Earl Wrote:
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> Monero was a regular coal stop for eastbound
> freight trains.
>
> If the chute used by locomotives was also used by
> commercial coal loading outfits, it would have
> been on a siding, not on the mainline. You don't
> load bulk commodities into cars on the mainline.
> That was what the spur inside the loop behind the
> depot was for.
Makes sense to me, Earl -
You don't waste time having an eastbound freight shoving gondolas out of the way on a siding so the tender(s) of the locomotive(s) can be topped off with coal, you have a chute alongside the mainline for through trains, and a chute on a siding for loading gondolas. I presume the siding had enough of a grade that a string of gondolas could be moved along under the chute by gravity, so that several could be loaded over a week or two without needing a switcher (or a winch or a brace of mules) to re-position them
. . .
Roosso (notso?) Loco
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2017 08:41AM by Russo Loco.