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Reply to "Switcher Saturday Mark II, 10/17/20"

@RSJB18 posted:

Hey @jhz563- I've gotten hooked on Virtual Railfan lately. I see those style hoppers go through Ft. Madison Iowa a couple times a week. Are they heading to your plant?

Bob

No sir, we have barely had coal deliveries this year.  We have a mountain of fuel on site right now. We bought really heavy a couple of winters ago for a polar vortex that never came.  I don't think its in the company's interest to put specific numbers out, but right now our stock pile is basically at full capacity.

The plant is in south central PA.  The fuel generally comes from Pittsburgh area mines so you may well have seen similar cars running thru Iowa, but not these ones. Compared to other coals I have worked with this stuff is rocket fuel.  12,500 btu/# and up.  Most plants can only wish about getting fuel with that type of energy density.  However we can also make full load on natural gas, so we look at daily $/MW values, transmission line constraints, weather patterns and a few other variables, and we come on line when there is money to be made. We burn whichever fuel is cheaper that day, which is typically gas.  During the winter months however the equation can flip upside down as natural gas is diverted to home heating use, which makes coal a more attractive option.

Getting the coal out of the hoppers is handled by the structures behind the lokie.  There is a rotary dumper and the long low building behind the dumper is the thaw shed.  Coal tends to freeze in railroad cars so its a building with lots and lots of electric heaters at track level to warm up the cars before dumping in winter time.

Here's a closer look at the engine before the PPL logo got painted over, and a look thru the dumper on a foggy morning.

DSCN1087DSCN3567

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Last edited by jhz563

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
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