Hello everyone,
Another newbie question:
I’m having a tought time finding a clear example of the area of track where the coal hoppers unload at the coaling tower. Specifically the section over the pit. Anyone have a good picture? Thanks in advance.
B.K.
Here are a couple photos I have of the coaling tower in the IC engine facility in Centralia, IL:
Centralia Coaling Tower from the North by Jeff White, on Flickr
2-10-2016_062 by Jeff White, on Flickr
The concrete tower was built in 1946 and it’s still standing.
Here one with the coaling tower built across the main line:
7ff64cda80ed156ea183a451da189fe5 by Jeff White, on Flickr
Jeff White
Alma, IL
Are any of these helpful?
coal_wood by Edmund, on Flickr
coal_concrete_0001 by Edmund, on Flickr
coal_concrete by Edmund, on Flickr
Good Luck, Ed
Thanks for the replies and help fellas. It does help me to see how and where the hoppers unloaded in relation to the tower itself.
I picked up a small, older Life-Like coaling tower. My plan is to have the tower loaded and also service tenders from one track (a siding off the main) with the unload pit directly in front of the tower. I have no idea how protypical this might be but the tower is to be located in a small town along a branch line. No engine service yard just available coal and water up line from a combination depot.
I welcome any and all ideas/input on protoypicality.
Thanks again,
BK
I used Walthers’ small concrete coaling tower in Lowbanks, where space is rather limited (my scratchbuilt 90’ turntable is only 89’ long due to insufficient real estate).
I opted to not use the outside coal chute, so locomotives going to or from the turntable pass under the only working chute…
The dump shed is shoehorned-in between the coaling tower and the mainline…
In Mount Forest, on the upper level of the layout, I used Tichy’s coaling tower, with three tracks serviced by coal chutes, and a separate elevated track for the dump shed. Lots of work yet to be done here…
… but if your space is really limited, I see no reason why the dump pit couldn’t be on the same track as the coaling chute.
Wayne
B.K. I don’t know if this is an answer to your question but, since you refered to the track area of the dump pit, here goes. Back in the early 1960s, I worked at a small power plant where coal was received primarily by barge but, also by rail as an alternate. The pit was sheltered by a corrugated steel shed about 40 feet long. The pit was about 30 feet long and 9 feet wide, with the rails centered over it on steel girders. If my memory serves me correctly, there were a couple of cross beams in the track supporting structure. What looked like steel roof walk sections were laid about two feet outside of the rails to provide footing for the workers who opened the hopper doors then hammered the dickens out of the cars to insure all of the coal was discharged.
Althugh a narrowgauge prototype, the Campbell coaling tower kit provides instructions, drawings and material for a dump pit that’s pretty generic and adapatable. The materials are mostly wood, so easy to DIY.
Here’s mine, although it’s mostly n the backside where you see the coal car spotted. Note the equipment shed on top of the coaling tower that houses the hoisting machinery and IIRC a converyor to spread the coal evenly to the bins that feed the chutes over the track on this side.
The main thing is that your dump should be centered next to the elevator leg of the coaling tower. It’s the leg that is both crucial and usually structurally obvious as part of the overall building, as that’s how the coal gets up to the overhead bins.
Here are some photos of the Nevada Northern coaling tower at Ely, NV:
