Coal operations: Prep Plant Part Three

 We have discussed the prep plant before. While 1952 is not too early for a prep plant, it does fall out of its “Golden era”. That’s okay. My prep plant will be on a branch within yard limits from Pettigrew Yard. The branch itself will Wye just past the Plant into two separate coal branch sud-divisions: Line Fork and Kyle’s Ford. The idea behind the model prep plant is it’s a source of coal loads, with-in yard limits that can feed Pettigrew. 

Should the crewman who operates the prep plant have the ability to bill the coal loads and pull the removable loads out of and then into coal hoppers? Does it make sense to even do that process?

The basic function of the prep plant is for dirty coal to come in one side, and clean coal go out the other, it’s the fire drill with the hoppers I think isn’t worth it. 

If I stage the prep plant at the start of the session with about fifty car-loads of clean coal, and we let the plant job switch all that, and bring it to Pettigrew, wouldn’t that be enough? Could that guy then go out on another mine run or run a loaded coal train?

The more I look at this the less I like the idea of this prep plant. 

Maybe if I move it out side of the Pettigrew doughnut , and just have the staging yards feed Pettigrew coal trains.

Damn!

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