and rock paintings and when mixed with animal fat renderings, (lard), made a fearsome yellow war paint. They didn’t know they were smearing highly radioactive uranium onto their skin.
Model railroading can teach a bit of history, geography and even geology, if you get really serious about your hobby, the railroad you are modeling and what it hauled.
I don’t know about prettier. Lump Anthracite with the dust washed off glitters like shattered obsidian…
Of course, my coal isn’t anthracite. It’s a highly friable low-grade bitumenous that strongly resembles the pool-filter charcoal I use to model it.
The closest I come to iron ore is gondola loads of scrap metal - used rail, pipe and odd pieces of machinery being salvaged by the scavengers cleaning up a not-quite played out mine. It still ships a few carloads of coal a week. (The other colliery loads out several trains a day.)
Missabe – what you describe is a tried and true method for making gondola and hopper loads. MR has a video up here somewhere about using resin with a washer embedded in it. Personally, I don’t use the tissue, and just carve the top of the foam with a rasp.
Welcome to the brotherhood of those who model on the cheap!
