Unloading a Coal Train: The NS Sandusky Coal Dock in Action

This is a video showcasing the Norfolk Southern Coal Dock in Sandusky, Ohio.
We take a close up look at what it takes to unload a hopper full of coal.

[@thetravbeast94]

I work there.(I operate the bandwagon) The orange machine that pushes the rail cars up is called the shuttle. And it pushes the rail cars into the heat shed which sprays water onto the rail cars as they enter. As well as in the winter heats the rail cars up to thaw out the coal. The pusher then grabs one rail car at a time and pushes them up to a point where the barney can grab them and shove the car up the incline to be dumped. The coal can be dumped into the silos or out on to the farm where we make them into a pile

[@stuff_n_thanngs7552]

I noticed all the coupler knuckles are closed at both ends of the empties. So is every car in the outbound yard not coupled "butted" together?

[@Tatsh2DX]

Are you concerned about polluting the water?

[@notapplicable430]

@@Tatsh2DX When you use your sink or toilet are you concerned about the water you are polluting? The clean water comes into your home and gets loaded with all matter of substances. Just sayin'...

[@jeffcurtis5460]

Thank you for your work. Amazing piece of machinery.

[@chrisstaylor8377]

How long dose the rope last ?

[@Chango_Malo]

The building the hoppers move through before the barney pushes them up the grade to the dump is a thawing shed. Can't dump out a load of frozen coal. Sandusky gets bitter cold in winter.

[@stevecarlyle1390]

Exactly! Beat me to it by 12hrs.

[@spikespa5208]

Coal used to thaw the coal?

[@stevecarlyle1390]

Electric

[@spikespa5208]

@@stevecarlyle1390 Thanks! Thermal heating from elements or maybe heat up the cars themselves?

[@stevecarlyle1390]

@@spikespa5208 element heaters. Doesn't have to be all thawed. Just not stuck to the car body.

[@runnikee6986]

Sandusky has all the coolest rides.

[@paulcrouch7629]

They sure do.went every year from Butler Pa. Loved Conneaut! 🇺🇸

[@hoopoo3721]

That gigantic machine looks well taken care of😮 I tip my hat to the mechanics who take care of her.

[@NSBlack_Stallion]

Admire that you uploaded an informative video yet weren’t afraid to ask for input on things you weren’t sure of.

[@burtlangoustine1]

The simple yet satisfying ski ramp that shuttles the emptied hoppers is like a kids toy railway solution come-to-life. I love it.

[@markforster6457]

21:38 - The wheels on the little pusher gadget extend again. What an ingenious system of using multiple track gauges. Just think: this facility was designed and engineered with slide rules and hand-drafted blueprints. My ancestors were trainmen, so this is especially interesting to me! Thank you also for not filling the silence with needless patter or bad music!

[@nkyrailfan]

The designers were truly ingenious when it came to creating a system with very little chance for failure with everything being mechanical (i.e. rails pushing the "Barney" wheels in and out as it goes up and down).

[@fmnut]

The best footage of a McMyler dumper I've seen. The drone makes the difference. Too bad they weren't around 30 years ago when the Huletts were still in operation. Thanks for your efforts.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

I was thinking of FM Nut and his video of the Huletts operating back in the day. This one here was exceptional!

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you enjoyed the video.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

@@nkyrailfan I DID 4 SURE!

[@fryloc359]

I was thinking of the Huiletts also. I know there are a few videos of them in operation, but unfortunately not like this.

[@kens.3729]

Who would have thought that something that has been Operating for 80 years could still be Operating Today. Very Impressive and Thanks. 👍🙏

[@rjmun580]

I'm older than that and still going strong!

[@OleNavy]

I'm getting close to 78 years old now but when I was a kid, about 9 years old, I remember going fishing with my dad at Sandusky. That is when I first saw this machine in operation. The cadence of the cars going up, cars going down, and cars being dumped was mesmerizing to such a young kid. That may have been the start of my interest in how different things worked and later, getting into machine design. My dad explained how it worked but enjoyed this video for the extra comment.

