Amtrak Is Probably Affected -- Another Derailment; Global Warming Will Hinder Re-Opening Of Track

Bloomberg is reporting:

A BNSF Railway Co. train that derailed and blocked tracks in North Dakota may delay crude deliveries by as many as two days from the second-largest onshore oil producing state in the U.S.

Eleven cars carrying corn derailed yesterday while switching tracks at Ross, North Dakota, said Steven Forsberg, a spokesman for BNSF in Fort Worth, Texas. Customers may see delays of 36 to 48 hours, the company said. The main track may reopen at 1 p.m. local time today, BNSF said on its website.

“They’re dealing with extremely cold weather there, so we have to go to winter safety protocols,” Forsberg said. “There’s a limit on how long you can have people out there in severe wind chill. They end up working in shorter shifts.”

North Dakota relies on railways to transport its crude, and the type of oil pumped from shale formations in the state may be more flammable and therefore more dangerous to ship by train than crudes from other areas. Last month, a BNSF train caught fire after a collision, leading to explosions and prompting evacuations near Casselton, North Dakota.

The potential delays due to yesterday’s derailment “apply to all trains that would use that route” and not just those carrying oil, Forsberg said. Most of the trains affected don’t originate in North Dakota and are moving between the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Midwest, he said.

BNSF customers load an average of nine crude-oil trains daily across the company’s network of railways in production basins stretching from North Dakota to Colorado to Texas, according to Forsberg.

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A Note to the Granddaughters

There is a lot of talk over at the MacRumors site about the new sapphire glass Apple is rumored to be working with, perhaps for an iWatch or a new iPhone or iPad.

Whenever the granddaughters visit us in Los Angeles we always try to visit the Museum of Natural History. When we do, one of their favorite rooms, at least for the older granddaughter is the gemstone vault. It's almost completely unlit, with only the light of the exhibits providing any meaningful light.

The last time I was there I finally said to myself: this time I'm going to remember the difference between sapphires and rubies. Two days later I had forgotten.

So, we'll try again.

From Wiki: 

Sapphire (Greek: sappheiros, 'blue stone', which probably referred instead at the time to lapis lazuli) is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide (Al2O3).

Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper, or magnesium can give corundum blue, yellow, purple, orange, or a greenish color. Chromium impurities in corundum yield a pink or red tint, the latter being called a ruby.

Commonly, sapphires are worn in jewelry. Sapphires may be found naturally, by searching through certain sediments (due to their resistance to being eroded compared to softer stones) or rock formations. They also may be manufactured for industrial or decorative purposes in large crystal boules.

Because of the remarkable hardness of sapphires—nine on the Mohs scale(the second hardest mineral right behind diamond)—and of aluminium oxide in general, sapphires are used in some non-ornamental applications, including infrared optical components, such as in scientific instruments; high-durability windows; wristwatch crystals and movement bearings; and very thin electronic wafers, which are used as the insulating substrates of very special-purpose solid-state electronics (most of which are integrated circuits).

The sapphire is one of the three gem-varieties of corundum, the other two being ruby – defined as corundum in a shade of red—and padparadscha—a pinkish orange variety. Although blue is their most well-known color, sapphires may also be colorless and they are found in many colors including shades of gray and black.

The cost of natural sapphires varies depending on their color, clarity, size, cut, and overall quality – as well as their geographic origin. Significant sapphire deposits are found in Eastern Australia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, China (Shandong), Madagascar, East Africa, and in North America in a few locations, mostly in Montana. Sapphire and rubies are often found in the same geographic environment, but one of the gems is usually more abundant in any of the sites.

So: nothing more than Al2O3 -- aluminum hydroxide, naturally occurring or man-made.

When Al2O3 is pretty enough to be a gem, it's one of three types: a) sapphire, b) ruby, or, padparadscha.

• sapphires: blue (generally, as a gemstone)
• rubies: red (always)
• padparadscha: pinkish-orange (always)

At another wiki site:

Ruby is the red variety of the species corundum, while any other color of corundum is considered sapphire. 

That's also what the Los Angeles Natural History of Science also says; until now, I had not heard of padparadschas.

I suppose the most prominent color not noted above (blue, red, pinkish orange) is green. I suppose the most commonly-recognized green gemstone is the emerald. I wonder if the Bakken operator Emerald Oil is from the greenish-tint that oil often imparts to water as a fine sheen?

Rubies are rubies, and I guess "padparadschas" are padparadschas, but sapphires can come in a variety of colors.

Impurities in crystals of Al2O3 can cause the different colors of sapphires:

• iron: blue
• titanium: yellow
• chromium: purple
• copper: orange
• magnesium: greenish

On the scale of hardness (or resistance to scratching), sapphire glass is second only to diamonds, and thus the interest in sapphire as a crystal layer on the iWatch, iPad, or iPhone.