Speaking of
Company Coal...let me put in my 2 cents worth of
memories.
Working the Fairmont-Hildreth local summer 1958 one
day...probably about the middle of August the Old Head
Conductor remarked..."Well, we'll be gettin the company
coal before long"...Sure enough along about the end of
August there appeared in the yard at Fairmont a flat
bottom gon of "company coal".
Remember this is in the wanning days of the "manned"
station at just about every town and every station was
heated by means of the traditonal "Pot bellied" stove
or some other coal fired device. To accomodate the fuel
for these devices each station "sported" a "coal house"
or shed not far from the station building.
The company coal moved from station to station via
the local freight...In our case...the only train...The
first day we took the coal to Shickley and it stayed
there a couple of days while the section men unloaded
the contents via scoop shovel into the coal house.
When the car had done its work at Shickley we had a
message on the next trip or so to pick up this car and
take it to Ong...The routine continued until all the
stations on the line (Ong, Nelson, Blue Hill, Bladen,
Campbell, Upland and Hildreth) were supplied with fuel
for the upcoming winter season..
I have no idea whether another "way car" of coal was
needed before the winter ended, but I often thought and
wondered how much time and manpower was taken up with
this activity and what the actual cost was.....However
this is the way "we've always done it" and it continued
at least through 1958...I'm reasonably sure that it
wasn't long after this time that the stations still
having an "on site" agent were supplied with an oil
stove for heating.....and not long after that there were
no stations...agents...or stoves as the Mobile agent
concept came along in the 1960's.
Well, I'm just keeping up my reputation by continuing
my propensity to expound on stuff like this brought
about by something, kind of unrelated that reminded me
of something else...My late wife often said.."Everything
reminds you of something"...I think that's true and hold
that concept in high regard and evidence of a fertile
and active mind, unimpeded by advancing age.
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: STEVEN HOLDING
<sholding@sbcglobal.net>
To: CBQ
<CBQ@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wed, Feb 20, 2013 10:42 pm
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Fwd: Inbound cars for Lee center
The load of Company Coal that was
unloaded around the stockyards at
Montgomery in 1967 was in a 55 or 65 foot
mill gon. That is also what we used for
the loads out of there to the strip mines
where all the company refuse went.
Steve in SC
From:
"John D. Mitchell, Jr." <cbqrr47@yahoo.com>
To:
CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Sent:
Wed, February 20, 2013 2:40:09 PM
Subject:
Re: [CBQ] Fwd: Inbound cars for Lee
center
Most of the
remaining gons were in
company coal service. The
coal company shippers almost
always ordered 55 ton
hoppers for coal yards and
other retail dealers. Retail
dealers didn't like to hand
shovel the coal that didn't
dump out the doors. This was
several tons. Places that
unloaded with a clamshell
liked the gons, also. These
were mostly industrial
companies.
--- On Wed, 2/20/13, qutlx1@aol.com
<qutlx1@aol.com> wrote:
From: qutlx1@aol.com
<qutlx1@aol.com>
Subject: [CBQ]
Fwd: Inbound cars for Lee
center
To: cbq@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, February
20, 2013, 12:24 PM
Mark,
I missed
answering one
of your
questions. By
the 50s the
composite gons
were pretty
much retired.
There were
some but not
many. So coal
would have
been in the 50
ton hoppers
and maybe a 70
but those
newer hoppers
were probably
in utlility
and industry
coal.
Leo
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