[@electricrailwayman]

Great video! That Pusher locomotive was built by Atlas Car and Equipment for PRR in 1938. It is 42" ga and is powered by two hot rails at 250VDC, the same voltage that is used to power most of the machinery there. Also, except for the extended cab and paint, the pusher locomotive still has original propulsion and air brake equipment from 1938. There were three other pusher locomotives at the dock, two were scrapped and one went to Bellevue, Ohio.

[@superstarjohnnyecko]

Thanks for the info, my first thought was that little thing pushes that uphill?

[@shopshop144]

And its got a human operator. Everything else seems pretty well automated, but that pusher still needs the human touch!

[@electricrailwayman]

@@superstarjohnnyecko no, the silver long locomotive, with NS logos, with the pusher arms. It is parallel with the std. gauge track.

[@nkyrailfan]

I think I saw another one of the silver pusher locomotive at the NKP museum in Bellevue.

[@SteamCrane]

The RR museum in Bellevue is very worthwhile, very complete collection of stuff you really want to see. The PRR pusher there is an early style with bar frame. Later ones were a massive casting.

[@billstringfellow2149]

Fascinating to watch. Regarding the little 'cart' that pushes the hoppers up the hill I have seen them referred to as a 'mule' or a 'barney'. The mysterious building the hoppers exit from before being pushed up the ramp is most likely a warming building. In the winter the wet coal will freeze from the mine prep plant to the pier while the inside will not freeze. Big electrical radiant heaters will heat up the sides of the cars thus melting the ice inside. This may have been mentioned in the comments before but thought I would mention it again to save people the need to scroll so far.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for the great info! I do appreciate it. It makes the video more enjoyable when I know what's going on.

[@eugenetswong]

Thank you, Bill!

[@ronaldstokes4841]

Thanx... the more we find out, the more we realize the genius that went into this.

[@TheOneWhoPats]

When my dad worked there they called the barney the ‘pig’

[@billstringfellow2149]

@@TheOneWhoPats Very cool to know that.

[@randallfawc7501]

amazing process. the age of the unloader tower, and that it still functions is amazing. Great video NYK!

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you very much.

[@ghost307]

A perfect demonstration of the basic Engineering principle that I use to counter salesmen's claims if the superiority of high-tech solutions to simple problems. GRAVTITY NEVER BREAKS.

[@RandomUser2401]

but this super complicated contraption to lift the 100 ton cars does, very much. good luck repairing that thing when breaking fully loaded. you know what is a simple solution that also uses gravity? simply opening the cars at the bottom to the sides - a principle used in Europe for decades. In the top, out the bottom. No crane, no lift, no nothing.

[@joseph-mariopelerin7028]

what's wrong with conveyer belt tho?... seems like a lot of moving part and flying grainer ...but i'm not engineer

[@ghost307]

@@joseph-mariopelerin7028 Lack of capacity. What this car delivers in seconds would take hours with a conveyor belt.

[@joseph-mariopelerin7028]

@ghost307 but i mean... this is pretty unique, everybody else are using conveyor, no?

[@RandomUser2401]

@@ghost307 yeah, no. where do you think the coal gets dumped onto here?

[@alleghenyshenangorr2017]

Excellent video, love seeing equipment in action that railroads have been using for years, as fans we don't get to see everyday! Thanks for sharing!!!

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you very much! I'm very glad you enjoyed it.

[@paulmatulavich7321]

Fascinating look at a seldom-seen process. Reminds me of my 1955 Lionel coal ramp operation.

[@superstarjohnnyecko]

Even the trains have a rollercoaster in the rollercoaster capital of the world!

[@steveharville131]

I worked at several coal powered plants in Ga until 1984. Coal handling hasn’t changed much since the 30’s. Two of the plants I worked at had rotary dumpers. The latest one completed around 1980 had an elevated trestle the train traversed. There were trip mechanisms that released the hopper doors on the bottom of the car. The train never stopped. The coal fell through the trestle to the yard below where a huge loader tractor would push it to a pile, or to a grate over a conveyor that carried it to the silos inside the plant.

