rail and the rise and fall of granite quarries

[NRGeep]

Seems many of the old quarries were located near now mostly abandoned branch lines. Any potential for any of these quarries to re-open with trucks serving them and bringing the stone to centrally located aggregate facilities that would process the granite near main lines?

[Ridgefielder]

Seems many of the old quarries were located near now mostly abandoned branch lines. Any potential for any of these quarries to re-open with trucks serving them and bringing the stone to centrally located aggregate facilities that would process the granite near main lines?

Which quarries are you speaking of? I think stone of some kind was quarried in pretty much every county in New England at some point-- it's the one thing we sure don't have a shortage of.

[NRGeep]

Seems many of the old quarries were located near now mostly abandoned branch lines. Any potential for any of these quarries to re-open with trucks serving them and bringing the stone to centrally located aggregate facilities that would process the granite near main lines?

Which quarries are you speaking of?

None in particular. There is an effort to re-open the Webb Hill quarry in Fitzwilliam NH which closed in 1918 and was served by the long gone B&M Cheshire branch. That quarry was one of 12 in the town and many town residents are fighting the proposal.
Seems granite is a gift that keeps giving if there is a market for it?

[joshg1]

Seems many of the old quarries were located near now mostly abandoned branch lines. Any potential for any of these quarries to re-open with trucks serving them and bringing the stone to centrally located aggregate facilities that would process the granite near main lines?

The quarries came before the railroads. An individual quarry might have had a siding, but using horses and trucks wasn't a disadvantage. Depends on the accessibility and quality of the stone.

There isn't an advantage in building a massive centralized rock crusher and shipping by rail. There are economies of scale in manufacturing and food processing, but it's easier to crush on site or near by, and use the stone locally. Rail ballast would go by rail, and I suppose it might be shipped by rail or water to some place that doesn't have stone to crush. There's a lot of rock out there, if Miami wants crushed stone of any size, it won't come from Fitzwilliam.

[NRGeep]

Seems many of the old quarries were located near now mostly abandoned branch lines. Any potential for any of these quarries to re-open with trucks serving them and bringing the stone to centrally located aggregate facilities that would process the granite near main lines?

The quarries came before the railroads. An individual quarry might have had a siding, but using horses and trucks wasn't a disadvantage. Depends on the accessibility and quality of the stone.

There isn't an advantage in building a massive centralized rock crusher and shipping by rail. There are economies of scale in manufacturing and food processing, but it's easier to crush on site or near by, and use the stone locally. Rail ballast would go by rail, and I suppose it might be shipped by rail or water to some place that doesn't have stone to crush. There's a lot of rock out there, if Miami wants crushed stone of any size, it won't come from Fitzwilliam.

How about Boston? Seriously, good points joshg1. I was inspired to inquire about modern New England granite potential by the Oct 2013 Trains issue which focused on class 1 railroads "rolling stones" which it seems is still viable in the southwest and west. Perhaps, someday some of that dormant NE rock will be quarried again and processed onsite?

[tom18287]

reinforced concrete is what killed the granite industry.

[Ridgefielder]

How about Boston? Seriously, good points joshg1. I was inspired to inquire about modern New England granite potential by the Oct 2013 Trains issue which focused on class 1 railroads "rolling stones" which it seems is still viable in the southwest and west. Perhaps, someday some of that dormant NE rock will be quarried again and processed onsite?

Well, actually, down here in NY and Southern New England, P&W does quite nicely "rolling stones" from the quarry at Reed's Gap on the Air Line and, via interchange with the Branford Steam Railroad, from the big Tilcon Connecticut operation at North Branford. Some of this is even an intra-state haul, to the Tilcon facility in Danbury-- no mean feat in a state that's 60mi x 120mi. And from I-84 I've definitely seen hoppers spotted at the Plainville quarry on PAR's Highland Line.

But to be fair, this stuff is traprock- basalt- from the Metacomet Ridge, not granite.

[joshg1]

Location, location, location…

Rail service or not, any quarry can't have neighbors to complain about the blasting, drilling, crushing. Even finishing is incredibly noisy. And you have to worry about seepage. Concord is covered by black pools that were quarries. As is Cape Ann, and they filled in the Quincy quarries. Maine, northern NH and VT, W. Mass have sufficiently remote regions that might be good prospects. Too many people down south, however-

there is a stone crushing operation in Wilton on the Lyndeborough line that ships just to Milford. It is right on and the main reason the Milford-Bennington RR exists. The Ossipee pit is Boston Sand & Gravel. I'm sure the gravel is crushed stone but I don't know where they get it.

As for finish stone, better concrete finishes in the 1920s underpriced granite. 90 years later it still looks good. I'm from Concord NH and just today I sat on the Perkins monument (state house) which was that fine grain local granite. Looks just like nice concrete. That quarry closed, the one that's left is mostly curb stones now. And with more cremations every year, why buy a plot and a big stone?

Long story short- demand for stone and location will determine if it becomes future freight traffic. Which I could say about anything.

[Mr rt]

"The quarries came before the railroads."
There was a big granite quarry in Haddam Neck, CT and a steam RxR on the other side of the CT river, but they used barges to get the stone to NYC and elsewhere. As was said CT still has a couple of trap rock quaries, one at Reeds Gap, the other in Branford. The latter uses barges & RxR (P&W) to move the stone. There was another very small one in Branford that use a narrow guage RxR (one car at a time pulled by a mule). That car was dumped into a barge on the Farm River. A trolley line goes over that ROW daily.

[MinutemanMaroon]

Swenson's Granite in West Concord, NH received service on the Claremont and Concord branch of the B&M. They still received rail service on the branch into the 70s even after the B&M abandoned the branch, using what was left of the C&C in Concord as spur. As far as I know Swenson's is still in operation but the rails were pulled up. Some of the rail from one of Swenson's siding was used for the B&M coach on display in front of the Contoocook station.