Chama coaling tower

The plans I use were down loaded from the "Sandia Software" site in 1999, when they were free. I have made some changes of my own to the plans to suit my use. You may use them, but please do not sell them. If you want the complete set of plans for the coaling station, which contain more information then I give, the Ghost Depot has these prints plus many more building prints for sale at their site.

I cut all of the wood for the main frame at one time so I don't have to stop once I start putting things together. I rough cut my building material about an 1/4" longer then I need, this allows for any measuring error's, then I finish cut as I assemble the parts. I use a hot glue gun to temporally hold parts, for alignment or fitting. I'm using Tite-Bond glue and nailing all joints for final construction.

I will use clap board siding for the equipment building and a Grandt Line window with a scratch built door. I want to add the coal unloading hopper with a ramp to extend past the tipple and behind the Sand House. I believe the tipple and sand house together will make a nice looking display.

"Side Frames."

Material list: For each side cut.

Plan "side view".
Side parts labeling.

5/8"" long brads
Tite-Bond glue
*****
1/2" X 1/2" stock
*
(C)   2@ 21" pcs
(A)   1@ 30" pc
(G)   2@ 12" pcs
(H)   3@ 15" pcs
*****
3/8" X 3/4" stock
*
(B)   1@ 30" pc
*****
3/8" X 1/2" stock
*
(F)   2@ 21" pcs

"Front Frame."

Material list: Front only

Plan "front view".
Front parts labeling.

5/8"" long brads
Tite-Bond glue
*****
1/2" X 1/2" stock
*
(C)   2@ 21" pcs
(G)   4@ 12" pcs
*****
3/8" X 1/2"
*
(E)   4@ 14" pcs

Build the side frames first. I use temporary cross bracing to hold the parts square till everything goes together. I had to make some changes to the lower part of the front section. Which had to be made for the coal door. See the change hereandhere. Notice how the main legs on the front have been cut and the bottom cross beam has been set in. Do this before before putting in the hopper floor beams or they will not fit right.

I have made some changes in the front frame work. I had to flush mount the bottom cross member to allow for the gate and coal chute. Which was done on the real tower, and I over looked. The front has a coal gate to let the coal flow to the chute and into the Tender of the train below. My gate will be different from the one pictured in the photo. Mine will be gear and bar operated by turning a large wheel on the gear shaft.

I started with two 3/8" X 1/2" X 10-1/2" pcs, 1-3/8" from one end nail one of the floor boards to the floor supports. Check for square, nail the remaining floor boards in place checking for square as you go. Set it aside, it will be needed when you attach the front to side frames. I made the floor flat, no angle cuts and easier to make.

Then check the fit and make any adjustments needed to fit the sections together. Put the hopper floor in place to insure it fits and bring the side frames right against the floor, you may have to make a few adjustments to get a proper fit. Use temporary bracing as needed to hold everything in alignment.

Note: My reason for using hot glue, I don't have enough hands to hold everything together and temporary nailing makes it hard to separate the parts once nailed together.

With the floor installed let's look at how to make the sides of the hopper. To make the construction of the sides as easy as possible, use a piece of cardboard to make a pattern for the sides. Make a pattern for both sides to insure a good fit. Tack 3/8" X 1/2" wood strips around the edge of the pattern, and test fit to see if it's what you want, if satisfied, then glue and nail the boards for the side onto the wood strips on the pattern. You will notice how some boards extend past the pattern and will fit together like a "log cabin" with the front and back hopper sides. When all boards are on the frame work, remove the pattern and and test fit the section to the hopper. do the other side the same way.

With the hopper in place it is time to do some finish work on the back of the structure. Referring back to the Front and side drawings , add the four remaining columns to the back, 2 @ 3/8" X 3/4" X 30" and 2 @ 1/2" X 1/2" X 30". On my tower the bucket rail supports [3/8" X 3/4"]are on 3-1/4" on center from the outside columns. This makes the centers between the middle columns a little less than 3-1/4"'s on my model. The 3-1/4" spacing between the outside columns has to be maintained if you make the hoist bucket the same size as mine. Add temporary cross bracing, as it is easy to break the 30" pieces loose till all of the frame work is added. Add the cross members as shown on drawings [1/2" X 1/2" X 12"] to the back.

