Friend Luc gifted me this 3-D printed hopper loading conveyor model a month or two ago. It should fit in nicely over at the transload site.
The model is printed in only two pieces, shown here on the work bench before painting and assembly. This is the first 3-D printed model I've ever had. I was a little surprised by the amount of material that had to be trimmed away. Sure was easy to file smooth though.
That's the two pieces of the conveyor on the right. All the other stuff in the picture is the support material that has been trimmed away. Seems like as much material is lost as there is in the model.
Luc had also sent me this photo below of a somewhat similar conveyor...
This prototype conveyor has a walkway and railing, and looks like it has a drive motor as well. Perhaps there's a motor available somewhere that would go with the conveyor model. For now though, I'll just do without.
The two pieces of the model are simply press-fitted together, which makes the height somewhat adjustable. Here is the assembled model, painted white similar to the one in the prototype photo.
The tires are painted Carbon Black, and a dab of silver is used for the wheel hubs, drive shaft ends, and on the discharge chute.
I shortened the chute about 1/8" so that it would clear the tops of covered hoppers. That means however that the conveyor will be oriented in the opposite direction to the one in the proto photo above, where the feeder end goes beneath the rail car and the discharge end would go to a dry bulk trailer. I still don't have such a trailer.
Just a touch of brown Tamiya Panel Line colour here and there to add some light weathering. Also, a light touch of Tamiya black Panel Line to highlight the screen at the feeder end of the conveyor.
Below are a couple of views of the conveyor in place at the transload...
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