Crushed Limestone Loads...

[Kisatchie]

I see that Hay Brothers makes crushed limestone loads. Just curious... what is crushed limestone used for? Where would a difco dump car full of crushed limestone be delivered?


Hmm... that's something
I never thought about...

[Wlal13again]

crushed limestone is used in steel and cement production..

[mark dance]

...also as a flux in some smelting operations I believe.  At least Cominco's Trail/Tadanac lead/zinc smelter received limestone for that purpose.

md

[Kisatchie]

Thanks for the replies. I learn something new every day.


Hmm... and forget five or
ten things every day...

[mecgp7]

Don't forget the agricultural uses. Lime is used to adjust the pH in soils.

Historically lime production was huge in my area of midcoast Maine. We had lime kilns all over the place. It supported a narrow gauge railroad built for the sole purpose of moving lime. We still have a large cement plant complete with a huge quarry

[Kisatchie]

Don't forget the agricultural uses. Lime is used to adjust the pH in soils....

Hmm... I like lime in
my (hic) cocktails...

[Scottl]

Limestone is carbonate rock and you fire it at high temperature to make Lime, which is the active ingredient in cement.  Lime is carried in covered hoppers because it reacts with water, while limestone is essentially unaffected by transport conditions.

[central.vermont]

Limestone is also used at some power plants for their "Scrubbers" to remove pollutants caused from burning coal with high levels of sulfur and mercury. The by product after using the limestone is a synthetic gypsum which is then reused in making wallboard.

Hope this helps ya Kiz.

Jon

[squirrelhunter]

In Texas there are unit trains that run from major quarries in the San Antonio/Austin corridor to Houston, Corpus and South Texas carrying crushed limestone for the construction industry. MP, MKT and SP were big players before it all became UP. There are rock jobs from southern OK that serve the D/FW area.

[kalbert]

There's an abundance of limestone around here, often crushed limestone rock is used for ballast on industrial spurs, gravel roads & shoulders, parking lots, fill, base, you name it. #2 is pretty common, but anything from dust to boulders is available.

[Kisatchie]

This has turned into a pretty interesting topic.


Hmm... considering it's
about rocks...

[Denver Road Doug]

In Texas there are unit trains that run from major quarries in the San Antonio/Austin corridor to Houston, Corpus and South Texas carrying crushed limestone for the construction industry. MP, MKT and SP were big players before it all became UP. There are rock jobs from southern OK that serve the D/FW area.

Southern Oklahoma, and also a huge series of quarries northwest of DFW about 45 minutes in Chico, TX served by UP. (ex-MKT/OKKT, ex-Rock Island)

As to having limestone in a Difco car, I'd say less common than seeing it in an Ortner, a Greenville, or a traditional gon, from my experience.  One exception I know of is the DM&IR, which runs unit trains of Difco-style cars to provide "tailings" similar to chat rock (crushed limestone) as heavy-duty gravel for roads in the area handling large iron ore mine equipment.  Chat is also used for parking lots of heavy equipment, and that is why a traditional MOW Difco on any railroad might have a load of it, for a MOW yard of some sort or possibly grade crossings.   I've typically only seen ballast or rip-rap in Difco's, personally, aside from the DM&IR loadout near the large ore docks that I saw firsthand during an FOBNR convention several years ago.

[jnevis]

The current issue of Trains, the cover story is about hauling rock for various uses.

[kalbert]

This has turned into a pretty interesting topic.


Hmm... considering it's
about rocks...

Ha ha ha, yep! Only a model railroader would be fascinated by the different uses and transportation methods for rocks....

[conrailthomas519]

I just got done reading that article in this months Trains magazine. Well worth the look.