How was locomotive sand delivered to the overhead sand towers? Was there a elevator leg or was it dropped in an underground vault between the rails and pumped pneumatically up to the towers? I do not see it in the photos or I am missing it!
John, I don't know with 100% certainty, but I think most sanding towers used compressed air to move the sand from the storage area. Anyone have a good photo of the Lindenwood facility? I'm wondering if the sand was stored in its own bin, or if it were simply pulled from an adjacent covered hopper. Best Regards,
Chris, In my younger days, 45 years plus or minus, my friend and I rode our bikes down to the Lindenwood Yard to watch the trains roll in and switching moves. We stood by the tower on the Arsenal Street overpass, so we could see the sanding towers but nothing that looked like a sand house or bins to store sand. This leaves me to theorize that the sand was pumped from a hopper car or it was dumped into an underground vault between the rails and pumped to the towers. So based on this theory I'm going to model it by the pumping method! By the way, my friend and I still ride bikes but not down to the yard. It is not what it used to be.
It's been a while, but I believe Lindenwood had above ground sand storage that was located near the in-bound roundhouse lead and storeroom. I think that a conveyor belt moved to the sand from the cars to the storage "tank", where the sand would have been dried before being delivered via compressed air to the sanding facilities.
Karl, This sounds like an interesting set-up. For a modeler, I think this would make an interesting scene, not to mention that it would give a reason to move an MTY out and a load of sand in for every few operating sessions. Thanks very much for the information. Best Regards,
All of you are correct in a way. The sand came via covered hopper cars that were placed over a funnel between the tracks. A conveyor belt with cups moved the bulk sand into the storage tower. Once there, it was blown by compressed air over to the Service Track sand tower to pour into the locomotives. The locomotives would be spotted under the sand tower spout by the hostlers. Locomotives were then sanded by the hostler helpers before being brought into the locomotive shop to complete the servicing. At several other sanding facilities across the system sand went straight from the hopper car to be blown into the locomotive sand boxes.
