Coal loading

[hereward]

Hi Doug, (again)
I am amazed that that expression is used in the US, I thought it was something you had picked up from a book. It was used here regularly in the 1950’s. Not sure what the modern equivalent would be; maybe “showing your granny how to suck eggs” or “telling a bald man a hair raising story.” Then perhaps they are old fashioned now.

 

[Doug Criner]

We also use the expression "welched," to describe that somebody backed out of an agreed-upon deal or bet. I learned in Wales that that expression in now very politically incorrect, perhaps even fighting words.

We won our independence from Britain, but maybe never forever.

 

[hereward]

Hi Doug,
Glad you told me about Welsh and welched, I had never connected the two, I could have been arrested by the thought police — ignorance is no defence. The Dutch were unpopular in England at one time, words like “double Dutch”, “Dutch courage”, “if that is so I’m a Dutchman” etc. were used disparagingly, I did know that.
Just thinking, I stumbled across some videos on YouTube of American trains moving along main streets of towns; I find that awe inspiring (really). Here all the tracks are fenced off, trains are kept separate from everything else. They are in the process of closing 500 level crossings across the country to extend this policy. It is an offence to trespass on the railway.
At the opening of the first inter-city railway (Liverpool to Manchester) a VIP, William Huskisson, was killed, maybe this was the reason for the caution. I can understand rural railways being unfenced because of the vast distances in America, but not the towns. Some of these town centres seem newly developed but the rails still haven’t been separated, I suppose it is just taken for granted in America.

 

[hereward]

I am reading a book of short stories by the author Arnold Bennett who was, coincidentally, like E.J. Smith born in Hanley; I came across this: “This was at Nagasaki. We were taking in a cargo of coal for Hong Kong. Hundreds of little Jap girls pass the coal from hand to hand over the ships side in tiny baskets that hold about a plateful. In that way you can get three thousand tons aboard in two days.” (Good job it is quiet on the forum with all this small talk)

 

[Bastian Busse]

How was transported the coal to the Titanic?
Was this done with wheelbarrows or did they have other ways to transport the coal?

 

[Kas01]

They used barges with loading chutes, these being loaded via unit coal trains. The trimmers would even it out once the coal was actually in the hull itself.

With ~6,000 tons of coal aboard, wheelbarrows just wouldn't cut the mustard.

 

[Tim Aldrich]

If you look along the hull near the water line, you'll see some square-ish doors which line up to each coal bunker, these are the coaling ports. The coaling port doors have a big bolt in the center (on the outside of the hull) which tightens down a strongback on the inside of the hull. The doors are sealed with gaskets. Near the top of the hull you will see some triangular shaped objects which are arms that swing out. A pulley is hung on these arms and a rope run through it. A scuttle (bucket) is attached to the rope. The scuttle is filled with coal and then pulled up to the coaling ports, coal is dumped in. Repeat until the bunker is full. It took a very, very long time to refuel those big ships.

Once the coal was in the bunkers it would be taken by trimmers from doors at the bottom of each bunker and moved via wheel barrow to whichever firemen needed more coal. Trimmers would also break up the larger chunks into more manageable sizes.