# coal store from 'Short Line Gazette'



## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi All, 
After the water tower boiler & pumphouse I am building a 'coal store', following the plan that is in the Jan/Feb 08 issue of the Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette. There is still a small engine shed to build for this area, and this coal store will be on the approach to that. 

I am afraid that Harry Brunk is wrong in his idea that this was at Silver Plume; and I think from his closing words that he knows it! The new Sundance book on the Colorado Central RR has a much better photo of the area and that shows that his large shed(?) is in fact a couple of outhouses or toilets. I can understand the logic of the design however so I have built one for my depot area. 

The drawing was scanned and enlarged as usual; my version, which has some slight modifications, is made from 5mm thick PVC solid foam sheet in general, and a lot of use of my small circular saw, on all those stiffening pieces. The central portion will have an opening door the other two being glued shut. Hopefully when rain is about I will remember to shut that center door quickly. 

The center area has a series of holes in the base for that area (as seen in the last of the photos) to allow any rainwater to drain out. I will add a layer of gravel and then some broken coal on top of that. Each door has a hasp and staple at the bottom. 

The rear roof is having roofing felt (tarpaper) shingles added to it, and the 3 doors on the front slope are planked and have iron strapping on them. 


The whole unit is 16” x 8” in plan and 7” high. 


Here are some photos of the progress so far. It will be painted my usual grey, with some heavy weathering, coal dust gets everywhere! 










an end view with one of the fixed doors in position and the main strapping glued on; the fixing bolts will be 1.5mm rod. 










Opposite end. the flat stiffening and base for the center portion can be seen, there are 4 cross pieces, the rest are just small sections to shoe - these are all fixed to an internal additional piece inside the wall. 










the back face with the stiffening plank across the back, at the moment the front door sticks up above the rear under roof, this will be rectified when the shingles and plank for the hinges is added. 










A final view, that shows the drainage holes for the center section that will have working hinges.


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## DrVibes (Jan 3, 2008)

Hey Peter, that is shaping up very nicely. Thank you for enlightening us, I read the article and wondered about that coal house, you will need a crane to close that lid!


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## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

Peter, 
That's a great looking structure. I do hope you'll post photos when it's painted, weathered and installed.


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

Great lookin coal bin! i was lookin to build the same thing after seing that in the gazette. Sure does seem to be a lot of work to fill a tender though! I feel sorry for the poor chap that has to shovel that! 
Thanks for sharing, i look forward to seeing the completed model. 
Terry


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## bobgrosh (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm at a loss to understand how this is used. 
Did the real building have a floor where you show a floor with drain holes in the center section? 

Was the real building made to hold the coal up high off the ground? was that for convenience of transferring the coal to say, a truck? 
- or - 
Was this floor just added to the model so that you did not have to fill the whole building with coal. 

I think I like the building, it seems the right size and shape to store remotes, smoke fluid or tools in. 
B0B


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By bobgrosh on 04/29/2008 7:31 AM 
I'm at a loss to understand how this is used. 
Did the real building have a floor where you show a floor with drain holes in the center section? 
Was the real building made to hold the coal up high off the ground? was that for convenience of transferring the coal to say, a truck? 
- or - 
Was this floor just added to the model so that you did not have to fill the whole building with coal. 
I think I like the building, it seems the right size and shape to store remotes, smoke fluid or tools in. 
B0B 


Hi Bob, 

Interesting questions; first the normal coal docks on the Colorado narrow gauge seem to have been a platform at about rr car floor height, with a back and sides, but no front. 

This is an idea that Harry Brunk had, and made an article with, though there is not a lot of the construction other than a plan! 

The dimensions are followed, it is a bit high possibly, on the front, but road crews could throw coal out of the 2 or 3 plank coal cars into the bunkers. Equally IF they had clambered inside they could load up tenders of the locos needing coal. My RR is early 1880, and the coal pockets I think came later, and I havenâ€™t got the space for one of those anyway â€" space was not really an issue for the narrow gauge (except for the property tax bill). Alas here (in the UK) it is, space we are short of, as usual paying too much tax! 

My guess is that it is intended to have a cover to stop/delay the coal freezing; Harry Brunk did not elaborate on his reason for the design; he is (I think ) in Minnesota, and their winters are as cold as Colorado, and thus he may have used a local design. It is very like designs we have here in the UK â€" and we have warmer winters. 

