The Design of a Gravity Plane Lowering Drum

In mountain regions such as the Appalachian range in the East and the Rocky Mountain range in the West the problem of lower coal from high upon the mountain, from which it is mind, to the railway lines many feet below, presents itself to the engineer.

First, the coal may be transported out of the mine by electric trolley in trains and deposited in a large bin at the top of the mountain. From this bin it is chuted into "monitor" cars which have a capacity equal to that of several of the ordinary type mine cars. These monitors may be lowered by gravity and hoisted by motor or use may be made of the all-gravity principle which will be described later.

Second, the coal may be lowered in trains of four to six cars directly as they come from the mine. The same principles may be used as stated in the first case. Since the coal which is to be lowered possesses potential energy due to its position with reference to the railroad car into which it is loaded, it is possible by means of a spool or gravity drum to solve the problem very efficiently.

This thesis is a design of a gravity plane lowering drum which operates in the follow way: A train of cars or monitor as the case may be is loaded at the top of the incline. A rope is wound around the drum and connected to a train of empty cars on an empty monitor at the foot of the incline. The brake on the drum is released and the loaded car runs on a track to the foot of the incline drawing the empty cars up to be loaded. When the coal has been loaded into a railroad car and the next trip of loaded cars is in position at the top the process is repeated.