[@paulherring8959]

I worked at NS coal transloading facility at Lamberts Point in Norfolk, Va for 41 years before retiring in 2015. What you are likely looking at in Sandusky is a shed that has massive heaters to thaw coal that has been frozen while sitting in the hopper cars. We had such thawing sheds at Lamberts Point, though the conditions in Norfolk required heating coal cars far less often than Sandusky obviously would. Still these are 24/7/365 operations that can ill afford to sit idle waiting for warmer weather. I can only speak generally about Sandusky but more specifically about Lamberts Point but would be happy to take a shot at any further questions you might have. As a Cargo Coordinator I handled the calling for of cars to be cut loose headed towards NS twin dumpers and conveyor belt system that supplied coal to the loaders at Pier 6. And as a Deck Forman I handled directing loading operations and ship to shore communications on the pier itself.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for the great info! I'll definitely keep you in mind for any questions. There are a lot spread throughout the comments already. I've only been to Norfolk once but got a glimpse of the coal dock. I'd like to head out there and catch it in action but it's in the Naval Station's airspace. So, I can't fly without prior, written permission which can take months if they grant it at all.

[@nik.lankaster]

I'm wondering if the coal is sprayed with salt water straight from the sea? Or is fresh water necessary?

[@nkyrailfan]

@nik.lankaster my guess is it's fresh water. I'm sure using salt water would corrode the pipes fairly quickly without frequent cleaning.

[@shannobailey2917]

Worked at Eastlake,Westlake,mentor,Avon lake as maintenance,what a job. Loved it!!!

[@WayCoolJr27]

My dad was superintendent of Bellevue in the 80s, his duties included overseeing this operation. I have either some video or pictures from the 80's.

[@Dave-cq9fn]

In the 1960s my family had a boat at Cedar Point and we would sometimes come over near the coal dock to water ski and to watch the loading of coal. I found it fascinating then and find this video fascinating now 55 years later. Thanks for the video along with the explanation of the coal unloading process! Great job!!!

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@shannobailey2917]

Sandusky Bay?

[@nkyrailfan]

Yep.

[@Lord_Baphomet_]

The engineering done in the late 19th and early 20th centuries is honestly astonishing… everything done analog and with pen and paper. I seriously doubt it is a smart idea to forget these skills.

[@BobD-jo1oo]

Thank you for this video. I lived in Sandusky off Cleveland Road, and worked in Bellevue right next to the N&W rail yard. Most people take for granted what it takes to make the essentials for modern life. So many people want to stop the use of carbon fuels without realizing their importance for normal living. Thanks again for this video.

[@nkyrailfan]

I'm very glad to hear you enjoyed the video.

[@thereisaplace]

Used to be two other coal docks alongside the remaining one. 50 years back we used to explore those docks as kids… sheesh we’re lucky we were never hurt.

[@nkyrailfan]

That had to be really fun to do as kids.

[@thereisaplace]

@@nkyrailfan It was exciting but we weren’t the brightest of kids. Climbed up, down, and over those for years. The only unexplored part I recall was a “hallway” that appeared to head down under the structure. I assume it lead off to coal storage but back then it was entirely too creepy to explore.

[@superstarjohnnyecko]

Thank you for this, Ive lived here 8 years and never had a complete grasp of what this was!

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Regis-supporter-Time2Escape]

Hey thank you from France for this video. Thumbs up!

[@nkyrailfan]

Greetings from the United States. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@RonStanek]

Yes, where does the conveyor bring the coal? Maybe a follow-up video?

[@chrisbarr1359]

That's an incredibly fascinating operation. The folks that developed this process and the required infrastructure were certainly visionaries. Thank you for bringing it to us! Am I the only one who kept asking myself "how can I model this?"

[@stevebee3356]

No you aren't, Shorty Parker did 😀 - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rme0g2aip9-CpZY (filmed by Stephen Bennett)

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@eugenetswong]

I did think about modelling. I wondered if it were possible to get the car to roll through that switch.

