structures for end use of mine ore and quarry rock

[eric halpin]

Fellas,

I have a small ore mine as well as a quarry operation on the layout. However, now I can't seem to find a suitable structure(s) that would logically take the products of ore and rock. I was hoping to find some kind of crusher/separation/grading facility kit for these products. Many of you have mines and quarry's. So where do you run your loads to and what specific structures are the cars feeding?
Thanks
Eric

 

[Glen Haasdyk]

Well, Walthers makes two buildings, One is the Glacier Gravel company that would handle the pressesing of rock. The other is a larger coal mine that could also be used for an ore mine (if you use your imagination).
I scratchbuilt a mine on my layout:

I't not very big and doesn't really follow a prototype. I figure the ore is sent from the mine to the harbor on another section of my layout.

 

[doctorwayne]

I don't have any mines on my layout, but most ore is usually processed, to some degree, right at the mine. This cuts down on the expense of hauling the excess weight of the waste products. After the initial processing, which is often only to remove the dross and concentrate the ore, the product goes to a smelter, which could be at the mine site or somewhere else. Ore, depending on its make-up, could be shipped in gondolas, hoppers, or boxcars, or even on flatcars. Those shorty ore cars are primarily for iron ore or Taconite pellets, although there's no reason why you couldn't use them for other base metals. Concentrated ores of precious metals were usually shipped in boxcars.
A gravel quarry would ship out finished gravel in hoppers or gondolas (and not filled right to the top, either, as gravel is quite a bit denser than coal) which would go straight to a user, such as a cement plant or asphalt plant.
A quarry shipping cut stone would use flat cars or gondolas, which would be loaded with a crane. This could include granite, marble, limestone, or slate, among others.

Wayne

 

[eric halpin]

Thanks Glen and Wayne,

My Temagami ore mine is actually two lovely detailed coal loaders slightly modified for the small mine head frames. I think they look grand as do others! I am thinking of using the Glacier Gravel kit for the quarry loader of crushed stone. But I sure would like a specific building to take loads of ore to. I have recently seen the Walthers 'New River Mining' kit and figure if I get two of them and kitbash them a little I can make a decent refining plant for the ore and possibly even a further procesing of stone (one track each for ore /stone plus a waste track for dross. In other words this plant would function as a business of crushing and processing any rock product shipped to it. I am a bit surprised at the apparent lack of kits that such things as mines and quarrys can take their product to. There are lots of kits that dump product into rail cars but not much for the reverse process!! Your comments and suggestions were appreciated. Thanks.

 

[logicman]

Hi!

I was racking my brains trying to remember where I'd seen an article about building sea walls with gravel from the quarry.

I found the source. It could well be adapted to riverbank/levee/railroad building scenarios. I hope it is of interest.

The link is to the home page, please refer to I.R. record archives No. 52 - North Sea Camp railway:

Industrial Railway Society

hth

 

[MasonJar]

For the quarried rock, Walthers has a "marble works" structure that might do, but how much traffic they'd generate (i.e. demand) is questionable. Probably not enough to keep even a small quarry going.

Just because one part of the process is on your layout, doesn't mean all parts need be. There are lots of industries like paper mills, power plants, iron works, etc, that are modelled, but represent only part of the overall industry.

You can always have a "gravel drag" load up at the quarry, take a few trips around the layout, and then go into staging - representing shipment to somewhere else in the world.

My $0.02

Andrew

 

[doctorwayne]

Andrew makes a very valid point: we can't possibly model all aspects of even one industry, let alone enough to justify an entire railroad. Sending the mine products "off layout" via interchange is a good way to generate traffic without filling your layout with "complimentary" industries. It also works in reverse: I use lots of coal, but my modelled area never had any coal mines. All of the coal delivered to my layout comes via interchange, which also allows me to run cars from from those interchange partners. I'll be building a quarry on the proposed second level of my layout, but almost all of its output will go off-line. I have neither the room nor the interest to model a major user of gravel. :-D

Wayne

 

[steamhead]

Precisely my thoughts....The greater part of the output from my coal mine (El Diablo) will go off-layout to staging tracks via an interchange. This is a look-see of the mine hard at work....

 

[wjstix]

It depends on what kind of ore you're talking about, iron ore that's usually shipped 150 cars at a time in little ore jennies, or silver / gold ore that's shipped in gondolas a few cars at a time??

