Modeling a truck to rail coal loader
The two loading areas are separated by a concrete retaining wall and wood cribbing (above). The lower area has a ramp where trucks can back up and unload the coal directly into a waiting hop- per. On the upper level, the coal is dumped into a bin. A coal stor-
of the bin. It appeared that this bin was used primarily for loading smaller sized coal, while larger sizes of an- thracite were dumped using the plat- form loader that extended over the waiting hopper car. A bay window office housed the load- ing controls for the operator. Overlook- ing the tracks, the bay gave the opera- tor a clear view of the cars being loaded. A motorized car pulling cable winch was located adjacent to the siding, and would position cars for loading. A front- end loader was also nearby, and was presumably called upon to spot cars. The dumping platform was built from thick wooden planks. It was rein- forced with steel beams on the under- side and had large hinges fastened into the concrete retaining walls.
The
beams would rest on the concrete foun- dation when the platform was lowered via pulleys and wire rope. The operator’s office was housed in the corrugated steel structure, while the holding bin, coal chute, ladders, and walkways were unpainted steel. An eight-inch diameter pipe was attached to the bottom of the bin, and would drain away any excess water that could have been present in the coal load. The pipe extended from the side of the build- ing to an area about 40 yards away, where the water would run off. From the moment I saw it, I immedi- ately knew this structure would make an interesting addition to my own HO scale layout, which is based on the Reading Railroad’s operations in the
68 APRIL 2014
age area is located out of view to the left of the photographer. Note the door, which leads from the lower level ramp to the operator’s bay. A stairway leads from the tracks up to the lower level ramp (below). Note the front end loader parked off in the distance.
anthracite region during the 1950’s. As a modeling reference, I took numerous photographs and made simple on site sketches, using both actual and esti- mated dimensions. Obtaining all of the various exact dimensions would have been difficult, time consuming, and dangerous. Since I wanted to model the overall character of the structure, an exact replica was not required. Although this particular truck dump
was used for transferring coal from trucks to rail hopper cars, modelers could easily adapt it to any commodity, such as stone or sand. The model should make an interesting addition to
any model railroad, no matter what type of service it is placed in.
Construction The structure was fabricated entire- ly using Evergreen Scale Models styrene. I chose Grandt Line details for all of the windows and the door, in- cluding the large window found under the operator’s bay. That window was constructed from two large round- house windows that
were reduced
slightly in height and glued together to form one large window. Since my loader represents the 1950’s, I decided not to break any of the window glass,
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