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Rotary train car coal dumping - GIF and video
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I'm a retired U.P. engineer, used to run coal trains to the power plant in Hermiston Ore. To catch a coal train to the plant was CAKE! Sit on you butt while the plant crew did all the work while the train crew slept and ate nice meals provided by the power company. Always a favorite job to catch. No so much on the road jobs, heavy, dirty, and always screwed by the dispatchers. If you look closely you'll notice that the car "box" is rotated off the carriage and the frame, trucks, air hoses, couplers, etc all remain untouched.
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That triple car rotisserie dump machine is impressive
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Cool! I saw one of these in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. It grabbed two cars at a time and flipped them. I was amazed.
Slightly off topic but somewhat related. The rail dumper was 99.9% automated, but the union pushed to have an operator. So there was an operator booth over the dumper, and he had a control panel with a big green button. The train cars moved into position, everything lined up, whatever else that had to happen, all completely automated. Then the dumper would wait for the operator to press THE BIG GREEN BUTTON to do the flip. Now here's the really great part. The gentleman, a rather large gentleman, who sat in the operator's booth didn't want to lean forward to press the button. When he was poured into his chair in the morning he wanted to stay there and not exert and further effort. So he had a drumstick. A literal wooden drumstick that you would use on a set of drums. He would use said drumstick to jab at the BIG GREEN BUTTON without having to actually move. It was glorious.
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Do the train cars stay connected together? Does it rotate about the hitch point?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
bimmer1980
Do the train cars stay connected together? Does it rotate about the hitch point?
Yes! It's so cool. I never would have believed it until I watched it happen in person.
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I'm still puzzled about what happens at the couplers that link the car-to-be-tipped with its adjacent, non-tipping car(s). In the first gif, I don't see any car movement that might suggest the cars are being un-coupled prior to tipping.
Are the couplers on these cars mounted such that they can rotate about a horizontal axis to allow the tipping without uncoupling?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
mklotz
I'm still puzzled about what happens at the couplers that link the car-to-be-tipped with its adjacent, non-tipping car(s). In the first gif, I don't see any car movement that might suggest the cars are being un-coupled prior to tipping.
Are the couplers on these cars mounted such that they can rotate about a horizontal axis to allow the tipping without uncoupling?
I believe the coupler is on a captive yoke shaft that allows it to spin. There are some pics in a google search for "coal dumping train coupling" Here is a link to a model railroad exact replica of an FMC4000. ExactRail HO scale FMC 4000 rotary-dump coal gondola | ModelRailroader.com
The pics not great but the article talks about magnetic coupler and proper height.
One of our techs back in the day took some pictures of the Coal Mountains and the trains feeding from the coal mountains to an eastern coal fired plant. Not a long run...maybe a mile max. Coal was brought in from farther away. The heaps dwarfed the loaders. @¿@
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
nova_robotics
Cool! I saw one of these in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. It grabbed two cars at a time and flipped them. I was amazed.
Slightly off topic but somewhat related. The rail dumper was 99.9% automated, but the union pushed to have an operator. So there was an operator booth over the dumper, and he had a control panel with a big green button. The train cars moved into position, everything lined up, whatever else that had to happen, all completely automated. Then the dumper would wait for the operator to press THE BIG GREEN BUTTON to do the flip. Now here's the really great part. The gentleman, a rather large gentleman, who sat in the operator's booth didn't want to lean forward to press the button. When he was poured into his chair in the morning he wanted to stay there and not exert and further effort. So he had a drumstick. A literal wooden drumstick that you would use on a set of drums. He would use said drumstick to jab at the BIG GREEN BUTTON without having to actually move. It was glorious.
In Australia, a few decades ago, we had a campaigh to get the "Norm" off his couch and do exercise (to avoid further obesity & get the folk healthier). We fixed that : we found Xbox controllers which have more buttons. That guy would be all at sea with one.
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Unless those floor grates are there to serve as a sieve to trap over-large pieces, they seem to be more of an impediment than an aid. Why not remove them and put a guard rail around the resulting openings to protect the workers?
