Track Ballast

[NW Mailing List]

On Sun, Feb 15, 2015 at 8:20 AM,
​Richard
 wrote:

Could someone tell me what type of stone or stone combination made up the
> majority of N&W mainline track ballast. Silly question maybe but I am not
> sure of American Railroads common practice. Thanks for any help


​Mainline ballast was probably typically crushed limestone, which came from
several on-line quarries, such as the one at Blue Ridge east of Roanoke and
Pounding Mill on the Clinch Valley line. But further qualification will be
necessary as to years or era, since cinders, slag, and gravel were also
used at times. ​For example, the annual report of Dec. 31, 1934, says:

"Use of heavy rail and stone ballast in tracks subject to heavy traffic has
proved very economical. About
68 per cent, of first track of main lines and practically all of second and
third tracks of main lines have
been laid with 130 and 131 pound rail." but doesn't define "stone ballast."

Bruce in Blacksburg
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist6.pair.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20150216/abc40f46/attachment.html>