TOWN LIFE PT1

Now that Christmas has come and gone, it's time for New Year's Eve!

Two friends meet for lunch at the Hickory Pit Bar-B-Q. Given that the two vehicles are a Range Rover and a Cadillac Escalade, this may be a business meeting.

An AC Delco delivery van makes a call to Tony's Garage, with genuine GM parts -even though the lot has no GM vehicles!

The Domino's Pizza truck rolls past the old store location to the new location downtown. College Bowl season means lots of pizza parties!

Bowl season also means lots of bags of ice will be sold; the Union Cold Storage delivery truck heads out after making its stops.

After the holiday rush, comes the "New-Year's restock"; the internet retailer is stocking up on spring items -as well as close-out deals on winter merchandise. Thus, the departing UPS Freight truck passing the incoming FedEx double-bottom. Actually, the two trailers are for two different customers; the other one is R O Packaging.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Holiday Train continues its trek eastward to D.C. Here, the two GE 70-tonners lead the way.

The traditional pine tree is loaded in the gondola. The following hopper has "snow", but the Santa Claus Coal Express car is missing. Political correctness?

The usual string of Christmas boxcars are in the mix, including this one. While most trains don't run on Christmas, this one definitely does! Brad and Chris may be on the job this holiday, but 1) it's only for 4 hours, and 2) they're getting paid triple-time!

Also getting paid are the train crew, including "Santa's helper" waiving from the caboose platform. The extra money is just compensation for wearing her Santa outfit -including a short mini-skirt!
This weekend will be a busy time, with college bowl games and the New Year's celebration. Stay tuned...
And meantime, have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

CHRISTMAS EVE

The AP&W Holiday Train has arrived!

Engines 12 and 25 bring the train into Hillsdale.

The crew car this year is sleeper  New York City.

The local kids from The Hillsdale House gather to meet Santa -and get their gifts!

While the train is parked, New York City receives some mechanical attention.

The engines also receive attention. They, like the sleeper car, were built in the 1950's, and some require loving care to stay in shape!

CHRISTMAS TIME! PT1

The Holiday rush is on!

Jackie's Fine Fashions' sidewalk sale is on, and the sales are brisk, as a father and daughter walk out with their purchases.

UPS is busy as well, with deliveries to town merchants.

More holiday shopping; a couple heads to their car after leaving The Mad Hatter.

Holiday travel; the Steel City Express rolls westward from D.C. towards Pittsburgh, behind Phase I heritage unit 156.

For those making a longer (time wise) trip, Greyhound is the way. Smitty Lumber is also busy, delivering supplies for those not only making repairs and upgrades to their homes for the holidays, but also for some of those wild, spectacular light displays often seen along county roads!

And, of course, there's the annual Christmas train!
More to come...Soon!

PASSING TRAINS PT2; JBHTKC110 PT2

The rest of JBHTKC110...

Numerous 53' reefer containers, in both with and without "Intermodal", ride in the top position.

The popular "How cool is that?" reefer box makes an appearance in the train.

Sometimes these boxes get really dirty and grimy, like this one (based on an actual one I saw).

The "sore thumb" really does stick out among the other containers!

Like the Schneider train, this one also has trailers on the end; here are three, all with different logos!
The holiday season is here! Next week, the final Christmas rush in Hillsdale!

PASSING TRAINS PT2; JBHTKC110 (1)

Last week, we saw a special train for trucking company Schneider National. This week, we'll see one for their rival, JB Hunt...

Train JBHTKC110, is a special Trenton, NJ. to Kansas City train for JB Hunt. Today, the train is lead by a pair of BNSF GE Dash 9-44CW's. BNSF handles a lot of Hunt equipment out west; the two railroads share a joint intermodal terminal in KC and often pool locomotives on these trains, hence the frequent sight of BNSF equipment rolling through Hillsdale!

While this is a JB Hunt train, the first two containers are BNSF and Swift!

Also on the head-end are UPS containers; this is a priority train, and the AP&W will add UPS and other priority intermodal freight to fill out the train whenever possible.

Both the older JB Hunt and newer JB Hunt Intermodal equipment are represented in the train, along with a BNSF stack car.

This view of BNSF 4567, shows off not only its fun number, but the main difference from her sister in front; the area below the lower stripe on the nose is orange instead of green. These two engines are from two different orders, thus the color change. Of course, today the BNSF has slightly different paint scheme -the green has been replaced by black, and a new logo adorns the nose and sides; however, the area under the lower stripe on the nose is now black instead of orange!
More of this train next week...

PASSING TRAINS PT1: SDN40

Train SDN40, the Dayton, Oh. to New York City special intermodal train for Schneider National, rolls into town.

Today's power is SD70MAC 8663 and AC4400 8900, running "elephant style".

Behind them are the familiar orange containers of Schneider National.

Chris and Paul prepare to inspect the  train as it rolls by, watching for any issues.

A pair of M.O.W. flatcars and a well-weathered boxcar sit in Hillsdale Yard as SDN40 rolls through.

The tail end is made up of spine cars, mostly loaded with trailers, though a lone container is among them. The sight of Schneider trailers is becoming an increasingly rare sight as the company moves to containers for shipping, liking the versatility of intermodal operation -and seeing lower costs as well.

SDN40 rolls around the bend and out of Hillsdale. While CSX is Schneider's preferred eastern partner, the AP&W has made inroads with faster service between Chicago and the Northeast. In fact, this train was proposed by the AP&W in response to Schneider's Buckeye Connection train between Marion, Oh and Kansas City as an eastern version. Schneider already liked the speed and service of the ND/DN39 intermoodal train between Dayton and NYC; having its own dedicated train was even better.
Schneider National is not the only trucking company the AP&W gives preferential service to. Stay tuned next week to see another one.