Quarry Stone Loader

Quarried limestone needs to be crushed and stored in bins and then transferred to railroad cars.
The following structures will simulate that part of limestone quarrying operations. I wanted to animate
this portion of the operation. It will feature a storage bin hidden behind the scenery that will hold
"bird gravel". The gravel simulates the crushed limestone. It will be augured onto a series of belts that
will empty into storage bins. This will be the beginning for the HOn2½ section of the layout. The line
will run to a transfer building where the gravel will be transferred to the standard gauge railroad.
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This is the base that was once a bird feeder project that never got finished. The auger part was a tryout to see if I could make an auger using my lathe. The drive motor with gearbox is a Tamyia planetary gearbox. It was purchased from Pololu Robotics & Electronics and was originally going to be used to power the Walthers Rotary Dumper project.

The auger and gear motor rough assembled.

The upper portion was originally to hold a one gallon plastic jug turned upside down to allow bird feed to run out onto the base. The one gallon plastic jug is not going to be used.

Looking down into the holding bin. I added four slope sheets and a small funnel to funnel the stone into the auger.

This is the place where the bin will be located. Hight still needs to be determined.

If the motor was mounted to the wood it would have been a sounding board. I poured a rubber base with Smooth-On silicone rubber casting material with screws buried in the rubber to be able to fasten the motor to.

The motor fastened on the rubber base.