I Like It!

It looks at home to me.

It depends.....

If the crane is for unloading equipment then it looks great, great modeling anyway......

But if this is the delivery tracks for coal, then it would need a pit under the cars and a conveyor to move the coal to the storage area. Most plants had a unloading house, where the coal was dumped out of the bottom into a pit, then conveyored up to storage OR a rotary dump into the pit.

Most plants had storage areas, and they keep a supply in case the trains get delayed or some event prevents delivery. That amount of backup would depend on the size of the plant and the consuption rate.

Great looking models, I hope I answered your question.

Depends

OK

Im with you now John.....

Great looking modeling!

Maintenance is a constant issue so Im sure that crane will stay busy.

Here's a thought

First of all, I like the crane, and it looks right to me.  What about paving the area around the tracks?  That way you could get a truck in there wherever the car might be.

Good thought...

Good idea Ken.

John

It looks like

it belongs there, to my eye. Perfect complement to the location.

+1 more for I like it

If I had to change anything, and I wouldn't, a little more black around the footings if there is coal being unloaded in the area.  Again, I would do a thing to it, but I had to look for something, that would be it

Steve

+ 1

Steve, good point. I'm not finished with the scene but I will add evidence of coal unloading at the plant.

Thanks John

Power plant crane.

Power plants would often have the crane inside so that generators and turbines could be assembled and serviced in place... but I am more familiar with western hydro plants.  Transformer switch yards are another location for heavy equipment.  Again, not familiar with location of transformers in eastern cities that have underground electric distribution.

So, it is a great scene, and perhaps a few transformers sitting under the crane would round out the scene and emphasize the power plant detail.  Seems like transformers are a popular load for heavy duty flatcars.  There might be some suitable parts in the Walthers Northern Electric power plant interior kit.

Power plant thoughts

How does the plant move the cars around?  Do they have an engine, car mover, or car puller with rope/cable?  I would figure the unloading would happen inside the building, warming area for the winter.  Coal does freeze into the cars, and getting it out can be an issue.  The plant looks older, so a pit of some sort would be in order, no rotary dumping going on here.  How many pits?  One on each track, or the ability to unload two cars at a time? 

Cars would need to move from a loaded car area, over the pit for dumping, then to an unloaded car area. 

If a crane load shows up, one of the tracks would be needed to set the car out for unloading, thereby making that track unable to hold coal cars in that area. 

For the crane area, pave over one or both tracks, so that a truck can get under the crane and take the loads to a staging area.  Not much room under the crane to store things. Various supplies could arrive: smaller transformers, wire spools, etc. 

The crane itself looks great,

The crane itself looks great, but I would not place it in front of the coal unloading facility.

It makes the area a little overloaded.

And as stated already, I would level the track and the adjoining road, at least the track on the right side.

Doesn't look right to me.

To me at least it does not look right.  The power plant would only occasionaly get equipment in that would need to be unloaded. The overhead bridge crane that you installed would be more for higher volume unloading.  A bridge crane is also used for picking up items then moving down the length of the system.  It is too elaborate of a system for unloading an occasional freight car.

-Tom

Well, you asked for opinions- - -

And my opinion is that you're an excellent modeler!  All the buildings look really nice.

About the crane, I agree that it looks somewhat too "heavy-duty" for it's location.  I suppose that being a power plant, if it's for municipal electrical generation then I could assume they have a large budget to put in a crane like this at that spot.  But if it's an industrial power plant, either for generating their own electricity, or for supplying steam to the factory, then, if you're considering a more plausible setting, perhaps a smaller crane would be better.  An overhead crane that is on it's own ground-level rails.  Maybe like Walthers p/n 770-5624, except with wheels on the bottom.  The trolley rails up above allow servicing both tracks below, and the entire structure rolls parallel to the train tracks when needed, to be positioned over the load.  The rails would be embedded at grade level for ease of vehicle traffic.  These would be less expensive to install and maintain than the full-fledged stationary gantry. 

Well, that's just my opinion......

All in all, though, it's whatever you like.  It's a hobby, not a job!

Power plant thoughts...

The crane itself...

Well you asked...

crane at power plant.

Yes! It must be available to bring in machinery for installation or to take out for overhaul or replacement of boilers, turbines, transformers, etc. It also adds to the detail of the installation, too! Kudos for a neat scene. John Colley, Port Townsend, WA

crane at power plant...

Thanks for your input and thanks for the compliment on the scene.

John

My two cents

I like the look of it, and as it's already been said by others, you are a very good modeler! But it would seem to me that if these are the tracks were coal cars are being unloaded, they would be too busy to stop their traffic to unload materials from a flat car. Either coal cars would be in the way, or the equipment cars would be in the way of unloading coal. I would think that in a real setting, they would have a whole separate track for unloading equipment near the maintenance area.

But with that said, this is model railroading, not reality. And in many cases we are condensing the scene. We cannot model the whole railroad at scale, or it would take up about 5 acres. So some compression is needed to get all of the details we want into a scene and make the railroad fun to operate. So with that fact in mind, I say it looks fine and I wouldn't change a thing! This is YOUR little world! You tell me if it's right!

Russell's two cents....

Russell thanks for your input as well. I just don't have room for another track in the area however, maybe if I....I'll get back to you on this idea.

John

...

I see no reason why these tracks would not be used between unloading jobs, especially since there's two bays to dump from.  Places like this need equipment too, and I'd bet there'd be a second crane on the inner building.  Paving the surface may be a nice move, though.

I think it's nice as it is.

Thanks Benny...

I have taken that suggestion, paving over the track, to heart. Some of the other posters have made that same suggestion, I started that process yesterday. I will post some updated pictures later this week.

John

Some heavy industrial

Some heavy industrial industries have their own turbines on site and create their own power, In some situations the unused power is fed back into the Hydro grid.

I have been on site at a few industrial sites and have seen these for myself. So you not only have Electrical substations on site, you have turbine sites as well. These sites have heavy concrete footings and slabs to ensure the turbines are stable.