Coal Operations

[Rob]

I was wondering what all of you running coal railroads do regarding operations of hoppers. Do you use empty cars and actually fill them with scale coal so they can be emptied and filled during sessions?  I would like to get away from the factory plastic coal loads in my N scale hoppers so when they return to the coal fill area they are not already "full"  Running all full cars just doesn't seem realistic, as well as the plastic loads look to uniform for my small truck dump coal area. (I'm new to coal ops so forgive me!)   Any ideas?     Thanks ----Rob

[tomikawaTT]

I was wondering what all of you running coal railroads do regarding operations of hoppers. Do you use empty cars and actually fill them with scale coal so they can be emptied and filled during sessions?  I would like to get away from the factory plastic coal loads in my N scale hoppers so when they return to the coal fill area they are not already "full"  Running all full cars just doesn't seem realistic, as well as the plastic loads look to uniform for my small truck dump coal area. (I'm new to coal ops so forgive me!)   Any ideas?     Thanks ----Rob

There are several possibilities for simulating the proper movement of coal:

1. Empties in - loads out (at the mine) combined with loads in - empties out at the steel mill or generating plant (or, in my case, from hidden staging.)  PRO: doesn't require handling the cars, and can use fixed (glued in place) loads.  CON: requires two identical (down to car numbers) trains (times the number of units you want to roll,) plus some out-of-the-ordinary track planning and operation.
2. Load loose coal at the tipple.  (There is an article on how to build a loader in Kalpubco's Realistic Animation, Lighting and Sound.  The original was designed for HO, but would be easy to modify for N scale.)  PRO: realistic for loose-car operation (indiscriminate mix of 2-, 3- and 4-bay hoppers, plus gondolas,) but can also load unit trains.  CONS:  A.  The cars have to be unloaded, too!  B.  Probability that derailment will produce a major mess to be cleaned up.  C.  Any unloading scheme (including a scale rotary dumper) will involve something other than air coming in contact with the hopper car sides, to the eventual detriment of anything but bulletproof painting and weathering.  D.  Some form of drop-through is needed at the loading point, because some of the coal is going to miss the car.  E.  Tipple ABSOLUTELY required.
3. Removable loads - pop 'em in at the loadout, pull 'em out wherever.  PRO: No problem if derailed.  At worst, the load comes out of the car as a unit.  CONS: each car should have its own, dedicated load - one size does NOT fit all.  Quick insertion requires good hand-eye coordination.  Removal is easier, if it's properly planned for (such as using a magnet to extract the magnetic load from a non-magnetic car, which is, literally, a snap.)

Those plastic coal loads, if left loose, will work for method 3.  Imbed a finishing nail in the underside to make them magnet-compatable, then dullcote them and add a little WS or other loose coal to vary the contours of the loads a little.  Make sure you can positively identify which load goes in which car.

Quite a few people have recommended pool-filter charcoal for simulated coal.  Others swear by (or at) the genuine article.  I lean toward the former for hopper car loads, the latter in tenders and tank loco bunkers.

Coal railroading is operation at its purest.  Enjoy!

Chuck [modeling both 1 and 2 above, in 1:80 (HOj or twice - N) scale]

[jamnest]

The KCS is a big coal hauuler taking coal from the Powder River Basin off the BN to southern power plants.  Their major yard in Kansas City has special tracks to hold unit coal trains from/to BN for crew change.

I will not be modeling any mines or power plants, but will be running a lot of unit coal trains.  I will run empties in one direction (north bound) and loaded trains in the oppsite direction (south bound).  My layout is point to point with staging yards at both ends and a connecting track between end staging yards so at the end of a run a unit coal train is pre-staged for the next run and no need to change out the laods.  This is going to require lots and lots and lots of unit coal cars as at least six trains run in each direction.

In addition, the BN suppies 2/3 of the locomotive power for the unit trains will need to be BN six axle units so I will need to collect some of these too.

