What’s in the hopper?
Q.
I’m going to model the Johns-Manville company in
Richmond, IN as it was in the mid-1970s. They received
a lot of covered hoppers, but I don’t know what was in
them. The company’s current website says products include
Formaldehyde-free™ fiberglass building insulation, commer-
cial roofing membranes and roof insulations, filtration media,
and mats and reinforcements. And, did they ship finished
products in boxcars?
– NS Engineer
A.
“If it's a roofing and insulation manufacturer, I would say one
possibility for the covered hoppers is roofing granules. I know
the WC used to move a lot of it,” said Mike (wcrails). “The gran-
ules are used in making shingles.”
Jason Cook found a recent aerial view of the factory at
“In looking at the imagery, there is a white-roofed shed type
structure and I assume an under-track unloading pit where the
covered hopper is parked next to it. The coloration of the mate-
rial in and around the shed reminds me of cullet, broken glass,”
Jason said.
“I know there is a customer on the Indiana Northeastern
Railroad in Ashley, Indiana, that loads out cullet in covered hop-
pers, I assume from the Guardian Industries windshield plant
in Ashley. If you look at the tracks on the east-west axis along
the plant, I see seven covered hoppers on two tracks … there
appears to be a light-colored material on the track in places. I
will guess that is soda ash or silica. The longer cars are probably
the soda ash, the shorter ones the silica.
“Any chance you have some pictures of this plant from the
1970s? I'd be interested in seeing the mix of cars back then. Be
