Coal Mine: Can I have it both ways?

[Brakie]

Yes..Mines of that size would ship less then unit size trains to certain customers..However,mines that ship less then unit size trains would be switch by mine runs instead of tacking the empty hoppers to the local.
As far as locals..Loclals can be from a engine and caboose to 2 engines and 30 or more cars.This doesn't even include urban locals!!
Another thought for a company needing few coal cars would be that of a truck dump..This is where coal is trucked from off line mines to a rail loading facility.

 

[IronBeltKen]

...However,mines that ship less then unit size trains would be switch by mine runs instead of tacking the empty hoppers to the local.
...Another thought for a company needing few coal cars would be that of a truck dump...

Thanx for the insights Brakie! My dilemma is, I've used up every available square-inch of layout real estate with the New River mine plus the five non-coal lineside businesses - there is no extra space for another spur servicing a truck-dump tipple, much as I would love to include one!
With another GSMTS coming up in Timonium, I just might arrange to get there early and snap up as many cheap covered hoppers as I can afford, and make those my 'filler' cars (no pun intended) on the local, instead of using leftover open-top hoppers.

 

[IronBeltKen]

** Problem SOLVED! **

...I added a new interchange track to park a string of coal hoppers on, long enough to hold ~8-10 cars - here's a link to that posting:
http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showpost.php?p=20303&postcount=74

Thanx again everybody for your help and suggestions!

 

[Coal-Fields]

Ken do you have an idea where the Iron Belt runs to in relation to other railroads? What railroad are you interchanging with?

 

[IronBeltKen]

Ken do you have an idea where the Iron Belt runs to in relation to other railroads?

The present-day Iron Belt is only a shadow of its [fictional] former self. It connects to all the well-known RRs in the Lake Erie region [NS/Conrail/B&LE to name a few], but when the US steel industry crumbled in the early 1980's and almost took the 'Belt with it, CSX bought the company to gain access to the Eastern Ohio/Western PA port cities but hasn't repainted all their locos. Only a single 100-mile line remains between Conneaut, OH and Butler, PA.

What railroad are you interchanging with?

Some itty-bitty coal mining shortline. I've never seen any of their locos, they only operate in the dead of night...