ore cars

[Anonymous]

Lead/zinc mining ceased in the early 1980's when the EPA shut down the lead/zinc smelters in this country. At the time, Eagle-Picher was the big mining company in the midcentral US, Bunker Hill operated multiple mines in the northwest. There were other smaller players that shipped to custom mills/smelters. The most commonly used rail car for the transport of ores was the GS drop bottom gondola. It was durable, available and reasonably cheap and the unload facility need be nothing more than a low trestle over a receiving bin. Cheap but functional.

If the smelters had been allowed to upgrade and were still operating today, it is possible that the 26' ore cars from the iron industry may have found their way into the lead/zinc industry as well. The cars would have been purchased used to keep costs down, but who knows?

Tom

[Anonymous]

Can you describe those ore cars? Are they similar to any of those made by MDC, which are approx 26 feet long and normally used in Minnesota, etc., or are they smaller than that? Thanks in advance.

[leighant]

I have next to me a pile of pix taken in Fayetteville, Arkansas in 1992 of a train with a long string of little ore cars-- I think similar cars are available in HO-- I've got a few in N- the ore cars have lettering "Big Red Line" and reporting marks AM. I believe that is Arkansas & Missouri? The long freight train was trailed by at least two passenger carrying coaches lettered "Arkansas and Missouri." I'm not making this up. YUou don't have to go back to the 1950s for ore cars OR even for a mixed train!
Kenneth L. Anthony, Corpus Christi TX.

[ndbprr]

Was the taconite "processed" into pellets at a mill close to where the taconite was mined or did it have to be transported elsewhere in raw form ? I am trying to model a small mine/mill operation, but the only references I can find are all about large plant operations.
Fortunately the answer is YES! Armco and J&L had mines in Minnesota that transported the ore to Silver Bay Minnesota where it was refined into pellets. Mobement was over the Erie Mining railroad for about fifty miles. Trains did an article on it years ago like late 70's or early 80's. The the state and feds said they couldn't dump the tailings in Lake Superior after the plant was built based on their prior approval and now I don't think it is running but don't know. Every other one I know of makes the pellets right at the mining operation.

[Anonymous]

I have 6 small ore cars which I would like to use to take ore from a mine to the smelter. So pellets from the smelter to the Foundry?

[Anonymous]

There was a great article on iron ore/taconite railroading in the January 1969 issue of Trains Magazine: "The Pure Railroad". The Reserve Mining railroad in Minnesota was the topic. No small operation, however.

--John

[MudHen_462]

Was the taconite "processed" into pellets at a mill close to where the taconite was mined or did it have to be transported elsewhere in raw form ? I am trying to model a small mine/mill operation, but the only references I can find are all about large plant operations.

Thanks
IRONGOAT

[ndbprr]

Well Galena is Lead ore and lead leachings could be dangerous stuff based on the lead paint issues. I think the question is more along the lines of how does ore denisty compare to coal because it is the weight per axle (I think 80,000# today) that limits car capacity. You can mine it and smelt it in two locations since you are running a short line. Thats how the logging companies did it as the logs got farther from the mill. You could also be helping out a fellow refiner who has ahd a disaster and is shipping in ore to be processed based on a reciprocal arrangement. Steel mills do that all the time. Both Zinc and Lead are cast into billets, pellets for further usage like coating steel for corrosion protection and are primarily shipped in box cars. By the way, those little taconite pellets are heavy. Having held them many times I would say 1/2 # a piece.

[Anonymous]

thanks for the input ya'll[:D][:D] I can't find any information on taconite (primary ore from misabe range), but galena has a density of about 7.5x that of water. the area where i am using as a loose reference was mined out in the 1950's. most of the ore was hauled underground by mule teams, then it was lifted up and some was smelted on site, and some was shipped off. nasty little things happened. don't know if anyone out there has heard of the tar creek epa superfund site, but there was a huge smelter there. but i diverge. i did find this link, but i will have to do some more hunting to figure out just what the heck these cars are. any additional information would be great!!!


http://kc.pennsyrr.com/model/ore.ws4d

[ndbprr]

I think you are going to have to do some research. Ore cars are primarily used to haul iron ore to procesing plants where the ore is beneficiated into a higher concentration. They were also used because iron ore is heavy and they are small since less volume is required to reach the maximum allowable axle loading for a car. The research you will have to do is how zinc ore compares to iron ore in weight, was it hauled a distance before processing, how big were the processing plants, etc. You will also have to research the railroads in the area as the type of equipment they had will tell you what they used for the service.

[Noah Hofrichter]

I have heard of things called ore jennies, which look like tiny hoppers. This might be right for your situation, or maybe someone else could provide a better idea.

Noah

[Anonymous]

I'm looking at modeling a ficticious shortline set in SW MO in N scale. I'm planning on having a galena or zinc mine operating in current day (used to be a lot of this type of mining in the area but it closed out in the 50s). What kind of cars would this type of ore be hauled in? thanks!