 

[Colton_modeler]

The railroad itself is also a big user of gravel / crushed aggregate, for their track base; ballast. You could model a MOW ballast train, and even model a reballasting or other track improvement scene, which would give that train somewhere to go.

 

[slagpot]

Eric,

I model an HO fictional steel mill called,dragon river steel corp. My slag/gravel works is something that needs to be models.The vast amounts of slag left over from the blast furnace ,has to go somewhere.

So on its own little island is , Valhalla slag company.As a matter of fact,I'm building it right now.Valhalla slag,sits atop four inches of extruded foam board.With a pit for hot molten slag,gravel primary crusher,front shovels,loaders,haul truck ect.I started with the walthers glacier gravel and quickly started adding other structures.Including both types of walthers flood loaders.Both of the flood loaders work,meaning by the time I'm fininshed .They will load trains,these are very easy to convert to working models.

I'm working on track & rock faces now,but soon to shift focus on the primary crusher.The crusher will be totally scratch built...nothing new.Modeling steel,one has to scratch build all sorts of things.

Patrick
Beaufort,SC
Dragon River Steel Corp {DRSC}

 

[ocalicreek]

Alright...stay with me here, I'm gonna talk Thomas. Tank engine, that is.

Well, Percy, actually. The Fat Controller (Sir Topham Hat) asked Percy to work on building a quay at the seaside, hauling stone down from a quarry (Ffarquhar?) to the quay. This storyline was used in the original books for the occasion when Percy races Harold the helicopter and wins, and I believe another time when he ignores a sign on the sinking quay and goes over the edge into the water!

The quarry itself has been in other stories both in the original Awdry books and the Thomas & Friends TV series. Often we see troublesome trucks throwing their weight around and shoving engines under the tipple just in time to get blasted with quarry dust!

Point is, depends on what you're mining. Ditto to what the others said about staging, but there is something appealing about an industry scheme that stays within the world of the layout. Gives a layout a flavor or character and draws people into a story when they learn the system.

Also, I've seen older hoppers marked with fill lines inside and out to be used in balast service. The ones I saw were just spray painted on, but I suppose you could get all fancy with decals and data sets for gravel/ore lading stenciled onto a patch over the original data for the car.

 

[eric halpin]

Okay fellas I think you have all provided good stuff for me to mull over. I really like the interchange idea amongst others. I think I have room for an aggregate sorting/refining/processing plant using two New River Mining kits bashed into one. I still am a little surprised that the kit manufacturers do not appear to have much or any end destination model buildings for all the mines that appear on layouts!! Yes there is that steel plant but its huge. Thanks again for your asistance.

Eric

 

[lester perry]

I used to haul stone out of a quarry. there are many conveyors and rock crushers, there are also many different sizes for various uses which would require pile at end of conveyers. the crushers are not in buildings they are huge and open. the best thing to do would be to visit one. The ones I am familiar with would not allow you to visit if you ask. But if you get a dirty pickup truck and drive in like you own it no one would stop you. Just be careful not to get run over by heavy equipment and stay in truck. Oh wait I didn't tell you that.
Les

 

[Russ Bellinis]

An easy "end user" to model is a cement plant. The "cement" part where they load the trucks is obvious and Walthers has the "Medusa Cement" kit to model that part, but cement plants also need to have sand and aggregate available. There is such a plant in So Central Los Angeles that is serviced by UP (exS.P. line). The aggregate and sand is stored in piles in a vacant lot across the street from main plant. It is unloaded from hopper cars on an adjacent track and stacked in the correct pile by 2 conveyors. One picks up the material from a dump between the rails and drops it over the fence to a bin feeding a second conveyor. The second conveyor is able to swing around 360 degrees and load the various aggregates in piles located in a circle around the conveyor. A front end loader is used to carry the aggregate across the street to the plant when they are mixing concrete to load into the trucks for delivery to job sites.

 

[lester perry]

thats right Russ I have a concrete plant on my layout. the sand and cement come in by rail and the stone by truck. I have 3 small covered hoppers dedicated to cement that comes from off layout and 2 small open hoppers for sand. the sand is dropped onto a conveyor under the track , the cement is blown from hopper into silos I do not have any pics right now but will try to get some today and post them.
Les