Many of those early coal docks were of the elevated type with a ramp for pushing gondolas up for gravity unloading. Burlington had such a dock in the early years. These docks were replaced with coal towers at division points in the early
20th century, but other yards got the open top design. I have dimensional drawings for the six bin open top coal pocket in Western Yard South of Chicago dated August 18, 1927. It only shows basic dimensions and no details, but I used those dimensions
and several photos to draw plans for the three bin coal pocket at Burlington. The earliest photo I have of the Burlington open top coal pocket is 1944. I’ve attached the relevant files.
The major dimensions are drawn in HO scale, but the minor dimensions are freehand, as are some of the detail drawing like the catwalk and catwalk shelter. The shelters were added in the 1940s, probably as the result of accident investigations.
Since they were add-ons on the prototype, I didn’t include them on the plan as I’ll add them after the structure is built per the prototype. Details of the chute mechanism are to be determined, as the photos aren’t sharp enough to see all of the details.
This little structure requires an amazing amount of stripwood, which I’ll have to order before proceeding. After doing the drawings, I compared the photos with the drawing and made some corrections in the V-brace configuration and a few
other details that I’ll incorporate into a final drawing when I get the stripwood. I’m still ambivalent about whether to use 12x12 or 14x14 for the legs and V-braces.
If anyone knows the reference Richard mentions, let me know. I’m in Iowa City, and the UI library has Railway Mechanical Engineer in the archives.
Nelson Moyer
From: CBQ@groups.io <CBQ@groups.io> On Behalf Of
Richard Townsend via groups.io
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2023 10:20 PM
To: CBQ groups.io <cbq@groups.io>
Subject: [CBQ] Coaling dock article
Many years ago (like more than 100 I think) there was an article in, perhaps, Railway Age or Railway Mechanical Engineer, describing a multi-pocket CB&Q coaling dock. It included
drawings. I thought I had a copy but it evades me right now. Does anyone know the article?