Re: 463 in Chama

Guys...
The Chama coaling tipple was supplied from that high spur running in back of the tower. Loaded drop bottom gons were pushed up, centered over a large grate also in back of the tower.
The coal fell into a large, deep, square concrete bunker, from which small skip hoist cars pulled by cables would haul the coal upward.
It was then poured onto a pivoted triangular delivery pan with a short chute on it, for a trip into a waiting tender below.
A still-functioning Fairbanks Morse single cylinder diesel engine with a hefty flywheel made it all go.
I'm sure the purists would love to see the tipple load the locos, but the powers that be decided it would be a slow, undependable, clanky, dirty process.
A front loader (and coal pile) across the track does the job in about 10-15 minutes.
What may confuse some folks is the adjacent sand house and large unused sand bunker just to the south. The Friends got the loco-driven, pneumatic sand blower working a couple years ago, but the hostlers prefer to just sling a few 40-lb sand bags up on an engine and directly fill the sand dome. The bags are stored in the sand house.
I've found you can get a good view of all this from Foster's beverage veranda.