IN THE YARDS PT6

Reefer cars and bulkhead flatcars sit in the yard, awaiting movement to Dale City. The loaded reefers are headed to Johnson Foods, and the empty flats are headed to Wilson Steel.
 

Speaking of Dale City, several boxcars sit in the yard after being brought from Dale City, including an ex-Golden West Service car, now owned by St. Louis Southwestern -aka the Cotton Belt (now owned by UP).

More boxcars, returning from the paper mill. The mill now makes paper plates, in addition to wrapping paper and paper towels; the diversification is necessary due to the decline in newsprint sales.

Gen-set 300 rests between runs. Like many other railroads, the AP&W has found that gen-set locomotives haven't lived up to expectations performance-wise, and has replaced many of its units with conventional diesels -especially in urban areas. While unit 300 is still well-suited to life in Hillsdale, with the relatively short local trains and distances, the writing may be on the wall.

A MOW truck sits between the yard office and the storage unit. It is actually at the start of the access road to the cell phone tower.

Later, Sam and Jake finish up loading drums of used lube oil onto the back of a truck. The drums will be taken to Snake Oil for recycling.

A work crew gets back in their truck after fixing a problem with a switch.

A local driver takes a trailer to the storage lot.

The railroad is in the process of replacing signal boxes; two new ones are on the left, while an old one is on the right. The truck behind them is being used to lift out the old boxes and set the new ones in place.

More big "Trinbox" reefers sit on the east side of Hillsdale Yard, after returning from Johnson Foods. Christmas may be over, but New Year's Eve parties and New Year's Day bowl games are next!

A contractor's dump truck sits in the lot. With twin smoke stacks, it obviously isn't a railroad truck! Grading work is being done in the trailer lot, including the addition of gravel; to the gratitude of drivers who are tired of walking in mud on rainy days!

Next week is a new year (finally!). We'll start it with a look at some updates to the layout.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

It's Christmas, and there's another Christmas train! Led by steamer #34, the train rolls into town, featuring a gondola with a pair of lighted trees!

On the tail end, is a pair of passenger cars.

They are both from the Polar Express!

Later, the tree gondola and a support boxcar are set alongside County Lane for the locals to enjoy.

As the two cars say -MERRY CHRISTMAS!

THE CHRISTMAS TRAIN IS HERE!

 Train DEC25, the Christmas train is here once again!

Red engine 12 is, as usual, the lead unit.

Green 25 is the other engine. Her cab number needs some TLC so it can be seen!

Behind the engines are the hopper cars; one with coal, the other with "snow". Both are still equipped with friction bearing trucks, so they require close inspection at every stop to make sure the journals are still lubricated and sound. Even though the cars aren't in interchange service, and thus are allowed to still have friction bearing journals, the fact that the trucks still haven't been replaced in over a half a century (they were banned from interchange service in the late 60's) is incredible -especially given the extra maintenance they require!

A worker walks past the baggage door of the crew car.

The crew car this year is an ex-Appalachian baggage-lounge car. Formerly used on long-distance passenger trains, it is perfect for the Christmas train; the crew can relax while travelling between stops (they overnight in hotels, so no need for a sleeper).

No Christmas train is complete without Santa! As he greets the local children, his "sleigh" has gifts at the ready beside him.

Stop completed, the train leaves Hillsdale for the next stop; Dale City.

The two GE 44 Tonners lead the train out of town. It is doubtful that the roof top a/c units will be needed anytime soon!

Santa and his assistant waive from the rear of the caboose. Until next year!

TOWN LIFE PT9; THE CHRISTMAS RUSH

 As the holiday approaches, things get busier...

Traffic rolls through downtown as people finish their holiday shopping.

Along with shopping, business deals are also being made. A handshake finalizes a deal between two business men after lunch at the Hickory Pit Bar-B-Q.

The westbound Steel City Express rolls along towards Pittsburgh behind one of Amtrak's heritage units, sporting their original look with red nose and "headless arrow" logo. Today's train is loaded with people heading home for the holidays

Also loaded with home-goers is this Greyhound bus, headed for D.C.

The internet retail operation is still in full swing, requiring FedEx to send a large semi -just like rival UPS.

And just like UPS, FedEx is also still making pick-ups and deliveries in town.

And you know it's Christmas time when the Christmas Train arrives!

TOWN LIFE PT8; MORE TRUCKS

 As the holiday season kicks into high gear, truck traffic in Hillsdale ramps up as well...

The internet warehouse is shipping, and UPS is picking up; the normal 28' trailer is now a 53' trailer, necessary to haul all the merchandise!

Of course, local deliveries still need to be made -and a few local businesses are also shipping to on-line customers as well. The familiar brown package car turns from Market St. onto County Lane.

Milk is also in demand as well; a Johnson Transport tanker heads to the dairy plant with a delivery. Santa needs milk to go with his cookies!

Also headed  into town is a semi loaded with fresh produce for the grocery distributor. Like many such trucks, this one is a custom rig, with a "big-bunk" sleeper. Its driver will be spending a lot of time on the road delivering local produce to markets up and down the east coast.

And delivering that produce to the supermarket is Charlie's Produce Co.

This is also football season and holiday parties are being held as well. Domino's Pizza is always in demand!

Of course, much of that food will be washed down with an ice cold Coca-Cola! The driver has made his delivery to the supermarket, and is getting ready to secure his hand dolly to the back of the truck and move on to his next stop.

Another semi leaves town with a battered 40' MOL container, which dropped off merchandise at the internet warehouse.