suggestions for track at a modern coal mine

[taholmes160]

HI Folks:

I am working on track planning, and tonight the topic is my coal mine scene.  As you can see from the attached picture, I have an area about 8 - 9 feet long (the total area is 10 feet) by about 1 foot wide, this area is elevated about 3 inches above the main part of the table. 

I model in N scale, and will be running modern equipment, and trains about 6 - 10 cars long (or maybe longer depending on how yard and scaling projects turn out as I continue to plan.

This is to be a drift (underground) mine with loading facilities (again, modern day)

Id really like some input on how to lay out the track etc to give me good switching action on my layout

Thanks

TIM

[Specter3]

Well, I would say first is there a prototype that looks like what you want to represent? When I hear modern I think of flood loaded powder river basin coal. In the east you do still have some drift mines but in the ones I have looked at the coal is run on conveyors a decent way to the loading point. So there is no mine, just a loader and conveyors.

[nkalanaga]

Many Appalachian mines don't have the conveyors, or the railroad, anymore.  The coal is trucked to a terminal, where it's loaded into rail cars or barges.  I don't know that there are any mines left that ship "loose cars", the railroads don't want to deal with anything but unit trains.

Also, much of the modern coal is machine-mined, and comes out uniform, so the old tipples, with their screening and grading functions, aren't needed.  There are exceptions, but again, most of those ship by truck, to smaller customers.

If you want a mine that handles small cuts, on multiple tracks, it would almost certainly be an older mine.  Either the old tipple would still be in use, with everything but the conveyors and chute gates removed, or there would be a new multi-track conveyor system, capable of routing coal to any track.  In either case, there would need to be a reason for keeping the old layout, such as access from only one end, requiring stub-end tracks.

[John]

Take a look at this video .. good info

[Mark5]

Some info here: https://appalachianrailroadmodeling.com/abcs-mine-run-operations/

[Missaberoad]

What railroad(s) are you interested in?

What region will your layout be based on?

How modern is modern? What kind of equipment and/or Era?

Having a prototype to base these decisions on will make this process much easier, even for a completely freelanced design.

[taholmes160]

HI Ryan

IM modeling the San Luis and Rio Grande with Heavy BNSF and some UP runthrough power

The layout is based on the san luis valley and surrounding mountains in south central colorado between Alamosa and Walsenburg

Era is today - with some elements from older railroads.  For example, The REA never went under and is VERY busy these days, There is very VERY little commercial air travel, and almost no airfreight except trans oceanic

Also Amtrak is being run like it should be passenger railroading is exceeding its heyday in the 50s

Heres the rough draft of my story for the railroad

Due to the destruction of a major bridge and tunnel complex from an earthquake, The BNSF southern transcon Route is currently closed between Gallup and Belen NM. As a result, BNSF had diverted as much of its traffic as possible to its trackage rights over the UP Rocky Mountain Division, however because of the closure of the UP sunset route from the same earthquake, the UP was forced to impose traffic quotas on forcing the imposition of traffic quotas on the central rout. This has forced the BNSF to find additional trackage and as a result traffic has dramatically expanded over the SLRG in the past 6 months. The BNSF is routing traffic into walsenburg, and then routing it south to dallas.  Likewise AMTRAK has diverted its Southwest Chief, and Sunset Limited service over the SLRG bringing an influx of passenger revenue.  Over the previous 20 years or so, climatalogical changes have increased the production of the barley, wheat, potatos, sugar beets and lumber.  The increase in productivity has caused several agricultural companies including Coors Brewing, Archer Daniels Midland, and Ore-Ida, as well as both the BNSF and the UP to invest heavily in the area and has allowed the SLRG to upgrade many of its facilities and physical plant. As well, since the catastrophic events of 9-11, and the subsequent drop in airline passengers, coupled with the development of highly efficient hyperloop systems, passenger rail has seen a resurgence to levels far exceeding its heyday in the 1950s and passenger rail service in the San Luis Valley is booming.

TIM

[taholmes160]

HI Folks

Ive been working on refining my ideas for the coal mine scene on my railroad, I looked really hard at a loads in empties out situation, but my original intent was to do something like the way that the Virginian that was published in Model Railroader.  The idea is that coal is mined, and picked up, and brought to a marshaling yard, and then shipped out to the power plant.  I think the plan is going to be similar to the edna mine

TIM

[taholmes160]

​Ok, so I broke out the planning software and tried to get some ideas in line for the coal mine area.  Attached below is what I came up with -- Id appreciate some critiques -- this is going to be modeled in N scale.  Each grid square is 1 foot, what is not depicted is the level change which is on the grid line to the left of the main, To the right will be scenery, rocks, cliffs etc as well as the entry to the mine, and conveyors and such.

Please let me know how I can improve this for appearance and operation both

THanks

TIM [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[dougnelson]

Here is a modern loading facility - Sonman mine near Portage, PA.  Just a single track that happens to be on one leg of a wye.

[Lemosteam]

What will you do for a power plant?  While out west this summer I drove by an isolated, self-contained electric powerplant in North Dakota served by BSNF.  Very cool and compact and something like it might fit in your layout.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Basin+Electric+Power+Cooperative/@47.2805158,-101.326378,2002m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x52d864f7e366befd:0x1c69af9cee500c3a!8m2!3d47.2797449!4d-101.3212716

[CRL]

BSNF?!        

[Lemosteam]

BSNF?!        

Are you not familiar with the Lemosteam brand of fat-fingering text infamously rendered in a TRW banner? 

[CRL]

I just figured it was a Freudian finger slip showing your true feeling about green snakes.

[Hawghead]

Are you not familiar with the Lemosteam brand of fat-fingering text infamously rendered in a TRW banner? 

Hahaha what the hell was that even supposed to say?

Scott