Hi, Frank!
I was always under the impression that the coal tipple was built in '24 rather than later. One of us has his numbers mixed. When I worked on it I thought the story went that the F-M engine was built in 1921 and wasn't used until 1924 when they built the tipple. I have seen a photo of the trestle in of the books but nothing before then. I think it would have been a raised platform too, but up in the air throws weren't as bad since the tenders weren't as tall, and were much smaller.
P.S. I cut my hair last summer finally...glad to get rid of that!