I wonder where and how to unload coal loads in a cement plant?
Where is stored?
What date era are you thinking of? The process may be different in different eras.
I am modeling modern era.
Probably a rotary dumper, open to the elements in temperate climes, enclosed in a place where the weather might turn hostile. As at power plants, the coal carriers would probably have rotary couplers and remain coupled while the whole cut passes through the dumper.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Four years ago I observed the cement train slowly traveling on Santa Cruz city streets on its way to the Davenport cement plant. The train was about an equal consist of empty covered hoppers and coal-filled open hoppers. They appeared to be of the ordinary (non-rotary) type. I can imagine that unneeded high-capacity coal dumping, the high cost of rotary dumpers, and need for specialized cars would put a damper on cement-plant demand for a rotary dump.
I did some engineering work at a cement plant. They unloaded coal from ordinary hopper cars. The cars were spotted over a grate between the rails, with a car shaker overhead. The coal was conveyed underground to a storage silo with a bucket elevator. The cars were respotted by using a front-end loader to shove the cars around.
In this particular plant, the coal silo was actually inside a large building used to store most of the raw materials. However, the arrangement is flexible and could be located anywhere on the plant site.
Dan