How likely is it that a rail line could be dedicated to carrying only one type of cargo? There is a Union Pacific line by my apartment and the only trains I have ever seen on that line are unit trains carrying auto-rack cars.
Is it possible that is all the line carries? How rare is this, for a line to only be used for a singular cargo?
Thanks!
Long live the J!
Cartier Railway in Quebec hauls virtually 100% iron ore, save whatever company cargo like rail, etc.
Until several years ago, their motive power was exclusively large Alco and MLW Century Series and M-Series diesels. Now they have new replacement models....
They are the shining example of a 260 mile heavy mainline style operation dedicated to a single type of cargo.
Excluding other railways formerly owned by US Steel, and some mining operations in the American west, it is unusual for a rail line to be dedicated to a single type of cargo.
Yes and also it could depend on time frame. For example the Port Royal Railroad at one time had passenger(including Marines to Paris Island), coal,cotton, etc. But during the last phase only phosphate serving the mines. It's now being made into bicycle and walking trails.
Richard
Sounds like you are either:
A) near an auto plant on a line with no other traffic
B) on a line being used to store idle rolling stock
Location of the line you're on might help answer your question.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
The Old Augusta Ry (OAR) hauls nothing but lumber for its parent company.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
MLEHMAN, I don't think I am near an auto plant, however the line is near Union Pacific's West Chicago, IL autorack unloading facility and feeds into that. The line itself is in South Elgin, IL and is near where the former EJ&E and Canadian Pacific intersect in Elgin. I know all the lines around here interchange at one point or another.
I've been living at my apartment for 2 years and have lived in the area of this line all of my life and every time I can remember seeing a train on that line it is nothing but auto-racks. The only other trains I have ever seen on that line are engine movements, engines with no cars attached.
Depending on the definition of a "line", the answer is yes. There are branches that serve mines and smelters or power plants. There are serveral railroads built to serve a specific industry or mine. Logging lines can be pretty much one commodity.
If may be that the route carrys multiple commodities but the portion of track you are near only carries auto racks. It could also be that the other commodities run at a different time. One person several years ago asked how the UP could only run southbound trains on a particular track. Turns out he was near a DRGW line on which the UP had trackage rights and the train was a turn that always ran south in the evening when the person was home and then returned north in the wee hours when the person was asleep.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
BMR777 How likely is it that a rail line could be dedicated to carrying only one type of cargo? There is a Union Pacific line by my apartment and the only trains I have ever seen on that line are unit trains carrying auto-rack cars. Is it possible that is all the line carries? How rare is this, for a line to only be used for a singular cargo? Thanks!
Yeah. The Eagle Mountain Railroad in Southern California hauled iron ore from Eagle Mountain to the SP connection at Ferrum, where the train was turned over to the Southern Pacific. The railroad was built right atfer WWII to provide ore to the Kaiser Steel plant in Fontana, CA .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Mountain_Railroad
Original power for the Eagle Mountain Railroad was supplied by Baldwin in the form of DRS6-6-15 and AS616 road switchers. These were later replaced by U30C's from General Electric.
Baldwin samples: http://baldwindiesels.railfan.net/kaisersteel/index.html
Kaiser Steel U30C #1034: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2033588
Andre
Different parts of the Six Companies Railroad handled specific subsets (ingredients) of a single commodity. One branch handled pit-run gravel. The other two carried sized aggregates. The far end of one carried mixed concrete (through a 1,600 foot tunnel!) to the final user. Note that none of the branches carried cement - that was all handled by the connecting U.S. Government Railway. Ditto for steel and machinery.
That, "Final user," was called Boulder Dam while it was under construction. These days, it's Hoover Dam. And every cubic millimeter of the aggregate used to build it (and just about nothing else) was carried by the Six Companies Railroad.
The Six Companies interchanged gravel cars with the Government Railway, which connected end-on to a UP branch at Boulder City. Other than railroad supplies, there were no interchange cars on the Six Companies line. All the cement, steel pipe, turbines, switchgear... were handled from Boulder City to the Dam by the U.S. Government Railway. (These days, the former Government Railway is the Tunnel Trail from Boulder City to Hoover Dam through five tunnels bored to clear steel penstock sections.)
As for the Black Mesa and Lake Powell, don't hold your breath waiting to see that road name in interchange service. It's a LONG way by two lane road from the nearest railroad.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Bmr777,
You are probably witnessing, what is not a Main Line at all..Mike's answer is about the best, when it comes to where you live..There is a Auto Plant in Wis. That uses that route,to the plant and back to the Union Pacific Intermodal yard,,the new one, in Joliet IL. They have a dedicated,Hot Shot mixed Intermodal train,,Auto Parts cars and containers,,with them being,head-end or rear-end..One of my Son's is a ATM. at the UP yard in Joilet IL...
Cheers,
Frank
BMR777,
The Auto Plant,I am referring to,is the GM Assembly Plant,in Janesville Wi. One of GM's oldest Plant's,,opened,in 1909..
Frank, thanks for your post. I have seen the autoracks on the line, but I have never seen the containers mixed in on that line. Do they run those later at night?
BMR777 MLEHMAN, I don't think I am near an auto plant, however the line is near Union Pacific's West Chicago, IL autorack unloading facility and feeds into that. The line itself is in South Elgin, IL and is near where the former EJ&E and Canadian Pacific intersect in Elgin. I know all the lines around here interchange at one point or another.
zstripeBMR777, The Auto Plant,I am referring to,is the GM Assembly Plant,in Janesville Wi. One of GM's oldest Plant's,,opened,in 1909.
