Today I went and got my coal. I decided to use the abrasive coal slag from TSC. It looks great in my opinion! My favorite part is how easily it slides out of the fish belly hoppers like the real deal.
Now I'm going to do some thinking out loud.
I've been resisting the idea of going with a helix at the nothern end of the layout to connect the bottom and top level because I felt like it was a waste of space where cool things could be modeled. That was before I started collecting hoppers with opening hatches in the bottom. Now I'm thinking the helix would be perfect because it would be a lot easier to build than a custom lift like I had planned on. It also means that when the hoppers empty at the steel mill, that load could easily be funneled down through the helix, out of sight, and go into the coal mine on the lower level where I can then fill hoppers again. This would allow for continuous operation and I'm very excited for this possibility. A guy by the name of nsmodeler24 on youtube has a similar setup involving a rotary dumper but I couldn't find the video showing them connected. Life and work have been beating me down pretty hard lately for whatever reason so it will be nice to sit down on Anyrail with the dog and just work out the plan for the next few nights while I try to catch some downtime without any surprises. My only concern is the weight of a coal drag going through a helix. I'm not concerned at all about motive power. It would just be a biblical mess if the hoppers stringlined on the helix!
I'll post the track plan when I get it figured out.
