Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, Coaling Station, Astride tracks west end Thurmond Yards, Thurmond, Fayette County, WV

Significance: The station was equipped with type UL undercut gates with hooded aprons. The coaling aprons were properly counterweighted and had heavy hoods for deflecting the coal directly into the tender. The aprons were also pivoted providing 7 1/2 feet of lateral movement, allowing the coaling of a large locomotive at one spotting. The cut-off gate was also pivoted and closed by gravity. This system was arranged to be operated from the locomotive tender only. It was necessary to supply the locomotives with sand, and a reinforced concrete sand plant was installed in connection with the coaling chute. Wet sand from incoming cars was unloaded into a track hopper and fed to a storage bin. Hand operated valves released the sand to a dryer, after which it passed over a screen and into a drum. The clean dry sand was then forced into small bins located at monitor level by compressed air. Standard telescoping sand fixtures permitted the necessary discharge of sand. The reinforced concrete coaling station was designed by Fairbanks, Morse and Company, of Chicago.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-26
Survey number: HAER WV-42-C
Building/structure dates: 1922 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1960