[PRCo] Re: Spur

[Phillip Clark Campbell]

Very interesting information from both.  I personally took mining and steel very much for granted didn't I since it was found everywhere around Pittsburgh; it was very much part of the scenery.
Here is a photo from the list with the 'slag dump' near Washington Junction highly evident:  http://tinyurl.com/2uged4  This is a color photo of the 'black' dump:  http://www.davesrailpix.com/pitts/htm/bvp170.htm and another b&w:  http://www.davesrailpix.com/pitts/htm/wvp004.htm

It is difficult to tell from some photos of the past since they are usually b&w but I have often wondered about the source of ballast haven't I and this photo 'hints' at slag:  http://www.davesrailpix.com/pitts/htm/bvp038.htm but other photos strongly hint at standard ballast.  One could assume that the railway used some slag for ballast but not universally.


Phil


----- Original Message ----
From: robert netzlof <wb3iqe at rocketmail.com>
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Sent: Saturday, March 22, 2008 6:35:53 AM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Spur

--- "Dennis F.  Cramer" <dfc1 at windstream.net> wrote:

> To me, slag has always been a term of waste coming from a steel
> mill.

To me also. I said I found its use regarding mine waste jarring.

> Typically the waste from a small mine would have been the boney
> pile.

Usage may depend on locale. I think I was 30 years old before I heard
the term "boney pile". It had always been "mine dump" when I was
growing up.

Nonetheless, I have seen/heard refernces to mine waste as "slag".
That may not be too outre, as the dictionary says "slag" comes to us
from the low German "slacke". I've heard many people refer to poor
quality coal as "slack" or "slack coal". So, one man's slack may be
another man's slag.
 
> Miners have always 
> been very efficient at getting the pay dirt and there was usually
> little waste.

I beg to differ. I suppose it depends on the locale, but where I grew
up in Westmoreland county, mine dumps were a prominent feature of the
landscape. Indeed, in the aerial photo of the spur, look to the
northeast of the tipple to see a part of a large dump. Go to:

http://www.pennpilot.psu.edu/photos1940s/allegheny_1938/allegheny_1938_photos_jpg_400/allegheny_051739_aps7266.jpg

to see the full extent of the dump associated with this mine.

In the 1950s and '60s, many mine dumps were consumed as sources of
"cinders" for anti-skid material on roads. Later, the EPA got upset
over the potential for acid to leach out of the dumps and into
streams, so megabucks were spent to bury them. As a result, mine
dumps have disappeared from western PA, creating the impression that
they never existed.


Bob Netzlof a/k/a Sweet Old Bob



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