Reviewed by James Aitken, sample supplied by Geoscenics
Pictures by the author
Geoscenics details can be found here:

I have numerous open wagons on the layout, but so far none have been fitted with a tarpaulin. They always seemed too fiddly to me. When I found that Geoscenics were offering some I thought I’d give them a try.

The package contains two sheets of a material, each printed with three sizes of tarpaulins. One is 140mm by 80mm, the second 150mm by 90mm, and the third 180mm by 90mm, thus suiting various sizes of wagons and heights of loads. Each is printed with a different number. You cut out the sheet you want, scrunch it up into a tight ball and then open it up. Fine cord is supplied to tie the tarpaulin to the wagon.

I chose the smallest one to fit an ABS wagon for which I had no suitable load. I cut some balsa to form what looked like a timber load, and then wrapped the tarpaulin round it. I wanted to have the cord running to the corner of the sheet, so used a sewing needle and the fine cord to pierce the corners of the tarp, gluing the cord onto the back of the sheet with Evostik. Once that dried, I was able to tie the cord round the buffers to simulate the tying-off of the sheet. All in all, I think the tarpaulin looks very good. It is suitably scrunched and really easy to form. This took about an hour to fit, most of which was making the cord look right round the buffer.