Pit & Quarry, January 2018
TRANSPORTATION SIMPLIFYING THE SELECTION OF AGGREGATE RAILCARS A comparison of gondolas and open top hoppers highlighting the advantages of both BY DARELL LUTHER 22 PIT QUARRY January 2018 pitandquarry com PHOTOS COURTESY OF TEALINC LTD ail transportation of crushed stone sand and gravel is becoming more prevalent as projects requiring these materials move farther away from quarry sites Rail is also increasingly of interest as material quantities increase to the point that trucking material is no longer an economically feasible option Traffic congestion alone can make truck transport an unviable option Whatever the reason for considering railcar transportation one of the first questions people generally ask is what type of railcar youre going to use When looking at equipment options and selecting the best equipment to match the move one needs to take into account a number of alternatives to obtain the right railcar for the situation The process for ferreting out these alternatives goes something like this KEY CONSIDERATIONS 1 Understand your equipment options To start you have a choice of using either gondola railcars flat bottom railcars with open tops and solid ends and walls or open top hopper railcars open top railcars with bottom discharge outlet gates 2 Determine the destination capabilities and constraints The capabilities of the location where material is destined is one of the most important determinations you can make When it comes to key considerations rail track space is the top factor here In many cases there are land and track space constraints when trains run into major metropolitan areas Often a train or set of railcars is restricted to current track space without hope of expansion 3 Determine the origin capabilities and constraints After reviewing the destination capabilities review the origin options for loading Much like unloading considerations loading options depend on origin yard configurations R
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