Fairbanks Morse Coaling Tower Roofs

[karle]

Can anyone answer the following: On concrete FMC coaling towers that had sloped roofs (as opposed to the towers with truncated cone shaped roofs), were these roofs shingled or covered with tar paper, or where they just bare concrete. I'm building a scale model of one and old photos are too unclear to tell. Thanks very much!

[bpickering]

I'm looking at p. 40-41 of "Steam Locomotive Coaling Stations and Diesel Locomotive Fueling Facilities", by Dixon (2002 TLC Publishing), which shows a 300-ton concrete coaling station on the C&O at Shelby, KY. It was built by FM in 1918, supposedly in-service through the end of steam, and looks to have a corrugated metal roof. Pretty-clear between the two photos.

Brian Pickering

[karle]

Thanks Brian! Anyone else who may have some insight, please chime in. I have a feeling perhaps there was more than one roof material used.

[orsonroy]

You know, I've never bothered to wonder what the roofs were made of. But I've seen plenty of photos of them, and most are black and relatively smooth, indicating some sort of tarring used as a water repellant.

[tstage]

karle,

There's a beautiful old concrete coaling tower about 10 minutes from my home. (The old NYC Collinwood yard - now run by CSX - here in Cleveland.) Seems I remember it being all concrete but I'll check when I drive by it again.

Tom

[tstage]

karle,

I drove by the above pictured coaling tower this morning on my way to church. Even though it's not very well captured in the photo itself, from what I can see as I was driving by, the roof and structure are entirely concrete - no asphalt shingles or tar paper.

This thing is an absolute monster. The photo doesn't do it justice. I'm not positive but I think it's at least in the realms of 500-ton capacity. Someone told me one time that this coaling tower was so over-engineered, that the railroad determined it was going to be cheaper to keep the structure up rather than try and bring it down.

Sorry to take so long to get back to you on it. Hopefully that helps you out.

Tom

[karle]

Tom- thanks for the follow up. I suspected the roof was typically all concrete, and you have verifed it. I air brushed the roof concrete, then air brushed light costs of black to simulate tar compound, which turned out quite well. Thanks again... and if you ever build a Tichy coaling tower, I recommed you ask the Forum for advice/tips, as the model is one bear to construct, though impressive when completed.