[@Studio23Media]

This is so fascinating! And the fact that it was built in the 30s with no hydraulics, all pulley powered, is even more amazing! Thanks for sharing

[@nkyrailfan]

I'm very glad to hear you enjoyed it.

[@dizzzave357]

For many years, my granddad kept his sailboat at the marina right next to this coal dock (visible in the background of many shots). I was always fascinated by the coal loader, but never got to see it in action. Pretty fun to have my teenage curiosity sated 20 years later in crystal-clear 4K drone footage. Thanks for the great video.

[@nkyrailfan]

That had to be a wonderful time with your granddad. I bet you have a ton of great memories. I'm glad I was able to show what the loader is like in operation.

[@jhardman4534]

WOW, what a great new accessory for LIONEL to build.

[@hamradiojim6788]

Fantastic coverage of a unique engineering solution!

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you liked it!

[@thechristianboomer]

Another reason for spraying the coal is to prevent fires. Coal can spontaneously combust and if you spend any time around coal piles you will see "smokers." This is where you see smoke coming from the pile and was from coal that was hot enough to smoke. I used to haul coal in a 40' frameless dump from the mines to power plants. I loved talking to the miners and the power plant people about how everything worked.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for the info. I'd heard coal could combust out of the blue.

[@markpeterson5479]

My mother's father worked as an electrician at the Hanna Coal Docks in Superior, WI retiring about 1940. My mom said it was not uncommon for him to get a phone call in the middle of the night and he would have to go to the docks to help hand dig into a coal pile to get to the fire.

[@rcpmac]

Interesting! I expect that there could also be coal dust explosions but maybe not in concentrations found the outdoor environment. I expect that the primary purpose of the spray is to control dust from blowing into the lake.

[@GameRunnerd]

@@nkyrailfanBut can it combust out of the yellow? Or just blue?

[@markforster6457]

From mines to power plants: are you talking about a "unit train" or something else? Thanks for your comment.

[@raymondmartin7130]

Thanks. What a setup. Again THANK YOU

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you liked it.

[@KKEM641]

One of my Pentrex videos, on The Pennsylvania RR, has a shot shor of this in operation in the 30's, not much changed in 80 some odd years....

[@daveinthewildOG]

You capture everything. Well done!

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

Fantastic documentary of a process that helped make the US the economic powerhouse it is. Rail car couplers have a large, beefy spring in them that absorbs shock loads and allows these shake-offs to occur without damaging the hardware.

[@nkyrailfan]

I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Thank you for the info on the couplers. I was curious given the loud boom each time a car is loaded.

[@cat-le1hf]

Imagine if we used nuclear power instead if rocks that end up in our children's lungs.

[@Daddymouse-ny9cz]

One of the most unique RR vids I have ever seen. Thanks, and kudos!

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@411gtz]

You do a nice job!

[@natgass8102]

he always does and goes above and beyond to explain things too

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you very much.

[@terryjennings2791]

Another great video Christian. Really interesting to see this facility in operation. It’s hard to believe it’s been in operation for 80+ years. Had to be some pretty smart people to engineer that process. As always your drone work is incredible. This has to be the best rail fan channel on KZbin. Thanks again for another entertaining and educational video.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you very much. This was a really fun video to shoot and even edit (that's my least liked part) because I could see what was going on in each step.

[@ronbaker8007]

Just WOW, and what kind of forward thinking!

[@georgetarabini6552]

Great coverage and explanation

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you liked it!

[@yrunaked4]

the little car that pushes the hopper up to the unloader is called a Barney, I forget what they call the small gauge loco that brings the car up to the Barney. Cheers Rob

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for the info, Rob. I do appreciate it.

[@TmaxRadio1]

Not only is the shed a thawing she it's a location where they can get quality assurance measurements. They can make sure the coal they are getting is what they ordered and they can also perform other checks. One time they were running radiation checks out of that building as they found some loads were mildly radioactive. In the early 2000's they were checking of higher than average lead readings. This only happened once. What goes on there now I don't know probably still thawing out.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for the great info!

