Bedford Park, IL: C&JE Car Barn, Substation, and Yard

Bill Molony commented on his posting
The six-car Chicago & Joliet Electric Railway car barn, substation and yard at Archer Avenue and Roberts Road.
Bill Molony posted again
This is the building that later housed the Landmark Restaurant.
[It was built in 1910.]

Satellite

I waited too long to get my own pictures because it has been torn down (Bill's posting).

"Thanks for the last 44 years! As of December 28, 2014, The Landmark and Marlene's Catering has closed its doors." 

The Landmark originally was a Chicago & Joliet railway car barn. In the 1950s, the building became known as Club Elgin, a dime-a-dance hall. Its last use was by a beer distributor before becoming The Landmark in 1970. [ChicagoTribune]

This is another example where the Bing street-view vehicle has had better coverage than the Google vehicle. I include a picture of the backside of the car barn because they "prettied up" the side on Archer Avenue.

Street View of the west side

Muscatine, IA: Rock Island and MB&S Depots

Don Gerdts posted

28 AUG 1926 - MUSCATINE RIVER FRONT

RI DEPOT TO THE RIGHT

MB&S DEPOT TO THE LEFT
J Pete Hedgpeth MB&S was the "Muscatine Burlington and Southern"..One track at Muscatine was and probably still is referred to as the MB&S MAIN. So typical of railroads...once a track or other facility had a name it never changed..ie One track might be callled the "New East"...which was probably 50 years old, but still younger than the "Old East"..which was 75 years old. Took awhile for a new guy to get used to this concept. There was an article in TRAINS or maybe it was "Classic Trains" about a guy who went to work at Muscatiine and pontificated at great length about the MB&S MAIN..I think, now that I'm thinking it was in an article about "Culver Tower"..which was a story in itself. Doug Weitzman who was a co-worker of mine was Division Supt on that territory when there was a fire at Culver. Doug said "If I ever find out who called the Fire Department I'm gonna fire him"

Don Gerdts The first person I ever heard call that track "The Monkey Nuts" was the late Muscatine Rock Island Agent Ed Fuller (March '68). Have yet to find anyone who knows why it was called that. Culver - an Operator, the BRAC Griever from Silvis and his partner-in-crime, were the cause of the hand thrown switches being installed and the demise of the positions in the Tower. Was working Muscatine when this happened

The road bridge has moved since 1938. It used to be an extension of Walnut Street. So the depots would have been between Sycamore Street & Iowa Avenue and between Mississippi Drive & the river. The 2005 SPV Map shows enough of Iowa that I can see that MB&S was closer to the river and paralleled the RI out of town to the southwest. It was an interurban that did make it to Burlington, but no further south.

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Raymond Story posted
MUSCATINE IOWA
J Pete Hedgpeth: See that long and old hiway bridge in the background. It was finally replaced in the 70's after terrorizing my daughter on our trips from Chicago to Lincoln, NE by its rattling and banging as we drove over it and causing H J Heinz company to have to "float" the tomato hauling trucks every summer across the river on barges from the "Patches" on the east side of the river to the "factory" in west Muscatine where they were turned into Ketchup and juice.
Don Gerdts: MB&S Freight and Yard Office off to the right. When I hired out on the Rock Island in '68, what was the MB&S trackage was know as The Monkey Nuts. Have yet to find out why it was called The Monkey Nuts.

Raymond Storey posted two images with the comment: "MUSCATINE IOWA."

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Update: Flood of 2019:

Nancy Paul posted May 1, 2019
Our riverfront is flooded but the trains are still running....**Edit**.(this is in Muscatine Iowa, not Davenport and the "guy" in the background is a statue)
[My 2005 map shows this was Milw+RI and then ICE. I assume it is CP now.]

