OUTSIDE TOWN

Some photos taken outside on my diorama...

GATX 7361 leads a short freight out of Hillsdale.

A NS waffle-side boxcar.

Another waffle-side boxcar, this one still in full Southern paint.

A TTX bulkhead flatcar, loaded with steel plates.

A CP Rail covered hopper, with SOO reporting marks -and plenty of rust streaks!

Another CP Rail car, this one a cylindrical hopper, whose top half has been repainted.

A CSX two-bay hopper.

A Dow Chemical plastic pellet hopper, with both rust and graffiti.

Last in the train is a Conrail coil steel car. Note the shadow of the cover's framework on the ground!

ANOTHER DAY

Another day in Hillsdale...

Norman talks with a contractor before grading work begins. Both the parking lot and the road alongside the yard will be smoothed out; of course, the vehicles in the lot will have to be moved first!

A cryogenic tanker rolls out of town, after leaving the dairy plant and grocery distributor. Both facilities use cryogenic equipment for refrigeration and freezing purposes.

The afternoon Dinner Belle arrives, as both yard workers and GE's mobile test lab watch.

The Belle normally doesn't stop in Hillsdale, but today a minor lighting issue in one of the cars necessitates a quick stop.

While normally booking bus, train, and airline trips, World Travel Service can also get you a limo ride!

Late in the day, a pair of the GECX demo units drift through town, light. They're be headed for the hills of West Virginia, to be used in mountain helper service, as part of their testing on the AP&W.

TOWN LIFE PT. 30

Another busy day on County Lane in Hillsdale, as the ice truck makes its rounds, while Mr Phillips (in the red outfit) goes on his morning jog.

Later, a man asks for directions from the furniture store manager. New in town, he is currently staying at the Salvation Army shelter, but hopes to score long-term housing soon.

Another man rides his scooter on a cold January day. While a scooter is cheaper to own and operate, today he wishes he had a car instead!

Traffic is light outside the Bradley Building this morning, but it will pick up as rush hour approaches.

Main Street traffic rolls past the internet dealer's warehouse; the Roadway truck just left loading dock.

One of Hillsdale's small fleet of trucks gets prepped for the coming snow in the lot of Tony's Garage. While most municipal fleets maintain their own vehicles, Hillsdale doesn't have facilities to do so; thus the fair amount of business handed to Tony -who obviously doesn't mind!

IN THE YARDS PT36; CARBON BLACK HOPPERS

Carbon black is a powdery substance which is a byproduct of the oil refining process. It has many industrial uses, but requires specialized cars for transport...

Sitting next to a string of plastic pellet hoppers, is this carbon black hopper. While it looks like a conventional hopper, and is built similarly to grain hoppers, the difference is the 28 small roof hatches, and the bottom outlet gates, as well as the small sampling spigots on the car sides. As the lettering on the side says, this car is owned by the Sid Richardson Carbon Co. This car is headed to Pete's Plastics, where the carbon black will be used in the manufacture of black plastic flatware.

Another carbon black hopper, of a larger design, this one owned by Cabot. While the previous car was only 4727 cuft., this car is 5750 cuft. It is also an earlier design, dating back to the late 70's, while the other car is a 90's design. Note the red "DO NOT HAMMER ON SIDE OF CAR" warning; hammering has the potential to damage the car lining and thus contaminate the cargo.

This view of the end shows the inlet for pressurizing the car's interior air bags, called "granuflators", which help push the powdery cargo towards the outlet gates.

The opposite end of the car shows another pipe for the granuflator bags. The red lettering over the end ladders warn that there are no side ladders on the car (at least not to the roof). Note also the unique design of the roof ends, which slant down at a different angle than the rest of the roof. Later versions of this car had an even roofline from end-to-end.

This top view shows the 22 16" roof hatches that are typical of carbon black hoppers. Note also the vent pipe in the center of the roof.
Carbon black is widely used in tire manufacturing, and lots of carbon black traffic passed through Hillsdale for many years, on the way to the Kelly Springfield Tire plant in Cumberland, Md. Unfortunately, the plant closed in 1987; a blow to both the city and the railroad.