Today I returned to Walton, Nova Scotia to measure the dimensions of the two barite storage silos that I will be scratchbuilding in my freelance Cheverie Mountain Railroad layout. The mine, about 2 kilometers from the silos in Walton, flooded many years ago but the tailings are easily found, some on Cheverie Mountain itself.
Some of the samples in the tailings are quite spectacular. My wife uses one like this for a candle holder.
The mill in Walton is long gone but the two storage silos, full of processed barite, still stand in the center of Walton. I am friends with the new owner and she lets me have free access to the silos. I am very tired from my long field trip today, so tomorrow I'll take you inside to see how cool they are. You will also see the amazing geology along the Walton shoreline and why this area is the inspiration for my layout. Good night fellow railroad modellers.
The entrance to the underworkings of the barite silos is through the white shed where the external loading conveyor comes outside. The width of the shed, and concrete foundation of the silos, was measured with a hand-held laser range finder - 32 feet. I bounced the laser off the metal plate on the far external wall.
There are three screw converyors that run under the two silos along the length of the concrete foundation. This is one of the drive motors.
Looking down one of the screw converyor corridors. I measured the length of all three with the laser range finder - approximately 69 feet (this is the length of the outside concrete base as I bounced the laser off the three doors at the opposite end of the structure from the shed.
Close up of one of several access doors to the barite in the silos above. Fairly straight forward how they operate.
Looking down into the screw conveyor you can see the screw and lots of processed barite.
The wooden door at the end of this conveyor corridor was knocked off its hinges (by vandals) so you can see the full length a bit better. So, I have everything I need, including many other internal dimensions, to make a drawing and start to build the model.
On a previous trip to the silos, the owner helped me scoop up samples of barite (barium sulfate BaSO4) from inside the silos for my model railroad layout.
Here is a crushed barite load in one of my hoppers (will crush finer at a later date). I am experimenting with the barite samples for other layout applications.
The shoreline near the silos in Walton also provides materials that I use in my railroad layout. I always take picutures of random man-made items along the beach like this old wharf structure - a piece of my West Jeddore driftwood and a rusty staple will do this trick. Adds realism to my Bay of Fundy beaches.
The folded shale geology on this shoreline would make a great backdrop for a movie on another planet. It is awesome to see and touch! This shale is a cornerstone of my layout.
Another close up - can't take a bad picture of the cliffs on this beach (unless it's out of focus).
Pyrite (iron sulfate FeS2) is also abundant as distinct clusters like this one. I collected quite a bit for my model.
Looking at the ground you see it covered with shale fragments from the tide and weather erosion of the cliffs. This shale is easly removed from the cliff walls.
Shale on the cliffs at my eye level just crumbles off the wall. My entire layout will use processed shale from here in Walton for rail beds and track ballast. In addition, it will be used as building material for natural scenery like cliffs, retaining walls, building foundations, ground cover, and roofing to simulate slate for example. It is an easy rock to work with - can be glued with fast drying wood glue and paints well.