Through the help of a childhood friend of mine who led me to a Dunellen FaceBook Group, I came upon a pretty good answer to my question about the height of the coaling trestle. Someone had posted a whole bunch of still photos taken at the scene of the crash.
One in particular was taken by someone standing on the coaling trestle. It showed a parallel track at ground level with a woodsheathed boxcar directly next the the trestle. Doing a little bit of geometry it appears that the wood deck of the trestle was the same height off the ground as the upper edge of the boxcar sides but below its roof walk.
I found a blueprint of a similar wood sheathed car https://www.ttnut.com/resources/image/2346 and it appears that that point was at the top of the sliding door or 12 ft above ground level. So my coaling trestle was 12 ft high or close to it.
Its amazing what you can find on the internets. And BTW if you're at all interested in the CNJ, I recommend checking out that FB Group for a whole bunch of old Jersey Central in Dunellen related vintage photos, most of which posted by Dunellen's unofficial historian, Wes Ott (may he rest in peace) https://www.facebook.com/groups/213868888660923/photos/
Ed
Wow -- That film clip of the crash is amazing. It actually shows people up on the approach to the coal trestle trying for a better look over the scene, so I can see approximately how high was the approach.
Thanks so much for the reference as well as for the newspaper clip of the fatality at the grade crossing.
You know, Dunellen was known as Railroadtown...same as your forum handle here. Could it be that you live or have lived in Dunellen?
Thanks again!
Dunellen's rails were at street level until the 1950s. Prior to that, traffic on Washington Ave and the other crossings often backed up. Kids would climb through open cargo cars so that they could get to school on time. Although discussion about raising the tracks was discussed for several decades, it only finally happened after a teenager died (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunellen_station). There is footage of a train crash in 1929 that happened near the round house and Art Color that could help you out a bit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWShO35lfzY
Hope that helps.
The grade could also be 0%. The March 1990 issue of MR has an article about Consumers Fuel in Martinburg, WV, which dates back to the 1880s. While there is a trestle for dumping coal, the ground / driveway slopes down to the bottom of it - easier to drive a team up hill with a load than shove a loaded hopper uphill, I suppose.
My advice is to build a mockup and experiment. See what combination of a road and track slope works best for the scene you are building. Yes, Sanborn maps are a great tool, but allowances do need to be made to allow for such pesky things as whimpy model locomotives and basements walls. ;-)
In the early 20th century, it's quite possible the trestle was built before the need to accomodate trucks came about. Coal was likely delivered in horse-drawn wagons. To load them, they were likely loaded by shovel or an electric-powered conveyor (just coming into wide use then.)
A 10' high trestle might make sense, but it could well be lower, like 8'. Basically, if your workers could swing a shovel in the bins underneath, that was high enough.
That said, a 6.5% grade on an industrial spur is not unusual for a short distance. I'm pretty sure an 0-6-0 would have no problem with a car or two unless it was particulatly lightweight itself.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
cnjman721That would indicate a "grade"of over 6 1/2 percent. Could that be right? Could an old 0-6-0 camelback push a coal hopper up a 6 1/2 percent hump?
Could a winch have been used? I've seen many railroad coal wharves where the loaded hoppers are winched up a pretty steep ramp:
Nice photo of a coal dealer here:
https://www.shorpy.com/node/5606
https://www.shorpy.com/node/5605
Regards, Ed
I'm planning to build a lumber and coal retailer based on a prototype on the CNJ in Dunellen NJ in the early-ish 20th century. A major element was the coal dock/trestle.
I have a Sanborn map reproduction of the facility showing a switch that leads to the coal dock track. It also shows that the trestle was X' high -- where "X" seems to be a single ink blob, not a two"digit" blob. So the trestle height must have been less than 10 ft high.
Assuming that the switch was at ground level, it would appear that the "hump" must have been incredibly steep because from switch points to where I'm guessing the wood trestle approximately begins is about 150 ft.
That would indicate a "grade"of over 6 1/2 percent. Could that be right? Could an old 0-6-0 camelback push a coal hopper up a 6 1/2 percent hump?
Thanks!