Hopper-Train

mining equipment for the transporting and unloading (rarely for loading) of mined materials.

A hopper-train consists of hinge-jointed monoaxial narrow-gauge sections with high sides. The sections form a continuous bin trough, along the bottom of which runs a flexible scraper or apron conveyer that is used to distribute the mined materials along the entire length of the hopper-train during its loading and subsequent unloading.

In addition to the conveyer types, hopper-trains are also built with filling and unloading scrapers, vibrating sections, dumping bottoms, and so on. Hopper-trains have capacities of 20 to 40 cu m or more. The hopper-trains are usually hauled by mine locomotives. A self-propelled hopper-train, called a loading-transport unit, is equipped with an operating device for loading the mined material.

The hopper-train eliminates the laborious operations associated with the loading of separate cars at loading and interchange points in the mine shaft and also provides efficient utilization of the train’s carrying capacity. Hopper-trains are used for transporting rock during underground mining and tunneling, conveying minerals from faces, and transporting secondary materials (such as ballast and flushing materials).