A FALL DAY

On a fall day in Hillsdale...

The annual pumpkin sale goes on in Hillsdale Yard. It looks like Sam has already picked out his two. And from the size of them, his wife may be busy making pumpkin pies soon -a lot of pies!

With cold weather approaching, now is the time to get utility work done. Luckily, the work does not effect traffic flow a whole lot. 

The local car club has staged a photo-op in front of the convenience store. From left to right: a '58 Ford Edsel, a customized '50 Buick sedan (with proud owner Tony Moltello posing beside it), Ricardo's '57 Chevy hot rod, a '72 Chevy Chevelle SS (with the 454 option under the hood!), a '67 Chevy Malibu, and a '74 Chevy Camaro.

After running out of space in the parking lot, this '48 Mercury coupe has to park on the street in front of the Perfect Perk Cafe. Seven classic cars, seven works of art!

At the opposite end of the "wow" factor, but still a classic nonetheless, is this Chrysler Town and Country station wagon. Given the 40 year age of this car, someone obviously took care not only of the car itself, but also the wood paneling on the sides!

IN THE YARDS PT15

A string of  bulkhead flatcars sit in Hillsdale Yard, with pipe loads from Wilson Steel Works. Note that the car above has the new TTX logo.

The repair shop is empty, allowing a look at some of the interior details. Since there is no inspection pit, most under body repairs are done at the Cumberland Shops, along with major repairs.

Another string of bulkhead flats, this time in MOW service. With winter on the way, these cars will be handling replaced ties as the summer track work season comes to a close.

And to assist in removing those ties is this piece of equipment, a Gallmac RMW 115. The articulated arm has a grasping attachment for handling ties.

PASSING TRAINS PT17

Last time we saw another incoming train. What train was it?

Two leased CEFX SD70M-2's roll train IC49 westward from Baltimore to Chicago.

Here is a sharp contrast between an older, dirty stack car and a clean, freshly re-painted car.

While IC49 normally carries the shorter 40'-45' containers, 53' domestic units will show up on occasion, as this Matson box will attest.

IC49 carries international traffic between the Port of Baltimore and Chicago, hence the number of 40' containers. IC48 is the eastbound train.

This five-unit stack car must be carrying loaded 20' containers; they are single-stacked in the wells. 20' containers are frequently used for heavier loads due to their short length, and two can max-out the capacity of a single well!

Another five-unit car, this one owned by BNSF. While both cars were built to handle 48' containers, the move to 53' units has meant their re-assignment to the 45' and smaller international containers. The red "K-Line" containers are 45'. Note also that most of the containers are "high-cube" 9'6" boxes; the shorter containers in front of the orange boxes are "standard-height" 8'6" boxes.