[@paulherring8959]

At LPT we had a coal sampling facility run by an independent sampling company that had their own little sampling belt on the conveyor belt system transporting the coal out to Pier 6.

[@eugenetswong]

Thanks for the info!

[@dingnextstop]

Fascinating…. and great to watch the design and engineering in action from those early days…

[@vettebecker1]

Definitely awesome how this facility works, would love to tour that elevator when not in use just to get a closer look of how everything works. I could watch this work all day

[@lnrailroad3215]

Another great video! Keep up the amazing content. You have the best on KZbin!!

[@raymondsix4694]

A great video and clear explanation of how it works. There used to be dozens of these all around the Great Lakes, but most of them are gone. When we were about 9 yrs. old in the 1970s, we took a trip to northern Ohio and got to see the one in Lorain in action, some 34 miles to the east. Fascinating! By the time we moved there in the 1980s, it was gone and replaced by a modern, automated one, and now there's a riverfront park in it's place. We feel lucky to have seen it working! It's amazing that the one in Sandusky still stands and is in operation.

[@nkyrailfan]

I do feel sad so much of the history has been torn down. I would have loved to see them all in action.

[@electrictractiontrainsandt3063]

Great to see this historic equipment in action!👍 Well done video!

[@natanoben]

This was an amazingly well done video. Great angles, editing, and narration. Super cool to see! Thanks for sharing!

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you so much! I really do appreciate it. I'm very glad you enjoyed the video.

[@user-zp9gq9fv6e]

Hi there from Portsmouth Virginia! GREAT detailed video. In Norfolk, Lamberts Point coal facility does the same thing. When my dad was a merchant marine, I was able to visit the facility from the parking lot when I was early teen. It still operates too. Many coal cars can be seen headed there as you drive (look on Google maps) on Military Highway at the Gilmerton Bridge, which is called "Bridge 7" since it is 7 miles from the terminal. Thanks again!!

[@touco9077]

You are correct, I sailed on the energy independence which is a self unloading coal collier and we would alternate loading terminals, one trip to Norfolk and then one trip to Baltimore, Norfolk had this very similar setup, then we would transport the coal to Massachusetts, one load to Salem ma and then the next load to fore river ( fall river ) which is the power plant that Joe Biden had his press conference and told the world that he was full of cancer and that he needed the windshield wipers to wipe the oil off his mother's windshield, the energy independence is the ship built at general dynamics in Quincy Massachusetts to replace the Marine electric which sank off the coast of Virginia in the very same storm that they made the movie " a perfect storm" about

[@coloradostrong]

Lambert's Point uses twin tandem rotary dumpers to feed the shiploaders for a combined dumping capacity of up to 8,000 tons per hour. They don't use this slow process.

[@nkyrailfan]

That had to be really fun growing up and getting to visit the facility. I'm really glad you enjoyed the video.

[@mikegrose5469]

Very very interesting. Thanks!!

[@EagleCreekRailRoad]

Absolutely fantastic video, thanks for sharing.

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@JeffOldman47]

Around the 4:30mark you question the purpose of that long shed through which the cars pass. At the power plant where I worked (Georgia) we had a shed of about the same dimensions that was lined with radiant heaters to thaw frozen coal (from Kentucky) in winter. I'd put money that is what is happening in you shed.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for the info, Jeff. I do appreciate it.

[@tomp8871]

What a simple operation when you think of it. With a huge outcome, fills that mile long. Thanks for the vid

[@mycroft16]

That is a deeply impressive amount of automation here. Extremely simple automation sometimes like in that spring loaded track switch. Truly ingenious system and appears to be about as efficient as one could make it. 2.5 minutes is really good for how much weight is being thrown around there.

[@rcpmac]

Remember erector sets? This would be a great build project.

[@GameRunnerd]

Nothing is being thrown here. It's all riding on the track in a controlled manner.