The Auto Plant,I am referring to,is the GM Assembly Plant,in Janesville Wi. One of GM's oldest Plant's,,opened,in 1909.
BMR777 Frank, thanks for your post. I have seen the autoracks on the line, but I have never seen the containers mixed in on that line. Do they run those later at night?
I did not catch,your post until now,,,,there are no containers,shipped loaded,or empty to them,,,they do not have the equipment necessary to unload,or load them,,let alone store empties..All the're tires and associated components are shipped to them in containers and trailers,,,but they are delivered to them by Truck...The truck picks up the load from the Intermodal yard,delivers the load,takes the empty back to the Intermodal yard and terminates it....I have done that for years..That plant has a sprawling Auto Rack loading site there...You should probably see CN power mixed with UP power sometimes on that route,,they go from the plant,to the yard in Joliet,go on the Hot Shot and go to Seattle,there it is broke up and goes right into BC..with the same power,,,,,,every day 24/7..
To All who may be interested,,,the Plant is shut down,almost as far as assembly autos there,,,but the facilities for the A-Racks is not..To the East of the GM complex,you can say part of the complex,is a gigantic manifest yard for A-Racks,loaded and empty,many come from Green Bay,from the WSOR and CPS,,that are classified in that yard as to what part of the country they go to..You will even find loaded A-Racks in that yard from Mexico and Kansas City..That is one of UP's main routes to the west,,only A-Racks..You should hear my two son's talk about those darn A-Racks,,about why the heck did you send them to me,,the mt ones...One son works for the CSX as a yard master and one is a ATM at the UP..It's funny to hear them somrtimes..
Thanks for the replies everyone! This clears a few things up for me as to why I never see anything else on the line. :)
Just so everybody's clear, based on his description of being near West Chicago, the line BMR777 lives next to is NOT the line to Janesville, its the Belvidere Sub. The Janeville line also runs manifest trains, a turn from Proviso out to Janesville and back.
If it near Belvidere It could be hauling cars out of Chyslers Jeep plant which is right off of I-90 in Belvidere IL
Joe Staten Island West
Dave,
Another point that you may or others,be interested in,the Proviso yard is UP,but too small,,that is why they built the New Intermodal yard in Joliet IL.with 5-mile leads and 31/2 mile yard tracks..That is roughly,43 miles south of the Proviso yard,,almost a straight line,from one to the other,,The Joliet yard is in the middle of nowhere,where as the Proviso yard,is a densely populated suburb,hard to get in and out of..The yard in Janesville Wi. is a Manifest yard,,just like I said in one of my other post's..But few go to Proviso,,,the Proviso yard is all containers,period..They are trying to eliminate that yard,with no sucess..I probably pulled at least, a hundred containers out of Proviso,that yard is named Global 2..
Proviso is a major hump yard (the largest freight yard on the former CNW). The intermodal terminal next to Proviso is Global 2 (Global 1 is downtown and Global 3 is west of Chicago on the Geneva Sub).
Global 2 is all containers, Proviso is the hump. Interestingly the receiving yard for Proviso is Yard 9 which lies North-South and the body of Proviso runs East-West so the hump engines have to shove cuts around a corner to hump them.
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=chicago,+il&hl=en&ll=41.900265,-87.901525&spn=0.022519,0.052314&hnear=Chicago,+Cook,+Illinois&t=h&z=15
Proviso is the hump yard in the center, Global 2 is the intermodal facility just south of it and yard 9 is the yard running due north towards the lefthand side of the picture.
The heck with the maps,,,,,I'VE been there,,,they still call the whole complex Proviso,,,I have pulled containers out of every yard in the Chgo area,,,,,I lived in and around CHGO 70 years of my life,,,45 of them driving a truck,,,,,,so I don't know anything...
Not at all, you are familiar with the street side, I'm more familiar with the RR side. Technically the mailing address of the yard is "Northlake", so we are both wrong. 8-) Chicago is a very convoluted RR town. Ride the train from Proviso downtown and you can see almost every type of signal used in the Midwest, The guy who designed the hump yards for the CNW is really neat modeler, has had his layout in several publications. He built an HO scale #20 universal crossover to show the real railroad dispatchers how looooooooong those switches were and how much time it takes to flag through a control point with those switches.
Dehusman,
No neither of us are wrong,,,Northlake address is in Northlake,that is the entrance for most all offices,in that facility,,,you travel two blocks west,you are in Proviso Hump yard,classification yard,,you go a little further west,you are now in Proviso Global 2..What may be confusing to some,who have never been in that area,is the fact that,the rest of the name is left off..Proviso hump,,is in fact in Proviso Township,AKA Proviso IL....That is the main reason it is called Proviso hump..Proviso Municipal courthouse, Proviso Highschool,East and West,as examples..There are over 157,000 people plus,who live in Proviso Township.. Another big yard,but smaller Intermodal yard,part of it in and out of Northlake,is the SOO line..
Global 1 at 16 st south Western ave,is mainly a Intermodal yard CNW,,,That can also throw people off,because in Chicago there are two addresses the same running North and South,,for instance 16th st north Western and south Western...There are so many darn railroads in Chicago area,hence all the low viaducts,,it is a nightmare for first time truck drivers...Just like New York,The Bronx and New Jersey was for me,when I first drove out there..God I could go on,Philly, Baltimore..I was leased to CSX Intermodal,Trk Ops,for ten years and I'll bet a lot of people,didn't know CSX Railroad,did have trucks traveling all over the country,along with the trains..