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Scoria is actually burnt shale (which of course was clay before it was compacted by nature). Here in the southern Illinois we had a similar product called "red dog". It was formed when the refuse (called "gob") was removed from coal. The refuse contained mostly shale with small amounts of coal. When the "gob" pile would burn would burn, it produced "red dog". When I was younger, all of the country roads were surfaced with it. It was wonderful stuff, dusty in the summer and red, nasty, slippery mud in the late winter and spring! From: Kenneth Martin <kmartin537@surewest.net> To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, January 9, 2012 10:57 AM Subject: Re: [CBQ] Q Physical Plant in PRB, was BN GP 20s Burnt clay was a common ballast on western lines in the 1800's. It was made by digging a trench and filling it with wood and clay then burning the wood. It's main attraction was it was cheap. While adequate for light trains it would be no more suited to frequent heavy coal trains than would be the light rail used in the 1800's.
Ken Martin On Jan 8, 2012, at 2:01 PM, Winton wrote: > Glenn, I agree with you. The track and maintenance on the Long Branch was probably quite acceptable for what was ran on it BC (Before Coal). The main problem I saw in the 1974-1979 era was the ballast. It was mostly scoria(sp?) which is essentially clay baked by ancient underground coal seam fires. A lot of it came from ballast pits along the western part of the line. It was pink and red and gave the CB&Q's Long Branch roadbed that red color. But it was very soft compared to other rock and it almost instantly crumbled to powder under the weight of unit coal trains and grain trains. Then it fouled whatever ballast remained and you got a lot of red mud pumping from the ties. > I worked numerous work trains during that period where we towed the sled under the track to plow out all of that red crap prior to spreading new granite ballast. > > Wyhog __._,_.___
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