Como, CO: Denver, South Park and Pacific Roundhouse

(Satellite)

My wife is from Denver, and I really enjoyed our trip on US-285. Not only the river canyon but how flat the land was later in the trip. I've learned that "park" means a flat area surrounded by mountains. So when I was thinking of model railroading, I thought about a railroad that went southeast from Denver and across this park. Imagine my surprise when I learned there was a railroad that did this --- Denver, South Park and Pacific (DSP&P). It would be interesting how the founders had planned to go west from South Park to the Pacific.

Larry Mangan posted
The Denver, South Park and Pacific roundhouse at Como, CO in 1885. Tough work.

Larry Mangan comented on his above posting
It was still this solid in 1984 when I took this. I believe it is being restored, or at least preserved these days. See http://www.southparkheritage.org/.../boreas-pass-railroad...

Jeff Ramsey posted

Image of the Colorado & Southern Railway’s Como Mechanical Department machiime, car shop and 19 stall roundhouse in Como, Colorado circa 1900.

 Today the surviving 6 stall stone roundhouse (to the left) is the oldest operating locomotive roundhouse in the United States.

Robert Aumann: Nice photo! Location?

 

Dennis DeBruler commented on Robert's comment
https://maps.app.goo.gl/AvNojbaUDBSdGaBN8

Walt Hutton III posted
Como, Colorado. Narrow gauge Denver, South Park and Pacific. My photo.
Loren Schultz Beautiful photo. Readers may like to know that the Roundhouse is back in service and the narrow gauge line is being rebuilt. You can find updates and photos on the Facebook pages: South Park Rail Society also Como Roundhouse, Railroad Depot and Hotel Complex.

Looking at the satellite image, I'm saddened by all of the vacant lots. Looking at the plants in the above photo, farming doesn't seem to be an option for this area. So when the railroad was abandoned, this town was devastated.

Chris Ness posted

Como Roundhouse. Denver, South Park, & Pacific railroad.

Ended service 1937. The tracks removed 1938. (Being restored since this photograph.)

Como, CO 09/11

Bryan Burton Photography posted
The roundhouse and turntable with the hotel and depot in the background at Como, CO. 8/6/22.
Walter Michl: Anything in the roundhouse?
Bryan Burton Photography: Walter Michl Steam locomotive Klondike Kate (being rebuilt) and a couple cars.
Jan Hervert: Great photo and it has a Ford 2N or 9N tractor in front of the roundhouse! (It is painted similar to an 8N, but looking at the wheels, it is likely a 2N or 9N.)

Richard Crabtree posted five images with the comment:

The Denver South Park & Pacific railroad built this lovely stone roundhouse with Italian Masons  way back in 1881. She is still standing proudly today!

Photo 1 &2) the DSP&P Roundhouse Sep 2023 

Photo 3) IColorado & Southern No. 22 2-6-0 Mougul built by Brooks Locomotive Works in 1882 as DSP&P No. 35 "Dillion" 

No. 22 is at the C&S Roundhouse and table surrounded by C&S yardmen and brass. Circa 1900 

Denver Public Library Digital Collection 

Photo 4) 1910 Colorado & Southern map of the yard 

Photo 5) inside the DSP&P Roundhouse ar Como with DSP&P Box Car  & Klondike Kate Sept 2023

Richard Crabtree shared

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Frank Doerle posted five photos with the comment: "Had the opportunity to visit the Como Roundhoue in Colorado last June. The pictures are of Klondike Kate being rebuilt inside the roundhouse and their Armstrong Turntable."

Jeff Ramsey: The 1881 Denver South Park & Pacific - Colorado & Southern locomotive roundhouse in Como, Colorado is the oldest operating roundhouse in North America.

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Charleston, IL: NKP (Clover Leaf) Coaling Tower and Roundhouse

The Big Four went east/west across the north part of town, and it is now the Lincoln Prairie Grass Trail. The Nickle Plate is now the Eastern Illinois Railroad (EIRC).

Larry Love posted
This photo was taken in Charleston on July 6, 1947.

