NG commodities question

All,

Looking at Jimmy Blouch's fantastic posts of the Alamosa dispatcher records, I've noticed a few commodities going into Ouray that I'm having a challenging time figuring out. Maybe one of you know.

Coils - This appears a few times. I'm guessing coils of wire or something but I'm not sure. What type of car would these have been in/on?

Powder - Blasting powder?

Steel - I'm guessing slabs of steel or I beams or something of the like?

And lastly, but definitely not least, Sulphite - What was this in the 1940s? A quick google search only gives me that Sulphite is a food preservative, is that what it was then?

Thanks for any help guys!

Dan Lindfors
Chaska, MN
Modeling the D&RGW Ouray Branch in HOn3