Here is a great photo that shows some of the extra infrastructure required to keep the steam specials running. This is the best photo I've seen of this car. Does it exist today?

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 20&nseq=20

How practical was that really? It's really the coal version of the water canteen in that you can take more along when you set out and eliminate the need for special deliveries and front end loaders / conveyors en route but you still need those to load the car (assuming one doesn't send the car off to the mine to be reloaded).

Steve

Well, there are a couple of practical scenarios.

First, if you use the front loader, you need a big pile of coal on the ground. So, you need a flat space near a track where the engine is, which, in the photo, is not available.

Second, you lose some coal this way. It gets spilled, mashed into the ground, etc. Which does not matter much if you keep the same location all the time.

Third, that spilled coal might not be appreciated or accepted the way it used to be. Somebody might consider it a "spill" that needs to be "cleaned up".

Fourth, back in the day you could still have coal delivered by specially equipped dump truck. So the local coal dealer could have filled this gondola with their truck and a ramp. Those trucks don't exist anymore. Even back in 1986, they broke down on multiple days making deliveries to the Strasburg. They were worn out.

Fifth, yes, I bet many points on the Southern could fill that gondola directly at the mine, back in the day.

Sixth, you better have a careful loader operator. There is still the risk of knocking and scratching the tender, and remember how important appearances were to these excursions. And, spillage is an issue.

I remember back in the day "Red" said we needed a load of coal and I said "no we don't" and he said "yes we do" and I said "no we don't" and he ordered the coal anyway. The dump truck overfilled our tender, the coal spilled all over the ground, and filled the cab deck a shovel deep. I was furious. I could not walk on the deck or open the fire door. First trip out, I shoveled all that coal into the corn field while we were moving.

My understanding of the situation by then was that it was getting increasingly difficult, through mine closures and more "large-lot" use of coal, to obtain coal that would burn reliably and effectively--you don't want a trainload of paying passengers on a public-relations-geared trip to be held up while the fireman rebuilds his fire. Loading a giant hopper like this may be ineffective in the short run but a key to reliable service in the long run/

Remember also that 630, 722, etc. didn't exactly have big coal bunkers. Not even 611 and 1218 had the relative luxury of Chessie 614's substantially-enlarged bunker, which held 48 tons.

So what happened to the car? Sounds like someone should have snapped it up. Or did it even make it to the end of the NS steam program?

Steve

Thanks for posting this -- that's a great shot and one I hadn't seen before and it looks like Bill Purdie was at the controls that day

Bob H

For what its worth, there are still Hi-Lift coal trucks running around at dealers, just gotta know where to look. They are still made as well.

I work on occasion with a guy who was one of the firemen and worked frequently with this car. Last time I saw him in fact he was talking about firing the 2716 and having to use this car many times for reloading coal, which was one of his jobs on the overnight shift between excursions. I should see him this week and see if he has any interesting stories about it; but still a unique car.

How to coal a steam locomotive, let me count the ways.

Clam shell crane from gondola.

Child's playground slide from the top of coal hopper on the next track.

Hi-Lift forklift with a self dumping dumpster.

Front end loader on a pile of dirt.

Bobcat on a BIG pile of dirt.

Coal Loader with and without the under car conveyer.

Burlap sacks on pallets with a forklift.

If I was starting from scratch today, I would try those big
1 cubic yard nylon aggregate bags and a flatbed boom truck.

-Hudson

Five gallon plastic buckets and a couple of dozen volunteers...

GME

I worked around that thing in the late 1970's both as train crew and engine crew on the Steam Program. One thing I definely remember is that it was very slow. It's chief advantage was portability. When the train was going to be operating out of the same location for multiple days, they would usually arrange for coal in gons and a clamshell bucket of some sort for refueling. An interesting story about the car was told to me with much laughter by several of the parties involved, including "The Boss". One time, I think in 1975, one of the crew members was trying to clear an obstruction in the feed. He got his glove caught on the conveyor and was hauled up and dumped into 4501's tender.

I don't have a dog in this hunt. The question has been asked but no one has answered yet.

What happened to the car? Does it still exist? If so, where?

Operating the controls in this picture appears to be Chuck Jensen, and on the ground at the far left may be Preston Claytor. What say you, Gary Gray?

You may well be right. We were all much skinnier in those days. Looking a little closer, it could be Donald Purdie on the grease gun, and Paul Brock facing him in the coveralls.

I believe the coal loader, sou 900096, is at TVRM.

Robert Yuill