Since the 97 coal loader jams a good bit, I wired a double relay module to reverse the motor momentarily when a button is pressed.
Next was building a car dump receiving hopper that would accommodate everything from the pre-war 3659 dump car to the current MTH side dump cars. I started by building a cardboard mock-up.
When I was satisfied that the design was good, I built the finished product using left over tinplate metal from the bottom of switches I modified. I soldered it together and then painted it.
The unloading track was a bit short for the MTH dump cars, so I extended two of the unloading rails a bit. This gave a reasonable range of operating positions for the MTH dump cars.
As with real coal handling, shakers were needed to make sure the coal did not clump up anywhere. One was added to the receiving hopper and another (an old cell phone vibrator) was added to the 97 scoop. The receiving hopper shaker is operated by momentary pushbutton, the scoop shaker operates whenever the coal loader runs. The scoop shaker has almost eliminated coal jams. I will replace the old cell phone vibrator with something a bit more powerful. Hopefully that will be even more effective.
Here are the controls:
