Mike KieranIt's been extremely crazy the last few weeks.I meant that they would be built as sand and gravel silos.
Yes,those silos could be used for sand and gravel..My thoughts would be that the industry has been around for decades and still uses rail.
Excellect idea on using a kit for another type of industry then it was intended for.As long as I been doing that I should have seen that a country mile away..Shame on me.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Sorry that I didn't get back right away. It's been extremely crazy the last few weeks.I meant that they would be built as sand and gravel silos. I'm modeling a late 1970's short line in an urban setting. I'm figuring that space was at a premium in the city of Port Able, so silos would be an option. I'm sorry for the confusion. I meant converting the model to sand and gravel. I would be putting an IHC ready mix plant next to it.
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Mike Kieran
Port Able Railway
I just do what the majority of the voices in my head vote on.
Those silos could be used but,what about the coal dust?
For several years/decades those silos was used for storing coal so,theres bound to be a thick layer of coal dust on the inside walls.
Would removing the coal dust be cost prohibited?
What era is the OP's layout set?If the era is when the change-over to Natural Gas/Heating Oil/Electric (etc) was really starting to occur (around NY I would think post WWII - definitely 1950s), maybe he could justify a transition period of the business using the silos while preparing to build sand/aggregate/concrete hoppers like these (logo image). Then again, how much of a pain would it be to fully clean out the coal dust from those silos to prevent contamination of the sand, cement and gravel? (And...couldn't the gravel/aggregate just be put in large piles on the group? Wouldn't need to tarp it even.If you abolutely must have former coal silos...perhaps you can get creative...
I agree that coal dealers branched out into other products, oil, gas and other products, as coal use deminished. Doubt they would have used silos such as those to store anything not needing to be protected from the weather. They might still be there, if they still sold some coal, but if not, they would probably have been removed to reduce taxes.
Have fun,
Richard
I've never seen the silos turned into non-coal storage before. I don't think the bucket crane system is very efficient compared to other methods. What I have seen, is the trestle-style coal dock turned into bays for stone and gravel.
The sand and gravel dealers around here don't look anything much like golden flame. The overhead bins look more like hoppers than silos, there are lots of conveyers and material is stored on the ground.
Do a Google image search for sand and gravel dealers.
RT
I think it would work; however I think Walthers' Medusa Cement would be a better choice...at least, it looks more like Model Stone Co, a railroad served gravel / sand business about a mile down the track from where I grew up.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3019
Absolutely!
Often times the coal dealer wore many hats. The coal business got pretty slow during the summer months.
I have an old thermometer in my kitchen from D. J. Zeiser, Fredonia, N.Y. listing Coal, Ice, Bottle Gas, Trucking and Appliances. It wouldn't be a far stretch to see a (former) coal dealer handling stone, sand and gravel. Pretty much the same equipment to handle it.
On my layout, the former Golden Flame [edit: O. L. King] Coal yard is now a scrap dealer. As more homes used oil and natural gas as fuel after the War the coal dealers had to diversify or face going out of business.
Have fun, post some photos... Ed
I'm planning on putting a sand & gravel dealer on my layout. Would I be plausible in converting the coal silos into a sand & gravel storage?