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Good point Marv, probably has to do with the conveyor below and crushers further downstream. That one big hunk he pulled out would probably heat a small house for a week, but less than a watt probably in conversion to electricity.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
PJs
I believe the coupler is on a captive yoke shaft that allows it to spin. There are some pics in a google search for "coal dumping train coupling" Here is a link to a model railroad exact replica of an FMC4000.
ExactRail HO scale FMC 4000 rotary-dump coal gondola | ModelRailroader.com
The pics not great but the article talks about magnetic coupler and proper height.
One of our techs back in the day took some pictures of the Coal Mountains and the trains feeding from the coal mountains to an eastern coal fired plant. Not a long run...maybe a mile max. Coal was brought in from farther away. The heaps dwarfed the loaders. @¿@
Thanks, like Marv, I was wondering about that & train breaks.
In early 70's I visited a friend managing a mine in central Queensland & saw the coal being washed & separated by what could be described as giant sieves (one for each level of a multi story open concrete building). Really cool stuff. The coal was then trained to the coast for export. It was a major financial boost to the state government earning $5 a ton in royalities somewhat like the Beatles (in the early days) earning 3 % and making so much that they paid 19shillings & 6 pence in every pound in tax=no wonder they were offered MBE s by the Queen.
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In the developed country's there are hydraulic machines that pic up and turn the hole car over. Its much faster when 150 cars are unloaded
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I worked on constructing a power plant where they picked up the whole car and turned it over dumping it.
Ralph
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Helix dumper from Kiruna Wagon.
Quote:
The discharge process is carried out at a smooth, even pace and is powered by the locomotive’s forward motion – the unloading station has no moving or motorised parts and requires no additional power supply.
1:42 video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6ojcdy21_0
More: HD - Helix Dumper - Kiruna Wagon Kiruna Wagon
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Great stuff: already been washed & graded by the looks.
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That rotary dumper that the cars literally rotate by means of a "track-system" that flips the dump cars bed up and then brings it back down without any "dumper animation" blows my mind that as they "dump" theres not a speck of dust coming off whats being dumped into the grates...... Does anyone know what the commodity is as it doesn't look like anything coal or aggregate that I've seen dumped before....... ?
The USA Rotary dumpers are AWESOME. as the cars do in fact remain coupled, and the couplers on said "Rotary Dump Car ONLY" have a swivel jointed coupler..... The shank of the coupler is square, and as it goes out from under the car, it has a swivel pivot, that has a HUGE bolt that passes through the coupler head, into the shank, that allows only the HEAD and knuckle, of the coupler swivel. Last I seen one, it sure needed some grease tho..... Rusty WOW. and I bet it did not allow a smooth "swivel" effect when done, as I'm sure it had to have some sort of "buck" as the one car sat on its wheels on the rail, and the swiveling car was flipped......
NOW the real trick is to figure out HOW to make that work in HO Scale (1/87th scale) for my rotary dump coal cars, by means of a WORKING Walthers, rotary dumper that will be with my coal powered power plant!!!!! There's a task for the guys over at Kadee!!!!!! (The model railroaders here will know what I'm referring too here!!!!!)
Great stuff guys! ALWAYS good to bring me back t my roots!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hemi
Does anyone know what the commodity is as it doesn't look like anything coal or aggregate that I've seen dumped before....... ?
No idea, but it looks like these dumpers specialize in unusually sticky materials:
Quote:
The Helix Dumper is built for continuous, rolling discharge and is the wagon of choice for small fractions and tough-flowing commodities that are not suitable for bottom discharge. Currently, there is no technology that can match the productivity of the Helix Dumper when it comes to unloading heavy fine-grained bulk goods at a high discharge rate. The Helix Dumper unloads even the stickiest bulk materials at rates up to 25,000 tonnes per hour.
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stinkey or stickey?either way it sure cuts tyme and labor ,and oop's... spill on lane 3~7 and 9~14....gonna be a long lunch...
