D&M / LSRC Stone Operations

[chapmaja]

When / why did the the gypsum operations close up in and around Alabaster? Was it due to the mines running out of product or were there other reasons?

[joeyuboats]

According to TRAINS, Oct., 1987 the D&M gave up the"substantial, but no longer profitable" gravel traffic after the 1984 quarry season. Whether this applied to the all the other quarry traffic is not clear. It could be that it was taken over by trucks, or that some of the formerly rail hauled minerals were no longer needed by the customers. Funny, that now, LSRC moves quite a bit of stone in its trains.

[AARR]

Alabaster mine shutdown around 2006 when its tram broke and they determined it was too expensive to fix vs. the 10 years or so of gypsum was left to mine.

Coincidentally, National Gypsum in White Rock stopped shipping by rail around the same time. They used the Port Gypsum docks to load ships. I don't know the factors for the change, but it appears that might only mine enough gypsum for their wallboard plant located a little south in National City.

If anyone knows anything more the informational would be greatly appreciated. From a railfan perspective both of these operations are not well documented AFAIK.

When / why did the the gypsum operations close up in and around Alabaster? Was it due to the mines running out of product or were there other reasons?

[Manistique]

US Gypsum used to run GE 45 tonners in the mine at Alabaster, two together I saw in one photo. I have a photo of their last one I took in the early 1980's. The track from Alabaster Junction to the mine was a separate railroad, the Erie & Michigan Railway and Navigation Company, at one time. They had their own steam locomotive to interchange with D&M at Tawas. I have a Bill Dewey photograph of that locomotive from the 1930's, which was a former D&M one. I presume the GE's replaced the steamer.

I caught the D&M switching the mine at National City once. That was on a wye, if I recall. I couldn't get into the property, just took pictures of the train coming in and out at the wye while switching. It went back to Tawas afterwards, it was just a turn. I never caught it going into Alabaster at Albaster Junction though I think I lost a train once that did that. I sat for hours on the mainline south of there waiting for it!

[Super Chief]

I just read yesterday US Gypsum is to reopen Alabaster according to local news coverage. The still supply their plant in Detroit. CEO said relaying rail was a possibility. Wall board is on the upswing again so the "Great White City" may once again rise from the ashes?

[Saturnalia]

The LSRC still shipped in gypsum to the LaFarge plant in Alpena until around 10 years ago. Not sure exactly where it came from. Ultimately, my understanding is that the use of flyash eventually pushed out the gypsum in cement making.

[chapmaja]

I just read yesterday US Gypsum is to reopen Alabaster according to local news coverage. The still supply their plant in Detroit. CEO said relaying rail was a possibility. Wall board is on the upswing again so the "Great White City" may once again rise from the ashes?

I don't think it would be as much relay tracks, as rehabilitate tracks. Looking at the Google satilite view, the tracks are still in place down to Turtle Rd, but are cut at each crossing starting at Alabaster Rd going south. Duby rd is the last still intact crossing. There is car storage on the line to just north of Whittemore Rd.

This also brings up the question. When did Tawas yard close and get replaced by Wal-Mart? Was it about the time they stopped with the service to the local mines?

[AARR]

Gypsum came from either Alabaster or White Rock (maybe both).

I think flyash replaced shale (the shale pit west of Alpena closed around the same time Lafarge started receiving flyash in the late 1990's). Maybe flyash replaced both shale and gypsum?

From the late 90's until about 10 years ago Lafarge received far more flyash by rail than they do now.

The LSRC still shipped in gypsum to the LaFarge plant in Alpena until around 10 years ago. Not sure exactly where it came from. Ultimately, my understanding is that the use of flyash eventually pushed out the gypsum in cement making.

[Manistique]

Tawas Yard was closed and the property sold to Wal Mart shortly after LSRC was formed, if I recall. The D&M people basically left railroading and went into the real estate business at some point. I heard that is why they purchased part of the old NYC line out right, like at Mackinaw City, because they knew the real estate there would be valuable. Same with Tawas property.

[Standard Railfan]

The LSRC still shipped in gypsum to the LaFarge plant in Alpena until around 10 years ago. Not sure exactly where it came from. Ultimately, my understanding is that the use of flyash eventually pushed out the gypsum in cement making.

I wonder if gypsum may make a comeback with the decline of flyash from coal fired power plants.

[Saturnalia]

The LSRC still shipped in gypsum to the LaFarge plant in Alpena until around 10 years ago. Not sure exactly where it came from. Ultimately, my understanding is that the use of flyash eventually pushed out the gypsum in cement making.

I wonder if gypsum may make a comeback with the decline of flyash from coal fired power plants.

This probably has more to do with power plant's ability to load out the flyash than anything else, since most plants landfill it.

