The Siouxland Historical Railroad Association has operated a 45-tonner for about 10 years now. In that period of time, the sanders have never been functional. After encountering the problem of being unable to move 2 boxcars due to dew and grass on the rail, I decided it was time to fix the problem. Last Saturday, I started taking things apart. I believe the problem was simply clogged lines, wet sand, and mis-adjusted air nozzles.

Now, I need to fill the sand pockets with new, clean, dry sand. If you're not buying by the truckload and and you don't have a dryer, where does one get dry sand? Could you buy an appropriate type of sand (Do I recall properly that it should be a silica sand?) in bags from a lumber yard or masonry supply house?

TSS


tsschult@usd.edu

What you want is called "play sand", used for kid's sand boxes. It has no small pebbles, which most dry, bagged sand does-- the little pebbles clump together and will easily clog the sand traps. Make sure you get the play sand in DRY paper bags ONLY-- the plastic bagged stuff will have moisture in it, and it will clog the sanders. A 45-tonner won't need much; a 50 pound bag in each sand box should do it. Get it from a good lumber yard or building/mason's supply house.

Can't stress enough that it must be absolutely DRY, and particles should be as FINE as possible. And that holds true for bigger locomotives, too.

hpincus@mindspring.com

> What you want is called "play
> sand", used for kid's sand boxes. It
> has no small pebbles, which most dry, bagged
> sand does-- the little pebbles clump
> together and will easily clog the sand
> traps. Make sure you get the play sand in
> DRY paper bags ONLY-- the plastic bagged
> stuff will have moisture in it, and it will
> clog the sanders. A 45-tonner won't need
> much; a 50 pound bag in each sand box should
> do it. Get it from a good lumber yard or
> building/mason's supply house.

> Can't stress enough that it must be
> absolutely DRY, and particles should be as
> FINE as possible. And that holds true for
> bigger locomotives, too.

Maybe not too fine though - I used some really fine windblown beach sand once and found it tended to clump together and block the sandbox- The size we found best is about the size of sugar grains - big enough to not clump, a bit heavier so the wind doesn't blow it away before it hits the rails. One likely source would be bagged sandblasting sand - go talk to someone that hires out sandblasters.

Generally the stuff is referred to as silica sand. Mark D.

mnmach@lakes.com

Yes, I should have remembered that blasting sand is sold nice and dry, and is uniform in size.

By the way, when RMNE obtained a 45-tonner from Stanley Works in New Britain, CT a few years ago, we found the sandboxes full of carborundum grinding grit, not sand! It flowed real well, but we removed it all-- no need to wear out wheels and rails prematurely.

hpincus@mindspring.com

Thanks to all for the information.

If we ever get any flat spots on the wheels, maybe I'll try putting some carborundum grit in the sand pockets...just kidding.

> Yes, I should have remembered that blasting
> sand is sold nice and dry, and is uniform in
> size.

> By the way, when RMNE obtained a 45-tonner
> from Stanley Works in New Britain, CT a few
> years ago, we found the sandboxes full of
> carborundum grinding grit, not sand! It
> flowed real well, but we removed it all-- no
> need to wear out wheels and rails
> prematurely.


tsschult@usd.edu

90 mesh silica sand is what you are looking for. This can be found in 50 and 90lb bags at most of your building supply businesses like home depot. Also try building supply that deals with dry wall and stucco, they also carry the bagged sand.

Robert@trainorders.com