How does a train unload the coal at the power plant? What kind of devices are used?
What kind of track plans and configurations do power plants use? Does anybody know of pictures or charts/maps I can look at for modeling purposes?
Greetings,
Just the other day I toured a local power plant and was able to get pictures of the rotary car dump. Here are some pictures of the inside of the rotary dump. They aren’t the greatest pictures, but with not alot of light they’re not bad.
I hope these help.
One side of the rotary car dump. The unit was down for repairs.
Interior side of the rotary car dump. One car is dumped at a time.
Looking out at Unit train holding tracks. There is also a loop around the plant to return the empties from the car dumper.
Controllers station. The controller does everything, runs locomotive and dumps the cars.
Remote Control locomotive sits inside rotary dump house while unit is being repaired. Locomotive can also be operated from the cab.
Keith
kschmidt’s photos will tell you a lot.
If it’s a modern power plant, the track configuration is a loop, usually surrounding the coal pile, which generally contains up to about 90 days of fuel. There are two types of cars–rotary dump (that’s the photos), which accounts for the vast majority; and rapid discharge, which look like a regular hopper except with a larger number of doors mounted at a different angle than the old fashion kind, and which essentially open up the entire bottom of the car.
In the case of the rotary dump cars, the train is pulled up to the dump house, and the cars are indexed through the dumper using a mechanical car puller.
With the rotary dump cars, the locomotives simply pull the train at low speed across a long trestle with an open gap around the rails (no ties–the rails are mounted on beams that are tied together much farther apart than tie spacing). There is a shoe on the trucks that contacts a third rail on the trestle, actuating the door cylinder which uses compressed air to open and shut the hopper doors. Much faster than rotary, but the tare of the rolling stock is higher, meaning less tonnage of coal per train.
In certain dedicated mine mouth operations like TXU’s which operate push-pull with rapid discharge cars, there is no loop. The short train loads under a tipple, runs to the plant, unloads on a trestle, reverses direction (operator walks to a cab contriol car on the other end, or runs it remotely) and runs back to the tipple, where it reverses direction and reloads.
Car repair shops may or may not be on premises at the power plant. There may also be holding tracks.
A local power plant located in Johnson City NY gets it coal by rail. It use bottom dump coal hoppers. It has a small loco ( GE ?? tonner last I knew) to move cars. It has been years since I was able to look around the plant, so I am not clear on the track layout but I think there was just 2 tracks plus a run around track for the locos of the inbound train.
The plant is located near the end of a branch. It would not be hard to model.
When the NS took over the branch from CR and service in this area melted down for a few weeks, NS sent some rotary dump hoppers to the plant. It was good for a few laughs for the locals.
We have a loop at our plant and the engines do not cut off except after 20 cars have been dumped. When the loop was built it was designed for 80 car trains and the 100 cars are too long to sit from the rotary dumper to the switch back onto the main line. The 20 cars are cut off and run around and tacked onto the rear of the train. We use a dog system to advance the train through the dumper.
I have a few pics at work of ours, I will see about uploading them at my forum and I will link over to here. I also ahve some shots from the top of the stack of the coal yard,
Some (at least one that I know of) use a rotary dumper, but no loop track. The road locomotives deliver the train into segments to a yard in the plant. The plant’s own R/C loco then pushes the cuts through the dumper and pulls them back to the yard. Then, the road locomotives retrieve the empties, and place new loads. Then the cycle starts all over again.
The power plant near where I live, has no loop, no room for one. They have a 5 track yard, and receive 3 trains a week with just over 100 cars per train. I’ve seen the dump house from a distance, but I’m not sure if it’s rotary, or just pit and conveyor.
Lots of the older plants are like what you describe. Shoehorned in to begin with, and it’s worse now, particularly all the new neighbors who moved in 40 years after the plant was built but never noticed it until now, and they want it out.
As to the unloading facility, look at the cars. If they’re hoppers, then there’s a dump pit. If they’re high side gondolas (maybe with an occasional hopper), then it’s a rotary dump. If this is in MN, the building may be a thawing shed. In the winter the coal in the car picks up water that freezes and has to be thawed before the coal can be dumped.
Do any use a pneumatic device?
That’s about the best loco I’ve seen for a plant. Which power plant is that?
Dave
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Local co-gen plant uses bottom dump. They can handle cuts of about 12 hoppers through the unloading shed at one time. Older EMD switcher (NW2?) handles the cars. When setting up it’s run from the cab. When the cars are being advanced through the dump building, they use RC, very possibly from a fixed console in the unloading shed (which also serves as the engine house).
The unloading shed is equipped with a car shaker. You can feel it quite a ways away.
Found my pictures of our plant finally. They are pretty rough and I sent them to the house where I will clean them up and post them later tonight.
Yesterday I worked out of Hawthorne Yard, Indianapolis near the People’s Energy and Gas plant. I looked over towards the plant and it looked like they had a dump house, but there was also a huge steam shovel on rail shoveling coal out of some extra tall coal hoppers. I’m assuming the shovel is for the tall cars that won’t fit in the dump house?
I could be wrong but the photos and locomotive look a lot like Pleasant Prairie, in Wisconsin.
Do the power plants get covered hoppers of coal? I ask this because I could have sworn that I saw a picture of PS covered hoppers at a coal mine.
The covered hoppers may have materials for the pollution control systems. They use a large amount of activiated carbon. lime, and other materials, and during a major turnaround, they may replace everything in the system and have it brought in by rail. They also could be for transporting the ash away. Fly ash is sold for use in concrete.
I cannot remember offhand who it was, but hey had covers for their hoppers to keep the fines from blowingout and moisture out. They also enabled the cars to be used for backhaul of weather sensitive products.
Dave,
Yes that is the locomotive at Pleasant Prairie Power Plant (P-4) in Pleasant Prairie, WI which is just south of Kenosha, WI. Yes it is quite a nice locomotive. It can be operated as remote control or with an engineer. When unloading a train the dump operator actually controls the loco by remote.
Keith