Doug Whetstone's Railfan Trip - March 6, 2019
Doug says,
"Five of my local railroad buddies and I visited a new asphalt
shingle factory an hour from our town (Jefferson City). We weren't really
interested in the manufacturing process but more in the rail operation outside
of the facility, although we thoroughly enjoyed the interior tour. The company brings
in 21 different colors of granules, rolls of fiberglass sheeting, as well as
hot asphalt, all by rail. The rolls of fiberglass cloth are 6' in diameter and
contain 4.5 miles of material. WOW! The various rail cars are shuttled in and
out of the facility by a piece of machinery called the Shuttlewagon.
Unfortunately, for safety reasons, we weren't allowed in the area where the
asphalt and granules are unloaded but we did get to watch the Shuttlewagon
remove 3 loaded boxcars from the plant. I've included some pictures of the cars being pulled from the plant. It's great being in an area where
we're surrounded by trains."