The GE Appliance Park in Louisville Kentucky has really peaked my interest.
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.1766052,-85.6522393,782m/data=!3m1!1e3
Just north of the complex is a Norfolk Southern intermodal yard, but the rails between the two are ripped out. Follow the CSX tracks exiting the complex and it will first come to the Ford assembly plant with lots of auto carriers and loading facilities. Keep going, and you come to the CSX Osbourne (Sp?) yard.
Zoom in closely, and there appears to be a couple long tracks with what looks like open hoppers (empty). On the shorter diagonal tracks there are some closed hoppers, box cars, and gondolas. A little under half way down (just pass the overhead ?? that crosses between the buildings, it looks like two black 70 ton switchers (based on the profile of the shadows). One is parked next to a small building, and the second is a hundred or so feet away on one of the curved sidings heading to the plant. Finally, if you go to the southwest, you'll find what look to be two yellow 44 ton switchers sitting abandoned in a field.
Any thoughts on how operations would work? CSX places the cars on of the long leads on the left/west side of the area, and then the switchers sort the various cars out into the different diagonal runs? When needed, the appropriate car is then moved from the diagonals to one of the plant leads, and empties moved back to the diagonals. And eventually the empties are placed on one of the long runs to be picked up by CSX?
I might be biting off more than I can chew, but.......
Hi,
I have been mentioning Appliance Park in a few of my recent threads, too. I found the track arrangement to be very interesting. Add to that the remenants of the track that has been removed over the years and you can imagine that it must have really been hopping at it's peak!
I seem to recall, and you confirm, that the NS connection has been removed? Below is a Google street view of it.
This is the Buechel Bank Road gate:
Regards, Ed
Other way around. The NS connection was removed.
The "Louisville Ky Apppliance Park" is actually an intermodal yard across the street just north of the plant. I found a view that labeled it, and when I compared the PDF from the link you supplied to what I was seeing in Google Maps, it matched. If you use StreetView and look closely at the road running east-west to the north of the plant, you can see that the rails have been paved over on the street, and removed between the plant boundary fence and the road. Follow the rails heading out to the south, and they eventually end up at the CSX Osbourn yard.
Would be nice if Google labled tracks so we knew who owned them! The Open Railway Map lists the subdivision, but you have to google the subdivision to figure out who it actually belongs to.
jlehnertOther way around. The NS connection was removed.
Yes, you are correct... I was editing my post when you wrote this
Here's a neat photo, note the sign on the right.
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/385845/
Thanks, Ed
Hah! Found it again.
https://www.csx.com/index.cfm/customers/maps/csx-system-map/
If you scroll in on this map, you'll see the intermodal yard north of the plant with the label "NS-Appliance Park". The CSX tracks come up from the south and terminate at the plant boundary.
Still looking for a NS system map.
Interesting photo.
Before I was able to nail down who owned what track, I was puzzled when I followed the rails west from the inter modal yard. Rails heading west crossed rails heading north, but there was not connection. NS east-west, CSX north-south. Nuff said. (I'm a little slow at times)
Still it would make a very interesting switching layout and the operation would be the crowned jewel.
Since you asked about operation here's my thoughts. I would use a EMD,Alco or Baldwin end cab switcher and say the railroad is owned by the industries it serves..I'm not sure I would even letter it beyond a number or if I did I might choose something like Fall City RR since Louisville is known as the Fall City.
The crew would spot cars at various industries and would respot cars as needed at GE.
A flock of those 40' high cube appliance boxcars would be just the ticket for the mid 60s.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
In its hay day it was probably shipping a huge number of cars. Sears distribution center in Philadelphia got 20 cars of appliances daily. Also involved were dedicated cars to a given shipper. Most of the cars recieved in Philadelphia were NYC cars.
BRAKIE I would use a EMD,Alco or Baldwin end cab switcher and say the railroad is owned by the industries it serves..
Um... You don't think it would be a GE locomotive? I seem to recall seeing an old photo of a GE center-cab switching the plant. I'll have to do some digging.
