Black Thunder loadout/silo

Railroadforums.com is a free online Railroad Discussion Forum and Railroad Photo Gallery for railroaders, railfans, model railroaders and anyone else who is interested in railroads. We cover a wide variety of topics, including freight trains, passenger and commuter railroads, rail news and information, tourist railroads, railway museums and railroad history.

IF: The door is 20 feet wide that makes the silo about 80 feet in diameter and 200 feet high. That's just a guess. I wonder if Black Thunder has a web site?
 
Using a drafting scale and rounding up a little and using the 300' foot height from the web site, I am going to revise my estimate to a 100' diameter and 300' high. It sounds resonsonable to me. That would make an HO scale model that would be 13-1/2" in dia and 40" tall. An imposing model. But if you built an HO railroad in the middle of an acre of land it would look good. I haven't figured out how long the conveyor is but it is long. It would look pretty sweet with a 100 car coal train underneath it. When do you think you will have it completed?
 
Not familiar with slipforming. can you give us a description please?[/QUOTE

Slipforming a grain elevator or coal silo is where they build the form on the ground and as the concrete is poured the form is then jacked up with hydraulic pumps as the concrete dries.
Once the pouring starts they will not stop until they reach the height of the silo. This is a 24/7 operation that usually takes 4-5 days to complete.
This silo looks like it took them at least a week to finish the pour. There are 3 companies in Iowa that build a lot of these silos across the country.
 
That was fun to watch. I can see where once you start your not stopping. You learn something new every day. Thanks. Tom
 
Using a drafting scale and rounding up a little and using the 300' foot height from the web site, I am going to revise my estimate to a 100' diameter and 300' high. It sounds resonsonable to me. That would make an HO scale model that would be 13-1/2" in dia and 40" tall. An imposing model. But if you built an HO railroad in the middle of an acre of land it would look good. I haven't figured out how long the conveyor is but it is long. It would look pretty sweet with a 100 car coal train underneath it. When do you think you will have it completed?

Got some info off of Trainorders and it is 340' feet high. A bit on the large side for HO unless I knock out a ceiling and if I did that then my wife would knock me out:p
 
When I was there they said it held 7 trains worth. It would load a 122 ton car load of coal in 45 seconds; I know that for a fact because I timed it. The operator of the loader also said that at 4 am in the morning, and after loading some 100 cars, it was really hard to stay awake and do the timing just right.

When I asked them how much coal was still remaining, the maintenance supervisor asked me if I was talking about Black Thunder minerals rights or the seam itself. Black Thunder has enough capacity to go another 30 years, but the seam extends up into Canada and actually could go 300-400 years at the current rate of excavation.

It was quite an operation. I asked everyone on my railroading crew if they wanted to go for a tour, but after setting it all up, only me and another guy went. It was a Sunday morning and the rest of the boys wanted to sleep off their hang-overs. me and Bubba got a tour of a lifetime.
 




RailroadForums.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

RailroadBookstore.com - An online railroad bookstore featuring a curated selection of new and used railroad books. Railroad pictorials, railroad history, steam locomotives, passenger trains, modern railroading. Hundreds of titles available, most at discount prices! We also have a video and children's book section.

ModelRailroadBookstore.com - An online model railroad bookstore featuring a curated selection of new and used books. Layout design, track plans, scenery and structure building, wiring, DCC, Tinplate, Toy Trains, Price Guides and more.

Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)

Back
Top