RAIL TRAIN

 At the start of "MOW Season", the rail train has been pulled out of storage...

Leased Scale Trains unit 2022 leads the rail train westbound to the loading facility, just outside of Cleveland, Oh.

The head car, with a bulkhead to prevent the rails from shifting forward, leads the support cars.

Passing through the yard.

The train. The symbol number is E2022W.

E2022W continues west for re-loading. Once loaded, the train will need two engines to pull it.

A final look at E2022W. Like CSX, NS, and other railroads in the Southeast, last year's hurricanes caused plenty of damage to the AP&W's rail lines -especially in North Carolina and Tennessee. Once loaded, this train will head south to Tennessee for a line upgrade on the former MC&K's main between its namesake cities; Memphis, Chattanooga and Knoxville. The line will be upgraded with heavier rail and concrete ties for faster transit times, allowing better competition with trucks across the state -and eventually on to Oklahoma City.  

TOWN LIFE PT 30

 

A Kenworth T600A, with matching red trailer, heads for the downtown warehouses. 

Another visitor to the warehouses is this Saia semi. Between Kidco, Inc. and Ten Mile Hike, a lot of truck traffic passes through town.

Another source of truck traffic is Hubbard Mills Inc., where this load of flour is headed.

On the way to a convention in New Jersey, the Awesome Diecast IconiCruiser bus leaves town. A refurbished 2001 MCI D4000 coach, owned and operated by Awesome Diecast, the IconiCruiser travels the country visiting conventions and collector shows.

Another bus traveling to the same convention is this restored 1969 Golden Eagle coach. And yes, the original Golden Eagles did, indeed, have "gold-chrome" sides!

Several men talk with the IT security guy. Nowadays, security is about more than just physical security, but also cybersecurity as well, and Hillsdale Yard has hired an outside firm to help protect against hackers and cyber attacks.

A MOW truck sits in the new storage shed. While not completely protected from the elements, it will help keep the equipment a bit cleaner -and drier!

PASSING TRAINS PT 48; MCP91 PT 3

 The conclusion of MCP91...

A string of brand-new Agrium Wholesale covered hoppers. They are leased from First Union, hence the FURX reporting marks.

A close-up of one of the hoppers. Agrium is a Texas-based agricultural company.

The pink "On Track For A Cure" boxcar, FBOX 504927.

HPJX 90229 is a second-hand car, while MEC 32132 is wearing a new paint scheme -the colorful "Pan Am" scheme. Unfortunately, Pan Am is now a fallen flag; it became part of CSX in 2023.

TTJX 81977 is a "finger-rack" car for transporting rebar.

Another carbon black car, and a pair of empty bulkhead flatcars.

A pair of grimy RBOX cars, showing their age.

A more recent repaint. This is a "combo-door" ABOX car, so named because it has both a sliding door and a plug door.

Another "combo-door" ABOX, this one with a replacement plug door.

The final two RBOX cars, both trashed with graffiti..

PASSING TRAINS PT 48; MCP-91 PT 2

 Train MCP-91 (Manifest, Cumberland - Pittsburgh) is passing through Hillsdale...

ET44AC 500 and AC4400 8900 pass the city and head west to Pittsburgh.

A pair of VTTX converted 60' flatcars doing what they were converted for -carrying containers.

A pair of 60' CN boxcars, with yet another TBOX behind them.

CGFX 992121 is ex-CEFX reefer 992121. Look closely, and you can see the "G" is a different font from the other three letters.

CGFX 992114 is another ex-CEFX reefer.

A brand-new 68' GNTX RailGon gondola and yet another CN car, this time a WC marked gondola.

UTLX 300315 is leased to Specialty Minerals. It is followed by a potash hopper.

Yet another TBOX, but this time a "grid-side" car, with a BNSF box behind it.

A pair of FBOX 50' high cube "grid-side" boxcars.

Another look at the VTTX converted flatcars. During the late 80's, TTX converted over a thousand 60' general service flatcars into container-only VTTX cars, removing the decks and adding container pedestals. They can carry either one 40' and one 20' container or three 20' containers, as seen here. With a pair of loaded tank containers, the first car is probably carrying its max load capacity.
The rest of the train nest week.

PASSING TRAINS PT 48; MCP-91 PT 1

 

Train MCP-91; the Cumberland-Pittsburgh manifest, rolls into town. 

ET44AC 500, the Breast Cancer Awareness unit, leads the train.

Older AC4400 8900 trails.

Boxcars on the head end, including a CN and a GTW car; both have the CN.CA website on their sides.

A carbon black hopper, followed by a tank car.

A string of empty Soy Power tank cars. These cars delivered their loads of biodiesel at the railroad's Cumberland Shops.

A look at one of the Soy Power Bio Fuels tank cars. The AP&W is experimenting with biodiesel fuel in some of its locomotives, mainly yard switchers, as it has yet to purchase fuel tenders for long-range operations.

More boxcars, this time of the 60' variety, including this TBOX car with the older black logo.

An ex-UP car now owned by TTX, followed by another TBOX with the newer red logo.

A Wisconsin Central car, followed by yet another TBOX car.

MCP-91 is just getting started. Stay tuned for more next week!