Posted By Spule 4 on 12/07/2008 11:08 AM
What I find disturbing is that coal hoppers could not be loaded with stone as shown in the photo above. Coal is about +/-40 cu ft per ton, whilst gravel (depending on size and moisture) is 20 cu ft per ton or less.
In the event that coal hoppers are to be used in stone service, the fill for most was about 1/3 to 1/2 (edit, from) the top of the car, and often additonal cribbing was to be installed in between the slope sheets and ends to prevent collapse. Careful attention had to be paid to total load weight also.
Consult the AAR's "Loading of Commodities on Open Top Cars" for further guidance in these matters.
Garrett
I certainly would not like to be the cause for any disconfort. Overloaded hopper cars and poor training were cited as a cause for the derailment on the White Pass and Yukon railroad so there is a risk. The hoppers the SJR&P is using for this purpose were actualy built by the EBT to haul rock and were used in rock service for most of their life. I do not have photos to know if the load in the photo is indeed overloaded or not. Kevin may be able to shed some light on this interesting fact.
You might find the following photo of interest.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=203974&nseq=3
The C&TS has for the past year been using their K36 locomotives to haul 3 and 4 car ballast trains. The cars used are ex EBT 3 bay coal hoppers and please note the level of the loads in the photo. To protect the load up the grades the locomotive is normally coupled to the downhill side of the train and pushes the cars in much the same way as I am trying to recreate on the SJR&P.
Thinking is scale terms and at times operating your railroad like the prototype with as few model railroad thoughts as possible increases the illusion of operating a real railroad.
Its just another aspect of the enjoyment one can have in this hobby.
Enjoy
Stan
www.tttrains.com/largescale