Hi
Did the US railroads have dedicated loco coal cars IE there only reason to exist was to move coal from the supplier to loco depots to fuel the locos.
They would presumably be marked XYZ RR LOCO COAL or something similar
Or is this a thing peculiar to the UK.
regards John
In general, the US railroads used standard coal hoppers to bring in loco coal. The coal itself was likely ordered mixed special to the road's specs, but that would have been done at the prep plant before being shipped to the loco terminals. Now, you did often seen dedicated covered hoppers used for hauling locomotive sand. This was to make sure only the finest sand was used, with no contamination from larger materials that could clog the sanding pipes.