I built the hoist bucket rails as one of the last things to the project. They are easily bent and I would hate to have to re due them. I made some short pieces to get use to working with the board before making the complete rail in one piece. Make up a board a little longer than you will need for your rail. I made the metal for the rail 2-1/2" wide to start, making it easier to work with, then I cut it to the finished width before adding the bolt detail. I used a Ponce wheel to get the bolt, nail effect I wanted. I used small brads and glue to mount the rail. I didn't try to hammer the brads through the rail, I used a pair of jointed pliers to push the brads through the rail into the wood.

I made the Hoist Bucket using 1/8" paneling I had laying around. The Yoke is made of straight grained pine. The Hoist Rails were made with the aluminum from a throw away Turkey pan. How to get the bucket to dump took a little thinking, not knowing how the real one worked. After making the rail, bucket, and chutes I was told how the prototype operated.

The cable used to raise the buckets was fastened on the back bottom of the bucket. The bucket had two wheels on each side, one on the top and one on the bottom of the bucket, the top wheels offset forward of the bottom that ran inside of two pieces of Channel iron "[" placed side by side. The rail for the top wheel curved in an arch at the top, while the rail for the bottom wheel was left straight. As the bucket was raised the top wheel followed the arch while the bottom wheel went up past the arch tilting the bucket until it dumped.

The Hoist rail and bucket should be finished before starting the coal chute to get the right position in relation to the bucket.
Most of the work making the chute is by trial and error. I didn't have much to go on from the prints and photo's.

The top house is nothing more than a box on stilt's. To prepare the columns for putting on the top, add bracing to hold the columns in position, then measure up 7-1/2" from the top of the coal hopper. [not the hopper roof] Make a pencil mark. Nail 1" pcs of stock at the bottom of the mark, to rest the frame on to check that it fits later.

Material list;
Start by cutting wood for the frame.
****
Cut the following from the 3/8" X 1/2" stock,
*
4 pcs @ 10-3/8" [front and back]
4 pcs @ 6" [ends]
10 pcs @ 2" [risers]
2 pcs @ 3-1/4" [end risers]
4 pcs @ 4" [roof supports, ends]
1 pcs @ 11" [roof ridge support]
****
# 18 Brads X 5/8"
Tite-Bond glue

When making the frame for the top piece, make a mark indicating up, as the front and back are mirror images, and need to match when the ends are added. The end pieces are made up and attached to the side pieces. Cut a center support for the middle to give it strength." Added siding in random lengths and widths to give the "not really planned look." Add a roof using S-core as found on the jig page

Looking at the pictures below, the picture on the left, the top of the picture is the front side of the top house. Using two of the 10-3/8" pcs to make one side, glue and nail three risers making sure that they are square, two 1" in from the ends and the third in the middle. Make the other side the same way.
Using two 6" pcs glue and nail one of the 3-1/4" risers in the middle, again checking for square. Make the other end the same way. The other 4 risers will be put in after checking the fit of the frame on the columns. The outside frame measurements are 6" deep by 10-7/8" wide. On the inside mark one of the side pcs "front" and the other "back". Glue and nail the ends to the sides. The side pc's are nailed onto the inside of the end pcs. Nail one of the 2" risers on both of the ends, 1" back from the front side.

Make sure everything is square and try the frame over the columns. The front inside of the frame fits close against the front of the columns and set down on the temporary blocks. It may be necessary to do a little trimming of the columns to get the right fit. With the frame resting on the blocks and front, you can us a pencil to mark the back column width on the ends, where you will put the last two 2" risers. When the frame fits, you can think about finishing the end of the frame to fit the shape of the roof. Using the 4" pcs. When you have the ends the way you want them, you can add the ridge and center roof supports. With the frame complete I used 1/16" X 3/8" wide material for the siding the top house, using fast setting glue.

I'm making the Hopper roof framefrom 1/4" square stock and scrap wood for the part that doesn't show. As I cut the wood for the roof frame, I use low temperature hot glue to hold the pieces together on top of the hopper till I had things the way I wanted.

Using My Dremel tool, I cut the wood to get the look I want of old dried up wood. After using the Dremel, the wood has a fuzzy finish. It is almost impossible to sand this fuzz off. To remove the fuzz I use my Burns-O-Matic Torch.

"Caution - When using flame to remove the fuzz from your work, be careful you don't end up with a pile of ashes. I wait till its dark outside to burn the fuzz off. That way I can see if any sparks remain before I take it back into the work shop. You don't want to burn the house down by accident."

I will use clap board siding for the equipment building and use Grandt Line windows with a scratch built door. I want to add the coal unloading hopper with a ramp to extend past the tipple and behind the Sand House. I believe the tipple and sand house together will make a nice looking display.