I just finished reading the subject book, and there are two references to B&B that seem to be related to maintenance of way. What does B&B stand for in Q terminology?
The alignment charts are a welcome addition, and I hope they will continue for Vol. 3, etc. Of particular interest to modelers is the rail weight and ballast used on various parts of the railroad at specified dates. Apparently, the Q used whatever was available for ballast. I found CR Rock (presumable crushed rock, but it would be nice to know what rock was used), slag, gravel, cinders, and slag-mannix listed. What is mannix? As I understand it, slag was the waste material from coal mining that was stacked up in gob piles in Southern Illinois and subsequently used as ballast.
Photos in the volume 1 and 2 show a v ariety of ballast types, some overlaying cinder subroadbed. Yard ties apparently had sunk in mud, since they were flush with the dirt level and showed some cinder residual and very little ballast. All this is very helpful to modelers wishing to reproduce the authentic appearance of yards and other trackage.
The one structure that has not yet been shown in either book is an ash pit. I’m at the stage on my layout where I need to build and install an ash pit, and I have very little Q specific information on ash pits in general and no information about an ash pit in the Burlington, IA service facility. Drawings and photographs would be very helpful.
Nelson Moyer
