Gypsum is one of the most abundant minerals in my area of interest for modelling ore trains in Nova Scotia. One gypsum quarry owned by National Gypsum is still in operation with their private custom hoppers transporting ore to ships in Bedford Basin, ten minutes from my home in Dartmouth.
Beginning today I will be building a small gypsum quarry on my demonstrator workstation using real gypsum from the actual quarry being modelled. If you don't like geology then this is not going to be of interest to you.
There was quite a bit of gypsum here in southern Ontario, but most of it appears to have been mined rather than quarried.I can't say if I like geology or not, but I do like learning.
Wayne
I worked for a company that had a sheetrock plant and gypsum quarry in Oklahoma - slightly different scenery than Nova Scotia. The gypsum was pretty close to the surface, blasted out, run through a rock crusher and transported by the smaller versions of those diesel-electric mega trucks. Truck maintenance facilities were on site.
Also been to a quarry near Eagle, CO. A wide and deep pit quarry in the mountains. Looked like they shaved off one foot of gypsum at a time. Just a few units of mining equipment located among the piles of gypsum and "boney".
Jim
Here in Nova Scotia we have a lot of gypsum near the surface so there are many quarries and open pit mines. Two years ago I had a personal tour of the largest open-pit mine in the world in Milford, about a 45 minute drive from my home. Even got to witness an explosives detonation of a wall of gypsum from a safe distance. Initially I'll be modelling something much smaller. Glad there is a bit of interest. Just got back from my third field trip this week so after an old man nap, I'll get started.
doctorwayne There was quite a bit of gypsum here in southern Ontario, but most of it appears to have been mined rather than quarried.I can't say if I like geology or not, but I do like learning. Wayne
I've been to Bancroft, ON rockhounding and attending rock and mineral shows. Bancroft is located on the edge of the Canadian Shield and so lots of cool crystals and minerals are to be found there. I lived in Petawawa at the time.
OldSchoolScratchbuilder Beginning today I will be building a small gypsum quarry on my demonstrator workstation using real gypsum from the actual quarry being modelled. If you don't like geology then this is not going to be of interest to you.
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotrain Dennis, I have no real interest in geology, but every Spring I need a bag or two of gypsum to spread on my parkway to counteract the salt sprays thrown by the snow plows during the winter. So, do me a favor if you will and send me a bag or two next Spring.
Dennis, I have no real interest in geology, but every Spring I need a bag or two of gypsum to spread on my parkway to counteract the salt sprays thrown by the snow plows during the winter. So, do me a favor if you will and send me a bag or two next Spring.
Unfortunately Rich, it's illegal to send raw materials out of the province without a permit from the provincial government. But, if your walls have gyprock, most houses do, good chance the raw gypsum to make it came from Nova Scotia. The gypsum ships leaving Halifax Harbour are headed to the US eastern seaboard.
First, a few words on the geology associated with my Nova Scotia gypsum quarry. I have drawn a sketch of the area of interest bounded by the Minas Basin to the northwest and the Avon River in the southwest. You can use Google Earth to find this area and you will even see the white gypsum areas I'll be talking about.
Next, I have sketched out the geology for this entire region. I'll only point out the blue areas for now. This is the Windsor Group (early Carboniferous) and has lots of limestone, siltstone, gypsum, anhydrite, salt, and sandstone throughout.
Now we overlay the two sketches and I will point out where I'll be going this morning to take pictures to model the gypsum scenery. At the top of the map you will see Walton and Whale Creek with blue Windsor Group running between them and through the Walton River. There are at least three abandoned gypsum quarries that are public lands - you can see them along the Quarry Road in Google Earth. I have lots of local friends there and they know the history - I enjoy their stories.
So I'll be back later to set up a demonstrator workstation to begin.
Why not forget the workstations and just start building your layout?
