New Loads for Michael Stephan's Wooden Gondolas

[harryadkins]

I just uploaded a set of sugar beet and cinder loads for Michael Stephan's freeware 30 & 40 ft wooden gondolas. I use the sugar beet load for October shipments on the Cimarron & Pacific. The cinder loads are also for the C&P. Hope you enjoy them.

[gwgardner]

Awesome, thanks.

Now the cinder loads, please explain the use and market for those. Are they for track ballast?

Also, I guess I should wait till I see the readme, but I'm wondering how to load/unload them - does it have to be done through the scenario editor?

[harryadkins]

The cinder loads on the D&RGW narrow gauge were used mainly as fill. Often a work train would be sent to a particular area that was prone to washouts to unload the cinders. I'm not sure what other uses they had. Every steam-era railroad had some method for cleaning ash/cinders and disposing of them. More on this later, my wife wants me to help with a project.

[gwgardner]

Oh, I was thinking cinders as in those mined out of volcanic/lava outcroppings. So these cinders you're referring to are a waste byproduct of coal, taken out of the ashpit. Sweet.

Yeah, on the Cimarron and Pacific, one destination for those cinders is the Baldy Branch, where there's a lot of work going on to ballast the track - it hasn't been a priority of C&P management frankly, because they are not sure how long-lived the boom up on Baldy will last.

[gwgardner]

Did you design these loads to be used with any particular loader/unloader, for instance a gravel or sand loader?

[harryadkins]

No, I didn't design them with a loader in mind.