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  • Gravel pits/quarry

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

Moderators: MEC407, NHN503

 #1497518  by backroadrails
 
The pit in prospect (Mosquito Mountain) has a switch, and the grade for rails to be re-laid. There is a much larger operation owned by Thibodeau construction, which is one of a few pits they own in the area, and it is next to CMQ's Searsport Sub. I would expect Thibodeau to cut a deal for the section between Mosquito Mountain, and their pit, which I believe they own, since I don't think they have plans to use that pit much longer.
 #1497578  by Rockguy
 
tom18287 wrote:we buy from benevento all the time, they are open for business like a quarry. amazing piece of property they have haha.
Gravel or crushed stone from them? Most likely smaller quanitities as I dont think you can buy 10,000 tons from him
 #1497579  by Rockguy
 
backroadrails wrote:The pit in prospect (Mosquito Mountain) has a switch, and the grade for rails to be re-laid. There is a much larger operation owned by Thibodeau construction, which is one of a few pits they own in the area, and it is next to CMQ's Searsport Sub. I would expect Thibodeau to cut a deal for the section between Mosquito Mountain, and their pit, which I believe they own, since I don't think they have plans to use that pit much longer.
Where exactly is this pit located? Do you know what type of material?
 #1497713  by RailAdvisor
 
Rockguy:
You have come to a good place to research the rail-connected options for your business. There are a number of traprock quarries in CT and MA that are rail-connected, or are close by a rail facility. Good quality sand from the mid-Atlantic states is being shipped into the area by rail in covered hoppers. Washed stone is available in eastern CT, and is shipped regularly by rail. It would be wise to consider obtaining your own open top rail cars, to assure an uninterrupted supply of rail cars during the busy construction season. It will also be important to carefully plan the layout of your receiving facility to minimize redundant railcar switching maneuvers, which can become costly, over time. With good planning, you can build a lower-cost rail operation that will serve you well.
 #1497753  by AlKaLI
 
Rockguy:
Appears you want to start your own quarry.

However, have you considered Rawson Materials in Northeast CT? http://www.rawsonmaterials.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
They ship aggregate and concrete sand via the P&W to NYC.
Would probably be an interchange fee for P&W to PanAm (via Gardner, MA perhaps?) but just to give you an idea.
Good Luck.
 #1497772  by Rockguy
 
rail layout.jpg
rail layout.jpg (558.04 KiB) Viewed 2686 times
RailAdvisor wrote:Rockguy:
You have come to a good place to research the rail-connected options for your business. There are a number of traprock quarries in CT and MA that are rail-connected, or are close by a rail facility. Good quality sand from the mid-Atlantic states is being shipped into the area by rail in covered hoppers. Washed stone is available in eastern CT, and is shipped regularly by rail. It would be wise to consider obtaining your own open top rail cars, to assure an uninterrupted supply of rail cars during the busy construction season. It will also be important to carefully plan the layout of your receiving facility to minimize redundant railcar switching maneuvers, which can become costly, over time. With good planning, you can build a lower-cost rail operation that will serve you well.
I would think shipping sand from the mid-atantic would be cost prohibited. You can get railcars fairly cheap but the maintenance worries me. If there is a problem with the car inroute its on you. That can get pricey. Ex-aluminum coal cars seem to be my best best. Most existing pits by the time you pay for material, mining, and crushing its to much.

I am all for a good design. Anyone here think they can design a better siding for us? Would like to get maybe 20 cars at a time (The more at once the better for pricing im told). The grade on the river side is better for a pit for unloading. Just past the road crossing in our yard the grade splits around 4'. Not sure if a ladder track or try to fit a loop in. According to the old map I believe the spur was 1,090' long at one point which was under the big pile in our yard.

