C&O Railway Series #16, C&O Coal Tipples by Thomas W. Dixon, Jr.
This book describes the cycle of coal from the mine head, through the preparation plant, commonly called the tipple, and into the railway cars. It shows how coal was handled within the tipple so as to separate it by size and composition and how it was placed in hopper cars on the C&O for transportation to market. As far as we know, this is the first simple explanation of the coal preparation process and how it interfaced with the railway. Detailed descriptions of the tipple and its machinery, of the grades and types of coal, and the various styles of tipples. Material includes photographs and drawings of tipples from large to small, processing from four or five car loads a month to 3,000 cars per month. The modeler will find photographs of tipple buildings of all descriptions, from wooden frame to corrugated steel siding. This book should be of great benifit to modelers interested in C&O operations, and to those interested in coal country and the whole process of coal mining and sale. Most photographs come from the early-mid-1950s, an era popular to many modelers. ""80 pages, softbound, 100+ photographs and drawings.
