Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF Ballast Train's

Where do they orginate?? Tyia

I'm sure there are multiple sources.  There is one just east of Lamphier (WA) on the Lakeside Sub.  And I think they still get ballast out of the Conda Quarry west of Whitehall on the former MRL.  I've also seen BNSF ballast trains load at Granite (WY) just west of Cheyenne on the UP. 

mike woodruff
north platte ne

Davis, Oklahoma and Pedernal, New Mexico in the Santa Fe days.

swaool Wrote:
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> I'm sure there are multiple sources.  There is
> one just east of Lamphier (WA) on the Lakeside
> Sub.  And I think they still get ballast out of
> the Conda Quarry west of Whitehall on the former
> MRL.  I've also seen BNSF ballast trains load at
> Granite (WY) just west of Cheyenne on the UP. 
>
> mike woodruff
> north platte ne


Aka missile base

Posted from Android

skinem Wrote:
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> Davis, Oklahoma and Pedernal, New Mexico in the
> Santa Fe days.

Add Newberry Springs, CA (east of Barstow) to the list of those in the Santa Fe days.  I know both Pedernal and Newberry Springs are closed now.  Don't know about Davis, OK.

BNSF has been loading ballast and rip-rap trains from the Porphyry Spur (old Elsinore District) south of Corona, CA, which is about 40 miles east of Los Angeles.

Dont they also get some ballast in the Sioux Falls area off the D&I railroad?
JC

Much of the ballast material BNSF uses in California comes from the Vulcan Materials quarry in Elsey, CA which loads both UP and BNSF aggregate trains. The quarry is just railroad east of Oroville on UP's Canyon Sub (former WP) where BNSF has trackage rights from Oroville to Keddie.

St Cloud,  MN  also big  loader of ballast for  Northern part of Big Orange.

PWM

They pull a lot from LG Everist’s Ortonville, MN quarry.

Posted from iPhone

i remember one in Arizona ,near Winona on the Santa Fe , it ran out to a cinder cone  mountain,    known as the  Darling Cinder Pit,   possibly not now  in use and tracks removed ?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/26 03:31 by bakersfielddave.

I think BNSF also gets rock from Chico, Tx, just NW of Ft Worth.

In the Bay Area the ex. Santa Fe tracks have this red-colored ballast material. Curious what kind of rock it is and where it is imined. 

Thanks!

At least in the Southern California area the Santa Fe used a lot of Blast Furnace Slag from Kaiser Steel in Fontana.

phthithu Wrote:
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> In the Bay Area the ex. Santa Fe tracks have this
> red-colored ballast material. Curious what kind of
> rock it is and where it is imined. 

The Newberry Springs Quarry produced rock that was red-colored.  The actual quarry was about 2-3 miles south of the tracks and connected via a conveyor belt.

skinem Wrote:
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> Davis, Oklahoma and Pedernal, New Mexico in the
> Santa Fe days.

From looking at Google Street View images, BNSF was still loading trains at Davis, OK in January 2026 of this year.  The Street View image shows two BNSF locomotives with Herzog ballast cars at the loading facility.