Help Coal Mine HO track layout


Viento

New Member
Hi :eek:

Im lookin for HO track layout for a coal mine railroad.

I was planning on something big, like the one on the picture or bigger :D , but i realy need help on the tracks layout.



Regards Viento
 
Before you go too far with this, somewhere someone back in the railroad days--I think it was AHM built a coal mine that came out of the side of the mountain. Since then, model coal mines tend to come out of the sides of mountains. But in real life, coal is underground and the mines go down, not sideways. The mine you have will work, but the shaft should go down.

A coal mining operation in your size would be a nice operational layout. I operate on an excellent mining layout. The space is about the same as yours.

You can see it in Model Railroad Planning 2006. Traffic flows from smaller mines to a large mine like yours where the coal is sorted. It generates operations for 5 or 6 that is varied enough that operations have run continuously every week for the last 28 years.

What I suggest is learning about coal operations. Tony Koester's book on Coal operations might be a place to start, but I have not read it.
 
:eek: Spacemouse, this was realy new info for me. Realy big TNX.

Looks like i have to do some rethinking. Btw i did surf by your site, but the track plans are not online yet ;)
The MRP 2006 i do not have :mad:


I would be grateful if you could help me with plans for the track layout :)

/edit, any other ideas, comments or track plans are always welcome
 
The railroad I operate on is not mine. It is owned by Roy Ward who lives about an hour from me. Perhaps you could get the MRP 2006 from your local library. Forgive me if you hail from a different country. Your signature doesn't say.
 
Sorry to barge in like this but is there any websites that you know offhand Chip that give some of this coal operations?? I've looked at maybe having a large coal mine as well then a smaller one to send coal to for sorting. Thanks for any help.
 
Its best to start using best track layout possible.

Not saying im building it 100% identical. With a good track layout to build furter on, i might skip some trial and errors myselfe.

So im looking for track layouts for a large coal mine.

And Yes MRP 2006 is on its way :D
 
Hi Viento the mine in your photo appears to be the "New River Mine" from Walthers I don't know if it is still available, (most likely it is) or you can possibly get one on ebay or Model RR shows.
The first picture shows the track layout under the tipple showing the distances between track centers for this kit. As for the rest of the trackage it depends on how you want to operate. Some people do a setup before an operating session with full cars under the tipple and go from there with the switching. Also some people go for the loads out empties in concept as I have. A fully loaded coal train is pulled from under the tipple and an empty train is pushed under on the same track, then the loaded consist is delivered to the power plant where the empties are pulled out and the loaded train pushed in. Again the trackage depends on what you wish to do.
Click-->
th_NewRiverMine.png


Click-->
th_Mine.png


This link will take you to the page on my website if you have an interest in the connecting trackage to the power plant
http://www.freewebs.com/cbcnsfan/thelayoutpage.htm

Hope it helps
smiley-cheers.png
Willis
 
I'd suggest going with the Walthers kit, as you'll probably get the best results out of it.
 
You'll need some sort of Headframe to lift your personell and coal out of the shafts.... If you have the money, try using the towers from this kit, and build an American-style building to house the equipment in, preferrably made from the same material that the New River Mining kit is made from (*plastic corrugated metal)

Here's the kit with the headframe:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/272-130944
 
Miles, I actually prefer the on in the background. I don't remember what kit if comes with, but I think it was some sort of factory kid from Kibri or Faller. It's the headframe I'll be using as a basis for my dad's copper mine.
 
Regarding mines on mountains and mines on flat land:

It all depends on the coal seem. Most seems are horizontal, unless the rock structure it is in was shifted into mountain form, in which case, the seems are not so horizontal. In Appalachia, for example, coal seems could and did start on the side of a mountain, and slope down. In North America, coal seems are relatively thick, compared to in England, where the average seem was only 2' thick.
 
A little something has to be said here regarding coal seams. Other that the mining series Grande Man has posted on this forum for us, my knowledge is limited to mining as it happened in Nova Scotia. There are coal fields here where the topography bears little resemblance to the underground strata and all the mines I know of have coal seams that are sloped to varying degrees, the steepest being 45 degrees for a distance. The coal seams vary from a low of about 4 ft. to the whopping 40 ft thickness of the Foord Seam in the Pictou fields. While it's true there are no real mountains here the coal fields are refered to as a basin. Here, underneath my house somewhere very deep there is a 16 ft coal seam not recoverable because of a fault line in the seam. (thankful for that).
Since the 1800's the coal had been recovered from the mines through slopes and shafts, (shafts requiring a head with spinning wheels at the top, and on the slopes the full cars were hauled to the surface by a haulage engine to where the coal was broken screened and into the tipples where it was loaded into the RR hoppers. In 1952 I went to work in Dominion #12 which was referred to as a submarine mine because it extended from the shore to out under the Atlantic. This mine was very gassy but had a very high quality metallurgical coal also being low in sulfur and ash but had very volatile burning qualities. By the 70's coal was being brought to the surface from the mines by conveyor belts (or conveyor chain) in housings which were similar to the ones included with the Walther's kits. If you are modeling a specific time or area it would be better to do a little search about the industry and the individual areas. Mines do not operate without customers and in modeling a mine you should have a reason for it. Back in the 50's there was a domestic market for it, Winter time 8 double bay hoppers would keep a fair sized town going (no insulation in the houses) Power plants were no where's the size they are today. I'm unable to say how much coal a steel plant would require, and other than shipping offshore that's about it.
Now with reference to the Walthers mine kit. (Based on Sizes) This is a very large tipple so would be handling a huge quantity of coal or ore as the case may be. The little Power plant on my layout in real life could never be justification to operate a tipple that size, but that's exactly what I'm doing. (modelers license) Somewhere along the way I'll also model a coal retail outlet, double bay hoppers from train sets (probably Tyco) that dump the loads into a chute for the loads in and empties out concept. Also for todays coal it is usually delivered to a wash plant first. However the most important thing to remember is it's your layout, it doesn't have to be exact, just present a believable concept of the operation in your time frame if you have one. (some don't and that's ok too)

smiley-cheers.png
Willis
 



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