Please allow me to first briefly describe my layout: basement is 23' x 24',staircase in middle, around-the-walls layout, 2' wide on 3 walls, 5' wide on 4th wall to accommodate double-end yard, engine service facility, 130 turntable, and 7 stall roundhouse with shop. Code 83 double track mains with 3 passing sidings on outside main, 2 passing sidings on inside main with one of the passing sidings provides entrance to yard, etc. No grades. Use two wireless NCE Procabs.
The double track mains pass behind my washer/dryer in an enclosed "shelf" (for laundry stuff). Tracks daylight in the corner where I'm building a hill/mountain to locate a coal mine. The other inside siding provides a spur to the coal mine where I plan to have two tracks for loading hopper cars parked under a delivery structure.
I can't find a suitable hillside mine. I was planning to use SCALE MODELS ALPINE DIVISION'S Red Lake Hillside Mine-Metal, (Walthers 2009 HO ref, pg.486), but it has been discontinued. I can't find a suitable hillside steam era substitute. Perhaps there is something close that I can kitbash. Any help would be appreciated.
Walthers New River Mining Company (933-3017) could be used with the covered conveyer entering a hillside portal, or it could be readily kit-bashed so as to be sitting directly on the hillside. This kit is probably the most kit-bashed ever. I've done it myself.
Obviously, this kitbash doesn't represent a hillside mine.
Mark
Maybe this will work for you.
Martinsburg Coal Mine #1 (Laser-Cut Wood Kit) -- 10 x 9 x 5'' 25.4 x 22.9 x 12.7cm - HO-Scale
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/amo/amo164.htm
or the Black Bart
http://compare.ebay.com/like/390122474653?ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
timber2I can't find a suitable hillside mine.
Depends on what you think is a suitable hillside mine, I guess. Some stuff which shows up on http://www.walthers.com doing a search on H0 scale, structures, in stock and "mine", and which may or may not fit your desire to load coal on two tracks:
Blair Line's "Cash Mine Works Ore House": http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/184-186
Faller's "Old Coal Mine": http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/272-130470
If you also look at stuff listed as "not in stock" at Walthers (but which may still be at other sites):
Btw - you might have seen it already, but the Appalachian Model Railroading web site has a lot of interesting stuff on model railroading and coal mining.
Their article collection with info: http://appalachianrailroadmodeling.com/articles.html
Some pics of scratch built or kitbashed loaders and structures: http://appalachianrailroadmodeling.com/ldrmodels.html
Smile,Stein
markpierce Walthers New River Mining Company (933-3017) could be used with the covered conveyer entering a hillside portal, or it could be readily kit-bashed so as to be sitting directly on the hillside. This kit is probably the most kit-bashed ever. I've done it myself. Obviously, this kitbash doesn't represent a hillside mine. Mark
I would recommend the "Wyoming Coal Mine" which is a Suydam/California/Alpine model. This is a great little kit. It lends itself to two rail lines at the mining site.
While no longer in production there are a lot of these available if you keep on eye out for them. I lucked out and purchased two of these, I thought the vendor was selling two but the lot was actually for two. Lucky that day.
http://whttp://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/700-24
I also have the Buckhorn mine kit, but decided not to build it as the model requires three rail lines at the building site and the area I have available for the mine site is only two tracks wide.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/700-4