90-year-old coal tower with wagon lift still operating in the US
A coal transfer facility in the United States, built roughly 90 years ago, continues to operate using a mechanism that lifts and tips railway wagons to unload coal into ships or tall storage towers. The system's original working principle has remained unchanged since construction.
A coal-handling facility in the United States that is approximately 90 years old remains in active use, relying on a distinctive mechanism that lifts and tips loaded railway wagons to release their cargo.
How the system works
A railway wagon carrying coal is pushed onto a dedicated platform. The platform then lifts the wagon and tips it, allowing the coal to fall into a receiving hopper below. From there, a conveyor belt carries the coal onward — either directly into a ship's cargo hold for loading, or up to storage towers roughly 60 meters tall.
A design built to last
This type of wagon-tipping infrastructure was once a common solution in the coal industry and at port facilities, allowing large volumes of material to be transferred quickly from rail transport to ships or storage with minimal manual labor. The facility in question has continued performing its original function for nine decades since it was built, illustrating the durability and practical efficiency of the engineering behind it.
The operation of the system has also been documented on video, showing the full process from the wagon being pushed onto the platform to the coal reaching the conveyor belt.
