http://www.railroadforums.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/60137
It looks like a battery-powered locomotive for a coal mine.
The caption says it's an underground mining locomotive used by a gold mine..
"I Often Dream of Trains"-From the Album of the Same Name by Robyn Hitchcock
You usually just don't see them above ground!
trainfan1221 You usually just don't see them above ground!
What is the speed one of this switchers?
Awesome! trainfan1221 You usually just don't see them above ground! What is the speed one of this switchers?
I don't know if a mining locomotive is really a switcher. their main job is to shuttle cars of ore back and forth. I don't think you are going to see a small narrow gauge mining engine flying along at 50MPH!
The B&O at the Curtis Bay Coal Pier used a similar contraption which they called a Barney to assemble coal going to the dumper in proper order for the loading plan. While coal may all be black, it is not all the same as far as it's metallurgical content. Coal transhipper specify their coal to have a particular metallurgical content, generally a single grade of coal will not meet the specifics of the specification, however, by mixing multiple grades of coal with differing metallurgical properties in the correct proportion the desired metallurgical content can be obtained.
Coal would be placed on the 'coal pier track' of which there were 10 as straight grades. The Barney's would move 2 cars off track 1 toward the dumper, followed by 1 car from track 3, followed by 2 cars from track 5, followed by 3 cars from track 2....or whatever the particular loading plan was for the vessel. There was more than a single Barney working to perform the necessary movement of the cars as at maximum capacity the pier was capable of dumping 120 cars per hour (2 car dumper at 1 operation per minute) and it was considered a 'sin' not to have coal placed against the dumper.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
IINM, the Toledo ore docks(now CSX) have similiar pusher engines...that type of system reminds me more of the electric "mule" locomotives used to tow vessels through the locks of the Panama Canal than it does of the little, narrow gauge mining/tunneling locomotives (which are common equipment in those industries, BTW)..
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