[@richardterek3744]

Thanks so much for showing this, what an interesting piece of engineering

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@jacobstacko3056]

My grandparents have a boat docked not too far from here. They would take me up here in the summers when I was a kid so I could watch this from the water, I was so enamored by it. Fast forward 20ish years, I got a job at NS in 2019 as a conductor trainee. I was scheduled to do this run but was laid off before that day. Would have been super cool to work that but hey, I got to see it in your video, thanks for that!!

[@nkyrailfan]

I'm sorry you never got the chance to work there.

[@jacobstacko3056]

@@cap5856 So they never told us the exact reason. But after seeing how NS has handled things since, I have a hunch. I was hired along with 20 other trainees at my yard in Bellevue. They all also got laid off a week after we finished our training in Georgia. So my guess is that NS saw the economic “writing on the wall” before Covid started in February and March and they wanted to trim off the excess fat to protect their profits. So naturally, we were the first to go.😂

[@jacobstacko3056]

@@nkyrailfan No worries! Thanks for the video though.👌👌

[@GreggStaley]

Haivng Grown up near Sandusky (grew up seeing this from on the lake) its such a well done and fascinating video! Thank you! I still love railfanning this area too!

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad to hear you enjoyed the video.

[@phillipwalker8018]

What a great video! Every time I wished you would talk more about a specific part of the system, you did. Thank you for taking the time, getting the great drone footage and making a big kid who'se loved machinery his whole life very happy. I love it when engineers find the simplest solutions when creating a new system. Like the "barney" with two sets of track or the clever use of gravity and spring controlled switches to route the empty rail cars. Thank you.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you very much. I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed the video.

[@backalleyrailroading2835]

Killer video of this incredible operation. Great commentary of what's taking place.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@ponkkaa]

Very well presented! I never knew that there were spring switches. Now I know.

[@tomp8871]

Reminds me when I hired out on the RR. I was in a yard and we were headed to the lead and the engineer yelled, son you forgot that switch!! I was brand new and he got me, we ran thru it, it was a spring switch, which I never heard of. 😜

[@ponkkaa]

@@tomp8871 🤣

[@trainmaster0217]

That was a very very interesting video. One of the best. Thank you for making it.

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@fairportrails107]

Great video spent some time watching this operation from a boat definitely one of the best in the region

[@c.catlover4080]

Fascinating. Great camera work. Thank you!

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@bigblockcutlass123]

The building your wondering about is Car heater. The cars will not dump it there frozen. Worked for a power plant. Thats what is was for there.

[@KneelB4Bacon]

2:55 That's an ingenious way of sending the empties back down the tracks in the same direction without having to build a huge loop of track on the other side. That car is actually switching tracks when it comes back down the slope.

[@b43xoit]

Thanks for the thoroughness of your coverage of this fascinating industrial process.

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad to hear you enjoyed the video. It was a lot of fun to film.

[@revharrycwigmoreiii5787]

Thanks for amazing, incredible action. Always wanted to know how they unloaded coal cars. Thanks again for posting.

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@PetesProjects0]

Great job explaining how this works. Really enjoyed it.

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Alphaskeptic]

Loaded coal there on a Canadian Laker bound for the Dofasco Steel mill in Hamilton Ontario in 1971. Can't believe it's still working.

[@terrygraham5901]

Pretty cool love it from Indiana love your videos terry Graham said cool

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you.

[@maplerv]

A very interesting video. Many thanks for your effort in compiling this video for us RR and machinery fans.

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@OnlyTheEd]

It is my belief that the inspection building has scales and a "Barcode" reader recording the car's information, such as routing/identification etcetera.

[@gagehamann6470]

Nope, its just a heat building for frozen cars. All car numbers are tracked and accounted for by a person.

[@chriskulpa3011]

That is so crazy cool! Everything operating in complete harmony like a symphony orchestra! American ingenuity at it's best and built for the long haul. Boy have things changed.

