gravel or sand pits!

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hey all. I model HO… I have been wanting to add a gravel pit or sand company on my layout! Does anyone know of any links that others have added something like this to there layout?

2

[#welcome]

I don’t know of any kits off the top of my head (what buildings are there anyway except an office?) but I have a cement plant on my layout, and I modeled a pit, not for mining, but for the sand cars to dump their loads. I just cut through the 2" styrofoam sub-roadbed to the plywood below, then constructed a ramp to get out, and layed the track.

I’m not sure if you want a loading facility though, that would require a structure. I think Faller makes one, though I’m not sure. I’d do a search on Walthers.com for one.

Good luck!

EDIT: How about this?

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/5-3062

It’s a little big, but would make a nice scene if you’ve got room.

3

Many gravel pits including some of the very largest load the cars with a wheel loader off a pile, and have no “tipple” at all.

To equip a gravel pit it needs:

  1. Method of stripping the topsoil. Depending upon the geology and topopgraphy and size of the pit, this is anything from bulldozers to scrapers to excavators loading articulated dump trucks (ADTs).

  2. Method of excavating the gravel. Usually these days it’s excavators loading out to ADTs or off-road stiff-frame trucks of the 35-90 ton size classes. In the past draglines were often used, with wheel loaders loading stiff-frame trucks.

  3. Method of washing and sizing the gravel (if it’s pit-run alluvial) or crushing, washing, and sizing (if it’s granite or traprock).

  4. Method of stacking the washed and sized product. Usually a circular stacker is used. Most pits working in alluvial material ship sand, washed -3/4" aggregate, washed 1-1/2" aggregate, road base, and pit run. Pits that are crushing granite will ship railroad ballast, aggregate, and if they can find any market for them, the fines.

  5. Method of loading the product into railcars. At the very largest, long-term pits, a loop track or long siding is built, and the train pulled slowly under a loading conveyor. But most pits just load off the stacker piles using a wheel loader into a stiff-frame truck, which hauls it over next to the spur and dumps it, and another wheel loader loads a stationary cut of cars one at a time. Many pits with a conveyor loading system will also use a wheel loader to load different grades of rock, such as using the conveyor for the pit-run and a wheel loader for the washed sand and aggregate.

So what you end up with is a hole in the ground, a crusher, and earthmoving equipment. For a modest sized pit loading 20 cars a day, it would need a dozer in the D6 to D8 class, a couple of 25-50 ton excavator

4

Hi Darren

I have set up right now at a train show 2 HO modules that have a sand and gravel pit and procesing plant. I started with the Walthers Glacier Gravel and kit bashed it to load trains and adding a washed sand silo to load covered or open hoppers. Thats on a 2X4 foot module and the pit is on a corner module. I have a Komatsu 800 loader and a front shovel loading 100 ton rigid frame trucks. They dump into a scratch built feeder /crusher then coveyed into the plant and loaded into hoppers. 3 inch washed rock for ballast or whatever, 1&1/2 minus for drainage and whatever and washed sand for locos/cement/glass or whatever.

I wish this forum will let me post pics I could show you.

Pete

5

Hi Darren,

I haven’t anything to add to what has already been said, but have a picture of my Glacier Gravel Co. set-up. I cut a 1sq.ft. hole in the layout plywood top, and screwed on an old drawer below. The complete set-up requires about 2sq.ft., and requires two spurs for loading the crushed gravel. Several modelers have stated that they would like to Post pictures, but don’t know how to do it. One must first place the digital photo in the Host of Photobucket. All of my RR related pictures are stored in My Album. There will be four options below each image You click on the bottom one labelled IMG The word Copied will appear momentarily, indicating that the image has been copied to the computer Clipboard. You can then go to the Trains.com thread and Click on Reply. Add any “Text” that you desire and then Click on ctrl V The lengthy code for the image will appear. Click on Post, and the text and image will be “Posted” at the end of the given Thread. You can always Edit the text, and then RePost.

6

slight thread hijack here, but would that gravel loader work as a coal mine? I’ve been thinking about using it for an abandoned coal mine project.

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V&AL

I have that same kit above, and i have turned it into a coal mine, so yes it will look great