Rocks, lots of rocks, railroad rocks!

Along the railroad tracks that parallel Chilco Street in Menlo Park is a large supply of rocks – railroad ballast to be precise.

Ballast is used as a bed for railroad tracks and provides track stability, drainage and support for trains. Wikipedia notes that “a good ballast should be strong, hard-wearing, stable, drainable, easy to clean, workable, resistant to deformation, easily available, and reasonably cheap to purchase.”

About a year ago, Caltrain announced that it would begin receiving railroad ballast at the site which it would use for ongoing maintenance and future construction projects.