Jacob Hortenstine shared a photo
At 5:20 PM on July 6, 1947, NKP 646, Class H6-e 2-8-2 Mikado built in 1943, pauses for refreshment at Charleston, Illinois. Nine more years of service lie ahead. NKPHTS Magazine Fall 1998. Photo by Richard Cook. www.nkphts.org
Rob Hale This is the only steam related picture of Charleston, IL I've ever seen. I grew up near here and really expected to find more photos of the town since the NYC and NKP mains crossed there. There also used to be an interurban that ran between Mattoon and Charleston the paralleled the NYC main.

Raymond Storey posted
The NKP..Charleston ILL...1946

Larry Love commented on his posting
Here is the Clover Leaf round house.

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Satellite

It appears that Charleston is the headquarters of the EIRC.

Satellite

This arc is probably a trace of the turntable.

Pittsburgh, PA: The Point in 1896+1910.

Heinz History Center posted

#TBT to 1896: A view of the Point from Mount Washington.

Today's #throwbackthursday photo is featured in #Pixburgh: A Photographic Experience and is from the Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs.
Dennis DeBruler shared
Another bunch of tows waiting for "coal water."
Georgeann Held: World Largest Inland Port at one time ! More tonnage Passed the Point than went through the Panama Cannel !
Barbara Ritts: Check out the bridge going from the Point to the North Side. It sure looks like a covered bridge!
Dennis DeBruler

Author

Barbara Ritts It was. It was called the Union Bridge and was opened in 1876. It was removed in 1907 because of its low clearance.

http://pghbridges.com/articles/PA3-01.htm

The suspension bridge was built in 1877.

Jackson-Township historical preservation posted

Barges loaded with coal at "The Point" in Pittsburgh in 1910.

(Photo from Shorpy via https://www.facebook.com/WQEDPittsburgh)

Fred Copeland: Reminds me of when I worked at Dravo corporation "We made these barges and Viking tow boats on Neville Island.

Note all of the steamships and coal filled barges. Obviously they were doing serious shipping on the Monongahela River.  (Update: I learned from the post below that they are waiting for "coal water.") It looks like the other bridges are about as low as the covered bridge on the Allegheny River. Furthermore, it looks like the metal bridges on the Allegheny still exist. (Update: in fact, they are the "Three Sisters Bridges."

3D Satellite

Update:

That has to be the Duquesne Incline in the foreground. And the Wabash Bridge in the background.

Dennis DeBruler posted

While researching the Point Bridges that were in Pittsburgh, I came across this Detroit Publishing Co. photo, circa 1900-15. It shows the importance that riverboats, railroads and street cars once had in that area.

LC-D4-15633 [P&P]

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016802438/

Robert Swenson: Awesome photo…. Waiting for the creeks to rise.
Don Sanders: Robert Swenson. Waiting for "coal water," and then all hell broke loose.
Dennis DeBruler: Robert Swenson So they are waiting for the wet season so that there is enough water in the Ohio River to provide the needed draft. I remembered that this was well before the 9-foot channel project was built. But I never realized how they queued up waiting for the rains to come.
Dale Zubik: Largest Inland Port at one Time

Detroit, MI: Oil and Salt

It is so nice to look at a historical photo of heavy industry and see that they still exist in the 21st Century.

Carl Venzke posted
The caption to this photo said "Rail Yard, Detroit" no other information. Would this have been near or at the Marathon refinery?
Marv Hall I looked at google maps this appears to be at Detroit salt looking southwest towards the marathon refinery thats on the southeast side of the tracks. The covered hoppers would be heading into Detroit salt. The storage oil tanks straight ahead are part of the refinery . I will post a map picture from google.

You can see Detroit Salt's huge salt pile at the top and the refinery at the bottom.

