Hello,
what was the railroad operation and gas plant movements of coal hoppers and tank cars. What was the operating prcedure of rail served gas plants in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Regards Matthew Redden
Make every effort to track down a copy of Railmodel Journal for May of 2002. Keith Kohlmann has an article, with lots of photos, entitled “Model a Gas Works.” If you are an NMRA member it might be that the NMRA library can get you the article. I am not sure about how much they can do with article copies but it is worth the effort. But the photos are so interesting that getting the original magazine is the prime directive. Keith, one of the finest modelers around, gives a superb clinic on this topic with tons more photos and information than there was room for in the article.
If you have older Model Railroaders (and by “older” I do not mean 2002) then try to find two articles by Jim Findley. Compressed Gas Factory from March 1971, and Kimchi Gas Work from April 1970. I assume Kalmbach can sell you reprints of these articles.
Dave Nelson
The Kalmbach articles that nelson mentioned are quite good. I am going to have to see if I can find the other one. A simple explination is that coal hoppers were dumped, either over a grating or on a tip, and then put on an empties line. Coke hoppers (which were either gondolas with the sides built up, or simple coal hoppers with the sides built up), then removed the coke from the plant.
Tank cars were moved in for HCL, Coal Tar, and RARELY HNO3. I say rarely because UTLX only had nine tank cars rated for Nitric acid movements. These movements were usually further away from the gas retort as flames and high temps were not wanted around the cooled gas or liquids.
I know in Baltimore the retort and the gas storage were pretty close together which must have lead to some interesting load outs. The one in Milwaukee had plenty of room to move cars around though.
My files show references to a few more nitric acid tankcars.
ACFX 1940 8000 gal. ICC-103-C-AL for 95% nitric acid, ACFX is not listed as a reporting mark in my April 1954 Official Railway Equipment Register. Photo in Train Shed Cyclopedia #12 p.1940-307 (reprint from 1940 Simmons-Boardman Car Builders’ Cyclopedia.
DuPont SHPX 7293 TA for nitric acid. Listed 54 Reg. Picture in Popular Picture & Plan Book for Model Railroaders Simmons-Boardman, publishyed ca 1950 p.237.
GCX 4502 General Chemical Co. ICC-103C-AL 8000 gal. aluminum tank for nitric acid. Listed in 54 Reg as TR. Photo in Train Shed Cyclopedia #12 p.1943-312.
MCHX 117 Monsanto Chemicals ICC 103C AL for Nitric acid, aluminum tank, lettered “top load & unload only” “blt 1940” listed in 54 Eqpt Reg as Monsanto Chemicals EVERETT PLANT. Viewed on display at Natl Museum of Transport,Saint Louis,MO, 1994.
DuPont SHPX 7293/SHPX 7336 DuPont ACID TANK- ICC 103CW for nitric acid small dome; listed 54 Reg as TA. Picture in Popular Picture & Plan Book p.237.
Here’s a picture from the Minnesota Historical Society website of my employer 70 years ago: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=75010&Page=1&Digital=Yes&EndDate=1940&Keywords=minneapolis%20gas%20light&StartDate=1925&SearchType=Basic
It’s hard to see, but there is a small industrial locomotive in the middle of the picture. I think the railroad (the Minneapolis & St. Louis in this case) spotted gondolas near the plant and the larryman would move them into position.
The other items, coke, coal tar, sulfur, and ammonia could all be collected and shipped out, by the railroad. I’ll see if I can find some more at work.
What a great classic old photo. You could study it for hours and still not exhaust everything in it.
Dave Nelson
Dave, I’ll have to look for the articles you mentioned, as there is almost no information about the old plant left, and even less about rail operations to it. Here’s an aerial view from a little later, in 1949:
The massive holder, to the left of the bridge, is where the earlier photo was taken from. Those of you who know Minneapolis will recognize the bridge as the Cedar Bridge, now called the Tenth Avenue Bridge. The 35W Bridge ran parallel, about where the boat is.
As an aside, check historical society websites for information and photos, for many have digital images you can search. For gas plants, try gas plant, coal gas, gas light, etc. I used Minneapolis Gas light in my search.
I tried to design a M & St L trackplan incorporating the Minneapolis Gas & Light with a track plan using some of the Walthers Gas Plant Structures, as well as the Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge, the Washburn Mill, Cedar Yard, and Milwaukee Road Depot, but it was tough to fit it all in.
I found this link to the article Dave mentions:
http://www.railmodeljournal.com/may3site/Pages/gas.html
There is also a reference to the Vol. XI, Issue no. 4 of Lineside, the quarterly publication of the Railroad Industries SIG, so that may be another resource as well.