I have a small “automatic” Fairbanks-Morse (F-M) Coaling tower (Suncoast Models) on the servicing track of my layout, like the one pictured below:
In the picture, the intake grate for the storage bunker is located directly behind the coaling tower.
Does anyone know offhand whether these were at fixed distances on the backside?
If they weren’t, how much leeway (in distance) between the intake grate and the coaling tower might one be able to “reasonably” place them apart from one another?
The reason for asking is that I’m trying to fit the servicing tracks for both the coaling tower and the ash pit onto the same track. However, I have a limited distance to do this in and the center-to-center track distances between each structure and their corresponding “pits” are different for each one. If I could move the intake grate for the storage bunker back a bit, then the pits would line up on the same track. (Hopefully that makes sense?)
The method of getting the coal from the pit to the lifting part is most likely a screw auger similar to a stoker - I don;t see any reason why this couldn;t have been made slightly longer or shorter depending on the specific needs. I doubt it would have run under 2 other tracks between the pit and elevator, but a few feet either way would be reasonable, mechanically.
Thanks for the input. I checked the kit box to see if I could find out any information. The assembly instructions did have the following prototype data:
“In the early 1930’s, Fairbanks-Morse and company offered the railroads an “automatic” coaling station for terminals where only a few locomotives were serviced on a daily basis. The term “automatic” comes from the fact that the facility had an underground storage bunker (instead of an overhead bunker) and a motor-driven conveyor moved the coal up from the bunker directly into the tender.”
I wonder if the conveyor was both horizontal (to move the coal from the bunker to directly underneath the coaling tower) and vertical (to then hoist it up into the chute).
This is a wild guess, but I would bet the buckets swung over top of a top-wheel, or pully/idler…whatever, and as each came over the top, it became inverted and it would empty itself into a hopper with steeply sloped sides.In turn, the hopper had a side exit where the top of the outer chute is pivoted. No auger necessary, just the bucket belt and metal slopes.
Now that I found more pictures and a description of how they worked, it doesn;t seem as likely that they would have altered the distance. I suppose you could stretch the truth a little and say they installed a larger than standard bunker underneath. How far apart are the two, could a slight curve in the track swing out far enough for the ash pit track without being too sharp for the hopper car to negotiate?