I was thinking relocate the switch to the main up by the bridge since id have to pay to fix the south leg of the wye and not be able to utilize it for switching. Then from there do a few ladder tracks towards the street and come off the main track with a track towards the river for an unloading pit.
rail layout.jpg
rail layout.jpg (558.04 KiB) Viewed 2686 times
Not the best setup as we would have to switch/unload one car at a time but doesn't kill all the yard space. Where the proposed building was going to be located will be the stockpile and truck loading area. This layout also keeps panam from fouling the commuter rail track while switching us.
 #1497775  by Rockguy
 
AlKaLI wrote:Rockguy:
Appears you want to start your own quarry.

However, have you considered Rawson Materials in Northeast CT? http://www.rawsonmaterials.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
They ship aggregate and concrete sand via the P&W to NYC.
Would probably be an interchange fee for P&W to PanAm (via Gardner, MA perhaps?) but just to give you an idea.
Good Luck.
Unfortunately the prices on the website with shipping would make it cost prohibitive for us. From a material pricing standpoint I think its better to go north.
 #1497778  by b&m 1566
 
I'm not at all familiar with rail cars when it comes to purchasing, leasing, so forgive me as this will be a learning curve for me. I know there's a lot of people in the railroad industry that might be able to answer this, and I know there's a good amount that work for Pan Am that enjoy this forum themselves. So with that said, is there a lease option for rail cars that wouldn't hold you reliable for maintenance cost should a car need repairs? Would such a lease be cost prohibitive?
 #1497785  by Rockguy
 
b&m 1566 wrote:I'm not at all familiar with rail cars when it comes to purchasing, leasing, so forgive me as this will be a learning curve for me. I know there's a lot of people in the railroad industry that might be able to answer this, and I know there's a good amount that work for Pan Am that enjoy this forum themselves. So with that said, is there a lease option for rail cars that wouldn't hold you reliable for maintenance cost should a car need repairs? Would such a lease be cost prohibitive?
Yes on a full service lease. I was referring to purchasing cars outright above.
 #1497928  by tom18287
 
so are you planning on taking deliveries to your location and then trucking to rt 62 in wilmington location?
 #1497931  by Rockguy
 
tom18287 wrote:so are you planning on taking deliveries to your location and then trucking to rt 62 in wilmington location?
Some but would be better to make deliveries from Andover to not have to handle it twice.
 #1499004  by Rockguy
 
Finally got the tracks all cleaned out. All the ties are rotted and it’s only 85lb rail. Hopefully I can apply for some irap funding to make the repairs and extend the track. The south leg of the wye is about the same shape. This branch was also double tracked at one point as the bridge is still there over the river in the corner of our property.
 #1499008  by b&m 1566
 
Are they going to make you pay to rebuilded the south leg of the wye? I have no idea who owns that, Pan Am or MBTA.
 #1499010  by Rockguy
 
Yes we are going to have to rebuild it if we are going to use it. Its in tough shape. A loaded train would most likely derail. I am not sure who owns it either. It seams from my observation that the mbta parks equipment on the south side of Lowell jct rd and panam uses the north side of Lowell jct rd. The south leg of the wye I think has 90 lb rail. I have the old valuation map. At some point before Reichold there was new England plywood in there. They had 960' of track on private property and 130' on the railroad right of way.
 #1499616  by AlKaLI
 
Rockguy:
I am all for a good design. Anyone here think they can design a better siding for us? Would like to get maybe 20 cars at a time (The more at once the better for pricing im told). The grade on the river side is better for a pit for unloading. Just past the road crossing in our yard the grade splits around 4'. Not sure if a ladder track or try to fit a loop in. According to the old map I believe the spur was 1,090' long at one point which was under the big pile in our yard.
I reviewed your drawing and have a few comments you may want to consider.
- I would place an under the rail unloading pit between the switch for "Trackmobile Storage" and the ladder for the yard. If the tail track is long enough , the Trackmobile could pull an entire string off a ladder track and one car at a time is unloaded without uncoupling the string. Then it could shove that string back and grab the next.
- A conveyor could be placed under the pit to catch the gravel and if it could rotate then you could spread the piled gravel.
- Please check you center to center track spacing in the ladder. It would be great to get 5 tracks but I think you have drawn the centerlines only and they appear too close.






Regards, AlKaLI