Coaling question

I was recently watching a program on Polish steam when I was surprised on how they were coaling the locomotives.

Coal was being loaded via a conveyor into a small dump cart that looked like it could only hold about a few hundred pounds/100 kilograms of coal. A small crane then hoisted this cart over the locomotive's tender, where it was dumped to begin the process over again.

Now, this is in modern day Poland, and it might be used due to the fact that the old fueling infrastructure has long been removed. However, is this how some depots have always coaled locomotives? It seems very labor intensive and tedious as opposed to just using a gravity-fed system like a coaling tower.

i spent abit of time in Poland , some of it around the narrow gauge steam lines . it would not surprise me if that is the way theyve always done it , some of the equipment is very old .

Coaling towers were quite expensive and not everywhere available - especially not on narrow gauge lines. For that reason everywhere after the II WW such devices where used for simple coaling (or portable cranes).
In Germany many small coaling station where equipped with local fixed cranes to lift the carts or buckets with coal. Those where also "calibrated" to count how many coal was filled into the locomotive. It was a very simple and straitforward method on local and narrow gauge railways.