ADM TRAIN, PT2

More of the ADM train...

A look at one of the big blue hoppers, with a 5700cuft capacity.

More big blue hoppers; note the two different logos.

A trio of Airslide hoppers; two with ADM Milling logos, and the third with the current "leaf" logo.

A trio of dark grey hoppers, all with the current "leaf" logo.

The start of a string of corn syrup tank cars. Note the first one lacks the visibility striping the other two have.

More tanks, all with the current logo and visibility striping. As will be seen, not all of the tanks have the new logo, nor are they all corn syrup cars. Stay tuned...

THE ADM TRAIN, PT1

Sometimes, as a model railroader, you just say "what the heck?!" With a large collection of ADM cars, why not run them in a train, just for the fun of it?

The ADM train rolls into town.

A pair of GATX SD40-2 lease units are on the point.

The first hopper is massive Trinity 6351 cuft hopper, the next four are older ACF cars in the solid blue scheme.

More ACF hoppers, in grey and yellow.

Still more ACF hoppers, in blue and a different shade of grey.

Even more ACF hoppers, this time lettered for ADM Milling Co. And, of course, more to come...

IN THE YARDS PT21

A string of Herzog gondolas sit in the yard, loaded with granite blocks.

The blocks are headed to a local rock-crushing operator, to be ground into gravel for use in road-building projects around the state.

Also in the yard, are a pair of gons loaded with contaminated dirt. The loads are completely encased in the tarps. With the rise of fracking projects in southwestern Pennsylvania, such loads are becoming increasingly common,

ES44AC 9485 sits in the yard, displaying the new "star" logo.

The shop is going green! A set of newly installed solar panels are seen on the roof. While not enough to power the shop itself, they are sufficient for the office -and its a/c unit on the ground!

The Steel City rolls through on its way to Washington, D.C. So far, the train is being well-received, so it looks like it will be around for a while!

IN THE YARDS PT20

Earl waits for Ricardo on 3163, as they get ready to depart for Dale City with DBW10.

The first gondola is filled with scrap aluminum.

The next two are loaded with scrap steel.

Gon 23261 is still lettered for the Appalachian Railroad, nearly thirty years after the merger!

These three gons are loaded with baled scrap steel.

The last three cars are two empty bulkhead flatcars, including a "short-wall", and the caboose. The flats, like the other cars, will come back loaded.

LOCAL OIL TRAIN

A new business has open up in the area -an oil distributor.

Gen-set 300 has the duty for the inaugural run of train HLO6.

Short bay window caboose 4368 supports the local, but in a different way; as a 'buffer car' between the engine and the flammable tank cars. This is a temporary set-up; eventually a retired freight car will be used for this purpose.

The tank cars are GATX "Tank Train" cars. Most commonly seen in Southern California, they actually do roam the country a bit. They are so-named because they are inter-connected by hoses between the cars, as  seen here. This feature allows them to be loaded or unloaded from one end of the string, instead of the traditional individual cars, saving time. The oil dealership is set up to unload these cars.

The train carefully pulls out. The tank cars in the background are empty vegetable oil cars, brought in from Johnson Foods. And behind them are plastic pellet hoppers in storage.

As the train departs, the yard men watch carefully for any signs of trouble; with this train, the last thing anyone wants is a derailment!

One of the shop workers sits and watches the train roll out. Hopefully, he's on break; if not, the shop Foreman won't be happy!