It dawned on me; does it make a difference which way a mine receives empties/puts out loads ? I have the huge HO New River mine and still not committed to where I'll set it..One place (final peninsula) it sits over entry tracks with rectangular truck-loader first Bldg. in, then run under the 3 stalls and shutes as in picture on box..Another place (midway up switchback, past engine shops, within a main line loop of layout it would work better if it were positioned so approach tracks wind up entering opposite, flat side of structure so as to have large conveyor shute (into hillside) aimed toward middle of layout/hillside. Otherwise conveyor would point right at viewer at edge of bench as if viewer is standing right in the actual mine pit/hillside/adit (which I do realise could be an interesting provocative deviation from the norm). Put simpler, is there necessarily a 'recieving' end of coal mine (or any kind of mine) stall tracks in relation to rest of structure ? Can entry of trains be set in either direction ?
A conveyor should probably not come directly from the stope / shaft to a car loading point. The coal must first go to the breaker building, and then stored in a tipple from which cars are loaded.
Mtys were usually stored uphill from the tipple and were coasted down via handbrakes to the chute and to the spot for loads. The postion of the tipple does not really matter as long as coal was getting loaded on the right tracks
Can't speak to "mines", but The Reliance Coal Mine in Missouri was a "strip pit" operation and the coal was dumped into a conveyer and the entire process was within a "single" building. That is, coal comes in one end and into the building and then out to the overhead bins for dumping into waiting cars. If one didn't the room for a second set of yard tracks, then cars could come from either direction for loading. Just be aware that if the coal operation produced several types/sizes of coal, then cars would need to be spotted under the correct bin (and track) accordingly. In your world, if the coal operation was producing for a single customer, then the production could be a single type/size and any receiving track could be used.
Thanks for replies..Still not sure what is being stated..All I am essentially asking is : looking from above, say, does it matter which end of mine stalls cars arrive through to be filled, in relation to the building's different rooms and its main conveyor to/from pit ? I don't mean could and would they arrive/depart both ways all the time..I mean one perminant direction in/one out..Can it be either end of stalls as too, chutes face one particular way above cars and so maybe this has some bearing on the loading process, no ?..My think is that if chutes happen to be pointing east from flooring openings above hoppers then cars need to move easterly thru stall while slowly rolling under chute as it pours out coal.. Also, whilst on subject, I now have mine sitting within largest main track loop area and only 100-ish yards from 2 stall engine house midway up switchback..Tracks next to and traveling past EH were originally going to be a stub ended holding yard for various freight cars...I now have mine stalls saddling same 3 tracks to see if I like it better here, logistically as well as esthetically as opposed to on highest tracks on end of line peninsula..Is this OK practice to have RR's engine house this close to it's largest client's structure ? As entire branch is mostly for this coal jobber I figure why not service engines right near loader as they are going to come and go from it anyway. I'm not asking permission. I'm asking if there is or was a prototype practice like this ? Finally, peninsula will thus now become an industrial area , freight cars to/from it and some rural residence up in hill (corner of room) behind it if mining is now over in loop at midway .
Some coal mines (medium sized) owned there own shifters to pull loads and empties in preparation of the coal hauling railroad to bring/take empties and load from their mine site. So there are good reasons to have an engine house near to a mine site. Just look out for the description of for instance the WISE Coal and Coke facilities in Dorchester Virginia, where the coal mine operated a former N&W Class M engine to do yard opreations around the mine until the Interstate crews supplied emty and pulled loaded hoppers to an from the mine. Greeting scopewime
10-4 on reassuring it OK for EH near mine ( I wish 'mine' was respelt as 'myne' so as to be clear when using 'mine' for posessive verb as in "the ball is mine, not yours !" or 'mine' as a noun as in " that coal mine over there "...Anyhoo, after all this questioning on mine/engine house proximity I believe I am going to do a major relo of engine house after all..I stumbled on an insight 2 days back and most likely will post story in this same category as to what/why. But still, thanks, Mark
