Coal Tippler & Crusher House
SUMMARY
The railway line is located at the back of the remaining coal stack paved area and a few signs of its existence still remains. Trains would deliver coal from Collie and tip their load into a rotary tippler, emptying the coal into a hopper underneath. It would then be moved to the top of the crushing house where the coal passed over screens to separate the small pieces of coal from the bigger ones.
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Inclined conveyor belts fed from the crusher moved the coal to the Boiler House.
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Coal was stockpiled in a large yard, which was capable of storing 25,000 tones at any time, with piles higher than the Power Station on the east side where it was contained by the perimeter wall.
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A major fire in the coal conveyor from the crusher house resulted in structural damage and a change over to oil fuel for the boilers until the mid 1970's, until its closure in 1985.
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The coal handling crusher plant and associated equipment have since been removed.
All that remains in this vicinity is what can be seen in the below photos, much to the surprise of many visitors to the power station including the most-seasoned people of all. A thick woody forest of uninviting trees protects the remains from view like a sentry. Despite being more dead than a dodo.
DELIVERING THE COAL
When the train arrived from the Collie mine site with its load of coal, it was emptied very quickly with the tippler, which empties the wagons (also known as trucks in historic references) by tipping it upside down over a pit.
Because the coal is in very small pieces, the wagons are easy to empty. The crushers located in the building at the end of the line of rail cars, will crush the coal to an even finer size.
Photo of the South Fremantle Power Station crusher house
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THE CRUSHER HOUSE
The coal is then moved to the top of the crushing house in skips. A supply of coal is stored at the power station in case of an unexpected interruption to the normal coal supplies.
Photo of a coal skip bin in Collie
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The coal passes over a screen, separating small pieces from the bigger ones, before being fed through the crusher to inclined conveyor belts connected to the boiler house.
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A magnetic device is used to collect scrap iron that is often present in the coal, preventing it from entering the bunkers, when the conveyor belt distributes the coal to the bunkers.
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