Ed
gmpullman BRAKIE I would use a EMD,Alco or Baldwin end cab switcher and say the railroad is owned by the industries it serves.. Um... You don't think it would be a GE locomotive? I seem to recall seeing an old photo of a GE center-cab switching the plant. I'll have to do some digging. Ed
Ed,I picked those switchers for a reason..They are all top quality locomotives unlike Bachmann's GE 44 Ton which might have issues. My 70 Tonner quit working for some reason after three and a half years of service in comparison my 27 year old BB SW7 is still running strong.
I might be imagining things, but those two yellow "somethings" out in the field to the lower left sure look like center-cab switchers.
I hear BRAKIE though on the qaulity of the Bachmann units. When I got back into the hobby I bought a couple Bachmann units, not knowing any better. Then I got my first Kato. Mmmm. Love at first sight.
jlehnertI might be imagining things, but those two yellow "somethings" out in the field to the lower left sure look like center-cab switchers.
They look like GE 44 Tonners. Another thing about the Bachmann 44 Tonners the older Spectrum's had dual motors while the newer releases has DCC.
Any thoughts on contents of the rail cars? The box cars are easy, parts and supplies in, finished appliances out. The covered hoppers could be bringing plastic beads (think the "Shell Plastic" hopper car). However I'm stuck on the gondolas and open hoppers (if that's what they are). There are only a few gondalas, so they could be just about anything, but the majority of the cars in the yard are what appear to be open hoppers. And every one seems to be empty. Inquiring minds want to know!
Just a thought, maybe they are just parked there, since the appliance park is no where as busy as it was in the past, and it is the end of the CSX line, after the Ford plant.
Mike.
EDIT: The gondolas could be for scrap from the appliance manufactuers. Although, I don't se any coil cars, which you would expect at an appliance manufacturer.
My You Tube
These locomotives look like EMDs.
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
Boy, this brings back memories. I was raised in Buechel. My "Railfan" spot was where the then Southern crossed Bardstown Road just east of the Southern's northern entrance to Appliance Park. Every time I heard a train whistling for the Shepardsville Road or Six Mile lane crossing I'd jump on my bike and race to the crossing. As I recall most trains were powered by multiple lashups of GP 7/9s. That's also what I recall doing the switching in and out of the Park.
As an interesting side note about GE's work at Appliance Park, my family's best friend was Director of GE's Quality Control. He was one of the leaders in "planned obsolescence". Quality control didn't mean perfect - far from it. We all used to get GE appliances and if they didn't break after awhile they were too "good" and would be redesigned to wear out sooner.
Ray
Here's a few photos of GE center cabs from other plants. Schenectady and the Cleveland Service Shop:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/ge/ge21asm.jpg
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/ge/ge0007mla.jpg
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/ge/ge0016dsa.jpg
There are a few other photos of GE switchers at the fallen flag site as well.
Plastic pellets had been recieved up until 1994 or thereabouts. There were many finished and semi-finished appliances brought in for warehousing and distribution and final assembly.
The Cleveland GE plant I retired from had their own fleet of open hoppers:
This is the best photo I have of them. Lettering was white and orange and blue. Sure wish I could get a decent photo to make decals or maybe somebody like Bowser would produce them. They carried ILDX (Incandescent Lamp Department) reporting marks, a different division from the appliance group.
The Appliance Park power plant was shut down around 2009. Open hopper cars of coal were recieved up until then. The cars you see are probably GE (at one time GE was something like the third-largest rail car owner**) and just stored after the coal-fired plant was shut down.
**
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GE_Capital_Rail_Services
jlehnertHowever I'm stuck on the gondolas and open hoppers (if that's what they are).
The gons could have been used for coil sheet metal and production scrap.
The open hoppers may have been part of the former GE Rail Car Services.GE leased locomotives and freight cars until GE Capitol sold this operation to Wells Fargo's First Union Rail and could be storing those hoppers for FURX. That's my thoughts on the open hoppers.
The recent release of the 40' PS Mini Hy-Cubes for Appliance Service all had return to Appliance Park, Louisville, KY via the NYC railroad. This also goes for the decals that I used on the old Hi-Tech Details cars I built.
Rick Jesionowski
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
BRAKIEThe gons could have been used for coil sheet metal and production scrap.
If you look to the left of the appliance buildings there is what appears to be a scrap yard, which is appears to be the destination of the gons.
