There is a gypsum mine/wallboard plant at Sperry, Ia. They used to be served by Rock Island and Burlington Northern (CB&Q). BN accessed the plant via trackage rights over RI. When RI shut down the line was abandoned, but some wallboard is reloaded onto railcars by Burlington Juntion Railway at Burlington, about 10-15 miles away.
According to a Burlington Bulliten, they also used to ship bulk gypsum in hopper cars. I know that wallboard and plaster has to be kept dry, but is it OK for bulk gypsum to get wet, or would this have been covered hopper cars. If bulk gypsum has to stay dry, how does it stay dry in the ground before it is mined?
The Windsor & Hantsport Ry. in Nova Scotia operates from two gypsum quaries to the port on the Avon River which is located off the Bay of Fundy. Ships have to arrive, be loaded, and depart within 3 to 4 hours or they will be grounded by the low tides and have to wait till the next day or so when the high tides roll back in.
Capt Bob Johnson wrote:As far as I can tell, all the wallboard/Gypsum outfits along the East Coast use ships to get the raw gypsum. Most comes from the maritime provinces of Canada, while some comes from Jamaica. USGypsum has had it's own fleet of ships since pre WWII, and the current vessels, built in the '70's are getting a bit long in the tooth! Several other outfits charter Canadian Lakers to run down to the East Coast, while there is one American owner who has been in the business since the 1950's and who registers his ships under a FOC and uses a Taiwanese crew. Where it is available, water transportation is much cheaper for moving raw gypsum.
As far as I can tell, all the wallboard/Gypsum outfits along the East Coast use ships to get the raw gypsum. Most comes from the maritime provinces of Canada, while some comes from Jamaica. USGypsum has had it's own fleet of ships since pre WWII, and the current vessels, built in the '70's are getting a bit long in the tooth! Several other outfits charter Canadian Lakers to run down to the East Coast, while there is one American owner who has been in the business since the 1950's and who registers his ships under a FOC and uses a Taiwanese crew.
Where it is available, water transportation is much cheaper for moving raw gypsum.
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JSGreen wrote:The Wall board plant in Bernillo (near Albuquerque) is served by truck from the Gypsym mine near San Ysidro, a distance of aobut 25 miles along US 550 (used to be New Mexico 44).Doesn't the mine at "Plaster City" (west of El Centro, CA) ship gypsym by rail? Looks like it is on the San Diego and Imperial AND the U.P..
Bernalillo (Actually Algodones, I helped lay out the track serving the new building and also dealt with the old building and track at Albuquerque/Hahn not far from the Albuquerque Journal Plant)
The San Ysidro mine is also served by the original main track, now bypassed by the 1976 line change. It rarely ships cars, usually receives an occasional machinery car.
CShaveRR wrote: I see loads every once in a while--seldom more than one at a time. Used to get them out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, but haven't seen that in a while. Now we send some empties back to the area around Eagle Grove, Iowa. They're smaller-cube cars (around 3000 cubic feet) with PD unloading--nothing like soda ash. Why all this interest in white powders?
I see loads every once in a while--seldom more than one at a time. Used to get them out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, but haven't seen that in a while. Now we send some empties back to the area around Eagle Grove, Iowa. They're smaller-cube cars (around 3000 cubic feet) with PD unloading--nothing like soda ash.
Why all this interest in white powders?
Fort Dodge, Iowa, down the track about 15 or 20 miles from Eagle Grove, is where the Gypsum plants are. Gypsum and products manufactured from it was at one time a big traffic source for the Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Ry which the CNW aquired in 1968. The UP has one yard engine left at Fort Dodge and it switches one of the remaining plants, although I think CN/IC gets the lion's share of the remaining rail shipments out of Fort Dodge.
Jeff
JSGreen wrote:The Wall board plant in Bernillo (near Albuquerque) is served by truck from the Gypsym mine near San Ysidro, a distance of about 25 miles along US 550 (used to be New Mexico 44).Doesn't the mine at "Plaster City" (west of El Centro, CA) ship gypsym by rail? Looks like it is on the San Diego and Imperial AND the U.P..
S.
On your last sentence, aren't wallboard plants rather widely dispersed to the point that the most of the wallboard movement is within a 300 mile radius and thus not that attractive to rail? Otherwise, and assuming the weight of wallboard out is about equal to gypsum in, 300,000 carloads of business would be something worthy of note.
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tiskilwa wrote:When I worked at a port on the West coast, a ship that visited frequently was a bulk gypsum carrier. It brought the stuff up from Mexico (I believe), and discharged it to a large cement plant at this particular U.S. port. The question I have is, does much gypsum go by rail in the U.S., either imported by ship or mined in domestic quarries? It's something I've never read or heard a thing about. Just curious. Thank you.
Carl
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