Wort des Tages
25 May 2026
coaling tower
nounBahntechnik
A tall structure formerly used to supply coal to steam locomotives.
Warum dieses Wort
Height was the whole point: coal was hoisted once, then gravity did the loading in a couple of minutes rather than a crew shovelling. Many outlived the locomotives they fed, because demolishing reinforced concrete cost more than leaving it standing.
In use
You can still see the old coaling tower from the yard office; nobody has fuelled anything off it since before I started here.
Written by our editors to show how the term is used, not a recorded quotation.