depends on era

prior to the mid 1950's bulk dry cement would be hauled in gondolas with removable round containers...after that cement was hauled in covered hoppers like the ACF "Air-slide"....so lines of "shorty" covered hoppers with an occasional boxcar or flatcar with "machinery" would fit nicely for anythng modeled after 1955

Model Railroader's Guide to Industries along the Tracks 3 covers the cement industry. I recommend seeing if you can find a copy at your LHS to page through and make sure it's what you need - you can see the first part of the Cement chapter here: http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/yhst-22106725251441/12422spread.pdf

As I understand it, many (most?) cement plants are located near enough to limestone quarries that they can have the raw limestone conveyored in. I don't know what else they might receive.

Modern railroads ship the finished product in shorty two-bay covered hoppers.

A lot would depend on where the raw materials were coming from; as Jeff said the plants were often located near a source of at least one main ingredient. Having said that here is roughly how things work at my local cement mill:

Inputs included:

• iron ore; relatively small quantities compared to the other inputs
• aggregates (limestone etc.); large quantities
• coal for firing the kiln; large quantities when the price of gas or oil is high.

The out puts is cement of course: most of which was bagged and loaded into boxcars until the arrival (in Canada) of large numbers covered hoppers in the late '50s.

The cement plant at Monolith is a well-known industry to railfans and historians of the Tehachapi area.  There should be one or more Yahoo groups devoted to the SP/UP where you can find someone with specific knowledge of that plant and its traffic. 

There are several contemporary photos of the plant at the rrpicturearchives site http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locThumbs.aspx?id=15917, at least one showing typical modern 100+ ton two-bay covered hoppers, plus open hoppers.  I'm not sure about Monolith, but some other plants that receive coal in open hoppers can ship "clinker" cement in the same cars for processing elsewhere.

CC in Hannibal Mo. burns solid waste and tires to heat kiln.Both of those come in via truck but only because they are within a 100 miles.Some use coal to heat kiln that could be brought in by rail.

Are you wanting to model the present plant traffic or an different era?

Seems like there are a few photos and perhaps some info in John Signor's Tehachapi. I'll see if I can find the info. Again, depends what time frame you're looking to model. The original quarry was to the south - there was a narrow gauge railroad that ran from the quarry underneath the mainline and into the plant. Later, the narrow gauge was pulled up and moved to the limestone deposits above (behind the plant.) It (the narrow gauge) operated until the early 70's when the current conveyor system was installed.

Tons of info and possibilities.

Eventually I will be sttling in on somewhere during 1942 to 1945 as far as time period goes.

I already have Signors "tehachepi." Great resource.

Thanks for all the tips guys.

Jim

Here is another site worth looking into: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/cementbeltrr/

Stogie

there is a Concrete plant near me that is supported by rail. They get Iron ore loads from the CN. I see about 10 short high sided hopper cars parked on one of the spur tracks. They bring in the sand with end dump trucks and lime with bulk semi trailers. they mix the stuff and haul out wet cement in cement trucks. This is not a packaging plant just wet cement.

Trent