JIM

[Anonymous]

I was wondering what all of you running coal railroads do regarding operations of hoppers. Do you use empty cars and actually fill them with scale coal so they can be emptied and filled during sessions?  I would like to get away from the factory plastic coal loads in my N scale hoppers so when they return to the coal fill area they are not already "full"  Running all full cars just doesn't seem realistic, as well as the plastic loads look to uniform for my small truck dump coal area. (I'm new to coal ops so forgive me!)   Any ideas?     Thanks ----Rob

There are several possibilities for simulating the proper movement of coal:

Removable loads - pop 'em in at the loadout, pull 'em out wherever.  PRO: No problem if derailed.  At worst, the load comes out of the car as a unit.  CONS: each car should have its own, dedicated load - one size does NOT fit all.  Quick insertion requires good hand-eye coordination.  Removal is easier, if it's properly planned for (such as using a magnet to extract the magnetic load from a non-magnetic car, which is, literally, a snap.)

Those plastic coal loads, if left loose, will work for method 3.  Imbed a finishing nail in the underside to make them magnet-compatable, then dullcote them and add a little WS or other loose coal to vary the contours of the loads a little.  Make sure you can positively identify which load goes in which car.

Quite a few people have recommended pool-filter charcoal for simulated coal.  Others swear by (or at) the genuine article.  I lean toward the former for hopper car loads, the latter in tenders and tank loco bunkers.

Coal railroading is operation at its purest.  Enjoy!

Chuck [modeling both 1 and 2 above, in 1:80 (HOj or twice - N) scale]

 

I love your recommendations above!  I will put a finishing nail into the assembled load and have magnet-pull out (from a hidden crane!)  Also I will look into pool filter coal.

Thank you!

 

Regards,

Tom M.

[MisterBeasley]

OK, my HO layout is a scant 5x12 feet, and the main line is a loop.  But, at the far northeast corner I have an old Vollmer coal loader, which (once it's up and running) will load live coal into my hopper cars.  The black chute doors are solenoid-activated.

 

These cars are the ancient and honorable Mantua clamshell-door hoppers.  They don't look too prototypical on close examination of the undercarriage, but they will haul coal and dump it out the bottom.  Like the loader building, these date from the 1960's, when I had my first HO layout as a teenager.  I've got a fleet of 11 of them.  Yes, they do indeed put a premium on good trackwork.  I haven't dumped one yet, but give me time, give me time...

 

After a long and arduous journey, the coal makes its way to the C. Montgomery Burns Fuel and Oil Company in the southwest corner of the layout, where it's dumped through the rails into a waiting bin below:

 

[jbinkley60]

I use the "plastic loads" but I get mine from CM Loads.  They look pretty realistic.  Here's a couple of pictures of my dual mining operation. 

 

 

[Dave Vollmer]

I use a lot of loads from MoTrak Models.  I also sometimes glue WS mine-run coal directly to the plastic coal load that comes with the car.

[Super Chief Rules]

    I remember from a John Amrstrong book that he used a backdrop and cut a scene in half, and had an idustry on one side, and the mine on the other.  He then had the two sides connected with track, and he described how to model it very realistically.  It looks good on paper, but I have never seen it done, unfortuanetly we don't have the room on our layout......

Maybe next time!

hope this helps!

[tstage]

Although it uses more material and resources, I've recently been filling my hoppers with the Woodland Scenic coal - both mine and lump grades - and really like the realism.  The two different grades also make for a nice visual distinction between hoppers.

Prior to that, I used the Accurail coal load inserts, with the two ball bearings on the underside to give it weight.  They are nice and convenient for loading and unloading.  But, as previously mentioned, the uniformity of their loads made every hopper look the same.

Presently, I have a dozen hoppers on my layout.  Of those 12 hoppers:

• 6 are filled with mine grade coal
  
• 2 are filled with lump grade coal
• 4 are empty
  

Tom