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BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES OF AMERICAN RAILROADS.

CHAPTER XV.

COALING STATIONS FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

The handling of coal on a railroad involves special appliances and structures, such as coal-runs and coal-tipples in the vicinity of coal-mines for delivering coal to cars for transit overthe road, coal stocking and transfer systems, terminal coal-piers, coal-chutes or bins for sup-plying local coal dealers or large consumers, and coaling stations for locomotives. In thischapter the discussion will be confined to the methods in vogue for coaling locomotives, whichinvestigation is rendered somewhat difficult owing to the large number of systems that havebeen adopted in practice to meet varying conditions and the individual views of railroadofficers in charge of this branch of the service. The choice of a design will depend to a largeextent on the topographical features of the locality, the ground space available, its shape andits value, the number of engines to be coaled in a given time, the kind of cars in which coalis to be delivered at the coaling station, the quality of the coal, whether hard or soft, andwhether the coal will be supplied regularly all the year around, or only at certain seasons ofthe year; also, whether coal is to be delivered to engines on a side track with ample timeallowance for coaling, or whether trains will stop to take coal on the main tracks, making, aquick coal-delivery a prerequisite.

Ample provision for storage facilities is necessary wherever an irregular or intermittentsupply is to be expected, caused either by possible labor troubles, temporary suspensions atthe mines, or blockades on the road. On northern systems it is very desirable to store thebulk of the winter’s supply before the full severity of the season sets in. In northern climatesit will also prove economical to put a shed or roof over the pockets or storage-piles so as toprevent the coal from getting thoroughly drenched and freezing to a solid mass.

In designing a coaling system one of the main points to observe is to limit the numberof handlings of the coal, so far as possible, thereby reducing the cost of operation and espe-cially the breakage. Due regard should be paid to having some means for ascertaining andtallying the amount of coal delivered to engines, either by actual scale-weight or by measure-ment in bulk in buckets, dump-cars, or pockets, which latter method will prove practicallyjust as accurate as scale-weights in the long-run.

The size of a coaling station will depend on the daily output to be expected and thestorage capacity required, with proper allowance for a possible increase of business. Thedesirable storage capacity is determined after considering the points above mentioned perti-nent thereto, while the daily output is a matter of simple calculation dependent on the num-ber of engines to coal daily, multiplied by the coal-carrying capacity of their tenders, whichhold usually from 2 to 7 tons, according to the size of the engines. Coaling stations will be