Did any other railroads besides the UP use this type of coal Bunker in stead of the more familar coaling tower?
Yes. Lots. Many variations on a theme. Their were three or four major builders of coal towers. Ogle and Fairbanks-Morse being two of them.
I think this kit,IHC,right?,has been used to represent the CNJ coal bunker at Communipaw reasonably accurately
Steve
Yes it is an IHC kit but if I am not mistaken it’s a representation of the coal bunker used by the UP at their Cheyenne engine facility hecnce the name Cheyenne coal bunker. I don’t live all that far from the yard your talking baout and often went there as a kid many many years ago and I can’t recall a coal bunker like that one but I could be wrong.
Not at all identical but the PRR had two massive coaling stations at Denholm and Throndale that spanned as many as twelve tracks. Hoppers were pushed up to a holding yard and crossed the station dunping their loads into the bins similar to an ore dock. This allowed mainline multiple trains to fuel and rewater at the same time. the empty hoppers then travelled by gravity back to ground level into a yard for return to the mines. Unfortunately as is the case today it is all gone now.
From the pictures I have found. The IHC Cheyenne Coal Bunker is not accurate but very identical. As most pictures were taken in B&W I am not sure how it was painted. The pictures show it to be a dark color. The UP Historical society can tell you what it look like. If I find the pictures I’ll post them. As to your question, I believe only UP used this type structure in the Wyoming area.
I don’t know about other railroads but I’ll bet there was something similar around. This model from IHC is patterned after the UP coal bunker at Cheyenne, WY. UP had a number of other 650-ton coal stations that were close to this (Council Bluffs, Iowa; KC, Kansas; etc.) As mentioned previously there were several major contractors who supplied the plans, parts or did the construction for a number of the coal facilities in the US, but each railroad had its standards so the designs were adapted to fit a railroads engineering preferences… Not too many railroads needed a monster 650-tonner like this, so it would be rather rare, especially in the East. As I mentioned, this could be used for several of the coaling stations on the UP mainline, or it could supply parts for a kitbash to a smaller version that would fit most home layouts.
Gary
The New Haven RR had a huge multitrack coal bunker similar to that one on the Shoreline at Midway, a few miles east of Groton. I lived in Groton for three years during the late forties while attending UConn and didn’t know it was there else I woulda took a lot of pictures.
There are pictures of it in several of the books about the NY,NH & H RR but I don’t know which ones. There was no passenger station there as far as I know. It was half way between New Haven and Boston hence the name of Midway for the facility.