Steve, initially you have not mentioned what area you are modeling. I used the Walther's n-scale structure on my layout; however I model central Illinois where there are coal mines. Illinois has had coal mines of various types for many years; most now abandon. I found one in photos that is in flat terrain, thus used it as a guide to how I would attempted to configure my set up. As far as I could determine, one gains realism in the mine scene by having enough track behind the loading area for empty cars that are waiting to be filled with coal. It helps to have some loaded hoppers on another siding and possibly empty hoppers on yet another siding. The idea in the old MR article on their Clinchfield layout was to have a mine and power plant linked by tracks under a hill/mountain, thus full loads of coal could be delivered to the power plant and pushed back to the mine under the hill. Empties could be hauled from the power plant back to the mine for refilling.
I believe Papa said that 150-200 worked at Capito so for 3 shifts that would be around 50-70 men per shift. Of course, some would be in the mine and others at the tipple.
N-Scale Model Railroading and Coal mining are two of my modeling/interest points. Later this summer, we are planning a trip to Pittsburgh PA and central PA area to do some touring and mine museum visits. POINT OF NOTE: If you are going to do this type of trip, make sure it is NOT all about mining, railroads, model trains/layouts. This is to keep the Wife happy. Go to some of the places she wants to see. I digress from the subject line. For more information about COALFIELDS OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS go to: http://www.coalcampusa.com/for a lot of information. There are many more websites, but this is one of the better ones. Also check Coal Mining on YOUTUBE. You can GOOGLE Coal Mines/mining also. Put a search line with the state you are interested about. ie: coal mining in Indiana and get access to a lot of State Interior Department maps. This will work on almost all states that have or ever had coal mines. There are several good books with information about Railroads and Coal Mining. One book stands out(if you can find it) Burlington Route Historical Society's BURLINGTON BULLETIN #35, The Q in the Coal fields. This book has information about CB & Q's Illinois Coal field trackage, mines (lots of mine images!), people, engines, rolling stock etc etc. Two other things that always bothers me about coal mines on layouts: 1) Coal mines NEVER had just a building with an "tube" going into a hill side. There had to be a way for men and equipment to enter and exit the mine portal. 2) Coal mines are DIRTY. You will see a modeled mine with nice CLEAN BALLAST and buildings. NEVER SEEN A PROTOTYPE MINE LIKE THIS! The Coal dust gets EVERYWHERE, there is always spilled coal and dust around the car loading area, and for that matter the whole mining area. NOBODY cleans up, anywhere!
Porkypine 52, that is a treasure trove for the western PA area and it's home to me. My business was located literally 100 yards up from the coal tipple pictured in the Coverdale section. I was located there for twenty some years. That is an industrial park now but there are several original mine buildings still in use today, also pictured. One of them was my employer in the 1970's. Then there was Mollenauer, Horning, Mine 3, Mathies Mine, etc. All haunts from another day. Most of those mining towns are intact at some level and recognizable as company towns but little remains that tells that they were coal towns except for the abundance of slack piles in the vicinity of each of them. That's an especially good source for company housing and town flavor.
