hopper door operation

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As nearly as I can make out from pictures, there was a section of angle
that spanned each pair of hopper doors.  The doors were held in the closed
position by latches affixed to the outer sides of the hopper walls that
held the angle.  My question is how these latches were released when it was
desired to discharge the coal.  I see no evidence that the latches were
connected from one side to the other, but it seems that if only one side
were released, the weight of coal trying to push that door open might put
considerable stress on the connecting angle?  Was the operation of these
latches performed by men with pry bars moving them off of the angle?  For
multi-bay hoppers, how would only opening a subset of the doors affect the
coal discharge?  I've seen lots of footage of rotary dumpers in action, but
the plain ole opening of bay doors seems to have escaped me.  Does anyone
know of any video showing this operation?
Thanks,
Jim Cochran
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