4 MDC Coal Gondolas and Loads!

Wrapped up a few cars recently. This batch was a mix of 4 MDC Coal Gondolas and loads. These were very much in my bargain wheelhouse, and cost me from $1-4 dollars each.

The first 3 cars are MDC/Roundhouse Thrall Gondolas.  Two were picked up in the recent OPSME Sale mostly complete with some loose parts and one of the BN's (not sure which one..) arrived in a random junk acquisition missing a truck and various other parts. The end result for all 3 is mostly stock with a couple of non-stock replacement ladders. I also painted the brake gear black.

For some reason the paint on the second BN example isn't as sharp.  Nice that it has a unique number though.

This MDC Bathtub Gondola started as another $1 piece.  It was in good enough shape with trucks, but it was missing all ladders and steps.  There are several variants on this prototype with different ladder arrangements, so I don't know if this is accurate, but it looks pretty good in this configuration.

I nearly depleted my stock of assorted ladders longer than 3 rungs fixing this one up, but I'm pleased with the results.   Seeing how well the classic Testors black and yellow basic flat enamels (on the ladders and underside weights) matched the car colors gives me another yet reason to grieve the recent end of this iconic brand. 

The interesting shape is different from the rest of my coal gondolas making this possibly my favorite cheap coal carrier.

The loads were an interesting case.  I was planning on making some loads with a wood base, clay and black blast sandblasting medium, but at some point I had picked up a bag of 6 unnamed resin coal loads for a buck in a train show bargain bin.  They didn't fit anything I have exactly but with a little clipping and sanding I knocked 4 of them down to size. 

A trio of bullets glued (BSI IC2000 rubberized superglue is great for this) under each bring the weight right to NMRA standards and a bit of foam, paper and/or plastic sprue to made the heights (the loads were not equal thickness at each end) just right.

 

So, taking into consideration the cost of a truck, coal loads and 8  Kadee #148 couplers, I've got a quartet modern Coal Gondolas suitable two of my favorite railroads (CNW/UP and BN/BNSF) for only $16.  Now all that remains is to run them and possibly mark one end of each BN car to indicate rotary coupler operation.

-Karl