Walthers Cornerstone HO Scale Concrete Coaling Tower Kit - 933-3042

Walthers Cornerstone HO Scale Concrete Coaling Tower Kit - 933-3042 creates a medium-size steam-locomotive fueling facility for an HO scale engine terminal, railroad yard, or mainline servicing point. The model includes a concrete storage tower, covered coal-unloading pit, machinery house, lifting equipment, and positionable delivery chutes serving two tracks. The completed tower and shed measure approximately 4-1/8 x 6-3/8 x 11" (10.5 x 16.2 x 27.9cm). Browse the complete Walthers Cornerstone model railroad buildings and structures collection for additional HO scale facilities.

Coaling towers were essential when steam locomotives handled most railroad traffic. Loaded hopper cars were spotted above a dump pit, where coal was unloaded and raised by machinery into the tower's storage bin. Gravity then moved the fuel through delivery chutes and into locomotive tenders waiting on the service tracks below.

Build an HO Scale Steam-Locomotive Coaling Facility

The Walthers Cornerstone Concrete Coaling Tower includes the major equipment and structural details needed to reproduce this operation:

• HO scale concrete coaling-tower kit
• Designed for steam-era engine terminals and mainline servicing points
• Medium-size tower suitable for layouts large or small
• Concrete construction representing later fire-resistant designs
• Serves two locomotive tracks
• Positionable coal-delivery chutes
• Covered coal-unloading pit
• Separate machinery house
• Detailed coal-lifting equipment
• Realistic concrete and steel surface details
• Decal signs included
• Parts molded in appropriate colors
• Easy-to-build plastic structure kit
• Tower and shed measure approximately 4-1/8 x 6-3/8 x 11" (10.5 x 16.2 x 27.9cm)

The two-track arrangement allows locomotives to be fueled on adjacent service tracks, creating activity around a roundhouse or yard. The movable chutes can be placed in raised or lowered positions to show different stages of the coaling process. Coal hoppers can be spotted at the covered unloading pit to supply the tower.

Concrete towers became common replacements for earlier wooden structures because they offered greater capacity and resistance to fire. Their massive construction also made them expensive and difficult to remove after steam operations ended. As a result, some remained standing long into the diesel era, often without their original machinery. This kit can therefore represent either an active steam facility or an abandoned railroad landmark.

Place the tower near water tanks, sand-handling equipment, ash facilities, inspection pits, and locomotive shops to create a more complete servicing sequence. Coal piles, workers, maintenance vehicles, pipes, lighting, and weathered track can add further operating and scenic detail.

Expand Your Walthers Cornerstone Engine Terminal

The Concrete Coaling Tower fits naturally with Walthers Cornerstone railroad structures when developing a steam-locomotive terminal or maintenance complex. Buildings from Walthers Cornerstone trackside structures can help complete the surrounding yard or division-point scene.

Additional structures for coal handling and other heavy operations can be selected from Walthers Cornerstone heavy-industry structures. Smaller components for detailing tracks, machinery areas, service roads, and the surrounding railroad property are available in Walthers Cornerstone accessories and details.

For assembling and customizing the Concrete Coaling Tower, browse Fusion Scale Hobbies' model railroad and hobby paint for concrete tones, steel finishes, coal dust, soot, rust, and weathering effects, along with model building glue and adhesives for structure assembly and added details.