Walther's New River Mining Company

[RDG_Rich]

Okay, I think I am losing my mind.

I am planning on kitbashing this model to compress it to fit into my planned layout ala Dave Vollmer (Mr. Vollmer...you reading this?) I swear that within the last two months I have seen this done in a magazine, with drawings and all. I subscribe to RMC, and have looked through all of them...so it ain't there. Did I perhaps see it in MR...thumbing through it on a mag rack?

Am I nuts? (don't answer that)

[central.vermont]

Am I nuts? (don't answer that)

Just by being a member of this forum answers that!!  ;D ;D

Jon (just plain nuts)

[Ryan87]

The January 2005 MR had an article "Branchline for the Turtle Creek Central"
That detailed de-bigulating the Walthers Mine

of course you could just ask Dave!

[RDG_Rich]

I think I have that issue...

I probably saw it two months ago while I was ...cough..."doing my best thinking" 

I wouldn't know how to function if I didn't have other people reminding me how stupid I can get.

"debigulating" Heh...

[Chris333]

Probably no help, but the real mine:

[Matthew Roberts]

Crazy that Walthers takes a western prototype and gives it an eastern sounding name? Then again, I don't see as many western coal model railroads, maybe it was just marketing? Always a cool model, though.

[RDG_Rich]

Cool pics Chris!

That is kinda goofy... I guess my knowledge of Western US Geology is from pictures, and I have never seen any pictures of western coal mines.

Also funny, you think "everything is bigger out west" and this is pretty tiny compared to some PA Breakers.

[Dave V]

The January 2005 MR had an article "Branchline for the Turtle Creek Central"
That detailed de-bigulating the Walthers Mine

of course you could just ask Dave!

Yeah, the April 2005 issue of MR has the plan.  That's what I done did (yup)...

[Mark5]

Crazy that Walthers takes a western prototype and gives it an eastern sounding name? Then again, I don't see as many western coal model railroads, maybe it was just marketing? Always a cool model, though.

Well it is a design that fits well in Appalachia as well.


A not untypical Appalachian:

[Ryan87]

I just remembered Tony K's Coal Fork extension (1998ish MR's) had some neat kitbashes of the Walther's mine
might be neat checking out....

Edit: October 1998 MR

I think I have that issue...
I probably saw it two months ago while I was ...cough..."doing my best thinking" 
I wouldn't know how to function if I didn't have other people reminding me how stupid I can get.
"debigulating" Heh...

[Chris333]

I have a book on the Interstate RR that has a bunch of tipple photos. Good stuff.

http://www.swvamuseum.org/appalachiancoal.jpg

[Dave V]

Here’s the kitbashed mine following Jim Kelly’s April 2005 MR HO article:



I took Jim’s suggestion and photocopied all of the walls at normal size and then built a full-size paper mockup.  That way I had the exact measurements available when it came time to cut the walls.

[inkaneer]

Seems like if you want to make a Western mine look Eastern just add trees.  But seriously, the "mine" is really what would be called a tipple or loader depending on your time frame.  These were often located some distance from the actual mine.  As the mine face advances it becomes easier to locate new openings rather than maintain long underground tunnels to remove the coal.  Putting in above ground conveyor bets is a lot cheaper than maintaining underground facilities as well as relocating a loader.  The tipple/loader could also be a "breaker".  The term breaker is usually applied to tipples where coal was graded for size with some of the sizes being egg, pea, lump, etc.  Most coal today is mined and crushed to almost a powder for use in power plants and very little sizing is done.  That being said there is a lot of Eastern coal that is mined and used for making metallurgical coke.  There the ideal size appears to be about three times the size of typical RR ballast rock.  Another facility one could model is a rail to barge transfer facility.  A lot of coal in the Southwest part of Pennsylvania goes by barge.  Some of the locks and dams on the rivers are under reconstruction or of older design with narrow or shorter locks which limits traffic flow on the rivers.  A work around method was developed whereby coal would be transported by rail to a point downriver of the dam in question then loaded onto barges from there.  A simple siding, rotary dumper and conveyor line to the river is all that is needed.

[John]

Mine is pretty much stock

[Mark5]

If you're really interested in coal mine info I posted some informative links in the Proto links section some time ago.