On pg. 91 of the Nov. 2012 issue of Trains Magazine, there is a photo showing NS train 76G pulling cars into the National Coal load-out at Turley, Tn. Waiting, are 3 Caterpillar front end loaders to load the coal cars. Is this an anomoly, or, are there still coal mines loading coal trains with front end loaders?
Usually seen in smaller mines in this part of the country, at start-up and near the end of the mine’s life. Loadout operations are often a function of frequency and volume. It isn’t cheap and the method has to pay for itself when it’s a fixed facility.
The loadout at Turley is out of operation so the loaders are being used in the pic. Smaller load-out’s like truck dumps may use a load-out as well as front end loaders to get the job done, and they even may be used to shove cars under the loader sometimes.
Typically, where would coal from a smaller mine like this go? Does it just get sent to a power plant to be blended with coal coming from another source in unit trains?
To a single car type consignee - since Staggers the carriers have moved away from servicing small quantity mines and load outs - give us a train load or PAY if you don’t. Rates for single car loads will be nowhere near the rates that are charged for all the other coal you see moving.
Murphy, here is Magnetation’s Iron Ore loadout in Northern Minnesota near Coleraine showing them loading Iron Ore Concentrate into BNSF gondolas for shipment to Mexico with Front End Loaders.
Loading railcars begins at 1:50 of the “What We Do” video.
About a year ago, one of the cable networks did a series on a small coal mine operation. I don’t recall the exact location, but I am sure it was an eastern mine. Their production was on the order of one to two thousand tons per day which was trucked to a rail loadout some miles away. Details weren’t provided on the rail loadout, but I would guess that it could handle the loading of trains on on the order of at least 50 to 100 cars. I suspect the loadout may have received coal from several independently operated mines in the area, and perhaps the owners of the loadout also functioned as a sales agent for the small mine operators.
If they still exists, I would guess that small lot rail load outs are very rare.