The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1915-11-02
EXPORT COAL TERMINAL
OF Southern Railway at Charleston
Cost Over Half Million-Equal
That of Any Port.

Charleston, Oct. 30.-Sou -hern rail-
ways export coal terminal, recently
completed at Charleston at a cost of
approximately $6OO,OOO, gives Charles
ton facilities which will enable it to
compete on an equal basis. with any
other port on the Atlantic seaboard
for traffic in coal for carriage over
seas and is therefore an improvement
Of great interest and importance not
only to Charleston, but as we'll to the
entire southeastern territory, particu-
larly the coal producing sections. Coal
can now be loaded into ships at Char
!eston as rapidly and as cheaply as at
any other American port and freight
rates have been so adjusted that coal
operators shipping through Charleston
will be on parity with producers ex-
porting through Norfolk.
lIhe terminal embodies the most
modern ideas for facilities of this
character. Coal is dumped from cars
by turning them bottom upwards AMI
falls into a hopper from which it is
fed into the holds of ships by belt
conveyor and a teleschope chute which
not only make very rapid handling pos
sible but eliminate to a great degree
the breakage which results when coal
is dumped into ships by gravity from
elevated pockets.
The coal handling machinery con-
sists of a car bumper and a~loading
tower, both of which are operated en-
tirely by electricity. They are located
on steel and concrete pier, 375 feet
in length, fronting on water 30 feet
deep at mean low tide The pier is
connected with the mainland by Gre
osoted trestle, $500 feet long.
Cars are pushed into the bumper by
a switch engine. When power IS ap-
piled, the car is automatically clamped
and turned-body, trucks and the Sec
ton of track upon which it stands-to
such an angle that the coal pours into
the hopper. When the car is empty
the bumper returns to its normal po-
sitions. As another loaded car is
showed into the bumper it pushes out
the empty, which then runs to the end
of the pier and by means of "kick
back" is returned automatically to the
storage track.
The loading tower consists Of the
hopper into which coal is dumped
from cars, the belt conveyor and the
telescope chute by means of which
coal can be delivered to any part Of a
ship. thus eliminating trimming" %
a great extent.
Both the car bumper and the load
ing tower are movable and can be
shifted to serve different matches, so
that when ship is once tied up at
the pier it is unnecessary to move it
until full cargo has been received.
The capacity of the plant is from
1000 to 1000 tons per hour. A car can
be unloaded in about two minutes and
the plant will handle cars up to 100
tons capacity, though for the present
so ton cars will be the heaviest sent
to it. The plant can handle in one
day as much coal as was exported
through Charleston in the entire year
1913.
The terminal is complete in itself,
but should business beyond its capaci-
ty develop. provision has been made
for the addition of similar units.
In connection with the coal pier, a
storage yard Of 400 cars capacity has
been constructed at Charleston and ad-
ditional passing track facilities have
been provided on the lines leading from
the coal fields.