IF it is/was full size (don't forget this is 'an idea' there was not one of these at Silver Plume), the floor would be planks with drainage gaps; my elevated floor is to make it easier for me, and to add some stiffening, and to reduce the bits of broken coal needed to give it some to view. 

The same idea is in only having one roof open. That is hinged with some (bent over a pair of round nosed pliers) pieces of strip brass. All 3 lids could be made operable, for just the purpose you say and it would make a very good â€˜miniâ€™ store for such things. No need to be on the RR put it behind a large building that can bring it to an easier location for access. 

Basically I liked it, and I had a place for it, (though it has since moved a bit to give clearance), I was well aware that there was no prototype that I knew of, Silver Plume had a couple of outhouses here â€" quite a walk from the depot. 

So I built it, and it has provided some interesting moments â€" the nest is the amount of weathering it will get, the painting is almost done. 

Hope that helps, I suppose I am working under the idea of 'this is my railroad, and I build & run it!' I still have a small niggling thought that there MAY be added a full length platform on the trackside to allow the crew to walk along the side throwing coal in or out (& into tenders).


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi All, 

The coal store has had several licks of paint, and mock coal dust and is now complete. 

here are a few photos as the weather here is good at the moment. 

First 3 views of the weathering with a couple of characters assisting! They have the newly added walkway (the same width as the top of boxcars) to walk alnog, and there are two small ladders made to assist them, one being shown.


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi 

Here is is in the location planned for it, with the Bachmann mogul in position for coaling; that plastic coal could do with being covered up! 

The white flowered bush towering over it is due for a severe trim after the flowers have died. 

Finally a shot of the new small hut, which is built from a plan of the yard masters hut at Durango, though I have moved the door to the end from between the two windows which then came closer together. The stovepipe on the back wall made from a large bendy straw replaced a brick chimney stack.


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

[No message]


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## Rich Schiffman (Jan 2, 2008)

Peter, 

You have done it again. The coal bin color and weathering is so realistic, after I viewed it, I am going to wash the coal dust off. 

Cheers,


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

WOW! VERY NICE! The weathering and painting came out perfect! 

What roofing material did you use for the hut building in the photo above?


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By jimtyp on 05/15/2008 9:07 AM
WOW! VERY NICE! The weathering and painting came out perfect! 
What roofing material did you use for the hut building in the photo above?




Hi Jim, 

In use what we call roofing felt, getting the cheapest I can as that is naturally the thinnest. I think that you call it 'tarpaper' - its the stuff that is laid on to a shed roof th waterproof it, the cheap way is to nail it down, the best way is to lay it on to wet tar, and then nail down the edges. 

It is glued on with window frame sealant, spread on the plastic (styrene) card under roof, and each strip then laid down quick. 

The method came from Richard Smith on MLS and I use it for all my (shingled) buildings. See if you can get single strips per row, then there is no gaps left after some expansion/contraction cycles. 

The strips are 20mm deep, with 10mm left showing. Before you start add a half width strip at the bottom of each side to lift the bottom row; that one alone gets glued on with impact adhesive (which melts the tar!)


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Stve, 

Thanks for your input - very interesting, I like the A frame idea, and will add it to the model. 

It is a 'possible' idea from Harry Brunk, and as such has some flaws (the photo he uses is in the Colo Central book and is much better - it is two outhouses in fact and not a covered coal bunker; knowing that I still like the idea of the coal bunker which Harry Brunk drew a plan of in Narrow Gauge Gazette). 

As a result all ideas are worth thinking about and the 'A frame' seems to be the best - thanks.


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By Rich Schiffman on 05/15/2008 9:03 AM
Peter, 
You have done it again. The coal bin color and weathering is so realistic, after I viewed it, I am going to wash the coal dust off. 
Cheers, 





Hi Rich, Nah; it won't come off there is a coat of varnish hiding it all! Plenty of water, some scratched in lines then enhanced with mucky water (not plain black add some earth and gray colors to it), and more muck added alater. 

Thanks for the kind comment.


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Great Job Peter. The modeling and painting are superb! I share Steves curiousity about the structure, but must admit that I have never seen a coal shed, and don't know what the prototypes looked like. My question is how the heck did they lift those doors without a pulley or something. I'm just guesstimating, but those doors look like 12foot x 12 foot. Thats a lot of wood to left and the weight would be increased because its sort of like the oposite of a lever, where the henges are the volcrum. Is it possible they had some sort of pulley rigged up to lift them? Even the double doors would have presented a similar problem.


