how are bethgon frieght cars unloaded, and how can I simulate this in HO?
Rotary dumpers; simulating it in HO will require a model of a rotary dump. I have seen them modeled, I believe by Walthers, but no one that I know of makes rotary couplers, so you can’t actually dump the cars in the model rotary dump the way the prototype does. You’ve probably noticed already that one end of Bethgon coalporters is painted a different color – that indicates the end with a rotary coupler, which allows the car to be turned 360 degrees while still coupled to the cars ahead of and behind it, so a train can be pulled through a rotary dump and never have to stop.
Cacole,
All the car dumpers I’ve seen require the train to stop, so that the cars are in exactly the right place. The car is locked into place by hydraulic rams clamping on the carbody and then the car is turned over. Some dumpers dump two or three cars at a time. The dumpers sometimes have car positioner systems, with an arm that runs on a rail next to the dumper track, and pushes the cars exactly one, two or three spaces forward, while the locos are in idle holding the brakes off.
The dumpers are usually inside sheds now, to control the dust coming from the coal (or iron ore) being dumped, so a model could just include a shed just longer than the number of cars being dumped, and then just run the train through very slowly (actually stopping it wouldn’t be much fun).
Peter