coaling tower+lighting - Was there any?

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

Besides the possibility of having Yard lights like the C&O coaling tower at Thurmond, WV did coaling towers have any exterior lighting underneath or did the guys have to work by lantern at night?

I’m building the Walthers Modern Coaling Tower kit and was just wondering. I’ve searched the web but haven’t found anything relevant.

Thanks

Doug

2

Doug

Short answer. Yes. Most railroads were/ are 24 / 7 365 days a year operation. Lighting at facilities were / are very important to worker safety and productivity.

Pete

3

I would suggest going to the HABS-HAER site and searching for “coaling towers” and look at the pictures for lighting fixtures.

4

Doug,

Although not based after the Walther coaling tower, this F-M coaling tower actually had 4 lights fixtures; one on each side:

One set (front and back) up high; another set (sides) down low, next to the ladders. This particular coaling tower was for small-time operations.

Tom

5

Thanks for the info guys.Thanks for the tip to the HABS-HAER site Dave. I forgot about that one. Really great site but the coaling towers it pulled up didn’t have anything useful regarding lighting. Even the Thurmond architectural drawings didn’t show light placement, photos show a single light on either end and the yard lights at the top. I’ll just go with that. Tom you’ve got a nice site there. I’ll be checking things out.

Thanks everyone!

6

The wood coaling tower kit from Campbell builds the tower at Durango or at Chama. That kit comes with castings (not operable) for lights. Those are electric lights and thus would have been added after the initial construction, but I do not know what year. Electrification in many parts of the country came in the 1930’s. The “modern coaling tower” would certainly have had some.

Bill