I would like to build a coal mine for my layout. However, I have no knowledge of coal mine operations. I don't feel the need to have every detail just right, but would like to have a general idea of what needs to be represented for a small mining operation pre-1950 time frame. I have seen mention of a stamping mill and several other terms that I am not familiar with. Can someone give me a general rundown of what needs to be represented or directions as to where I can find this information in simple terminology?
I have seen many different versions of a mine model kit and they look so different from each other that I really don't know what to build.
Thanks for any help that anyone can provide.
wdcrcr
Kalmbach has a pretty good book on modeling coal mines and operarations http://www.kalmbachstore.com/12453.html . If you're interested in the subject it's money well spent.
Rob Spangler
"Stamping mills" are associated with ore mines, not coal mines.
There are many on-line resources of varying quality and accuracy. A good introductory source is Tony Koester's The Model Railroader's Guide to Coal Railroading.
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
Coal "mines" somewhat depend on the region of the country. In Appalachia, the railroad connection could be anything from a processing plant on the large scale to a small mine or just a loader where dump trucks bring their coal for transfer to the railroad. Do you have some idea of the amount of space you have to work with?
A quick google found this website: http://www.appalachianrailroadmodeling.com/loaderphotos.html
Besides loaders and mines there is a lot of other information on coal railroading there.
Hi
What you need for a coal mine will vary depending on what kind of mine.
is it 1 a drift mine accessed by a tunnel that basically goes straight into the hill.
2 a shaft mine with a head frame
3 an open cut mine
But you need a way in, a grading set up and a way to ship the ore ventilation of some sort
a change room and shower block office workshop on the surface and a store.
if its a shaft or drift mine a plentiful supply of pit props this would be incoming freight.
a winding house to raise and lower the cage
No smoking or naked flames or lights under ground if the miners hit fire damp it will go bang very easy.
so some sort of mines rescue area can be added as well.
My thoughts on modelling one would be a conveyer running to a loading facility a dirt road running from a gate marked consolidated coal mines or some such all visitors report to office with a security hut to take the miners and visitors matches lighters and cigarettes off them until knock off time.
To model a reasonable mine site would be very space hungry so my thoughts are stick with the rail head side of things modelled and use scenic suggestion to plant the idea of a coal mine in the mind.
Like the road and the conveyer disappearing into the scenery.
The Virginian build thread is worth a look as that was I believe a coal hauling railroad.
The book suggested is a must if you are going down the coal road path
Living where I do if some one mentions a stamp mill I automatically think gold mining
which is a totally different type of mining
regards John
Check out the Kaymoor Mine on the HABS-HAER site:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=hhsheet&fileName=wv/wv0200/wv0288/sheet/browse.db&action=browse&recNum=0&title2=Kaymoor%20Coal%20Mine,%20South%20side%20of%20New%20River,%20upstream%20of%20New%20River%20Gorge%20Bridge,%20Fayetteville%20vicinity,%20Fayette,%20WV&displayType=1&maxCols=2&itemLink=r?ammem/hh:@FIELD(DOCID+@BAND(@lit(WV0288)))
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
wp8thsub Kalmbach has a pretty good book on modeling coal mines and operarations http://www.kalmbachstore.com/12453.html .
Kalmbach has a pretty good book on modeling coal mines and operarations http://www.kalmbachstore.com/12453.html .
Tony Koester also has a PDF-download, Building a coal-hauling railroad, which is specific to his prior layout, the Coal Fork extension (layout addition) to his Allegheny Midland. Tony's hardcopy book, The Model Railroader's Guide to Coal Railroading, is broader in scope than the Coal Fork extension (also in my personal PDF MR Library).
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
wdcrvrI have seen many different versions of a mine model kit and they look so different from each other that I really don't know what to build.
the photos i've found of mines in eastern Pa have all shown relatively large operations: large structures on the sides of mountains and mountain sides covered with mine waste. Presumably the large structures are where coal is separated from the waste before shipping the coal to breakers where it is sorted by size and cleaned.
None have justified the small mine structures I've seen for model railroads.
on the other hand, there are very small mine structures built by independents to bring coal out of the mine and load it into trucks. These might be interesting to model. Notice they are not on the sides of mountains.
