Manns Creek Railway, Clifftop WV Strip Coal Tipple

[coaltrain]

while I wait for my new RR space to open up I have been getting a head start by building some key structures and rolling stock.  The new layout will feature live loading and unloading of coal, which for me is screened black aquarium rock.  I have already built 17 operating hopper cars and the unloading structure but I was dragging my feet on the loading structure, until now.  I just finished the structure and i am very happy with its operation.

here is a video link showing the entire operation, however they are not linked together yet.
https://youtu.be/CwEhGIywgCo

[Bob]

Jeff -

That's a spectacular video and phenomenal craftsmanship!  I always admired your automated side-dump cars but this is over the top. That's excellent animation.

Bob

[david]

Simply spectacular, Jeff. Craftsmanship beyond words. Not to mention the engineering of it all. Your new layout will be in inspiration to us all.

David

[Craig]

Absolutely beautiful Jeff. I love the attention to detail. 

[coaltrain]

thank you.  I just installed a mini video camera inside the car loading shed so the operator can get a better view.  At the moment I only installed one but I am thinking that I might use three cameras spread along the length of the car shed and use a rotary knob to select the viewing camera, that way I can have one camera centered on each car rather than the long view down the length of all the chutes.  if I get the cameras all adjusted to the same position I could put a line on the screen to indicate the fill height of the coal piles.  I got the camera and the screen off Ebay, the camera was $25 I believe and the 4.5" screen was $17, both operate off 12V.  The camera is about the size of a sheet rock screw head.



here is a photo of the tipple outside

[david]

Jeff, you continue to amaze. The outside photo  shows of the board-by-board construction (?) and gorgeous coloring you achieve. Sooo realistic. I look forward to hopefully seeing it in person on my next visit to MN.

And the camera/monitor- WOW. Just like you're the operator in the shed. Museum quality plus.

David

[coaltrain]

Thanks Dave, I just ordered two more cameras because I am going to try and mount one camera for every car spot and then have a rotary switch to set which camera is being used, that way I can have the cameras aimed better and the operator will just select the camera that is aimed at the car being loaded.  I think I can have a better side view of each car rather than a "looking down the string of cars" view.  I want to try and get each camera aimed at the same view so I can have a load fill line on the screen to make sure there is no over filling.  I don't want the cameras to replace actually looking at the cars when they are loading, rather I want them to help someone new learn the correct fill level or help someone that maybe can't see the loading as well as needed.

[Bob]

Jeff -

Two thumbs up for your recent 3D printed Manns Creek Shay parts as posted on the MRH Blogs. Amazing work!

https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/42164

Bob

[Craig]

I agree.

It great seeing what capabilities can be had with new technologies.