Fast loader - 2
2. An underground coal mine near Oakwood, Va. This
is the scene that inspired the fast loader project at
John Roberts Preparation Plant. This scene embodies
the look and feel of Appalachian coal.
I had a photo of a fast loader from an underground mining
operation near Oakwood, VA that I used as a reference. This
operation had most of the features I wanted to model. In addi-
tion to a large fast loader, this facility had a concrete storage
silo, open coal pile, and trucked-in coal. The conveyor transfer
point was an unexpected bonus.
The flow of coal for layout operation starts with the coal feed
off the conveyor from the underground slope mine. Coal is also
delivered by rail from coal tipples on the layout. Trucked-in coal
from surrounding strip mines is represented. Coal is moved
2
3. A fast loader that resembles the Walthers Flood
Loader kit. This facility is Alamo-Harber Coal at
Alamo, KY.
3
from these areas to the main preparation building where it is
cleaned. From this point the coal is sent to the storage silo or
moved to the storage pile. When a train is loading, the coal is
pulled from either source, then sent to the storage bin at the
fast loader to be loaded. In a prototype scenario, these dif-
ferent grades of coal can be stored and then blended per cus-
tomer order at train-loading time.
Planning
The major change to the prep plant was the layout of the
buildings. On the L&N Thornhill Division, the coal movement
through the facility went from left to right. At the new site,
MRH-Dec 2014
