My shortline railroad has a mythical history, to lend method to its madness. That history says it is owned by Brannem Fuel and Forest, a coal mining and
lumber company, that had barely begun laying rail when first gold and then silver were found further west, and it had an incentive to build, and build farther than planned. BF&F mines coal, cuts timber, mostly for ties and mine props, but operates the railroad, with a long branch reaching into the mountains and a wheat branch that reaches a short distance into the prairie. There are three kinds of common commercial coal facilities: bunker, silo, and covered trestle. This is a combination of all three, which takes up slightly less
space than each of the three would. My other bunker, a wooden one, does double duty...it loads trucks underneath and fuels locos along side.
