I am assembling a Helgan kit of a coaling and sanding facility. It includes a pit where coal is delivered to the facility. My question is on the prototype how would sand be delivered to the facility? By truck?
Thanks
wdcrvr
Lotsa railroads had sand cars. Here’s a shot of a GN one:
Sometimes tank cars were used–the SP&S did.
But maybe for a small out-of-the-way place, a truck would make a lot of sense.
Ed
That tells me how the sand can get to the sanding facility, but how does the sand get from the sand car to the sand bin?
wdcrvr
Sand would have to be very dry so first it would be dried in a sand house. Then blown up to the hoppers/ towers by compressed air through pipes.
Pete
In the photo, it looks as if there’s a cover lying next to the track and there may be a pit into which the sand was dumped, then carried to the sandhouse by conveyor.
However, if you look at the hoppers under the sand car they appear to be modified (there are only two, instead of the usual four) with some type of fittings on the bottom. I’d guess that the cover hides hoses, one of which would be connected to a fitting to provide pressurised air, while the other would be connected to the outlet fitting for carrying the sand into the delivery bins/tanks. The sand is likely already dry, hence the covered car, and will flow easily.
Green (wet) sand could be delivered in gondolas or boxcars, and was usually unloaded manually into an outdoor storage pile located next to the sand house.
Wayne
take a look at some photos of engine terminals. you might want to model the piles of sand next to the rails. they are the result of workmen testing the function of the locomotive sanders and often they are plugged up so the pipes get smacked with a hammer to free up the sand flow and that results in spillage. sometimes they just leak a little for no good reason too.
charlie
When you say “unloaded manually” , do you mean guys with shovels? The sanding facility I am building has a drying house with a huge timber enclosed sand pile next to it. So, I am trying to make sure I understand how the sand would get delivered to that pile before it would then go into the drying house and on to the locomotive.
wdcrvr
So, I guess you have this:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/322-111
Green sand would be stored in the open area to the left. It would have been (back in the olden days) most likely supplied by a gon of sand. Jolly workers would go into the gon and shovel the sand over the side and into the storage bin. If it was too far to toss the sand, they likely would have put some planks across to the wall of the bin and tossed the sand up to this temporary platform and then shoved it over to the bin. They might have put some tarpaper over the planks to keep the sand from falling through. A truck COULD have delivered sand, but back in steam days, I doubt it happened much.
Green sand would be hauled by wheelbarrow over to the drying shed. Once dry (and after shoveling it though a wire sieve to filter out junk), it would be blown up into the sand bin on the side of the coal tower. The air would be supplied by a big compressor in a yard building that also supplied air for additional uses. In the unlikely event that the coaling tower was out in the middle of nowhere, the compressor could be in the sand building. More likely, it would be in still another building, as I imagine the guys would have liked to keep sand away from machinery.
Ed
Thanks, I think I have what I need now. I appreciate all the help.
wdcrvr
Ed has very capably answered your question, but many younger modellers would probably be surprised by how often shovel technicians were used in the “good old days”: everything from sand, cinders, and coal to sugar, grain, flour, and manure.
Wayne
Yeah,
It used to be called “good honest work”. Although maybe “work” should be in caps.
The “good old days” are still alive in my trade: construction. We’ve got a guy named Steve. He’s become very strong. And appreciated.
Ed