Sand and the Railroad

[Anonymous]

I'm looking for information on the sand industry back, oh say, 50 or 60 years ago. I've done a yahoo search and didn't find much. Any suggestions, including pictures of other models, would be great. Thanks

[Anonymous]

Perhaps you could be more specific about your interests - sand as used by railroads, or by other industries? Concrete plants perhaps? Others that might use sand? How about gravel?

Bob Boudreau

[ndbprr]

Well there are differnt types of sand but I guess they are all about the same in what is needed. none I have ever seen was exactly a ball of fire. First you need sand of course and it generally is either pit or dune sand. Dune sand is much finer but you need a way to pick it up (front end loader), deposit it on a conveyer, possibly dry it and a storage bin so it can be loaded into covered hoppers. Sand is very heavy so the two bay hoppers are ideal. C&O used to mine sand at Ludington Michigan for their entire system because it was dune sand and when dried was excellent for tractive purposes.

[Anonymous]

Your right that was a pretty generic question. I live in an area were today they dredge a lot of sand from large creeks and rivers. Some pump it, some dredge it with a crane that basically throws a basket in and pulls it back out. I was interested to know how they dredged sand from the rivers years ago and once they did how they put it on rail cars (for that matter what kind of cars) and hauled it to the different industrys that needed it. I know some goes to concrete but most around here goes to asphalt and fill sand for construction. I'm working on a plan for a new layout and I'm thinking about incorporatind a sand pit into my river, beside the swamp where my lumber company will be. Thanks.

[jrbernier]

I remember a 'sand' industry on the CB&Q at Bay City, WI. The actual sand mine was about a mile up the bluff(had a narrow gauge tram system). Locomotive sand was trucked down to a small bldg on the EB business track, just north of the depot. The 'Q' used to set out company sand cars and they were loaded via an air delivery system to the top of the sand car. Seems we always had sand cars to switch every night on the way freight.
I suspect a larger company would have a 'bagged' sand operation and loading docks for box cars as well....

Jim Bernier

[IRONROOSTER]

Go the Index of Magazines link at the top of this page and search on sand. While most hits are on locomotive sanding facilities, a few are on the sand industry. Of course then you'll have to find the back issues and see if they have what you want.
Enjoy
Paul

[cwclark]

be careful about the sand you choose when applying it to the layout..there is sand out there that is laden with iron and iron picked up by the magnets in locomotive motors doesn't coexist very well...chuck

[Leon Silverman]

I live in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. My AAA newsletter had an article on the glass making industry in nearby Milville, NJ. The sand they used for the glass came straight out of the ground. Southern New Jersey is considered one big litter box because the subsoil (including my property) is all sand. When I dug post holes, I had to wet the ground so that the sand would not flow out of the blades as soon as I lifted the post digger. This is why sand castles have to be built near the ocean where the sand is kept moist. The dry sand would simply flow out of shape.

[ericboone]

Actually, the Ludington and Northern in Ludington, Michigan was owned by a sand mining company and interchanged with the C&O.
http://www.geocities.com/invizzible/beach/sargent.html

[Anonymous]

Thank you Eric. Sites like that are what I'm looking for. I'm going to search around a little more today if I get a chance.