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Superb work, Peter. Your modeling style is right uo my alley. Very realistic, the way I like it.


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By rkapuaala on 05/15/2008 9:46 AM 
Great Job Peter. The modeling and painting are superb! I share Steves curiousity about the structure, but must admit that I have never seen a coal shed, and don't know what the prototypes looked like. My question is how the heck did they lift those doors without a pulley or something. I'm just guesstimating, but those doors look like 12foot x 12 foot. Thats a lot of wood to left and the weight would be increased because its sort of like the oposite of a lever, where the henges are the volcrum. Is it possible they had some sort of pulley rigged up to lift them? Even the double doors would have presented a similar problem.

Hi, 

The basic design is very like a large domestic design (was - before 'clean air' acts) here in the UK, though we had a ground level door to take out the coal, and did not use anything like as much as the 'belching (steam) and snorting' narrow gauge loco's healthy appetites! 

Thanks for the comments - 

This is a supposed building, and Harry Brunk (the designer, in the Short line gazette, and in HO scale) evidently did not get that far; though he has made a model from his plans. 

However we do: no doubt helped by the large size of our (scale) buildings, and in 1/20th they are big; the doors are close to what I think an American gagae door size would be - they are 10ft deep and just over 8 feet wide; they would still be heavy I admit, and would mack a heck of a bang (and shock to the rear roof timbers) when slung open. 

That is why after some though the A frame, which will be an offset frame - more to the back than the front, which provide two things; a frame for the blocks to pull the doors up, one per top each; with the pull cables routed to the nearside end (add a plank for the cleats for them to be fixed on), and also reduce its 'clearance footprint' as the open door(s) can lie against it. Thus no overhang at the back, and allowing it to be moved a bit, the hut will soon find a new place. 

The A frame will have timbers of about a scale 6" square I think, and the cable for the blocks could be thin (multi strand) copper wire or thin nylon string, which should not rot) as it can then fold over when the middle door is open(don't forget the outer pair are fixed down).


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## docwatsonva (Jan 2, 2008)

Beautiful work Peter. It is a very nice addition to your railroad. 
Doc


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

That's beautiferous!


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Peter

I know you really don't need it, and also that it's a really bad case of _"over-kill"_, however, if you're interested here's a link to my MLS web space where you'll find an article on making a ropewalk.

*How to Make a Ropewalk*
_(PDF file format, File size 2.2 MB)
(Left-click to open, Right-click to download)_

Humor me, I'm still feeling bad about making even the slightest of disparaging comment on your really great modeling. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/hehe.gif


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By SteveC on 05/16/2008 1:36 PM 
Peter

I know you really don't need it, and also that it's a really bad case of _"over-kill"_, however, if you're interested here's a link to my MLS web space where you'll find an article on making a ropewalk.

*How to Make a Ropewalk*
_(PDF file format, File size 2.2 MB)
(Left-click to open, Right-click to download)_

Humor me, I'm still feeling bad about making even the slightest of disparaging comment on your really great modeling. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/hehe.gif" border=0>" border=0>" border=0>" border=0>" border=0>" border=0>



Hi Steve, 

Shades of model boat making with that ropewalk! " border=0>" 

Thanks for the link most interesting! 

Incidentally I think I have found a very poor photo of possibly the original for the coal store. 

Looking through the 'RGS story, Vol 1 p209/211' books there is a photo of the 'Dallas Divide', with one of the snowplough equipped 2 8 0's there and lurking in the background by the blade is a small coal store, that is very like Harry Brunk's design which is a triple version of that one, a bit more detailed and strengthened (outside framing etc) but the likeness is there. 

By the way no need to be worried about 'feeling bad' - you naturally are American, and as such can assist far more then me with my British (or English) mind in matters like the coal store; any comments are worth analyzing, and invariable produce some good idea's, and Thank you to all for the idea's that this small building has produced - that is what make life interesting! So don't feel bad at all!


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By peter bunce on 05/16/2008 2:15 PM

«snip...» Shades of model boat making with that ropewalk! «snip...»
Yep, but do note I did my best to find the one that was _'railroad' oriented_ with _track & truck no less. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/hehe.gif_


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