[@slicaltimistic1]

That is soooo cool. I always wanted to see how the coal operate. Nice video.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks 👍

[@richardbergmark6722]

Excellent work!

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you like it!

[@TheKurtsPlaceChannel]

What a masterpiece and a beautiful build too. Thanks for posting this as well. Have a nice day.

[@nkyrailfan]

I'm very glad you enjoyed it.

[@melvynbuckton6881]

Hull in uk had several similar in 1885. I saw them in operation when younger. Coal trains came all the time 60 miles from coalfields. 5 million tons of coal exported every year. A railway was built to the coalfields as there were so many trains.

[@clems6989]

This would be an awesome model project. To model this system in HO scale.....

[@stanbrown915]

That Rube Goldberg was a genius

[@jbturof]

Really cool video. I've never seen this!

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@brandonm5341]

I found this video just watching other random videos, I actually enjoyed watching the whole thing! it is very interesting to see what the process is!

[@bishopcorva]

I think this coal unloading tower was built when speed took a much higher priority than what's done today. Sure safety was a thing back then but much of the safety was considered to be obvious types of things like "don't walk in front of a moving car". While some of the means to position the loaded cars has changed, mainly the use of a ground feed electric pusher instead of a steam pusher loco. The pull trolley hasn't really changed that much. From what I can recall about the one I've seen in action. It was pulled by cable to the crest of the lift. As soon as the trolley was moved backwards it stretched and folded down to be lower than the axels of the car. Pulling it, caused it to collapse in length while the push plate lifted. The harder it was pulled on the more 'locked' the position was. I think later the drop down was done because a pusher that folds and unfolds all day is one of those pieces that will wear out quickly. Or if it breaks the whole operation stops till it's fixed or swapped out. As for the original build for 55 ton cars vs 100 ton and being able to accommodate both. I think as well that's just one of those "huh, nice." Kinds of things that wasn't intentional but worked out. Because I remember seeing a 55 ton car and two together are about the same length as a single 100 ton unit. Beyond that, it's about mesmerizing to watch the operations going on here.

[@chrislaarman7532]

In /my/ view (not yet an opinion), speed wasn't too much of an issue at construction time. Otherwise, they'd better used hoppers that can discharge themselves via the bottom or side while the train keeps moving slowly. (Maybe in a 180° loop.)

[@bishopcorva]

@@chrislaarman7532 I would agree with you on this in many instances, however with this one I'd have to differ. Without knowing if the peninsula was all natural, partly so, or entirely constructed, I think the better option for the area of operations, the tower made more sense. Usually the best speed for coal loading/unloading is as you say, a slow constant speed knocking the drop doors open to dump into a catch hopper below and just leave the doors open until reaching the refill location. To load it's more or less the same with a funnel tower and a operator to open and close the hopper doors on a set of scale tracks. Usually such a set up is either at the start of a giant loop of rail or located along the loop. But there's not room for such at this particular site.

[@chrislaarman7532]

@@bishopcorva I agree on the lack of room for a 180° loop on the peninsula. However, (1) they could have created an additional dam or "viaduct" as an extension to the peninsula, or (2) they could have created that loop (including the thawing station) on the land bordering the peninsula, and have a conveyor belt lead from there onto the peninsula.

[@bishopcorva]

@@chrislaarman7532 Again I wholly agree with you. There was so much more that could have been done, probably expansion plans that were drawn up way back when. As some sort of two stage program, first getting the peninsula built out to border a deep channel for ship loading/unloading right there. The tower might have been thought of as a temporary means just to get income coming back in to offset costs of building. Which right around 1933 there wasn't much of due to the global economic depression at the time. Then in about the time the owners were likely thinking 'ok, finally time for stage two..Oh dammit!' WW2 kicks up and taking down what would be a strategic coalling port, because the coal here is steel making coal. Would be extremely bad for business. Post war years still saw the need for steel yes, but the costs couldn't be outweighed by the gains. Not saying it's the end all greatest solution. Just that for the time, location, original costs and the desire to get money coming in asap because at the time, second place was first loser. More so in the coal shipping game and the fighting going on between the railroad Barrons and coal Barrons, steel Barrons (many of whom also were rail Barrons, and competing steel Barrons). It's not so much an isolated thing if pulled back to look at the fuller picture of the era in which it was constructed and set to operations.

