Battle Creek cereal plants info wanted

[ndbprr]

Nearly everybody knows Battle Creek Michigan is the home of almost every major cereal company.  Does anybody know if they are shipping any cereal in 86' box cars?  Seems like they might be a good choice due to the weight involved.

[ericsp]

Try posting thise on the Trains forum. There may be people there who would know but do not come over here.

[jsoderq]

No 86's - the doors do not line up with the warehouse. Kelloggs used 50' double plug door medium green with yellow KELX lettering. Don't know if they still use rail as the cereal business has really taken a beating the last few years.

[RedGrey62]

They still use 50' boxcars.  I haven't seen Battle Creek but have seen the Kellog plant in Omaha, still a fair amount of rail traffic.

Rick

[Anonymous]

Kelloggs has a fleet of about 100 60 foot outside braced double door boxcars that they use. The cars were originally purchased by Kelloggs and leased to Penn Central and later Conrail. After the lease ended in 1983 the cars were repainted with KELX reporting marks. Many still are in both Penn Central or Conrail paint with their original road numbers. Railyard models makes urethane kits of the cars in HO.

[Andrew Falconer]

The Kellogg's-Penn Central Double-Plug Door Boxcars are still in service and they are 60' Long. There is a model of them available in HO Scale if you want to search the web.

Products from Kellogg's in Battle Creek are also shipped in Grand Trunk Western Plug-Door 50' Boxcars.

Andrew

[Andrew Falconer]

The 86' Long Boxcar are a frequent site in Battle Creek, but they are always for Auto Parts.

The original Kellogg's Triangular Shaped Cereal Plant made of Brick that was squeezed between the GTW and NYC tracks was torn down several years ago.

The Big Pole Barn style plant is still there.

Andrew 

[Andrew Falconer]

The Kellogg's Penn Central box cars are gone.

The Post Cereal plant used to get loads in Chicago & North Western 4750 Cu Ft 3-bay covered hoppers in a variety of paint schemes.

Now they use the most modern Trinity Pressure Differential Covered Hoppers to transport edible products to the Post plant in Battle Creek.

[dknelson]

As a sidelight, if you have not read the article, I do recommend Lawrence Bolton's and Bill Neale's "Switching for Breakfast - N and HO layouts focusing on the Post Cereal manufacturing complex in Battle Creek Mich." in the 2014 issue of Model Railroad Planning.  There are many prototype photos, and it is a very thorough look at the subject.  

They make the point that the 1970s saw the greatest variety in rolling stock switched at the plant (boxcars, coverered hoppers, tank cars, refrigerator cars) and that most outgoing loads of boxed product were still shipped in 40' boxcars.  An earlier era would see mostly boxcars.  "Moving the era closer to the present lessens the amount of rail traffic, with trucks handling more traffic, including most outbound loads."  

Dave Nelson