science

United States Potash Railroad

United States Potash Railroad is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand United States Potash Railroad rather than just read about it. In short: The United States Potash Railroad was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railroad built in 1931 to carry potash from the mines to the mill at Loving, New Mexico where the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad had a spur that went out to the refinery to carry out the processed potash. The 16-mile (26 km) railroad was located at Loving, New Mexico, just east of Carlsbad, New Mexico, USA, and Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Key takeaways

United States Potash Railroad belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect United States Potash Railroad to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of United States Potash Railroad from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The United States Potash Railroad was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railroad built in 1931 to carry potash from the mines to the mill at Loving, New Mexico where the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad had a spur that went out to the refinery to carry out the processed potash. The 16-mile (26 km) railroad was located at Loving, New Mexico, just east of Carlsbad, New Mexico, USA, and Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

History The railroad was originally built and operated with former Death Valley Railroad equipment, rails and employees. The two 2-8-0 Baldwin locomotives from the Death Valley Railroad, along with another engine of similar design coming from the Morenci & Southern Railroad, pulled the trains until about 1948 when they were replaced by specially-built diesel-electric locomotives from General Electric. The railroad ceased operation in 1967 when U.S. Potash merged with Pacific Coast Borax Company to become the U.S. Borax & Chemical Corporation. Then they were bought out by Rio Tinto Minerals and moved their mining focus onto the borax at Boron.

Preservation Whilst the three diesels were scrapped, the three steam engines that worked the line all survived. No. 1 is currently on display near Municipal Beach Park at Carlsbad, New Mexico, No. 2 is on display at the Borax Museum at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, as she was Death Valley Railroad's No. 2 and sports her former railroad's colors. No. 3 is on display at the RailGiants Train Museum at Fairplex, Pomona, California. Death Valley Railroad's No. 5, a Brill railcar was used to transport workmen from Loving to work at the mine and the mill and she is now preserved at the Laws Railroad Museum at Bishop. A few trucks from the old DVRR ore cars and caboose are now at the Laws Railroad Museum. Two tankcar bodies, also ex-Death Valley Railroad, are located near Carlsbad.

See also Trona Railway: a potash railroad in California

References

http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/read.php?1,71415,71472#msg-71472

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with United States Potash Railroad

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what United States Potash Railroad claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to United States Potash Railroad before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about United States Potash Railroad ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of United States Potash Railroad

In research: United States Potash Railroad appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses United States Potash Railroad in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: United States Potash Railroad is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 3 ft gauge railways in the United States, Defunct New Mexico railroads, Eddy County, New Mexico, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for United States Potash Railroad outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study United States Potash Railroad in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what United States Potash Railroad means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain United States Potash Railroad out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is United States Potash Railroad in simple terms?

Why does United States Potash Railroad matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study United States Potash Railroad?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on United States Potash Railroad.