Modeling a sandstone rock quarry and sand mine...Any suggestions?

[DFD26]

Hi Everyone,

I' plan to model a sandstone rock quarry and sand mine as a revenue generator for my O scale operation. Any suggestions for what kind of details I should include?  Thanks!  DFD26

[locoi1sa]

  I have been in the aggregate industry for over thirty years and know that sandstone is very soft and brittle for any type of aggregate use. What exactly would you produce out of a sandstone quarry? Maybe a sand and gravel pit is what you desire? Here is mine.

http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j348/locoi1sa/SAM_0112.jpg

http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j348/locoi1sa/SAM_0111.jpg

http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j348/locoi1sa/SAM_0110.jpg

   Sand is mined in open pit or dredged from water courses. Limestone and granite mines can be either blasted from banks or cut into dimensioned blocks. Dimension stone quarries will have drilled holes then the rock is fractured and cut into blocks or slabs. Dimension stone quarries will have sides that are straight up and down where blasted quarries will have sloped sides.

         Pete

[DFD26]

Thanks Pete for the info.  I live in west central Wisconsin near the Mississippi river valley which is peppered with small, steep walled tannish colored quarries.   The sandstone is blasted and crushed and used for road beds and shoulders.  The sand is retrieved from deep in the bluffs and hauled out by truck.  It is a very fine, non-interlocking mineral type used for oil drilling, such as out in North Dakota.   I will enjoy viewing your photos.  I love using the pink styrofoam, layered up and chiseled with a Dremmel tool, painted with a sandstone colored latex primer, and then sprinkled while still wet with the fine sand I scooped up from the hill sides.  DFD26

[DFD26]

Great photos Pete!  I can see that I need to build up my supply of hopper cars.  DFD26

[MisterBeasley]

I'm really not familiiar with the mines and quarries at all, but I would recommend looking at Rustoleum textured spray paints.  Some of them have tones and textrues which might be appropriate for sandstone.

[simon1966]

I admire your courage to try and model such an enormous industry in O scale!  I would think some clever use of back drop photography to imply a huge operation going into the distance would be in order.

[superbe]

Eight miles from where I live is a sand mine. It is owned by Unimin Corporation. It is a surface mine and produces a unique white sand used in making glass.

It is served by the shortline RR, Winchester & Western, which they own. They have a ton of hoppers which I see going through town every week.

Below are a coulple of areial links.

http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=Gore%2C%20VA&q=gore%20virginia&form=LMLTSN&cp=39.25168871182188~-78.339198048371&lvl=17&sty=b&encType=1

http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=Gore%2C%20VA&q=gore%20virginia&form=LMLTSN&cp=39.25168871182188~-78.339198048371&lvl=17&sty=b&encType=1

 

Bob

 

[DFD26]

This is awesome!  Thanks, everyone for your input.  Actually, the space I have dedicated for this portion of the layout is only 6' x 6'.  Right now I have a very small town (named "Quarryville" inside the boarders of this abandoned rock quarry.  My wife says that when I clean out the furnace room, I can expand my layout.  When that happens, the town will move to a new section, and the rock quarry will be reclaimed - going back to the early '50s steam - diesel transition era.  The use of backdrops to create the illusion of size is brilliant.  Thanks again for the photos.  DFD26

[Bomar]

The March 2009 issue of MR has a really great article on building a quarry.  If I ever get out of my armchair phase, I want to put one on my layout.  Southern's 100 ton Greenville cars are my favorites, so I need a place for them to go!

[tgindy]

Rock quarries pop up every so often -- Here's a couple:

-- Some Quarry Shots

-- Building A Rock Quarry

-- Need Rock Quarry

[jmbjmb]

Bob, looking at the map links you provided, it looks like this could be a perfect heavy industry for a small space.  Looks like just a simple loader over a couple of tracks and all the rest is just behind the trees.  Could fit well in a narrow shelf with a photo backdrop. 

 

jim

[leighant]

I have frequently visited a gravel pit in South Texas.  They dredge and dig half a mile away and use trucks to haul to loading area.  I used the idea to model a rail loading area for a gravel pit in the piney woods of East Texas in about 8 x 12 inches in N scale.

 

[ndbprr]

Southern indiana has white sandstone from which door and window lintels and stoops are.made. Blocks are cut into veneer for covering high rise buildings including the Standard Oil building in Chicago. Both would be shipped inbox cars.