Have not been by there in a year or so, but a concrete coaling tower still stands just west of Aylmer, Ontario. It is on the former Great Western "Air Line", later CNR with Wabash/N&W/NS running rights.
The line is now operated by the Ontario Southland Ry., or was. There is an ethanol plant at Aymer and some mills and other shippers at Courtland and Tillsonburg.

Darn near forgot about aat least four concrete coaling towers that, as far as I know, are still standing, though most of their steelwork is gone.

The towers are all in West Virginia, at the towns of Hinton, Ronceverte, Thurmond and Handley. There may still be others, on both the C&O and N&W.

Hinton:

https://www.loc.gov/resource/highsm.343 ... 61,0.208,0

The photo goes to a model builder's drawing of the tower.

http://hinton.cohs.org/

https://www.csxthsociety.org/railfannin ... 70325.html

Ronceverte was notable in that, if what I heard or read years ago was correct, it served Reading 2102 when it was running up a then intact Greenbriar Branch to Cass and Durbin.

http://msummerfieldimages.com/ronceverte-coaling-tower/

Thurmond, back in 2005:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=190518

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=190523

Handley, from some years back.

https://railpictures.net/photo/367613/

https://appalachianrailroadmodeling.com ... vspurlock/

Darn it, I can't find some more recent photos of the coaling tower at Handley--which is now so overgrown you can practically stand next to it and not know it was there.

Here is Dave's coaling tower in North Georgia in 2015, this time in bright sunshine. Yes the road was running parallel to an abandoned railroad grade, when this popped up.

It turns out that both Dave and I were in Sardis, GA.

The tower is the old Savannah and Atlanta coaling tower there.

Furthermore it is the one featured on page 41 of Mixed Train Daily .

elueck -

Thanks for the photos of the Savannah & Atlanta's Sardis, Georgia coal tower. I had to dig out my copy of "Mixed Train Daily" and sure enough, there it is on page 41 along with one of the S&A's neat Mikado's on a mixed train with quite a few freight cars after it had no doubt just stopped for some black diamonds.

Another apparent surviving Georgia tower, which has not been mentioned yet in this thread, is the Central of Georgia's neat coaling tower in Macon, Georgia. Located far enough away from Norfolk Southern's yard, there seems to be no immediate reason for the tower to come down.

Both Georgia towers seem to have quite a bit of the original steelwork still in place. A few of the others mentioned in this thread also seem to be so still endowed so that a restoration to service wouldn't be completely out of the question. Not so others. But I've been presently surprised that the Akron coal dock is in fact NOT the last such artifact. Rather than putting that subject heading with that particular question, maybe I SHOULD have said, "A restorable steam era artifact?"

Thanks for all of the input on the subject!

Les

This trainorders.com thread features a former MKT coaling tower in Bartlesville, OK that retains a substantial amount of its steelwork:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,5275178

Here's a book about coal towers

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Je ... CAAJ?hl=en



Start on page 260
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ma ... frontcover


And a page of great photos
https://www.google.com/search?q=railroa ... 4&dpr=1.25

Is it not possible to download or look though books on google anymore? Seems very irritating to try and look at anything inside of the books linked above with the current google library system.

A tower still spans the very active tracks DeKalb IL on the UP ( old C&NW ) main from Chicago to Clinton. I think UP would like to demolish it, but it’s very well built and would shut down traffic for some time to do so.
Link to a detail page with info and photos.

http://towns-and-nature.blogspot.com/20 ... tower.html

Hi All
Here is a photo of the Boston & Albany coal tower at Chester, Mass that I took in 1986.
The last time I saw the roundhouse, and coal tower, the roundhouse was in very sad condition.
Maybe someone can update with a newer photo of the roundhouse. Pat.

This one while missing its chutes still stands in the yard at Newport News, Va.
There is also a C&O K class 2-8-4 (2756?) on display not far away.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1435659

http://towns-and-nature.blogspot.com/20 ... tower.html

https://www.dailypress.com/news/newport ... llery.html

I believe 2756 is a Lima product.

Here is an update from 2012? Maybe someone post a more recent google map link?

http://chesterrailwaystation.net/HTM/Vi ... ccount.htm

Wesley

The one thing that coaling towers have in favor of their preservation - they cost a whole lot to demolish and remove the debris.

Going back a few posts, RDG 2102 did load coal at the Ronceverte coal dock, while working the trains on C&O's Greenbrier Sub. between Ronceverte and Durbin via Cass in 1972. She also loaded water from a standpipe at Marlinton WV.

Phil Mulligan

Here's probably the only example of this:

Back in the day the coaling tower at Toronto's John St. Roundhouse was actually relocated to be closer to the Roundhouse as part of plans for a museum there.

Of course now it's a giant billboard for the bar that inhabits half of the roundhouse (a brewery fills the other half of the roundhouse)...

...but at least someone actually tried.