Short loads

[NW Mailing List]

Paul,

To add to Chris's reply, in broad terms, "shorts" can be any car or 
block of cars routed to a near destination (on a "short" route), as 
opposed to cars with longer, typically through, routing. In the 
coalfields fifty or more years ago, "short loads" were the relatively 
few loads that made intra-division moves or if farther west, points 
short of Portsmouth or east, short of Roanoke (e.g., in the "Short" Run 
from Bluefield to Radford).

Not all tipples cleaned their coal, so those that did not, shipped their 
run-of-mine (ROM or "raw" coal) to the few tipples that had facilities 
to unload a car. The coal would then be processed and reloaded. An 
extreme example, the USS prep plant at Gary (Alpheus) featured a rotary 
dumper to handle the tremendous number of raw loads from the USS tipples 
farther up the Tug Fork Branch.

In the case of Maitland, they shipped their raw coal (in three to four 
different moves) east to Bluestone, up the Bluestone Branch thence up 
Crane Creek for processing. I don't know the exact timing, but their 
loads were later routed to Pageton, which had already been processing 
short loads from nearby tipples. I'm guessing Consol, the owner of all 
these operations by this time, thought it best to consolidate processing 
at their last working mine/prep plant in the area at Jenkinjones--this, 
despite the lack of unloading facilities and the severe grades on the 
way up. So in the seventies, they added a shakeout and the railroad 
agreed (?!) to haul the short loads up there.

Speaking of shakeouts, if the car could not be completely unloaded of 
raw coal for reloading with clean, usually due to a lack of thawing, the 
car was "short-tagged" and run back around for another go.

Short loads also included cars tagged for storage. These short loads 
were moved from a tipple to the nearest storage location on the railroad 
for forwarding later. This avoided tipples from being "blocked off" with 
unsold coal.

Short loads of local coal (stove/retail) were blocked separately for 
weighing and billing at Bluefield and Williamson. Short loads of Company 
coal moved to coaling stations.

In a consist, shorts rode on the head end for easy set off and pick up. 
A notable freight example were eastbound refrigerator cars for the 
packing houses in Northfork. Normally on 84, if they missed its 
departure at Williamson, the next eastbound got the privilege (and the 
pay). Called "Second" 84, where else could one observe a couple of cold 
cars on the head end of a "hot" coal train?

Chris, sorry for not just adding to, but piling on. Great questions--as 
always, edits welcome.

Grant Carpenter

On 4/21/2021 3:02 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:
> Paul,
>
> “Short Loads” is term that has been used less frequently over the last 25 years.  Short loads are also referred to as “Raw Coal”.  It is coal that has not been cleaned adequately of rock or other impurities to be delivered directly to the consuming consumer.  So, if the mine location didn’t have adequate cleaning facilities the loads would be moved to a more extensive “cleaning plant” for processing.  Hope this answers your question.
>
> Cheers,
> Chris Dalton
> Bluefield, WV
On 4/21/2021 10:06 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:
>
> I see a reference to “inbound short loads” to coal tipples in Grant 
> Carpenter’s email below. What exactly was a “short load” and why would 
> it be inbound to a coal tipple ?
>
> Paul Mandelkern
>
> Winter Park, FL
>
> *From:* NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> *On Behalf 
> Of *NW Mailing List
> *Sent:* Monday, April 19, 2021 11:06 PM
> *To:* nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
> *Subject:* Jenkinjones
>
> Mr. Lewis,
>
> Depending on the time frame, Jenkinjones could include three tipples: 
> Pocahontas Nos. 6, 7 and 8, and each with its own switchback. Nos. 6 
> and 7 shared the same tail track, the end of the branch line that ran 
> south up the east side of the hollow. No. 6 was higher up on the east 
> side and No. 7 was on the west side, across the hollow from the 
> company store. No. 8 was about a mile back down the hollow where 
> Ballard Harmon Spur split off. The spur crossed the hollow on an 
> impressive timber trestle and headed up Ballard Harmon Branch (the 
> creek) to a switchback thence back towards the hollow and the tipple.
>
> Operation was unique and after the war, No. 6 was gone, but 7 and 8 
> were quite productive. Third Tug, aka The Anawalt Mine Run, worked up 
> the North Fork of the Tug Fork with two engines--a Class Y3 on the 
> head end and a Class Z1b on the rear. With empties between them, they 
> stopped at Yantic Junction and the Ballard Harmon Spur, cut their 
> train in two, the head end continued on to No. 7 and the rear-end crew 
> threw the switch and shoved over the trestle (the reason for the 
> lighter engine) to deliver No. 8. On their way up, the head-end crew 
> would drop the LCL box car in the vicinity of the station and company 
> store to be picked up on the way back down.
>
> When finished, both crews would ease loads down to the junction and 
> reassemble with the Class Z1b on the downhill end. They backed down to 
> Anawalt, turned the train on the wye and proceeded forward towards 
> Wilcoe Yard. There were no inbound short loads to No. 7 at this time 
> and most outbound loads were Tidewater steam coal. Hauling short loads 
> of raw coal started in the 1970s from Maitland and off Dry Fork when 
> first Crane Creek (off Bluestone Branch) and then Pageton (below 
> Jenkinjones) closed. No. 8 closed in the 50s and No. 7 lasted into the 
> 1980s.
>
> For more details, check out Alex Schust's and Mason Cooper's /Tug Fork 
> /volume in the NWHS N&W Branch Line series.
>
> Grant Carpenter
>
> On 4/18/2021 1:16 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:
>
>     Am I correct that there was a switchback to get to Jenkin Jones?  Is there a detailed description of how the N&W operated there?  How many cars would fit on the switchback lead?  Lastly where was the tipple in relation to the company store?  I’ve see pictures with a track on the left (up hill) side of the building.
>
>     Thanks in advance.
>
>     Tom Lewis
>

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