Coal drop rails

[Knutknut]

Hi, how does anyone fix rails across the open section above a coal drop.  On the prototype, there would be longitudinal timber with the chairs on.  Can I use peco flexitrack for the job?

[The Johnster]

Do you mean an ash pit?  For this or an inspection pit, cut the rectangular hole in the baseboard and lay the flexitrack over the top of it, keeping everything dead straight and the track central over and in line with the pit.  Then, cut the sleepers away where they span the pit.  You will be left with what look like wood block sleepers; fill in between the sleepers to the sleeper top level between the inside and outside ends and you have your longitudinal baulk timber with the chairs on.   In the case of inspection pits inside shed buildings, the chairs are invisible underneath the concrete flooring.  

[Adrian Stevenson]

Here is my work in progress in O gauge. Done as described above but built around a laser cut kit.

 

Cheers, Ade.

[Nick Holliday]

There have been a couple of threads on modelling NER coal drops which might be worth reading.

 

[Fat Controller]

I'd go for individual chairs on longitudinal beams, without sleepers. Have a look at some of the views on here:-

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/albums/72157667452889327

These drops were still in use in the mid-1980s, when we used to visit the Agricultural Merchants adjacent to them.