British 'Stone' Trains, what happens at a quarry?

[JackClare1995]

Hello all,

So I'm currently building a quarry, and I need some advice. In real life, when a locomotive and set of empty hoppers approach a quarry, do they:

A) Proceed straight to the conveyors and load up, then continue into a headshunt whilst the locomotive 'runs-around' the hoppers, and then the whole train 'reverses' out of the quarry on an avoiding line.

Or

B) Proceed via an avoiding line into a headshunt, 'run-around' the empty hoppers and then 'reverse' towards the conveyors to load up, and then head out of the quarry?

I've no idea which way round to build the quarry. I tried contacting Freightliner and DB Schenker but couldn't find a link to an operations manager.

If anyone has any idea of what happens at quarries, I'd be very grateful

Regards, Jack

 

[nexusdj]

Depends on the track layout at the quarry .
Some quarries are big enough to employ their own loco's to shunt and load wagons so that all a mainline loco has to do is bring in the empties and take away a loaded train .

I used to work into the "Stud Farm" quarry on the Leicester-Burton via Coalville line https://www.flickr.com/photos/world_railways/7160348451/
That consisted of 1 siding for crippled wagons and 2 roads which formed a run round loop under the loader .
You would enter on the single line and travel up one side of the run round line pass under the loader and keep going until the wagons where clear of the loader .
next you'd run around your train using the other track , The loader operator would then instruct you via walkie talkie to pass under the loader stopping you each time to load each wagon separately .

The empty train passes over a weigh bridge at slow speed on the way into the site and is then weighed again on the way out , the difference in weight in the wagons equates the weight of the stone that has been loaded .

Mountsorrel (Midland Mainline between Leicester and Loughborough) was another place I worked into and this is a lot larger set up than Stud farm with extensive sidings , a loco fuel point etc.
Here you either loaded your own train or they loaded your wagons using remote controlled loco's (I preferred that as you could get the doss on whilst they where doing it ) .
The added bonus of the track layout was the ability to leave at either end of the site so if there was any problems on the booked route back via Leicester then you could head north towards Loughborough , Turn left at Trent and Sheet stores Junctions and head back via Burton .

 

[JackClare1995]

Hey Dave, cheers for the response!

I've no idea what to do with mine. It's going to be fairly large though, 3 or 4 tracks, so I may just arrive in a 66, uncouple, run-around to the other end but way up the line so I can use a shunter to push the hoppers through the conveyor and then couple them up to the other end of the 66, then have the 08 uncouple and return to a siding.

As you say, it will save a lot of faffing around for me

I take it you used to be a driver? Was it 37/47/56's?

Jack

 

[nexusdj]

Loco wise it depends on the era modelled and I can only comment on those services I saw and worked .

Pre privatisation and trains would be made up of actual ballast discharge wagons such as Sealion's , mermaids etc. haulage being anything from a class 31 through to a 60 . I did see the use of the BRT class 20s on a few occasions . Trainloads would be loaded based on what was required for that weeks engineering work .

Post Privatisation and it was realised that the system was very inflexible especially if an incident happened that required an emergency relay job . Railtrack brought in the use of Virtual Quarries (Bescot's was built on the old up side holding sidings) . This meant there was a constant supply of ballast available to load wagons as required . Trains to and from the quarries became a twice a day (mon-fri) block working mostly worked by class 60 locos hauling the familiar green JNA wagons . In between unloading the block quarry trains various other wagons would be tripped up out of the south end yard and loaded up .

These days the trains consist of the more modern yellow Network Rail types but the traction provider seems to change every time the wind changes direction !!