A large trackside structure, often a towering concrete or wooden elevator, designed to store and dispense coal into the tenders of steam locomotives. Locomotives would spot underneath gravity-fed chutes, allowing hostlers to fill the tenders quickly during servicing stops.
Heard on the job
The old concrete coaling plant still stands over the main line, even though steam vanished fifty years ago.
Also heard as
- coaling tower
Do not mix it up with
- Tipple: A tipple loads coal into freight cars at a mine, while a coaling plant loads coal into a locomotive's tender for fuel.