jst3751 Wrote:
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> There is an inherent design flaw in an articulated trough car set:
>
> Since a trough car set can not be rotary dumped, it must be bottom dumped through the
> gates. You would position the first unit over the grates and open the gates to dump.
> Then close those gates and move up to the next unit and open the gates to
> dump. But this is where the problem comes in. Since there is no wall between the first
> and second unit, when the second unit is dumped, during that process, some of the coal
> as it starts to flow will flow back into the first unit.
...
> Bottom dump unloading takes 3-5 times as long as rotary dump.


If the length of the bottom dump unloading pit is only one car length, then a bottom dump trough train could have that issue. The solution is to just make the pit longer than one railcar. Make the pit length designed to stretch over multiple railcars at once, and don't close the bottom dump doors until that door is about to exit the pit area.

Quote:

PacMetal
Train speed is based on the number of vibrating platforms used, the trestle’s length and the type of rail cars to unload. Test results for a slow-moving train on two and four platform systems showed a doubling of unloading speed when four platforms were used. When dealing with compacted, frozen or otherwise troublesome materials, spotting the car over two platforms might be necessary. Pump units provide hydraulic power to multiple platforms and can also run bin vibrators and hydraulic flow control gates, as well.
[pacmetalfab.com]

Quote:

PacMetal
Vibrating the rail car at the specific frequency that will loosen the packed material, the vibrating rail platform allows any material to be disgorged effectively. In cases where the material is frozen or wet, you might have to spot the rail car over the platform to maximize the effect. An 80 car train with bottom dump rail cars (holding 85 tons of pit run material per car) can be unloaded in an hour and a half.
[pacmetalfab.com]