[N&W] Re: Tipple Operations

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Leslie
     I grew up in Crumpler, WV and know every tipple in McDowell and Mercer
County's almost all tipples had a track that let the trains through or around
the tipple with empties so as not to interfere with loading operations.  The
empties were usually pushed backwards to the tipple the caboose on the end
while going to the tipple had the conductor standing on the platform and
blowing a little whistle at all crossings and loads were picked up the same
day and left with engine on front going forward. After arriving and this was
before radio's the brakeman would ride the last car and just before the end
of the stub track he would pull the train line air valve dumping the air to
stop the train, on one memorable occasion this didn't work and they just
about pushed a hopper car into my grandfathers front yard. Hope this helps
you out some
                             Russell
_______________________________
I grew up in the Southern West Virginia coal fields of United States
Steel which had 14 mines in its Gary District in McDowell County. Most
mines ended with stub tracks but not all.

For stub mines you normally had two sets of tracks.  One set ran under
the tipple and one track ran outside the tipple.

The Filbert no.9 mine shipped about 80 to 100 loads per day. The train
would come up from Wilcoe Yard each morning pushing empties past the
tipple anf leaving them on the double storage track. The empties would
then be gravity fed through the tipple  and stored as loads on a single
track.  After the engines were finished shoving the empties into the
storage track it would go back down the parallel track, couple to the
loads and go back to Wilcoe yard.

If the tipple was located adjacent to the main there would be a storage
track on one side of the tipple for empty's continuing through the
tipple to the other side for loads.

Most of the Gary mines operated the same way.  A train of empty's in
with the train picking up loads on way out.  The train never waited for
loading operations.  The mines ran three shifts per day.

Alex Schust