Show me, US, your coal mines please

[Anonymous]

I plan on having two possibly three Anthracite mines on my "N" scale road. I'm familiar with Coal mines, Collieries or Breakers, and the surrounding Culm or coal dirt piles, having grown up in late Anthracite days of PA. I would love to see some examples of how you've modeled them, in any scale. Also I'm thinking of someday also modeling the underground part. Ever seen that on a layout ? Thanks, Dave

[MisterBeasley]

I've been thinking of putting in an underground mine in HO scale. Nothing elaborate like my subways now under construction, but just a slightly winding piece of flex track with some side tunnels and timber-trestle supports. I've got a spot on the edge of the layout where I can view it from the side. I've got an old Vollmer building with operating coal chutes, plus a string of operating hopper cars, so eventually I hope to have a working coal operation.

[dinwitty]

Coal mines usually have buildings with shafts and machinery to move the coal out into storage bins, some may be very elaborate.
I simpy plan on some kind of double track coal chute with chutes coming out of the mountain.
I wont have the room to make a large coal mine terminal.
I will be doing a put/take operation loads in/empties out using unit trains of coal, some with coal loads the other without to simulate empties in/loads out with a coal using industry doing the same, loads in/empties out, the cars just go into a tunnel or visual block to hide the fact its interconnected with double track between them with a scenick divider somehow.