1968 Lorain Part 4

Here are a few photos from the booklet that should look familiar to every Lorainite. They are a view of the Port of Lorain showing the B&O Coal Loading Dock as well as a photo of one of the coal cars after being dumped. (Click on each for a larger view – sorry that they are photocopies!)

Older residents of Lorain remember well how the whole thing worked. Each car containing coal would be lifted, emptied into some kind of hopper and then lowered by gravity via tracks.

It used to be pretty interesting watching each car roll down after being dumped, swoop upward on the curved 'roller coaster' type inclined track, gradually slow down and then join the other empty cars. We always wondered if the cars would go flying off the end of the track into the lake – but they never did. I guess we were too young to understand physics.