Do you add cargo to your tinplate rolling stock?

I have thought about doing that, Chris. Like you said, it's more interesting than an empty car. I have put barrels in my gondolas as of now, but a cow in a freight car, or maybe some crates in a box car sound like a good idea.

You can glue small magnets to the bottom like I did with the milk cans.

  gondola's are for M&M's 

 

Steve

Only one problem with M&M's is I would have to keep refilling it!

Classic cars of the 1930's look great on a 211/511 flatcar. 

Here's a Lionel MFG era #11 flat cat with a teens era "Little Hustler" electric motor load.

I've also loaded gondolas with jelly beans, very popular at train shows.

That looks great!

Thanks Chris.
That MFG stamped flat has become one of my favorite cars.

BTW: I've always liked the idea of putting animals in stock cars. Adds a lot. Good call with the milk cans too.

Mr. Eastman, you are man after my own heart.   I added MTH's M&M factory to the layout just to have a credible source for the gondolas full of them.   they go over great with the kids that visit, by which i mean anyone under the age of around 110.  And Chris, refilling them, i think that's kinda the whole idea.  Tried M&M's in the hoppers, very bad when the bottom hatch accidently opens up en route.

 

tonka sand loader works great for filling the cars. 

 

my dad's standard gauge that i grew up with, included some 1920's "dimestore" lead hollow cast farm animals that we crammed into the livestock car.   they got pretty beat up rattling around in there, lost a few legs.  at some point back there i added my Auburn rubber farm animals, they held up better.

 

for me, loading and unloading cargo has always been part of playing with the trains.  running the cars empty just never seemed right.   and the cargo tends to be made up of other toys: farm or zoo animals, the plastic rocks from my brother's marx american revolution set, the (broken) race cars from the gilbert auto-rama, erector set wheels, lincoln logs - hey, tinker toy parts!! - anything that will fit!   i did draw the line at my sister wanting to give her "raggedy ann" doll a ride in the gondola, that just wasn't right!  passengers go in the parlor car, and they have to fit!

 

if you want more "realistic", there's an outfit called "cargo-to-go" that sells cool cargo on ebay.  mostly O and G scale: the G stuff works very well in standard gauge.   Cotton bales, straw bales, milk cans, great crates, barrels, all kinds of stuff on pallets, tires, real cloth sacks of oats, flour, potatoes, cases of classic coke bottles, you name it.

we didn't have a flat car when i was a kid, so just discovered in the last few years hiawatha's idea, 1/32 national motor museum mint cars and trucks from the 1920's and 1930's fit standard gauge like it was meant to be.

 

in the gondolas i also use a pile of short pieces of standard gauge track rail left over from building the layout, they work good with the magnetic crane.

 

i'm probably making this up, but i believe the weight of the cargo helps the cars run better, fewer derailments. ???

You are right, ho-j- even though trains do run empty, they just don't look quite right, or maybe as interesting, as having them carrying something.

Hi hojack.  Your post just gave me an image of a bunch of us grown men loading and unloading M&M's playing with our trains while our wives roll there eyes!  

 

 

          Works for me!!