IN THE YARDS PT37

A look at some of the cars found in Hillsdale Yard...

A CHTT-marked 60' high-cube boxcar sits in the yard on a day in the early 2000's.

A companion car, with CRLE marks. These cars carry everything from lumber to appliances, and can often be seen at either R/O Packaging or the paper mill in Dale City carrying finished paper products.

A brand-new Trinity 5161 covered hopper, with CEI reporting marks, is seen in this 2012 photo.

Another new Trinity 5161. The CEI, formally the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, was a Chicago-based road, with lines to Evansville, In. and southern Illinois as well as a line St. Louis. It was acquired by the APRR during the late 60's along with the Monon and Chicago Great Western as the AP made its push westward into the Midwest in response to a similar expansion by arch-rival Norfolk & Western. The re-introduction of CEI reporting marks has not resulted in the return of the C&EI logo -at least not yet!

In the same string of hoppers is this AP-marked car, between CHTT-marked cars. Note the lighter shade of grey used on the AP car versus the CHTT cars. The CHTT, formally the Chicago Heights Terminal Transfer Railroad, was bought by the C&EI in 1927, and had its own small fleet of switching engines. Today, it -like it's parent- is a "paper railroad"; reporting marks only.

After looking at the past, a look to the future; a pair of GE ET44AC pre-production demos sit in the yard in 2015, as the AP&W continues to test the new engines. However, with a large influx of new locomotives between 2005 and 2014 (almost 2000!), the need for more new power is almost non-existent.