Pit & Quarry, February 2015
TRANSPORTAT ION Lastof its kind Rail is the key to viable markets for one aggregate producing company that calls the Colorado Front Range home BY KEVIN YANIK ew trucks make their way across the narrow bridge suspended over the Arkansas River that separates Front Range Aggregates from U S Route 50 Its simply not economical for most customers to pick up F material at the operation which is located about 12 miles west of Cañon City Colo Still Front Ranges Parkdale Plant is an ideal source of aggregate material having an alluvial pit that has about 10 years of life remaining and a 90 acre granite quarry that has yet to be mined So the most logical way to move material from the operation to the markets where its needed is via train In fact Front Range President Michael Sheahan says 90 percent of product is railed out Well ship 5000 tons at a time he says It does require some notice to deliver those tons but before we know it we can have it on the ground where its needed One reason Front Range ships by rail is because its quarry was the last one permitted on the Front Range of Colorado Sheahan says The quarry was permitted in 1998 and obtaining a permit since then in Colorado has been a challenge The primary reason we were permitted was because of our distance from the Front Range market he says Were not in the typical Front Range community or where many of the quarries are west of Denver But we were far enough away that there wasnt a tremendous opposition to the quarry Front Ranges location provides an opportunity for Rock Rail Railroad a sister company that owns about 11 miles of track leading into the operation to provide transportation A railcar is backed into Front Range Aggregates distribution terminal in Colorado Springs Colo with a load from the operations pit near Cañon City Colo At left is Front Range President Michael Sheahan Rock Rail owns the track with Royal Gorge Route Railroad a tourism company The track ultimately connects to a distribution terminal in Colorado Springs Colo where most material is currently sold Rail gives Front Range access to markets it wouldnt otherwise reach Besides Colorado Springs Front Range material has also freighted to east Denver and parts of western Kansas We have been shipping about four trains per week but that slows down as winter approaches Sheahan says Each rail shipment typically involves about 50 railcars he says Front Range can accommodate up to 90 railcars Any more than 90 and the front end of a train would meet the back end of it as railcars pour in to the operations looped loading area Once railcars reach the Colorado Springs distribution terminal about a five hour trip away material is used for a 32 PIT QUARRY February 2015 www pitandquarry com
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