Slag was light weight, all right, and as has been noted, it was
freely available from the Chicago area steel industry. Although
economic factors may have been a factor in its demise as ballast (not
to mention the decline of the steel industry itself), my
understanding was that much of the demise had to with slag not
holding up well under load- unlike stone or rock ballast. I have
opined that the rise in axle loadings in the latter 20thC was
probably a significant contributor in this regard.
The Milwaukee Road also used slag ballast, but it was specifically
confined to locations where the sheer lighter weight or the ballast
was needed- i.e. ballast decks, or on swampy fills, etc.
When I pulverized my well-used CB&Q slag ballast pieces, it was
surprisingly easy. A good sized piece of slag was reduced to "N-gauge
sized ballast" in just a few seconds with just a light hammer. As
noted previously, although the surface of the large piece was stained
a uniform rust color, the pulverized color was a uniform gray.
I might add that although I cleaned/washed all of my original ballast
twice over in the dish washer, none of the staining was was touched.
Denny
--
Denny S. Anspach, MD
Sacramento
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