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
The Western Mining and Railroad Museum site has quite a number of photos of coal mines in central Utah from about 1880-1950 http://www.wmrrm.com/photos.html . The museum sells copies of the photos to raise funds, so most of the images available on the site are very small, but they can still provide a good idea of how the mines looked. The area had a lot of smaller mine structures that would fit on typical layouts, as well as some large ones.
Here's some tibits you might like to use.
While working on Chessie(c&o) I was called for several mine runs out of Russell(Ky).
1.None of the mines we switch had a run around-we reversed in and pulled out.It was fairly straight switching.Thankfully most had a holding track that we could place the loads on while spotting the empties..Those that did not we used the nearest siding to switch out the loads for empties and returned to the mine and spotted the empties and then returned to our train.
2.Several of the truck dumps could hold up to 15 cars and was switched from the main.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
gregc wdcrvrI have seen many different versions of a mine model kit and they look so different from each other that I really don't know what to build. the photos i've found of mines in eastern Pa have all shown relatively large operations: large structures on the sides of mountains and mountain sides covered with mine waste. Presumably the large structures are where coal is separated from the waste before shipping the coal to breakers where it is sorted by size and cleaned. None have justified the small mine structures I've seen for model railroads. On the other hand, there are very small mine structures built by independents to bring coal out of the mine and load it into trucks. These might be interesting to model. Notice they are not on the sides of mountains.
On the other hand, there are very small mine structures built by independents to bring coal out of the mine and load it into trucks. These might be interesting to model. Notice they are not on the sides of mountains.
Sure they're on the sides of mountains. The mountain was mined, remember?
When in doubt, take a little modeler's license.
Great pictures of the small tipples!
S&S
Modeling the Pennsy and loving it!
gregc the photos i've found of mines in eastern Pa
the photos i've found of mines in eastern Pa
Look at the Western half. Place was littered with tiny mines.
A stamping mill was not used for processing coal,
A stamping mill was used to process ore, the rock containing the ore was stamped into smaller pieces.
http://www.perryopolis.com/coal.shtml
http://www.coalwoodwestvirginia.com/coalwood_tipple.htm
Virginia Tech has on-line photo archives of many Norfolk & Western images. Here's the link to a folder with plenty of coal mining photos:
http://imagebase.lib.vt.edu/browse.php?folio_ID=/trans/nss/coal
These are southern Appalachian images, and as other posters have noted, the nature of coal mining and the affiliated structures does vary somewhat across the country. Some mines simply load what is dug into hopper cars for sorting elsewhere, while others have at least some level of "sorting and grading" process inside so that the shipped loads don't have to be unloaded an extra time.
Consider the following: your modeling era and general portion of the country that you model. Then make measure of the space that you have available on your layout (or potential layout). Then look through the commmercially available coal mine models to see if one of them fits your layout or could fit your layout with modifications. If none of them look right to you, then find a photo or photos of a mine that does match what you are looking for and go about the scratchbuilding process.
On my HO line, I had a photo of a mine on the Interstate Railroad in Southwest Virginia that had the "look" that I wanted. I then scratchbuilt a mine using the construction elements from that photo, but compressed so that the model has two loading tracks instead of the four or more on the prototype.
Bill
I built the New River Mining Company by Walthers.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3017
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
I've got this ancient Vollmer flood loader:
It's a working model, with solenoid-activated chutes. I got it sometime in the early 1960s. I put it in a corner of the layout, so I didn't have to model anything else around it.
But, I've though about building a subterranean coal mine, visible from the layout edge. My layout is HO, but some N-scale track and a few ore cars, along with some stark, bare-bulb lighting might make for an interesting scene.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I am surprised how little there is to be found on folks who have scratch built operating conveyors for tipplers etc. Why do so few modelers build operating conveyors??
Over 50 years ago, I had some coal operations with real plastic coal loads, a flood loader and Tyco clamshell door hopper cars. I still have them, and I set them up on my layout so once again I can fill and dump coal. I'm proud of it.
Seriously, though, I don't think I've actually filled or dumped a hopper in 10 years. It still works, but just doing some switching and watching my trains run is enough for me. The idea of cleaning up a coal spill after a derailment does not appeal to me, so I run the cars empty and that's good enough.
Live coal loads is a gimmick, like the old Lionel milk car, cattle car and log cars. No one makes a working conveyor that I know of. I've though of scratchbuilding one, but I think the mechanical part would be very difficult and frustrating to get working reliably. I've got other projects.