Transporting Stone

Large blocks of marble been transported on a Clarendon and Pittsford railcar

One of the great challenges of the stone industry especially before the advances in technology of the late 19th and early 20th century was not only how to cut stone out of deposits but how to transport the large blocks of marble both out of the quarry and around the yards before shipping them off as product.

These limitations, and the technology that overcame them in the latter half of the 19th century, contributed greatly to the timing of the Vermont Marble Co. and the marble industry's success.

Hoisting Stone Out of the Quarry

Inclined Tracks

In ancient times, where large quantities of stone occurred with only a few flaws, quarries could form a series of "steps" up the vertical face of the quarry as blocks were taken out so that each block could be moved forward on top of the next step and down step by step to the bottom of the quarry. These methods continued with few changes in technique or technology until the 18th century. One of the early advances from this "step" method of transporting stone out of the quarry was the inclined track; either pulled by horses or oxen or later powered by steam or electricity.

"An Inclined Quarry Railway" from Stone Magazine in 1895 describes the Vermont Marble Co.'s Sheldon Quarry No. 4 as follows:

"By means of this power, together with the incline track above described, the marble company are able to take an eighteen-ton block out of the quarry and load it on the car ready for shipment to the mill in from three to six minutes, which formerly required 30 minutes, also one extra derrick and three extra men, to operate same. This apparatus has been in operation now for about two months, and although it is an entirely new departure, it is giving excellent satisfaction."

Inclined track in West Rutland, VT

Sketch diagram of inclined track at Sheldon Quarry No. 4 (1895)

Derricks lifting blocks out of the Kitchen Quarry in West Rutland

Derricks and Cranes

First powered by humans and horses and later by steam and electricity, derricks also operated as integral to the transportation of stone out of quarries until the advent of the gantry crane.

Derricks consisted of a tall mast secured with several "guys" or wires ensuring the mast remained steady and fed a hoisting rope over the end of the "boom" or arm reaching out over the quarry. Having lifted the marble block out of the depths of the quarry, the masts allowed the booms to rotate and move the blocks onto rail cars or palettes to be sent to the mills.

Derricks lifting marble out of the quarry onto railcars to be taken to mills

Derrick on edge of marble quarry in Brandon, VT

Marble being moved out of quarry in Rochester, VT

Transporting Stone Around the Yard

Until the latter half of the 19th century, marble blocks were primarily transported using an ox team and a stone boat placed on birch rollers about 4 feet long and 8 inches in diameter.

Ox team transporting marble blocks on a stone boat (Vermont's Marble Industry 1878)

Fred Patch, who worked in the marble quarries and mills of the Rutland area from the 1870s-1890s, describes the process from his first hand experience as follows:

"In loading, the boat was placed on the eight-inch rolls under the derrick and the block put on the boat on top of four iron rolls about three inches in diameter, if the block was right side up when put on the boat. This was done to assist in rolling the block into the gang, but if the block when put on the boat lay on its side, it would be so places as to easily tip up when dumped into the gang, and you may rest assured it took an expert to do this. It usually took two pair of oxen to pull this kind of load. The head man placed the rolls in front of the boat, one man in the rear picked up the rolls as the boat left them, catching them one by one and tossing them forward to a middle man who was usually an expert at turning corners, keeping the team going and so guiding the load as to have the block dump itself into the gang."

Workers and horse-drawn wagon

Large block of stone being moved by wagon

Team of horses carrying marble block

In order to streamline this process, tracks were laid for these boats to roll on along the sides of mills so that they might be pulled perpendicularly off the cart on the track directly into the gangsaw compartments, preventing the need for turning corners as before. Later, this process of transfers and tracks was made electric rather than driven by oxen.

Mill interior showing electric track along gangsaw compartments in West Rutland, VT

Small derricks moving blocks around marble yard in West Rutland

Derricks and Cranes in the Yard

In addition to the use of derricks to get marble out of the quarry, derricks were used in moving marble on palettes pulled by ox teams and wagons.

The report put together by the Vermont Marble Co. assessing the facilities of the Sheldon Marble Co. property between 1891 and 1892 is incredibly useful in helping paint us a picture of what the property looked like at that time, considering how many changes have occurred between then and now. It discusses several small derricks around the marble yards adjacent to different mill buildings.

Small moveable crane on track lifting marble blocks onto railcars

Derrick loading marble blocks onto track in marble yard in Proctor, VT

"Horse shed derrick" in yard (Facilities report 1892)

Gantry Cranes

In addition to typical derricks that rotated on an immoveable axis, gantry cranes were used to more freely move marble blocks to and from cars on tracks.

The large stationary gantry crane in West Rutland seen below transported marble along one axis from the sides of the track onto railcars while multiple arms on a long track like that seen to the right allowed marble to me moved in all directions.

Learn more about the gantry crane and adjacent mill in West Rutland.

Gantry crane arm over marble yard running next to mill in Proctor, VT

Gantry crane lifting marble blocks from yard onto tracks in Rutland, VT

Gantry crane with multiple arms movable along long track east of quarries and railroad tracks in West Rutland

Gantry crane over quarry in Ashley Falls, MA

Learn about what happens once the stone is out of the quarries and is being processed at At The Mill.

Learn about transporting marble beyond the marble yards once it had been finished at Railroads and the Marble Industry.

References

“An Inclined Quarry Railway.” Stone Magazine, 1895. https://quarriesandbeyond.org/articles_and_books/stone_magazine/stone_magazine.html#incline.

“General Condition of the Sheldon Marble Co.’s Property as leased by the Vermont Marble Co.” Vermont Marble Company, 1892, West Rutland, VT.

Purdy, Elaine. “Fred R. Patch: His Personal Recollections of Life at Sutherland Falls and the Founding of Patch-Wegner Company.” Rutland Historical Society Quarterly 23, no. 2, 1993. https://archive.org/details/RutlandHistoricalSocietyQuarterlyVol.23No.21993/page/n3/mode/2up.

U.S. Bureau of Mines. The Technology of Marble Quarrying. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1916. https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=kb8kjgYH26UC&pg=GBS.PR10&hl=en.

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