I have 3 types of coal loaders/unloaders with several lionel tipping coal cars.
The coal lionel provides is small pieces of black hard plastic, when dumped into cars from any loaders bounces from the coal car all over the track and everywhere. Does someone have a substitute coal that looks reasonable real and works better?
thank you for your help>
PS coal loaders are: #97, #397, #497
coal cars are like lionel 6-26811
Bob Duckworth

Someone will come back on your question, because it has been discussed before. I think (may be wrong) that someone used black aquarium gravel, which is better because it's heavier.

I tried aquarium gravel, but any more than a token amount was too heavy for the 3469 die cast dump car, the 3359 twin bin and the modern version of the 3456. The 3469 and 3359 are both soleniod operated, so I'd imagine the spring loaded dump cars wouldn't do well.

The modern coal jams the 397 coal loader. I tried beads, no luck.

I finally decided to pay the price for postwar Lionel coal, works the best in everything I've tried. It does tend to bounce, so opposite the 97 is the 397 to catch the bouncers

The Flyer coal towers re-issued by MTH and Lionel drop the coal straight in so there's a little less bounce.

quote:

Originally posted by Brady Burdge:
I tried aquarium gravel, but any more than a token amount was too heavy for the 3469 die cast dump car, the 3359 twin bin and the modern version of the 3456. The 3469 and 3359 are both soleniod operated, so I'd imagine the spring loaded dump cars wouldn't do well.

Brady,

My postwar, solenoid operated, 3469 has plenty of umph to unload a full load of aquarium gravel. What is the source of power of your operating track? I use a separate channel of my ZW to supply a full 18 VAC to the dump car and it doesn't hesitate at all with a full load of aquarium gravel.

Earl

Earl

I was using 14 volts with a type V; I guess 18 volts/180 watts would produce some snap I'll keep that in mind when I rebuild.


Thanks

My tale of woe is in regard to some bags of recycled semi-pulverized actual detail parts Lionel issued (reissued) with their conveyor coal loader. It became a real pain finding these parts between the ties and thinking they had fallen off my more detailed cars. To this day they occasionally surface from the ballast forcing me to inspect my Atlas stock . Would aquarium charcoal be any lighter in weight than the gravel?

Stack

Aquarium charcoal is lighter but you must wash it to get the coal dust off it and even after you do that, once it bounces around a little from accessory to car to accessory... the coal dust will reappear and then be on your cars and accessories. For someone who likes the authentic look that will cause, great. If you want things nice and clean, well that's another story. By the way, it still bounces.

Just my 2 cents.

Mike