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Modeling the
Consolidated Mines "Copper King" Loading Station - Page 1 |
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Model by Steve Depolo - Model
photographs by Steve Depolo - Prototype photographs, Library of
Congress Digital Archive
My Copper King Loading Station
is based in part on the Silver King Coalition ore loading station in
Park City, UT. I have wanted to build this structure for
years, first in O-Scale, and later in S-Scale. Recently I took
another look at the photographs and plans, available through the
Library of Congress, and decided to build it in O-Scale for an On30
module.
The ore station and tramway
were built in 1901 in order to link the Silver King Coalition mine
and sampling mill with the rail-head at Park City, UT.
The connecting tramway was over 7000' in length and the drop in
elevation from the mine and sampling mill to the ore loading station
was 1000'. Each of the 80 buckets on the tramway were capable
of hauling 500 pounds of ore or concentrate downhill and 325 pounds
of coal up to the coal fired steam engines at the mill/mine complex.
The loading station had four 250 ton bins. The tramway
operation was totally automated and only required one person to load
the buckets at the upper terminal. The buckets were unloaded
automatically at the lower end. I'm not sure when the mine and
tramway shut down, but I think the photographs were taken after
abandonment in the early 1960's. |
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As can be seen in the
adjacent photograph (south elevation) the complex was built
around the four 250 ton loading bins. The prototype
structure was about 74 feet wide (south/north elevation), about
60 feet long (east/west elevation) and 80 feet tall.
Since my plan was to build a representative model I decided to
shrink both the width and height by about 20%.
The floor plan was reversed and some other details were changed
to make the model more interesting from the most common viewers
perspective. The tramway dormer was kept on the far
side of the bunkers
(facing uphill). The resulting model will be about 14"
wide, including the scale house, 15 inches long and about 16
inches tall.
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Since the prototype was built
around the ore bins, the model is being built the same way.
Most of the models I build are built around a styrene core and the
ore bins are no exception. While this construction method does
not result in a contest quality model, the end result is more than
adequate for use on an operating layout. Since I needed to reduce the total
width of the model by about 18 scale feet, about 12' was taken
out of the width of the ore bins. The bins required about 60 actual feet of
pre-stained scale 1X12's. The built up the ore bins are shown in the
photograph above right.
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Here is another photograph
of the ore bins with the wing walls temporarily leaning against
the end. At this point the wing walls are pretty flimsy.
But, it is much easier to glue strip-wood to a flat surface so
the bracing will wait until after the battens are installed.
The openings in the wing walls were reduced in width by 2 scale
feet and the height of the doorways was lowered.
Comparing the model to the prototype photo
above, it is pretty obvious where the 6' in width came out
of each ore bin. I'm not sure what the little lean-to was
used for but it shows up in this and other photos and I thought
it added interest. According to a Sanborn map,
the structure in center foreground, with the damaged
chimney, was a boiler house. Based upon close
inspection of this and other photographs, I believe the cribbing
on the right was part of a truck dump. |
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I could only find one
photograph that showed any ore chute details. According to
one of the elevation drawings, there were three chutes labeled
for "concentrate loading" on one side and two chutes labeled for
"ore loading" on the other. On the side with the two ore
chutes there was also a bin for unloading coal for shipment up
to the mine/milling complex. Several of the ore chutes,
doors, and the coal bin are shown to the right. They were
built up from styrene. Not much detail will be added to
these as they will mostly hidden from view in "the shadows". |
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As can be seen in the photo
at the right, the ore bins did not extend the full length of the
structure. The model wall was cut out of .0040 styrene and
covered it with pre-stained 1x12's. Windows openings
were cut for the appropriate Grandt Line windows. All that
remains to be done is to add the 1x3 battens, some trim and some
backside reinforcement to prevent warping.
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