DSO17 Depending on the length of the run and quality of the coal (poor coal usually makes more ash) a 2-6-0 in tourist train service would probably make a pick-up truck load or two of ash a day. It would take quite a while to fill a gondola. A lot of railroads just have a local fuel oil dealer bring a tank truck around to refuel the diesels. Some locations buy bagged sand and manhandle it up onto the engines-not a fun job, but it gets the engines sanded.
Depending on the length of the run and quality of the coal (poor coal usually makes more ash) a 2-6-0 in tourist train service would probably make a pick-up truck load or two of ash a day. It would take quite a while to fill a gondola.
A lot of railroads just have a local fuel oil dealer bring a tank truck around to refuel the diesels.
Some locations buy bagged sand and manhandle it up onto the engines-not a fun job, but it gets the engines sanded.
These are all good suggestions if your space is at a premium. Another space-saver was used on some CNR branchlines in southern Ontario. For this, coal was shipped-in in gondolas, The locomotive's tender would be spotted alongside, then a crane, equipped with a clamshell bucket, would transfer coal directly from the gondola into the tender's bunker. If you have room, the gondola could be left, until emptied, wherever you've spotted it, or, if it's needed elsewhere, the balance of the coal could be transferred to the ground.
Jordan Products makes a nice kit for a tracked steam-powered crane (In the link, scroll past the steam shovel - the crane is a little farther down the page) and Custom Finishing offers a kit for the bucket.
Wayne
Wayne, that does seem to work out rather well, especially within that 16".
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
I like J.Rob's suggestion of putting the coal and sand delivery, along with the cinder car, all on the same track. You could also include a spot on the same track for a tank car to bring in diesel fuel. Your siding (in white) to the right of the coaling tower could do all of this if you lengthened it. I'd place the ash dump at the bumper end, then the sandhouse, the tank car unloading station (the tank itself can be placed anywhere or even be left unmodelled) and the coal supply closest to the turnout. You'll need water for your steamers, too, but you can put standpipes (available from Tichy or Walthers) anywhere, with the supply tank (with or without its own spout) placed some distance away, where more space is availableWith the addition of a turnout at the end of the track which you've labelled as "Ash Pit", you'd have the run-around suggested by Rich. Put the ash pit itself on the through track, closer to the hoist.
I was faced with a similar problem trying to squeeze an engine servicing facility between a double tracked mainline and the aisle and had only 16" with which to work. I managed to include an engine shed/shop, coal and sand tower, a turntable, car shop, oil house, and outdoor crane. Unfortunately, there was no logical place to include an ash pit.
Well, let's face it.
Engine servicing facilities take up a ton of real estate as you are finding out.
It is entirely reasonable that you want to have an ash pit, a two track coaling tower, sanding towers and drying house, and an inspection pit.
And, don't forget that you will want some provision for adding water to your steamers.
The problem with your setup, as I am sure you have already concluded, is that you can only service one locomotive at a time, since each serviced locomotive needs to back out of the facility to make room for another.
What you need, if you have the room, is an escape track to permit serviced locomotives to get out of the way and back into action, making room for other locomotives to be serviced.
Rich
Alton Junction
Use the white track for your supplies, coal hoppers to load coal tower, sand to the sand house. Adjust the structures so that the sand house delivery point to the locomotives and the coal chute to load the loco bunkers fit on the track that leads to the inspection pit. I would also add a pipe for water delivery to your track, the water tower could be anywhere near by. A fuel crane for the diesel would need to be near by as well as a fuel tank and possibly a different sand delivery pipe. The ash conveyor can have the pit on the main track and the single ended track can hold the cinder car. Continuing on past the inspection pit a turn out and a two stall engine house could be added so the Steamers can be lubricated and have minor repairs done. N&W called these structures Lubritoriums (sp) and they were quite efficient in getting the locomotives ready for service.
With out dong anything but adjusting your spacing possibly and adding a turn out you could have quite a service area in a very small space. The turn out and the two bays would give you a location where the occasional longer term issue could be resolved with your locomotive fleet and you could still do the minor servicing of your remaining locomotives. The engine house would also be a place where critical spares could be kept for your fleet. so you could now have destinations for spare parts, coal, sand, oil for diesel engine as well as lubricants and a track that would originate ashes that would need to be dumped.
Seems to me your compact track plan just generated several more car loads of freight as well as a place to service your locos. Also other than the hopper for coal and the ash pit the sand house and fuel oil track could be shared as it seems unlikely that both would require a car of supplies at the same time.
There isn't really a set formula, but in general railroads would try to set it up so that engines coming off of trains could dump their ashes and proceed directly to the enginehouse, or engines coming out of the enginehouse could take on fuel or water directly on their way to the yard or station where they'd couple up to their train.
If I'm reading your trackplan right, an engine coming off a train would have to go from the station to a track to dump ashes, then backtrack to the station and switch onto another line to go to the enginehouse. If possible a real railroad would have this all be in line for greater efficiency.
What exactly is it that you are stumped about?
Are you looking for a more efficient track plan?