Rules for Rail
RAIL 26
A train filled with aggregate awaits the return of railroad personnel after leaving the pulpit loadout system at Capitol Aggregates’ Marble Falls Quarry.
Rules for
t Capitol Aggregates’ Marble Falls Quarry The key to successful located in Marble Falls, Texas, 80 percent rail distribution is of the material processed at the plant is communication — shipped out by rail. “Rail is more efficient with the railroads and can move bigger volumes to where the market and with customers. is,” says Scott Wolston, director of distribution at by Kerry Clines, Senior Editor we found out that if we put in a loop track, put the right rail down, and had the right degree of loop, they would let us use their power (locomotive). That made us change our design and put the loop track in so we could use the Class 1 power.” The plant moved the original location of the loadCapitol Aggregates. out and added conveyors to bring the material up Marble Falls Quarry was built to accommodate from the plant. The loop track, also called a balloon two types of railroads — Class 1s (Union Pacific track, allows a mile-long, 100-car train to enter the and Burlington Northern) and the Austin Western plant and load without blocking the entrance to the shortline owned by Capital Metro, a transit organiplant. zation based in the Austin, Texas, district. Loadout at the plant is all computerized. When “Our original plant design didn’t have a loop the railcars are ready to load, the order is entered intrack,” says Brett Ballard, plant manager at Marble to the computer. Material is pulled from the tunnel Falls Quarry. “In meetings with the Class 1 railroads, running beneath the plant’s six different stockpiles,