Lead line

Discussion in 'General' started by Larry F., Oct 19, 2017.

  1. Larry F.

    Larry F. Member

    When did the Frisco start hauling lead up the Cuba branch? Is there any lead still being mined in that area? Larry F.
     
  2. Brad Slone

    Brad Slone Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Larry,

    September 28th 1967 was the day the lead line was officially opened for service, I would suspect revenue loads were heading out shortly thereafter. From what I understand a couple of the mines still produce, but on a limited basis, most of the work is reclaiming lead from batteries and other recyclables. BNSF embargoed the line a few years ago, but from what I understand total abandonment while probably the preferred choice of the railroad is not likely. For abandonment to be allowed they would be required to remediate the lead dust that has coated the line over the years, a expensive proposition. BNSF simply cut the track south of the last industry they switch to in Cuba and let the line lay there and rust. The company magazine all aboard has a couple of article, one in February 1967 the other in October 1967. There was also an article in Trains April 1999 covering the limited operations during the BN regime.

    Brad Slone
     
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  3. Peddling Joe

    Peddling Joe Frisco Employee

    The line usually referred to as "The Lead Line" was built in the early 1960's. It branched off of the original Salem Branch
    somewhere near Cherryville, MO & has since been abandoned. Official Missouri Highway Map 2010-2012 shows the Lead Line going east to Viburnum & slightly farther east than Bixby, MO.
    How much lead was hauled out of the original Salem branch is unknown but in all probably both lead and iron were
    transported.
    Last year (2016) we had a visitor at the Railroad Historical Museum saying he was still employed in a mine still
    operating in the Viburnum area. The depth, according to him, was below sea level. The lead is hauled by truck.
    Joe
     
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2017
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  4. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    I worked that line off and on for several years, It was a real beauty, a great modeling area. In talking to some of the mine guys, their was several other mineral's in the mine including gold. The guy told me the gold alone was enough to fund the mine.
     
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  5. tferk

    tferk Member Frisco.org Supporter

    There are some pretty comprehensive discussions of the Lead Line if you search this site. As Brad said above, the line was built in the LATE 1960's, opened officially in 1967. Several mines are still producing and trucking concentrate to the SEMO Port (Cape Girardeau). The smelter at Buick was converted to secondary lead production in the 1990's....they take in scrap batteries and other lead waste and produce lead metal, recyclable plastic, and gypsum (from acid neutralization.) There is no gold in the Lead Belt, but silver is associated with the lead sulphide deposits, as well as zinc and copper. The silver is extracted at the smelters, not at the mines/concentrators. Some of the concentrators on the Lead Line produced separate zinc and copper concentrates, and others produced a mixed zinc/copper concentrate.

    More info here in this thread:
    http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?threads/smelters-for-off-line-ores.2654/page-2#post-16246
     
  6. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    Now that you mention it, the guy might have said Silver. That was in about 1976 so my memory is not as good as it was. Never the less, I found several, what I call crystallized rocks in the ditch along the track, and moved them 9 moves. Now they reside in my flower bed today.
     
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  7. Larry F.

    Larry F. Member

    Hey guys...thanks for all the info. Larry
     
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  8. JimFisher

    JimFisher Member

  9. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Anything Sligo, Sligo Iron Works, Salem, Cherryville, Steelville, Dillard, etc is up my alley.
    As a kid, my family spent a lot of time down in Crawford County - usually at the Dillard Mill site. We made several exploration trips around the area and to Sligo. That area of Missouri was one of the highlights of my youth. We were down there somewhere every year. I had the chigger bites to prove it!
    K
     
  10. The Leadline was embargoed in the 2000's by BNSF. Built by the FRISCO ~ 1966
    and operated by SLSF until the BN-SLSF merger. It starts at Lead Junction on the Salem Branch which goes SE to Viburnum & farther south to Bixby and Buick , MO. How much lead was hauled out of the original Salem branch is unknown but it would be tremendous.

    Since the embargo, lead operations continue and shipping is done by trucks starting at hwy. KK, then go SE to the Mississippi River for loading on to barges. Much of that is transported to the Gulf of Mexico , then transfered to ocean vessels bound to the new smelter in Africa. Most of the lead needed in North America is produced by recovering lead from used vehicle batteries. That operation is at Buick, MO.
    If North America needs more lead, then that is imported from Africa.

    Viburnum Trend Summary
    The Viburnum Trend, located in Crawford, Washington, Iron, Dent, Reynolds and Shannon counties, produces lead, zinc, copper and silver.

    With depletion of lead ore reserves in the Old Lead Belt, exploration for new deposits of lead and zinc began in the early 1950s. St. Joe drilled the discovery hole for the Viburnum Trend in 1955 near the town of Viburnum. The first ore from the new district was shipped from St. Joe's Number 27 mine in Crawford County in mid-1960.

    The majority of the ore is disseminated in dolomite; it is also found filling void spaces as breccia cement and crystals, and as replacement on bedding planes. Ore bodies generally trend north-south and are tabular to sinuous. The average depth to ore is 1,200 feet. Deposits average 30 to 85 feet thick and have a width of 200 to 2,000 feet. Individual lead ore mines range from 20 to more than 50 million tons in size, and contain up to 8% galena, as well traces of sphalerite and valuable metals.
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2021
  11. palallin

    palallin Member

    I am in for these discussions, too!
     
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  12. frisco1522

    frisco1522 Staff Member Staff Member

    My Brother in Law, Ed Wofford, fired on the Salem Branch in late steam/early diesel days. His engineer was Jim Smiley. He hand fired the 970-980 2-8-0s. Later on, they got diesel No. 61. He moved up to St. Louis in about 54 and worked yard jobs and retired as a regular Chrysler Turn engineer.
     
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  13. yardmaster

    yardmaster Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Don, did they used 970-980 locos on the Salem Branch or for switching at Lindenwood?

    Best Regards,
     
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