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| Hoist house Color is Boxcar Red |
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| Model 9803 D&RGW Coal Tower front view |
| Hoist house Color is Boxcar Red |
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| Model 9803 D&RGW Coal Tower rear view |
| Hoist house Color is Roundhouse Red |
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| Model 9803 Coaling Tower with Model 9801 Coal Pit |
The model 9803 D&RGW Coaling Tower, built in 1:24 scale, is possibly one of the most
recognized narrow gauge railroading structures ever built! This particular structure is a reproduction of the coal tower that
still stands today at Chama, New Mexico as part of the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. Although no longer present today,
similar coaling towers were used at the facilities of Gunnison and Durango, Colorado. If you are interested in a 1:20.3
scale version, contact us by email!
In 1924, the D&RGW elected to remove the coal trestle at Chama, and replace it with the
elevated 75 ton coaling station that stands about sixty five feet high. Besides using less space, it was somewhat
safer, and kept the coal clean and dry, allowing locomotives to be serviced any time of the year.
The model 9803, as shown below contains both the operating front coal gate with movable
chute, and the rear pair of hoist buckets that are controlled by manually turned winches in the lower hoist house.
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| Functional Coal gate and chute |
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| Two coal buckets moved manually by winches |
The model 9802, only contains the front coal gate and movable chute. No rear bucket detail is offered on
this version, for those that simply want the look of the coal tower, but have no interest in demonstrating its operation.
For those that are interested in the full operation of loading coal, we also sell the model 9801 Rear
Coal Dump Pit which held delivered coal until it could be placed into the tower.
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| Model 9801 Coal Pit with removeable grates & spring loaded guillotine doors |
Coal was delivered to the backside of the coal tower using drop side gondolas along a slightly
elevated service track. This track was ran across a 36 foot concrete rear coal dump pit that sloped towards
the coal tower and was covered by steel grates, that allowed coal to pass through the grates and roll forward towards two
guillotine doors. When a coal bucket on the rear of the tower was lowered into the front of the pit, a guillotine door
was opened to fill the bucket. The bucket was then raised to the top of the tower, where it was inverted to dump its
coal into the tower. By using the manually driven winches in the hoist house, one can also perform this function on
the model 9803 structure.
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| Buckets decend into front of coal pit in front of guillotine doors |
The walls of the hoist house are built from individually milled redwood strips, glued
together with waterproof glue, to form the shiplap siding. The siding is secured to an interior wall to form a structurally
sound wall. For more support, all of the internal corners and bases of the walls have 3/8" x 3/8" redwood members to reinforce
the structure. The coal bin is built exactly like the prototype, with a sloping interior floor that funnels all the coal
towards the main gate. The main coal gate has been configured to be spring loaded so that the tower can not empty itself.
This coal gate is activated manually by the chain drive next to it. In consideration of those actually loading coal
into the tower, the inside of the bin has been lined (model 9803) with plastic to prevent damage from falling coal (the prototype
used steel plates)!
The Coal Pit is designed to be installed into your layout in a French drain. The Coal Tower
can be simply lifted out of the pit and stored indoors when not in use. For those that do not want or need the pit,
the rear columns of the coal tower are terminated at ground level, as in the top first photos. This model is truely
a work of art !!
All surfaces inside and out (except those between the hoist house and the PVC) are
double stained to seal the surface from moisture. It can be obtained in our standard colors (link to Color Selection), or a custom color of your choice. The roofing material can be cedar shingles, corrugated metal, or tar paper, as
in the original.
View order form .
The serialized Coaling Tower requires a space that is 10" wide and 14" deep.
The overall height of the tower is 33".
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