I know This model is made in Europe, yet I purchased this in hopes to save on buying a Coaling tower for my small Steam Facility, Diesel is by far the dominate mode on my layout and I just wanted a method to justify the Steam powered Locos, Walthers always advertises in reference to the Kibri line, and I quote: “Many can be easily Americanized by leaving off trim or by adding signs and other details.” I purchased this in my Naive days. My question is, would such a facility be seen around the U.S., lets say on a small line or a refuling site on a main line or such?
On backwoods shortlines it would not be out of place. Many old photos actually show men shoveling coal by hand into tenders. This would probably have been somewhat common from the 1860’s to the 1930’s - depending on labor costs vs. machines. I beleive I saw a pic of a backhoe/bucket loader coaling a tourist line engine somewhere! It may have also been common on mining/logging lines that moved track from one location to another where a permanent coaling tower would be cost prohibitive. The enginehouse could be placed elsewhere - as a maintenance shed, and the coaling unit used someplace else. Just be careful to get any european looking gingerbread off the enginehouse. It’s your railroad - run it as you wish!
Even small track side coal conveyors were used and they were very portable.
I’ve also seen pictures where the coal was brought in large wheel burrows and unloaded into the tenders from a platform above in the following book:
It’s a great resource on the topic and has a lot of good photos of that era.
For something that’s a little more automated but still in the steam/diesel era, here’s a small Suncoast Fairbank-Morse coaling tower that I put on my layout because it was about 1/3 the size of all the other coaling towers on the market.
Click to enlarge picture
However, it’s a craftsman kit, so it’s a bit of a challenge to put together.
Back in the Paul Larsen era, there was a construction article for a bucket coaling station that apparently survived into the early 1950’s at the far end of a branch in Wisconsin. The buckets were cylindrical, and the whole business was housed in a shed.
If your railroad is set in a place where precipitation is liquid or virtually nonexistant, the shed is unnecessary - giving you just what you’ve got. A couple of signs (one reading SAVE A LUMP - very popular on the anthracite burning roads of NE Pennsylvania, and applicable anywhere) and a rack of fire cleaning tools (shovels, clinker hook…) would be appropriate.
Well, since the topic has pretty much been answered (although guys with shovels were mentioned, albiet depending on how backwoods your system really is represented as you could have had then shoveling directly from an gondola loaded with coal on an adjacent track), is the picture you posted of your layout, or a Kirbi Model Photo - if it is a Kibri stock photo nevermind, but if it is your layout rember that Esso only applied in the US to the Standard Oil company in mainly the North-East and Mid-Atlantic (and several southern states) till 1972, when it became Exxon.
Click to enlarge picture