Granite has a specific gravity of 2.7 gm/cm3. In layman’s term, it is pretty darn heavy. A block of granite 1m x 1m x 1m weighs about 1.1 tons. Typically quarry block size was determined by the hoisting and transportation technology at hand. At any one time, the larger the quarry operation, the more sophisticated was the equipment on site.
At the lower left is a view of Brodie’s Quarry in Graniteville. Its operations were supported by 30 ton (lifting capacity) derricks with masts and booms made up of massive spars of Douglas Fir brought in from British Columbia. Power to turn the mast, raise and lower the boom, and draw in or let out the hoisting cable, was provided by centralized engines connected to the derricks by a configuration of cables. Steam power was initially used but was soon replaced by electric drives. By contrast hand operated derricks typically had lifting capacities of about 6 tons. To transport blocks of granite within the quarry ingenious 2 wheeled carts called galamanders were employed. Moving the blocks offsite by overland routes required specially-constructed wagons with massive wheels (upper left) and teams of oxen. Fortunately for Stanstead the railway had already arrived in the region by 1870, before the major quarrying operations had really begun. After Haselton’s rather premature death in 1890, David Moir bought out Haselton’s share from the family. He expanded operations and in 1892 built a four mile railway spur from the Harris Quarry to join up with the Massawippi Valley R.R. main line just northeast of Lineboro. This brought the granite right to the cutting and finishing sheds at Lineboro or just down the line, in Beebe. The spur line was not built to handle the very heavy steam locomotive switchers so in 1920 the motive power was switched to electric with a catenary system of overhead wires and with the locomotives equipped with trolley poles. Many Ogden old-timers remember hitching a ride (invited or otherwise) on the quarry engine or flat cars. The advent of robust trucks in the 1940s and the transport of granite by road meant that the last quarry run was made in 1941 and the track ripped up in the early 50s.
