IN THE YARDS PT 13

 

SD40-2 1946 rolls into Hillsdale with a local freight.

Not long afterwards, she was equipped with PTC; note the new silver box behind the a/c unit.

A string of sulfuric acid tank cars, seen above behind 1946, sits in the west end of Hillsdale Yard. With all of the attention lately to the toxic derailment in Ohio, the AP&W makes sure that safe handling of chemicals and other haz-mat is a priority; not only for the safety of locals and crew members, but also in the interest of public relations and image -as well as the huge cost of clean-up after a wreck.

A pair of hi-rail -equipped MOW trucks sit on the rails in the yard. Apparently, track inspections are underway.

A 60' TBOX boxcar full of paper products from the paper mill in Dale City awaits pickup by a passing west bound freight. Most of these 60' cars have the new red "Heritage" logo (see previous photo), but this one still has the old "black box" logo.

Lance heads back inside the shop after dumping some scrap metal in the dumpster, while several other men enjoy their break under the awning.

James poses next to the rescue truck. Modernized and upgraded, it serves as a mobile command center in the event of a wreck, derailment, or other mishap. Fortunately, it is rarely needed.

TOWN LIFE PT 21

 

A VW Rabbit with custom blue rims sits outside Christy's Pet Shop.

On a warm day, a woman rides her Jeep CJ-7 Golden Eagle with the top off.

The 80's; a newly re-painted Chevy C-10 shortbed is parked on County Lane.

The 80's part 2; a Kenworth K100 Aerodyne pulls a Rock Island Lines reefer trailer into town. After the Rock Island shut down in 1980, the APRR acquired their trucking subsidiary, the Rock Island Motor Transport (RIMT) and merged it into the AP's Appalachian Motor Transport (APMT). Coincidentally, the K100's colors match the original colors of the Rock Island's freight diesel locomotives!

The 80's part 3; a custom-painted van rolls along.

Back to today; a Ford F350 Heavy Duty, decked out with a brush guard, roll bar with lights, CB antenna, and an ATV in the bed. 

A crowd has gathered in front of Dairy Queen, with cars from today to yesterday. Note the hot rod and the classic Cadillac Eldorado convertible!

CARPACK; DODX FLATCARS

 A string of DODX flatcars are sitting in Hillsdale Yard...

All of the cars are from the 40xxx series of heavy duty flats, including GRE (General Railway Equipment) built 40573, still in it's as-delivered olive green.

40501 is in the 2001+ Cascade green, similar to that used by BN. This car was built by Ortner Freight Car.

40564 is in the late 90's urethane green. This car was also built by Ortner.

40059 is in the Cascade green. Note that unlike the other flats, this one does not have a recess behind the side grab irons, identifying it as an FGE-built car. Yes THAT FGE, which built and operated refrigerator cars! They also built cabooses for several railroads.

40486 is also in Cascade green, but was built by Thrall.

40573 still has it's deck numbers painted on the deck. Of course, due to the normal wear and tear of loading and unloading, these eventually wore off, leading the Army to find a new solution.

40501 and the other flats have the deck numbers welded on the deck surface, surrounded by the white rectangles.

40564 shows the same deck detail. Note also that the decks have openings for container pedestals, but often times these are missing, due to the fact that they rarely actually carry containers.

The 40xxx series of flatcars were delivered from 1981-1987 by the four different builders mentioned above, with the FGE cars being the first in 1981, followed by the Thrall cars in 1982-83, Ortner cars in 1985, and finally the GRE cars in 1987. Designed for heavy duty loading, they are the only cars in the DODX fleet that can carry two M1 Abrams tanks: the 41xxx series can only carry one, and none of the other flats in the fleet are strong enough to support the weight.

IN THE YARDS PT 12

 

An old, worn 68' flatcar sits in the yard, awaiting delivery to Wilson Steel Works. Built in the late 60's, this car will soon be retired and possibly sent to Wilson Steel for scrapping!

KRL 27802 sits in the yard after being serviced at Kasgro Rail's  New Castle facility. It's now ready to live up to its "RED-N-READY" slogan! Located just north of Pittsburgh, this is where Kasgro Rail both manufactures and repairs/maintains their fleet of heavy-duty flatcars; they also repair Schnabel cars there as well.

A pair of workers prepare to head out to perform a EOT swap on the intermodal train stopped in the background. The train's current unit has failed, thus necessitating the swap. Having the unit mounted on the front of the truck makes the replacement easy!

A hot dog vendor has set up shop in the lot, and is making business during lunch break. And the workers appreciate not having to go very far for lunch -saving time and gas money!

Tim sets an EOT on the newly installed rack. While the new rack only holds three EOTs, having it located beside the yard is a welcome addition: previously EOTs were kept in the shop on the opposite end -and side- of the yard, meaning that a long walk was often necessary with a heavy box.

 Mark Davis heads back to his truck after checking with Dale Williams (with the clipboard), Jason and Will. Mark will be driving to Uniontown to meet with meet with some company officials. Hopefully, he won't be getting any bad news.

Ricardo prepares to give Chris a ride in his '73 Vette, as several others look on. Nothing makes your co-workers more envious than having a sweet ride -and Ricardo still has his '57 Bel Air!