[Standard Railfan]

The LSRC still shipped in gypsum to the LaFarge plant in Alpena until around 10 years ago. Not sure exactly where it came from. Ultimately, my understanding is that the use of flyash eventually pushed out the gypsum in cement making.

I wonder if gypsum may make a comeback with the decline of flyash from coal fired power plants.

This probably has more to do with power plant's ability to load out the flyash than anything else, since most plants landfill it.

To my point, many of the power plants that had flyash load out systems are closed or will be soon. Since the long term future coal fired plants is in doubt, I don’t think it is likely that plants would invest in a flyash system. Why spend the money on a plant that will more than likely be closed within 10 years?

[AARR]

Is flyash a byproduct of the steel making process? Seems like many years ago I had a customer on Zug Island in Detroit that received flyash from one of the local steel mills.

[Saturnalia]

Is flyash a byproduct of the steel making process? Seems like many years ago I had a customer on Zug Island in Detroit that received flyash from one of the local steel mills.

Flyash is from burning coal. They probably got it from a sub-process of steelmaking, but not from the steelmaking process itself.

[joeyuboats]

Flyash can be used as a substitute,or filler in concrete. Worked at a large Detroit concrete supplier years back, and it would sometimes be blended with a 2 or 3 bag(per yard) cement mixture that was used to fill unneeded underground tanks, rather than removing them. From what I understand, now it is used more often in sidewalk or road paving--- but a pure 6 or 7 bag mix per yard is much more desired.

[MQT1223]

I just read yesterday US Gypsum is to reopen Alabaster according to local news coverage. The still supply their plant in Detroit. CEO said relaying rail was a possibility. Wall board is on the upswing again so the "Great White City" may once again rise from the ashes?

I would be interested to hear about this

[CSXBOY]

I was always curious about this operation. I've been going up north that way just about every summer to my family's lakehouse in Oscoda for the past 15 years and I always wondered if LSRC had more traffic back in the early 2000s or early days of the company. Was there any additional trains besides the 326/327 before the alabaster plant closed? I remember that spur getting ripped up in like the summer of 2012 as well. Also wasn't there an operation in Oscoda near the airport? The D&M and early days of LSRC has always fascinated me and I would like to learn more. Thanks

[AARR]

At one time D&M had locals at Bay City, Tawas City, Alpena and Cheboygan. A road train worked Alpena to Bay City and back in one night. The Cheboygan local was discontinued around 1990 when the diaper plant closed and the Tawas City local around 2006ish when the gypsum mines closed or switched to trucks.

Another local was added in Grayling and another road job between Bay City and Grayling around 1976 when D&M took over operations of the Mackinaw Sub. Both jobs still exist today.

Around the time when the on-duty hours dropped from 16 to 12 they added a northbound counterpart to the Alpena Job from Bay City so they could make it back to their home terminals in 12 hours.

I always wondered if LSRC had more traffic back in the early 2000s or early days of the company. Was there any additional trains besides the 326/327 before the alabaster plant closed?

[Manistique]

When D&M got the NYC line to Cheboygan in 1976 the track was upgraded (probably by the state, at least to Camp Grayling in Grayling as they owned that portion, D&M buying the line north of there) so they were able to run a Bay City to Cheboygan and Cheboygan to Bay City daily train (?) out of each town in twelve hours. They always had two locomotives on the long train, because of the West Branch Hill and for "insurance."

As track speed declined over the ensuing years they change this so that a "local" ran out of Cheboygan to Gaylord where it met the Bay City train and the crews stopped.

At the same time frame the Cheboygan local would also go up to Mackinaw City to switch the carferry for a couple years when it was still running. And, of course, the diaper plant in Cheyboygan was the reason to keep the local based there. Once that closed there was pretty much no traffic north of Gaylord and they assigned the local locomotive to Grayling at the paper plant south of town and abandoned the line north of Gaylord.

Grayling was as far as the Bay City train would go in recent times, then turn around and head back. The Grayling local switched Grayling and went up to the paper plant in Gaylord when that was still opened (near the end they leased a grey RS-2 to them for the company to use to switch itself instead of D&M switching them). If there were tank cars for Gaylord they would take them up there too in downtown, which became the end of the line. After the paper plant closed (they demolished the building too) the railroad built that long spur south of the plant to a scrap yard or something west of the mainline. That was supposed to be a gold mine but I don't think it ever worked out as well as hoped. I think this last paragraph pretty much describes today's operations on LSRC up there today though I don't know if there is a daily train out of Bay City now like there was.

[SD80MAC]

Grayling and Gaylord are very busy places on the LSRC these days. There is a day crew out of Grayling that handles all of the switching between there and Gaylord, and a night crew that handles any additional switching plus runs south with the road train to meet the daily train from Bay City.