Hi Chris,
I think any automated loading is far from simple! Whilst I'm really only at the homework stage, it's a fascinating area, made somewhat harder by the lack of clear info on them so far. I think it may be time to buy the book, though I don't know what sort of areas it covers?
For the loading aspect, my thoughts on using an auger to meter out the material was to give a little more control. Loading HAAs I thought that a speed control profile would allow for that last bit as it fills the final portion might help. For detail, I might add some slightly more cosmetic doors but do the actual flow regulatioj with the auger inside the bunker.
I looked at the IRDOT boards and wondered about those but was also considering RFID to avoid trying to fill the loco perhaps!
I can well imagine that finding a suitable coal substitute material a real challenge! The prototypical fine pulverised coal would be very fine dust and a nightmare! I used to have a quantity of fine black rutile sand which I used in my youth for making roads on my layout. This looks good, but is very dense and I doubt a loco would be able to haul a decent rake of hoppers with this stuff in!?
As I also intend to run some of the old Hornby (R.232/R.732) trap-door hoppers I have to consider a material that won't fall though the gaps in the doors! I might model a small steelworks too perhaps, then I can use a larger "ore" and get away with it wit those.
I'm going to lash up an auger system anyhow and see just how it behaves and what materials it can handle too...
The conveyor is a bit hair-brained again, prompted by seeing the nasty plastic overscale (discontinued) Hornby devices and the high prices they seem to command on the *bay. A prototype conveyor is very dished in section, which I think will be very tricky to obtain in scale somehow.
I was toying with using miniature toothed belts too, but I think the material will just fall off the sides! Bycycle inner tube material perhaps, hmm, maybe?
Then I was back to the Auger concept, but that would mean all covered conveyor ways, though for my mid-seventies layout that probably would be OK.
Having done some more research on signalling, I'm looking to build some "Toton" indicators to include along the Rapid Loader line too. There seems to be very little info on these creep indicators that I've found so far.
I'd be most interested to see any plans of the real thing for sure, I did have a trawl about but not to any avail.
My next brain teaser is how to model the parabolic curve of powerstation cooling towers.... ;-)
TTFN,
Ben (not sleeping, but thinking of layout plans at 01:40am)
