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CRR Operations on the Fremont Branch: the Moss Turn

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CRR 3008 Dante, VA

by Scott Jessee

This article is a first-hand recollection of operations on the Fremont Branch as told by Scott Jessee, a Train Order Operator and Yardmaster at Dante, VA.  To view a track plan for this area, click here. -Dan Bourque

CRR Logo PlainThe 1st Moss Turn would go to work at 0700 hours with 9000hp on the Head end and 6000hp Pushing. It would usually get 10 to 20 Mtys out of Dante for the Lick Dock that was located at Moss #1 and would take more mtys if Moss #1 would need them. The 1st Moss Turn would then pick-up raw coal … Read more →

A Brief History of Coal Hoppers

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Southern 70T coal hopper

by David Thompson

To understand the history of the modern coal hopper, we have to start out at the dawn of the steel-car era. In the 1890s, the typical coal car was either a hopper-bottom gondola (flat floors over the trucks) or full-blown hopper cars with sloping floors and horizontal drop doors under the center sill. Sawtooth-style hoppers came into somewhat common use in that decade, with the 35-ton Pennsy GG of 1895 combining the sawtooth hoppers and a sloped floor. About this time, Carnegie Steel was taking some tentative steps toward building steel ore cars for the newly-extended PB≤ and, as things turned out, the Schoen Pressed Steel Car Company ended up as the pioneer of the … Read more →

ABCs of Coal Loads

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Coal load - truck dump

by Dan Bourque

In ABCs of Coal Loaders, we learned about the different types of loaders used to load coal cars.  Now let’s do a study of how the type of loader affects the appearance of the coal load.

When most of us think of coal loads, we think of the gently sloped and slightly humped pile of black stuff rising just barely over the top of the car. If you’re modeling a coal train far, far away from its loading point, this type of load is perfect. However, if you’re modeling the Appalachians, chances are you’re going to have a loader or two on your layout. For those of you in this category, you have to … Read more →

ABCs of Coal Loaders

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Tipple diagram

by Dan Bourque

Tipple diagramIn ABCs of Coal, we learned a little about how coal is formed, now we’re going to look at coal where it meets the rails–at the tipple. I’m not going to go into depth about mining techniques, but here’s the basics. Coal is usually mined in two ways. The first is the traditional mine using a series of shafts and elevators to bring the excavated coal to the surface. The second is the strip mine where the ground on top of the coal is removed to expose the coal. Bulldozers, big buckets, and … Read more →

ABCs of Coal

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Eastern US Coalfields Map

by Dan Bourque

Coal, or “black diamonds,” has been an integral part of railroad operations for well over a century, and if you intend to model an Appalachian railroad, chances are you’ll be modeling a lot of coal! Learning some simple facts about coal goes a long way towards helping you model it.

In simple terms, coal is formed from dead vegetation pressurized under layers of rock and dirt over thousands of years. Coal comes in many different forms including lignite, bituminous, and anthracite. The form that coal takes is based on the length of time the coal has been forming and the amount of pressure applied during formation. The different forms have many different properties.

Types of … Read more →