I live in an Area of Tennessee where there's both NS (East-West) and CSX (North-South) lines running through town. I've noticed on CSX manifests there would be serveral MQT boxcars (Marquette Railroad in Michagan for the curious), yet I've seen no car with that marking on an NS manifest. I'm curious cause most every other shortline boxcar I've seen is for a reporting mark that has been "sold" to a leasing company (Like the AOK, NOKL, and COER). My question is as follows
1.) is the MQT reporting mark actually owned by Marquette rail (Or Gennessee and Wyoming in this case as they bought out the MQT).
2.) What products do theys hip out that might be headed southward?
Marquette Rail's connection to the outside world is at Grand Rapids. Other than a couple of shortlines, the only class 1 with which they connect is CSX (which could explain the lack of shipments via NS). I honestly don't know what they would originate for those box cars, but there has to be something in both Ludington and Manistee that keeps them busy. From what I understand, G&W was only a partial owner of MQT, at least initially. It now has a G&W-based website that doesn't give as much information about customers.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
CShaveRR Marquette Rail's connection to the outside world is at Grand Rapids. Other than a couple of shortlines, the only class 1 with which they connect is CSX (which could explain the lack of shipments via NS). I honestly don't know what they would originate for those box cars, but there has to be something in both Ludington and Manistee that keeps them busy. From what I understand, G&W was only a partial owner of MQT, at least initially. It now has a G&W-based website that doesn't give as much information about customers.
The CSX connection in GR kind of answers my question of origin.
I live in NW Michigan about 50 miles from Manistee. The big industries in Manistee are a paper mill (last I knew their output was corrugated medium for cardboard boxes) and a chemical plant (refractories). The paper mill mainly ships box cars, and the chemical plant mainly ships covered hoppers and tank cars. Ludington also has a Dow Chemical plant. The big Ludington yard is full of covered hoppers. Ludington used to have the cross-lake car ferries, but that ended about a quarter century ago. I am not sure what traffic they generate in the Grand Rapids area. There is little traffic potential outside the three end points. I am also not sure if they have a direct connection with the Grand Elk RR, which connects with NS.
The Dow plant in Ludington is now Occidental Chemical; that happened a couple of years ago (most of the DOWX cars in the yard are now HCPX, OCPX, or other Occidental reporting marks).
At one time the Manistee area had a pretty active Morton Salt mine.. Shipped Consumer packed Salt Products, a lot by truck and some by rail.
Also,I recall there used to be a shipper there that originated magnesium based products. Shipped by rail and truck. Even got to cross on the SS Badger, once.
Marquette rail took over the line from CSX (ex C&O - ex Pere Marquette) so CSX gets the traffic. The line heads north out of the CSX yard and CSX still switches the line in north west G.R., Mi.
The CSX yard that "Genesee & Wyoming" brings thier trains to is the Wyoming yard.
samfp1943 At one time the Manistee area had a pretty active Morton Salt mine.. Shipped Consumer packed Salt Products, a lot by truck and some by rail. Also,I recall there used to be a shipper there that originated magnesium based products. Shipped by rail and truck. Even got to cross on the SS Badger, once.
Morton Salt sold that operation to Hardy Salt. IIRC that is shut down now. There was also a General Chemical operation that has been off-and-on. The magnesium based products company was the refractories operation I previously referred to (Martin-Marrietta) which is still active as far as I know. Rather than a "salt mine", all these operations get their "salt" from deep mineral wells in the form of concentrated salt water. The salt/chemical companies using the calcium, and the refactory/chemical companies using the magnesia. There was quite a bit of trading of the components between the companies, which each used what would have been the other's waste product. It is a similar situation in Ludington, about 20 miles down the coast. A dacade, or so ago, Dow ran a 20 mile, 24"(?) diameter composit pipeline to Martin-Marrietta for their magnesium depleted brine. It allowed Dow (now Oxy) to mothball their mineral wells, and it also squeezed most other chemical companies out of business. Manistee has a harbor than can accomidate international shipping off of the Seaway, and I beleive some product also goes out that way.
Midland Mike, wasn't there also a SAND "mining" operation north of Ludington? It was the Ludington Northern that switched it with their one EMD switcher that now is parked at the Wyoming yard in Grand Rapids.
Yes, there was a sand mining operation adjacent to Ludington State Park. New restrictions on coastal zone sand mining, and the State Park's desire to aquire the property, apparently made it a good time for Sargent's Sand to sell this operation. (They increased their operations at the inland Yuma sand pit, which keeps the Great Lake Central running in northern Michigan.) The Ludington Northern was abandoned in the early 80s.
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