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Coal Rotary Dumper

Lashlander

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Jan 4, 2007
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Kodiak Ak.
I kinda figured that, but don't the cars have bottom dumps? If they do, why is it called a rotary dumper?
 

Countryboy

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Jun 8, 2006
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Georgia
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Load Out Tech. / Heavy Equipment Operator / Locomo
If the car is a gondola then it has no doors on the bottom. They are usually dug out with a Herzog Cartopper, a backhoe with special attachments, or flipped upside down by one of the car rotators. Thats why I was asking what kind of cars they use. :)
 

Lashlander

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Jan 4, 2007
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Kodiak Ak.
I was wondering if that circle in the photo rolled the whole car over.

A couple months ago the Coast Guard found a old abandoned Russian barge floating around off the coast so they went and got it and brought it to our dock. They wanted to take it out and sink it in deep water so we had to clean it out. It had about 20 yards of coal in it. We took the crane and set the 580 in it and skip boxed it out.
 
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Countryboy

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Georgia
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Load Out Tech. / Heavy Equipment Operator / Locomo
I was wondering if that circle in the photo rolled the whole car over.

Yes, it flips the whole car over. Heres one in action:
railcar dumper.jpg

A couple months ago the Coast Guard found a old abandoned Russian barge floating around off the coast so they went and got it and brought it to our dock. They wanted to take it out and sink it in deep water so we had to clean it out. It had about 20 yards of coal in it. We took the crane and set the 580 in it and skip boxed it out.

and you still have the coolest job...:yup

On edit:Oops forgot to post the link.
 
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Lashlander

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Jan 4, 2007
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Kodiak Ak.
Ahh, there you go. A pics worth a thousand words. Thats pretty cool, I still don't know, like I said ,you get to play with trains.
Sorry coalburner, didn't mean to totally take over your post. Good topic!

Good link, I was gonna ask if you had to unhook each car.
 
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Electra_Glide

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Aug 25, 2004
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273
Location
Western Pennsylvania
Good link, I was gonna ask if you had to unhook each car.

Most coal gondolas are equipped with rotary couplers on one end of the car so that they do not need to be uncoupled to be unloaded.

Don't know about Coalburner's setup, but the dumpers are usually located on "balloon" tracks (basically a big loop) so that a loaded train pulls straight through the dumper, each car is dumped, and the empty train heads back out in the opposite direction.

Joe
 

coalburner

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Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
81
Location
Oklahoma
Electra_Glide

We do have a loop for 121 cars (and plans for enlarging it for 150 car sets). We have a dumper and positioner. The train crew spots the first 3 cars and then we get control of the train and the engineer puts the train to sleep. We use a BNSF unit train that actually has old steel cars, brand new cars, rapid discharge cars, old bottom dumps, tall cars, short cars, I don't think there are three in a row that are the same:) but they all have rotary couplers. The picture shows a big hopper before the dumper and an open platen on the dumper. This option is for limestone in bottom dump cars, we have never used that option. How ever with the length of grizzle and hoppers we are capable of dumping rapid discharge cars. I got a company that is going to set up the electrical clad system for RD cars and maybe BNSF can get me a complete unit train of RD cars for a test. We can unload rail cars at 3200 TPH , with a little work on the belts and telescoping chute we can up that to 4000 TPH with RD cars.
 

Countryboy

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Georgia
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Load Out Tech. / Heavy Equipment Operator / Locomo
You need something like this except made to haul and dump coal. :yup

We load this train twice a week during the winter.
 

Countryboy

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Jun 8, 2006
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Location
Georgia
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Load Out Tech. / Heavy Equipment Operator / Locomo
Well we got some of them ex-coal cars that we load rock on. Real long with 4 doors.....I'm sure you know what I'm talking about :yup . Yall probably fill um up to the top with coal, after all, thats what they were made for. We have to load them with rock though and all you do is put a small pile on each end then its loaded. All that space is the middle is empty. Makes for alot of wasted room on our tracks :nono .

Aluminum cars would be mice with the extra payload but I don't think they would hold up to the rock.
 

coalburner

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Nov 5, 2006
Messages
81
Location
Oklahoma
Countryboy,
I got a little country in me to. My toys at home.:) Yep that metal building is home.
 

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Countryboy

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Jun 8, 2006
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Georgia
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Load Out Tech. / Heavy Equipment Operator / Locomo
Nice stuff. :thumbsup

I could do alot with that tractor, the Gator too for that matter. :yup

You use them around the farm?
 

murray83

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2006
Messages
260
Location
new brunswick canada
Occupation
jack of all trades....master of none
Since we're talking trains and how they unload them thought I'd post a link to the union I work with part time on how they do it at the potash terminal.

http://ilalocal273.com/06.html

Wish I had better pictures of my own to post one of these days I'll get that digital camera lol.
 

murray83

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2006
Messages
260
Location
new brunswick canada
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jack of all trades....master of none
Irving? yeah right,in those 2 years they gave me a hat and plenty of grief :bouncegri :rolleyes: Though I'm not much of a computer person,I doubt I could use it correctly anyways lol.
 
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