By now, you know that the demonstrators will work.
richhotrain Why not forget the workstations and just start building your layout? By now, you know that the demonstrators will work. Rich
OldSchoolScratchbuilder richhotrain Why not forget the workstations and just start building your layout? By now, you know that the demonstrators will work. Rich I am doing scenery. I am not discussing my layout.
richhotrain OldSchoolScratchbuilder richhotrain Why not forget the workstations and just start building your layout? By now, you know that the demonstrators will work. Rich I am doing scenery. I am not discussing my layout. I am under the impression that you are testing your eventual layout practices through the use of demonstrator workstations. So, my point is, why not just proceed with building the layout because what you are going to find is that what works in a static diorama may or may not work on a live layout. This forum is filled with those of us who have gained invaluable experience through the actual layout construction process. Just trying to be helpful. Rich
I am under the impression that you are testing your eventual layout practices through the use of demonstrator workstations. So, my point is, why not just proceed with building the layout because what you are going to find is that what works in a static diorama may or may not work on a live layout. This forum is filled with those of us who have gained invaluable experience through the actual layout construction process. Just trying to be helpful.
This thread is all yours. Why dont you tell us everything you know about layouts. I'll start my own thread tomorrow.
In part, Dennis, I am trying to encourage you to have a dialog with us. There is obviously a lot of interest in what you are doing, as evidenced by the number of views. But there are very few replies, and I am not sure why. Perhaps some are intimidated by your posts since they are very technical. But, if the only posts are yours, these threads become a series of webinars. That may be what you want and that is fine, I guess. Are you not looking for comment, critique, questions?
richhotrain In part, Dennis, I am trying to encourage you to have a dialog with us. There is obviously a lot of interest in what you are doing, as evidenced by the number of views. But there are very few replies, and I am not sure why. Perhaps some are intimidated by your posts since they are very technical. But, if the only posts are yours, these threads become a series of webinars. That may be what you want and that is fine, I guess. Are you not looking for comment, critique, questions? Rich
All right, I am using a variation of the quarry layout by Frary and Hayden in November 1970 Railroad Model Craftsman. What do you think of that one?
On page 43 of November 1970 RMC I'll build the rock cut on the right of their trackplan using the first photo from Walton that I took this morning. They don't have a flooded pit, but I like this one (second picture) at Walton and I can place it on the Frary/Hayden layout behind the rock bunker by moving the quarry wall back.
I'll also make a few minor changes to their yard plan on page 41, but I will keep their B&M Main Line North and point it south and make it the CN Main Line to Windsor Junction, NS. The Frary and Hayden industrial rails will be owned by the Cheverie Mountain Railroad (CMRX) on my layout and I have a really good painter repainting a locomotive and some cars with the CMRX paint scheme that I am designing.
So that's it, my layout is a modified Frary/Hayden layout from 47 years ago - old school.
This is how my HO scale gypsum quarry will operate. (1) The glacial till overburden will be removed by excavators, bulldozers and trucks. (2) The overburden will be stockpiled around the perimeter of the quarry. (3) Leveled areas will be drilled and blasted (going to animate this). (4) Dump trucks are loaded by front-end loaders and the blasted rock is hauled to the processing plant. (5) Crushing and screening take place at the plant. (6) Trucks haul away the plant tailings to the tailing dump. (7) The processed gypsum is stored in a surgepile where it is eventually loaded into hoppers by conveyors (will animate this). (8) The CMRX transports the rock to the CN main line where the cars are switched to CN trains.
All of these operations take place at the Millford open-pit quarry and there is a viewing area on the Dutch Settlement side of the quarry where the public can see all the action. I have not only toured the quarry, I have many videos from the viewing area.
richhotrainBut there are very few replies, and I am not sure why.
Cheers, the curious Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
I feel the exact same way as Bear. I like following along, and I have added a suggestion on the mill building he's scratch building, based on my 40 years of building, and being in the construction trades, but as far as all of the science and geology, I really have nothing to add that would be of any interest, or intelligence.
And I'll keep on watching.
Mike.
My You Tube
It does not appear to have occurred to you Rich, that OldSchoolscratchbuilders approach to model railroading is so novel, dare I say eccentric, that while I have nothing worthwhile to contribute, and have, probably, no need to use his techniques, I still find his approach fascinating enough to continue to have a look. I suspect I’m not the only one. Model Railroading is FUN. Cheers, the curious Bear.
