two questions re: coal routes/equipment

[ndbprr]

Check Vollmer or Kibri for a nice small minehead that has huge wheels for the elevator and can be motorized.  Overall it is about 6" square.  It is a good looking kit that say's coal mine all the way.  the only thing European about it is the roof over the top of the wheels that is arched instead of peaked and is easily fixed.

[DeadheadGreg]

haha, yeah i know.  It doesn't matter with the Rivarossi anymore...  damn thing cant run on code 70 track.  sooo that kinda solves that matter. 

basically what i wanted to do was have a small branchline servicing a mine/small town that then brought cars to some sort of interchange yard for them to be sent out on long hauls to be loaded into barges or whatever.

i like the New River Run Mine, but its kinda big, and it looks too "modern" for what i want to do

[Anonymous]

22 is ok, but really pushing it. You want 28" radius or better for more reliable operation.

Consider two barges, cranes and such as a source or destination for your coal.

Hoppers and more hoppers. If you find your driving wheels start to slip on many hoppers, stop buying hoppers or add a helper. =)

[don7]

Check out e-bay for the Suydam/California/Alpine models, these are the metal kits and there are a fair number availalble.

http://www.alpinemodels.com/page/page/2762608.htm

 

[MIKE0659]

Do a search here on "New River Mining", there was a thread last year with lots of pics of kitbashed and stock versions of this Walthers kit on various layouts. It should give you some ideas for mines, big and small.

There really isn't much else out there. If you want coal loaders you either scratchbuild or kitbash, or combine both.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

OK this is the third time posting this since the embedded controls on this forum keep deleting everything I type during a simple copy and paste so you get the short versions. LOL.  AGHHH!

The Grover Cleveland Mine kit by N Scale Architects: 

http://www.internettrains.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=IT&Product_Code=NSA-10204

 

The Cash Mine Ore House by Blair Line

it looks big but it's pretty compact 4x4-1/2"

http://www.internethobbies.com/bllinsccamiw.html

Hope it helps.

[csmincemoyer]

Instead of a big mine you may want to play with a truck loading ramp.  Probably won't need two tracks, will need a ramp, a couple of trucks, a few piles of coal and a front end loader.  If you can find pictures of mine operations in the Appalachian area it's amazing how many of these existed.

[Wayzata Modeler]

 

  Take a look at the Cimarron 1 Mine kit -  available via Micro-Mark website.  Probably  single track loading - but includes the headframe house and ore bunker.  I am going to build the headframe house onto the side of a mountain.  Ore bunker  will serve a single loading track.

[Anonymous]

When you find it, let me know. LOL.  I think we're in the same boat. I am in the benchwork phase of a N scale layout with the idea of it being a small branchline located in a fictitious town in the hills of Virginia servicing a small coal mine on one side of the layout and a "company town" off to the other side. The time era is early 1950s...so I can still mix some steam with early ALCO diesels. Space is an issue for me as well. The layout is only 3x8 with a 3x2 L. Since I'm still in benchwork phase this may switch to logging instead of coal if I don't locate a small coal mine kit, preferrably in wood. Good luck with it!

[DeadheadGreg]

So i'm going to be building my first legit layout; I still haven't finalized a plan yet, because I need to know the answer to this question:  what is the minimum curve radius that a 2-8-8-2 can run on (articulated)?  I have one, and right now i just have an oval of eztrack setup that im assuming is 22" radius because its not quite the entire width of a sheet of plywood. 

the other thing is about mine kits.  I can't find any!  I don't want to eat up space with the Walthers kit, and the only other one i'm seeing is the "Old Coal Mine" kit that model power and everyone else offers.  I'm just looking for something smallish, that could handle 2 loading tracks, that would fit in with transition-era engines and can be built into a mountain. 

any help would be great, thanks!