# Loading and unloading Coal/woodchip hoppers



## Aminnich (Nov 17, 2014)

Hey guys, I'm officially back in the swing of my layout, was covered in foam dust last night and more mountains are taking shape on the table (going to start a topic about my layout soon)

Anyway, I have seen a lot of videos of coal loader buildings with loading mechanisms for the hoppers. For the wood chips, I have seen conveyor belt loading styles. But I'm wondering how I could unload the hoppers?? 

Any suggestions will be great!!


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

HO is generally too small to lend itself well to actual operating devices other than things like turnouts, crossing gates and the like. Certainly what you envision is possible, but it involves a lot of complexity, and some pitfalls (like loads spilling all over the place.

The vast majority of us model static structures, and we pull our coal loads out by hand (I slap big steel washers in mine, and use a magnet to pull them out).


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## Aminnich (Nov 17, 2014)

You dont know me very well then CTValley, I can't do normal, HAHA. 

Doing something like this would bring model train layouts to a new level.. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJhYQYRBa2I


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Here is a whole bunch of wood chip loaders etc.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs...=yhs-mozilla-001&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

I would guess also that much of it could be done by emptying the
hoppers into an underground pit where a conveyor or blower carries
the chips to the processing line or storage silo.

Don


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## Aminnich (Nov 17, 2014)

DonR said:


> I would guess also that much of it could be done by emptying the
> hoppers into an underground pit where a conveyor or blower carries
> the chips to the processing line or storage silo.
> 
> Don


But how could something like that be done for my layout??


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*UNLOADING HOPPER CARS*

Aminnich;

Prototype,(real) hopper cars are unloaded through the hinged doors at the bottom of each "bay" (the sloped bins that end in doors at the bottom of the car.) If you see model cars advertised as "two bay or three bay hoppers", that's what they mean. The total # of bays in the car. A newer,faster, method of emptying coal from a hopper is a rotary car dumper. Cars are pushed into a giant cylindrical frame containing a short piece of track. Clamps engage to hold the car down, and the cylinder rotates, turning the entire car upside down to dump the load. Some modern coal unit trains have hoppers equipped with couplers that can rotate. these allow a hopper to be rotated in a dumper without having to break up the train.
As for fitting on your railroad, I can't answer that without seeing an overall photo or scale drawing of your layout. The rotary dumper, and it's approaches, are huge; and therefore suitable only for a very large, club-size, layout.
Unloading trestles and pits though, can be quite small. They were once a common fixture at each town's local coal dealer. They generally held only one or two hoppers. Coal was sometimes loaded by small equipment too. This was true of coal being loaded into the tender of a steam loco, and some very small mines also. 

Hope that helps you;

Traction Fan


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## Aminnich (Nov 17, 2014)

Hey Traction Fan;

I know how trains with hoppers of any type of load are usually unloaded. The trestle/ pit unloading concept would be the best for my layout because of the same limitation. The rotary is the best idea for what I want, but their is NO way it will fit on the layout. 

To unload these hoppers on my layout, it will not be genuine to a true RR. 

Loading the hoppers is not a problem, i got that figured out.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Aminnich said:


> You dont know me very well then CTValley, I can't do normal, HAHA.
> 
> Doing something like this would bring model train layouts to a new level..
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJhYQYRBa2I


Actually, I do know you pretty well. Moreover, as you may remember, I am very experienced with teenage boys. Your ability to plan and dream often exceeds your ability to execute! Good luck with it, though.


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## Aminnich (Nov 17, 2014)

True true, Us teenage future Engineer college boys have too many ideas and don't always know how to execute them. That's why I ask you experienced not teenage boys


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

You can unload your hoppers EITHER by 'digging' a pit under a spur track,
or, as I did, build a trestle so the hopper can be dumped onto the layout surface.

Here are work in progress pics of a sand and gravel trestle that I built for my HO layout
recently. 

















I used flex track and allowed it to find it's own 'easement'
up the slope and built a support for that. That is important
so your car's coupler 'hose' won't dig into the ties.

Don


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## MRLdave (Nov 1, 2011)

What vintage woodchip cars are you using. Most modern cars don't have any "bays" or any doors on the bottom. Most modern cars have end doors like auto racks or are solid tubs. The cars with end doors are placed on a track which tips up dumping the chips out the end. Here's a truck version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KE45pV3B90


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

And once again the lowly Tyco operating hopper is ignored. 

OK this completely depends on how 'real' you want to make your layout, but the old Tyco hoppers do work well for unloading coal. They might work for "wood chips" if you keep your materials very fine. The clamshell doors are finicky about material size.

This is still an option that you can find on ebay or train shows, and with some rare-earth magnets you can eliminate the special track section (although you'd have to be careful around uncouplers). The unloading mechanism is unrealistic, and the cars need work if you want them to look good, but there's still a lot of them out there.


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## Aminnich (Nov 17, 2014)

This? 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/201467...7290-0%26rvr_id%3D936095734334&chn=ps&lpid=82


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Yeah but that's an unreasonable price. You don't need a pristine collector's box set, you just need the cars. Try searching for "tyco operating hopper -non-operating -us-1" (without the quotes). You can usually get the Virginian hoppers for $13 or less with shipping, and if you plan on changing their appearance (like better stirrups and ladders) you can find broken ones for less. Sometimes you'll find an open set with the special track for around $15.


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## Aminnich (Nov 17, 2014)

That is genius. I watched some reviews on the model. Thanks for the idea!! Now I need to find one and get a totally new rolling stock collection.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Did you see my thread in this section from the last few days about rebuilding the Tyco hoppers? I'm collecting the ones that are still in fair condition, but the rest that are bashed up and broken, they're all fair game to me. I'm grinding down several features on the shell and rebuilding them into an older transition-style hopper. Nothing exactly prototypical, but based quite a bit on actual hoppers and a bit of "what-if". And the goal is to have a line that can be loaded and unloaded by computer control. I'll also have a logging line, and hope to do something similar with flatbed log cars (but NOT using the Tyco unloading log car for that purpose).


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## bluenavigator (Aug 30, 2015)

Whoa! Too much for that... I would not bid on that one...


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## Aminnich (Nov 17, 2014)

Haha no way, I was just showing an example of what he was thinking. Their is no way I would pay even half that for a new set let along a used set.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Actually around $30-40 is the typical rate for a sealed box set in good condition. But no, I wouldn't pay that either. Now on the other hand, because I am also collecting the cars for a show-box, I *will* likely be paying $40-50 each for the last three cars I need -- just the car, no boxes or anything. However I'm patient and under no time crunch, so I keep watching for good deals. The last car I got, I was expecting to pay around $30, and I got it for $12.


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