Railroad "Thimble" Slag Cars Full Of Molten Blast Furnace Slag

Duisburg, Germany

Railroad "thimble" cars for transporting molten slag from a blast furnace to a disposal pit. In the blast furnace hearth, limestone added to the iron ore and coke fuel melts, attracts impurities, and floats on top of the molten iron. The slag is separately tapped off into thimble cars and transported to a pit where it is dumped to cool. Most blast furnace slag is recycled to make concrete and railroad ballast.

Many thanks to Motorfluggruppe Grenzland for flight support!