Uranium Ore Transport

[Anonymous]

I am a modeler looking for prototype information on the transport of uranium ore by rail.

Have any American railroads transported uranium ore, refined or unrefined, from mine to mill or to refinery?

Is this protected, that is, secret or strategic, information that we normal citizens are not able to access?

If there is any history of this mode of transport, how was it done? Were ore cars open or closed? Were special cars designed for this unique mineral?

Please let me know if you have seen any pictures or written descriptions of uranium ore transport at: [e-mail]

...and thanks in advance for your help.

[espeefoamer]

Uranium ore for the first atomic bomb was hauled by the Rio Grande Southern (narrow gauge) in open wood gondola cars.

[Anonymous]

The AT&SF hauled uranium ore in Colorado (The Orphan Mine.) It's subsdiary, Santa Fe Pacific had uranium discovered on its own holdings in the early 1950s and entered the uranium mining business at the industry's height. The boom only lasted about 8 or 10 years.

Wayne

[Junctionfan]

Union Pacific I assume has uranium ore cars. I don't know the number series but they are UP 97763-97984 at least. They are black. I found some pictures of them on a site I can't remember the name but the author calls them radioactive ore cars. They kind of look like covered coalporters.

[mudchicken]

The Cotter Corporation still owns a uranium processing mill at Canon City Colorado served by a 3 mile spur that was partially built on ATSF's Kenwood Branch. Yelowcake was delivered to the mill in conventional gons with drop bottoms (Wine Doors)...A large portion of that R/W to the mill has been removed/ decontaminated over the past 15 years. The branch leaves the DRGW/ATSF joint facility at Canon City across the river from the ATSF Depot in South Canon City. (Now a restauraunt and loading platform for the Royal Gorge Tourist Trap Train)..................(the bridge accross the river is about all that remains of the original ATSF Main Track destroyed in the 1923 flood)

[Junctionfan]

Speaking of uranium hexaflouride, I noticed in an equipment registry that there are some with ICG reporting marks. Does CN do anything with those cars now?