[PRR-talk] How many shovels of iron ore does it take to fill an H-21?

[robert netzlof]

--- "Drye, John" <jdrye at spa.com> wrote:

> I'm planning an iron ore train for my 1956-era N scale PRR. The
> idea is
> to replace the Bowser H-21 coal loads with the appropriate amount
> of
> iron ore and add some interior detail above the load.

A Google search for "density iron ore" turned up a site in the UK:

http://www.simetric.co.uk/si_materials.htm

They list the density, in kilograms per cubic meter, of a number of
materials, saying "...the data are useful for designing storage or
transport facilities..." but caution that particular samples may
deviate from their figures.

Antracite coal, broken 1105
Bituminous coal, broken 833
Iron ore, crushed 2100 to 2900

The densest iron ore weighs about 3.5 times the weight of the same
volume of bituminous coal.

Looking more directly at your question, assume that a hopper car
heaped full of bituminous coal is at its weight capacity. Then that
car can carry only 2/7 that volume of iron ore. 2/7 = 0.286

Figuring on the basis of the least dense ore, the car could be loaded
to 2/5 = .4 of "full".

Recalling the few times I was able to see into a loaded hopper
carrying ore, the ore was in two heaps at the ends of the car.
Naturally, the heaps sloped down toward the center of the car and met there.

Bob Netzlof a/k/a Sweet Old Bob



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