It does not appear to have occurred to you Rich, that OldSchoolscratchbuilders approach to model railroading is so novel, dare I say eccentric, that while I have nothing worthwhile to contribute, and have, probably, no need to use his techniques, I still find his approach fascinating enough to continue to have a look. I suspect I’m not the only one.
mbinsewi I feel the exact same way as Bear. I like following along, and I have added a suggestion on the mill building he's scratch building, based on my 40 years of building, and being in the construction trades, but as far as all of the science and geology, I really have nothing to add that would be of any interest, or intelligence. And I'll keep on watching.
Like both of you, I am following his threads with interest. And I am in no way telling him to stop posting or anything of the kind. I merely made a suggestion that he begin to test his techniques by starting work on his layout since he has already proven to himself, and the rest of us, that these techniques will work on his demonstrator workstations.
But, I make the suggestion and I am told that "this thread is all yours". I encourage him to have more of a dialog with us and I am referred to a 47 year old magazine article. I wasn't asking about what the layout will look like. I was simply encouraging him to start work on the layout.
But, since no one else seems interested in a dialog, I will join the rest of you, sit back, watch and learn.
Almost ready to build my first attempt at a gypsum quarry. Got the entire design in my head but I need a fresh batch of real clay. It's a beautiful Saturday morning so I'll drive to Cheverie (see my geology overlays in this thread) to my source of gray clay which I marked with a GPS waypoint.
I am not the first to use real clay from natural sources in an HO scale model railroad. In my growing collection of hardcopy modelling issues (over 1030 and counting) I found this article on using clay by an expert in pottery and ceramics: "Use clay to build models," Hal Riegger, Model Railroader, Vol.40(9), September 1973, pp.61-63. For those of you who have access to the online MR Archives this article will be easy to find.
My reply, above, was an answer to your question on the lack of replies.
richhotrainI'm not sure that either one of you read my suggestion to Dennis or at least you chose to ignore it.
Cheers, the Bear.
JaBear, see my PM
I started this hobby the way I always start a new project, by doing a thorough literature search. I spent three months acquiring about 2000 magazines, books, and other pieces of written work on railroad modelling. That collection continues to grow by the week. I read everything I had in my possession in whole or in part before I even bought my first HO scale product. Almost everything I see modellers do today, including work presented in new magazines, has been done before in one form or another - I know because I recently read it. Only the technologies and people change with time. Today's modellers stand on the shoulders of great modellers, most of whom are no longer with us.
I chose the name OldSchoolScratchbuilder out of respect for those amazing people and their accomplishments. I am following in their footsteps, learning from their publications and reliving their day with my labours. I am not going to build steam locomotives like they did, I am not going to wire impressive control panels with vacuum tubes or transistors like they did, but I am going to pay attention to every detail like they did.
If my work does not seem to fit into the mainstream hobby today, you should be aware that it did in the past and some hobbyists, like me, thrive in the history of this wonderful pastime. Dennis
Old School: If I may interupt here for a moment. Following your thread is, to me, most interesting and it is only correct that you pay homage to the fine modelers who pre dated us. By all means, continue to resource natural materials and your very fine modeling. I enjoy it very much. That being said, it seems you are a bit sensitive to other members of the forum commenting on your techniques and style. The key word there is "commenting". I have not seen any replies that I would deem as critical of you or your models. It is a forum after all and that means members of it are allowed to express themselves just as you are free to express yourself. Keep up the good work and keep showing us your progress.
Old Fat Robert
Old Fat Robert Old School: If I may interupt here for a moment. Following your thread is, to me, most interesting and it is only correct that you pay homage to the fine modelers who pre dated us. By all means, continue to resource natural materials and your very fine modeling. I enjoy it very much. That being said, it seems you are a bit sensitive to other members of the forum commenting on your techniques and style. The key word there is "commenting". I have not seen any replies that I would deem as critical of you or your models. It is a forum after all and that means members of it are allowed to express themselves just as you are free to express yourself. Keep up the good work and keep showing us your progress. Old Fat Robert
Persistent comments that I begin my layout are unacceptable period. Any further comments of this nature will simply be ignored.