RE: [CBQ] National Silica

["Carroll, Ed" <ed.carroll@heartland.edu>]

I papered box cars at Ottawa Silica, usually two or three a day when they planned to load them. They saved the all for the one or two times a week. The loading meant using a long flexible spout which meant someone had to go up on an extension of catwalk dragging the 30# tube with them, then lean out and attach it to the retracted flexible tube with two rings and five blots.  When I asked who in the hell wanted sand in a box car I was told that a body shop near Aurora kept it on a siding and shoveled the sand into small silos that fed the sand blasting rooms. there was also supposed to be ceramics place somewhere that wanted their sand that way and someplace along the Rock Island that also wanted it that way. There were a few places that wanted their sand in gondolas. I wish I could remember where it was, but my dad in 1949 repaired the spur that ran into the place and talked to the owner and to one guy standing in a gondola shoveling sand off one end who asked if the crew was going to make it possible to have a pit to dump sand for an elevator to move the sand. In 1962 the was a derailment of a gondola and my dad was there the next day. He met the boss who turned out to be the same guy who had been shoveling the sand out of the gondola in 1949. My dad asked him why he didn't replace the gondola with a pit and elevator. He smiled and said, "I did it and I know it builds character!" followed by a huge belly laugh.

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From: CBQ@yahoogroups.com [CBQ@yahoogroups.com] on behalf of qutlx1@aol.com [qutlx1@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, December 09, 2012 11:44 AM
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [CBQ] National Silica

 

It looks like I missed responding to a couple on Bobs ?s 

We did not have a w/c on the Oregon/Mt Morris job in the 70s. All the pictures I've seen of the wood w/c at Oregon shows it tucked safely in at the frt house. I think I recall from somewhere about it being used as a bunk car for crew.

My memory of the track layout at the Oregon sand plant is a long single lead to the tipple which split into two run off trks. When one was full of loads they were sent down the other trk.

The run off tracks had a pretty steep downhill grade and from time to time a load released at the loading spout would derail when hitting the standing string. 

Each day a fair amount of time would be spent coupling up all the loads and making the air so as to safely get them down the hill

Leo Phillipp

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 9, 2012, at 10:27 AM, qutlx1@aol.com wrote:

 

Bob

How the sand plant was switched depended on how much "time on the main" you could get. Some times you went up engine lite and coupled up all the loads and brought them down the hill. Then when traffic allowed you shoved the empties  back up. My memory is it was rare to go up with empties and pull the loads. Too much time on the main and too many cars/weight to shuffle in a long move.

Box cars (my memory) at all the sand plants(Oregon,Wedron,Ottawa) were for bagged sand loading. I don't remember Shabbona Silica loading box cars. The only bulk loaded box cars I remember were company service.

At all the sand plants you simply spotted the lead hopper under the tipple and the plant loading crews loaded the car and let it roll by and pushed or pulled the next one under the tipple.

Oregon had a very long track after loading tipple so long strings of cars could A ccumulate making for a hard pull out of the plant and calling for some skill to control going back to town. 

Wedron had short leads and run off trks requiring almost constant switching.

Today Wedron and Oregon use their own track mobiles to expedite car movements and my last visit to Wedron revealed they are loading at multiple tipples on multiple trks both above and below the road xing. 


Leo Phillipp 
Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 9, 2012, at 9:25 AM, herrick@krausonline.com wrote:

 

This is for Leo or any of our listers who worked Oregon back in the day.

My 1967 track chart shows two tracks into National Silica.

I assume you had to push the set-outs ahead of the locomotive, but once there, did you pull everything out and set them on the main and then push the set-outs in?

Were there designated spots or did each track have a designated purpose, or did it matter?

Bill Diven's Oregon photo file has a 1961 photo of the plant showing far more boxcars than covered hoppers. Were these for bagged silica or was the product loaded in them like grain? A very early Railmodel Journal Issue had a story on the silica plant at Ottawa and it said the silica was loaded in boxcars though the wastage was high.

And finally, did the waycar tag along or stay at Oregon?

Phew! Thanks, gang.

Bob Herrick

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