Okay, my N scale Southern RR empire based in NC & surrounding which is starting as a 47"29" module has a nice little WV coal mine, so during construction I’ve known I would use the center industry spur for a related industry, perhaps a coal yard with 2-3 spurs, BUT my plans have changed to pure 1970’s diesel era, were coal yards used then?
I guess I am quite ignorant of the ‘chain’ of operations in the coal industry. Does raw coal sometimes go straight to buyers? Power plants etc? Or is it sent to a central location for purification & dispersal?
Would I be somewhat prototypical with a yard of coal hoppers (coal isnt unloaded) & a small office?
I would really appreciate some suggestions, pics or steers towards pics & info is great too.
It depends on the end user, coal as it come out of the mine goes through a sizing process as required for the end user, this sizing is much like the sizing of gravel for a given application. Also there are different kinds of coal, coal is graded as to the heat value, different grades have different heat values. Also different kinds exhibit different pollutants and quantities of them when it is burnt. The sizing is done at the mine location as it comes out of the mine and is then stockpiled until being loaded in to rail cars for delivery to the power plant or end user. For power plants it depends on the kind of boiler as to how the coal is sized for delivery to them, then at the plant the coal will go through more processing before being fed in to the boiler. There is a website on coal, but I was unable to locate it.
Coal goes from the mines to a preparation plant to get washed and then to centres of industry or the coast. I think that having a coal yard (if by yard you mean a commercial dealer) might be a bit trite, but a prep plant would be good.
has a nice little WV coal mine, so during construction I’ve known I would use the center industry spur for a related industry, perhaps a coal yard with 2-3 spurs, BUT my plans have changed to pure 1970’s diesel era, were coal yards used then?