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.