[@kingbenjamin22]

Job well done sir!

[@jackhowlett7413]

Interesting! Great video 👍🏽📸

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad you liked it!

[@calipete]

Excellent video work! Very mesmerizing to watch!

[@phuturephunk]

Broham, you are a frickin mind reader. I've always been fascinated by this ore dock and the ones in Norfolk. There seems to be so little information for the history of To You're so good at this. These docks are just such an inegenious way of handlingb a problem. It uses gravity and simple switches to get the job done. It's genius and you do so well in showcasing it. You should do a deep dive on the Nofolk facility as well. LI think the Virginian built that facility originally. Largest coal dock in the world, I think. Straight up, I've been waiting for this video. Well done!

[@jonosborn7719]

N&W's and now NS' Pier 6 at Lambert's Point in Norfolk opened in 1963. When I was at ODU in the 2000s I could hear the rotary dumpers from all over campus. The Virginian Ry's pier was at Sewell's Point which is now part of Naval Station Norfolk.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you very much. I'm really glad you enjoyed it. I was just looking at the Norfolk facility and unfortunately it's in controlled airspace and I'm not allowed to fly there without getting written permission.

[@butti9249]

Very impressive!

[@ElDarren]

Oh wow! What a massive operation! I never thought about how they would empty the cars but that's just amazing. Talk about dirty work!!

[@nkyrailfan]

There is another unloading option for certain cars. They are able to open at the bottom and directly discharge instead of needing to be rotated like what's shown here. I'm hoping to put together a video on that process in the coming months.

[@FrogandFlangeVideo]

Super cool !!!! Thank you for the detailed explanation of its workings. James.

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, James.

[@wolfgang548]

It would be a cool operation to model something like this in HO Scale.

[@coloradostrong]

Search around, it's on here somewhere.

[@wolfgang548]

@@coloradostrong I found it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rme0g2aip9-CpZY kzbin.info/www/bejne/eXPXY6FvprKEmpY

[@stinzz3]

Amazing setup and structure. The coal cars have a mind of their own. lol!!

[@blauer2551]

All the different angles made this a superb video. Keep em coming.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@jaywalker523]

The couplers have a very heavy spring assembly inside the sill behind the coupler which absorbs that 'shock' from the bang into the coupler. They can take a lot of abuse from being hooked up. I used to work for a railcar repair shop in Grand Island, Nebraska and we repaired mostly coal cars.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for the great information. I figured there had to be something to dampen the impacts.

[@robwar2288]

Wow other then the Silverton RR and a Big Boy video this was very neat!! Always wondered what happens to Coal Cars.

[@chrislaarman7532]

Well, they get loaded and unloaded, with some travel in between... :-)

[@thegiq]

That under-track pusher cart has offset axles, left and right wheels are not directly opposite of each other.

[@gagehamann6470]

Its so the axles can extend and retract out to match the rail it is on, up they come out, down they go in to fit in the hole

[@nkyrailfan]

I didn't notice that until you pointed it out and I went back and watched. You must have eagle eyes to have picked that out.

[@jasonhovey815]

What an awesome machine. Mind blowing to think how old this is and how well it works. Thank you for sharing. I personally love this type of stuff

[@nkyrailfan]

Glad to hear that you enjoyed it.

[@gragor11]

Well done. Quite the documentation of the operation.

[@spikespa5208]

Are there controls on the exit track to slow the empties to reduce impacts with other cars?

[@gagehamann6470]

Yes, the small tower you see next to the empty track is a brake operator that slows the cars down depending on how far they have to go down the track. At the end we keep two empty cars with loaded brakes to act as bumper cars to catch the cars from going too far

[@spikespa5208]

@@gagehamann6470 Thank you.