Generally, in an industrial park, if you have 25% of the customers actually ship rail you are doing good. Just because rail is available doesn't mean the companies ship by rail. That's why most of the tracks in an industrial park have the rails torn up or out of service, because they haven't been used in decades and it costs money to maintain them.
Modelers get all excited by these industrial parks, they just never seem to notice that there aren't cars spotted at most of the buildings and 2/3 the track has been pulled up.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
dehusman BRAKIE The gons could have been used for coil sheet metal and production scrap. If you look to the left of the appliance buildings there is what appears to be a scrap yard, which is appears to be the destination of the gons. Generally, in an industrial park, if you have 25% of the customers actually ship rail you are doing good. Just because rail is available doesn't mean the companies ship by rail. That's why most of the tracks in an industrial park have the rails torn up or out of service, because they haven't been used in decades and it costs money to maintain them. Modelers get all excited by these industrial parks, they just never seem to notice that there aren't cars spotted at most of the buildings and 2/3 the track has been pulled up.
BRAKIE The gons could have been used for coil sheet metal and production scrap.
But, as most modelers per some recent polls are modeling the 60's-70's era these industrial parks were, especially Appliance Park in Louisville had a very active railroad presence, the number of 40' Hy-Cubes built for appliance service along with modified 40' boxcars on numerous railroads along with the later 60' Hy-Cube boxcars for appliance service means these parks were hives of railroad activity at that time.
dehusmanGenerally, in an industrial park, if you have 25% of the customers actually ship rail you are doing good.<snip>Modelers get all excited by these industrial parks, they just never seem to notice that there aren't cars spotted at most of the buildings and 2/3 the track has been pulled up.
dehusmanModelers get all excited by these industrial parks, they just never seem to notice that there aren't cars spotted at most of the buildings and 2/3 the track has been pulled up.
As they should be..A ISL will give hours of switching fun and cheaper to build and doesn't require a full basement or spare room. One does not have to model contemporary railroads however,if one chooses to do so he is free to have every industry receiving cars. This adds to the operation value of the ISL..Then there's hours worth of detailing a ISL. If one cares to go a extra step then research will be needed to ensure the Dumpsters has the correct type of scrap.
What makes you think that scrap yard receives production scrap? Some scrap goes to recyclers or to mills as scrap to be melted down. In some cases scrap goes to the highest bidder..
Not so long ago industrial parks relied on rail even today the major industrial parks receives far more then 25% more like 50% due to the bulk items needed for production.
Last week NS handled 17,290 while CSX handled 17,566.UP handled 23,410 and BNSF handled 12,135 boxcars. Short line bread and butter is the boxcar followed by the covered hopper.
2'X 12' ISL will fit along one wall of a man cave leaving room for a work bench,a large screen TV for watching railroad videos,computer desk or a spray paint booth.
A ISL will give you quality over quantity without the need to break the bank like large super size layouts.
BTW.ISLs has gain a lot of popularity over the past five years.
As always, Rule #1 applies.
Now to see if it can be made to work. Cutting down the north-south size is easy, but I need to look at the east-west. Part of the beauty of this layout would be those lovely crossing curves at the north, but it has to be small enough that our 1:1 size arms can still get to all the tracks. The buildings can be shrunk some, but they have to be big enough to be believable.
Possibly make it more "L" shaped. Take the area between the two north/south streets to the right of the switching area and delete it. That will pull the factory closer. The majority of the factory on that side can be put against a wall so the factory continues "into the distance". Then cut off the bottom of the factory to the left of the switching area, somewhere around where the power plant is. Still might have an issue in the area south of the water treatment plant.
Think, think
BRAKIE gmpullman BRAKIE I would use a EMD,Alco or Baldwin end cab switcher and say the railroad is owned by the industries it serves.. Um... You don't think it would be a GE locomotive? I seem to recall seeing an old photo of a GE center-cab switching the plant. I'll have to do some digging. Ed Ed,I picked those switchers for a reason..They are all top quality locomotives unlike Bachmann's GE 44 Ton which might have issues. My 70 Tonner quit working for some reason after three and a half years of service in comparison my 27 year old BB SW7 is still running strong.
All of my GE 70 and 44 Tonners from Bachmann gave way to eventual cracked axle gears. All of them. Too bad they are the only models offered.
Cracked just like the Proto GPs, but with about 10% of the publicity, if that.
- Douglas