Can anyone on the list help Amy? Remember to reply to all with answers!
David Lotz
VP Archives, BRHS
Phone: 314-846-8632
WEB: http://www.burlingtonroute.com
Q&A Email forum: BRHSlist@o...
-----Original Message-----
From: Amy Zlotsky [mailto:AZlotsky@o...]
Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2000 3:17 PM
To: brhs@n...
Cc: Joan Darling
Subject: Request for Help
ATTN: Dave Lott
Mr. Lott--I was given your name by Suzanne Berth, Mgr of Art and
Archives for BNSF in Fort Worth. She thought that you might be able to
help us out in researching a local story.
The City of Lincoln, Nebraska is in the process of constructing a
wetland mitigation bank. The site we are looking at is located north of
the BNSF mainline that was previously the Burlington and Missouri River
Company. It was completed from Ashland to Lincoln in 1870. We have a
transcript from the 1980s from a local Natural Resources District
meeting that tells the story of the "ballast pits" which are located on
the property.
The story goes that the railroad needed ballast to build this line.
They dug two parallel linear pits (about 0.5 mi long each and supposedly
up to 16 ft deep), removed the local clay, lined the bottom with
railroad ties, put in a layer of clay, another of ties, another of clay,
covered it (with soil?) and let it burn for a year. The clay baked like
brick....and the resulting material was used for the ballast for this
line. We have collected what appears to be this baked clay material
from the pits.
Everyone with BNSF in Lincoln laughs when they hear the story. They
think its the most ridiculous thing they've heard. They say even then,
the RR would have opened a quarry for this purpose and brought in
ballast by railcar. We thought that if this was done here in Lincoln, it
might have been done elsewhere in the country and someone may have heard
about it.
We're trying to find out because the property owner and City are
planning to construct an interpretive trail through the wetlands,
including information on the local history of the area. The "ballast
pits" are a very distinctive feature.
Would you have any information, leads....or even opinions for us?
Thank you,
Amy Zlotsky
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