At the last train show here in Raleigh, I purchased a three pack of older Walther slag cars. To these cars I added the standard grab irons, but also add styrene strips along the top portion of the pot. This was to represent variation in pots. Most pictures I've seen of pots did not look like this but similar. As you can see from the pictures they don't look too bad.
Photo 1: As you can see, they do break-up the standard Walthers pot. (It would be nice to get better variations.)
One of the issues I've had with these cars is that they don't track very well, too light. The cars could end up traveling several feet to 30 or 40' feet away depending how far away the slag dump module ends up. In the car itself there's virtually no room to add weight. The method I came up with to solve this problem was the load. Before assembling the kit I use the pot as a mold to make hydrocal loads. I pre-color the hydrocal with orange or black acrylic paint depending on the type of load. Before pouring the hydorcal in the pot I place several "BB's" in to add weight. I typically make 3 types of loads; 1) a full orange load representing a fresh pour, 2) a full orange load with the top edges painted with "acrylic graphite paint with sand added to it for texture, and 3) a half black load to use when returning the empty cars. The cars are weighted more than NMRA standards with the loads. I typically weigh all my cars greater than the NMRA standards, not that I disagree with them but with today's better motive power and metal wheels the extra weight doesn't seem to matter. One thing is for sure, with all the typical NMRA checks that I use, coupler height, wheel alignment, and weighted cars I have very minimal derailments.
Photo 2: This shows you how nice the molds come out, the pre-coloring allows for chipping. If a piece chips off, it still looks the same.
Photo 3: This shows you how well the mold fit.
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