Satellite

Detroitisit posted
Did you know that beneath the iconic cityscape of #Detroit lies a vast subterranean wonder? This salt deposit is over 400 million years old, older than the dinosaurs! 🦖
The Detroit Salt Mine stretches over 1,500 acres and plunges over 1,160 feet below the surface under the north end of Allen Park. Operational for more than a century, this hidden gem has played a vital role in providing much-needed salt for our nation.
The next time you're driving through the area, remember the wonders that lie just beneath your feet. 🧂 PC: Atlas Obscura

Bernice Conner-Glass posted three photos with the comment: "THE CITY OF DETROIT SITS ON TOP OF A WORKING SALT MINE, AND THAT THE MINE HAS PROVIDED ROAD SALT FOR MOST OF NORTH AMERICA SINCE 1910!"

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Heather R miller commented on Bernice's post
I too took a tour of the salt mines. It’s like 2 miles under ground. I have a large chunk of salt from there that I have on display in my home.

The mainline track corridor between the two has the NS/Wabash route on the north side and the CRSA/PRR route on the south side. A little to the west is a NS/Wabash railyard, which is still a rather big classification yard. There is a little intermodal activity in the southeast side of the yard. Further south is a CRSA/PRR railyard. But many of the tracks have been removed from this yard. There is also a vehicle loading facility in this area.

Craig Hensley Photography posted
Detroit Salt Company
Did you know that there is a salt mine underneath Detroit? In 1910 the Detroit Salt Company completed the first 1,060-foot deep mining shaft to access the salt beds that formed some 400 million years ago. The mining operation was producing around 8000 tons of rock salt a month by 1914. A second mining shaft was created in 1922 to allow even more production and access to a second salt bed and   production doubled. Due to the shafts size all equipment is required to be disassembled piece by piece and lowered down and reassembled by a machine shop at the bottom. The rock salt is primarily used as a ice melter products, ranging from bulk rock salt to bagged rock salt and premium blended formulations. 
Detroit, MI - June 2023
Chris Paciocco: I used to do business with this place about a decade ago. Unless things have drastically changed, Detroit Salt has a pretty big rail car fleet of 400-600 covered hoppers from previous owners BNSF, Conrail, NS, and even former PC hoppers that (as of 2012) still had the PC logo and paint showing very clearly. Prior to the track mobile, they had an extremely beat-up SW switcher still in Conrail paint and logo that would stage the cars and Conrail or NS would switch the lead. Most of the salt ships to Chicago and beyond.
Nolan Skip Raspbury LaFramboise II: Our neighbor in River Rouge was the mine General Manager in the 1970s. He took a few of us who hung out at a local business down into the mines a couple of times. It was very informal, like, show up at Sam's place at this time and we'll drive over. As cool as it was, yes, I enjoyed it, I was young and more interested in other stuff. It closed as one entity in the 1990s. For all I knew, that was it, it was done. Then, in the late 1990s, I was traveling from my then home in San Francisco to visit Detroit. I met a young man on a shuttle bus. I don't know how we got on the subject, but he said the mines were open again. I disputed his account. I made it a point to visit my friend Pete at Gonellas and walk over to the mines. Sure enough, they'd reopened and were operating with a new shaft tower. I believe I have photos of the switcher, sitting all alone in the corner near the former Oakwood Bakery, that Chris Paciocco referred to above. Now, if I can only find them.

Nolan found three photos and added them to Craig's post.

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[Some comments noted the old shaft equipment in the background.]

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This appears to be the old shaft house which was demolished in the 1990s. That's a guess. I have too long of a window to remember exact time frames.

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The new shaft house from a few years ago. I was unable to catapult (ha ha ha) the fence. or climb it for that matter. I believe this one was built about the late 1990s.

Athens, OH: B&O, NYC, and Hocking Valley Depot

While driving West on Union Street, my wife spotted a building that looked like a depot. So I went around the block and checked it out.

20170417 8557

They have done a nice job of preserving some of the details of the interior.

The older lady working in the depot explained that they used one of the former freight doors to provide an ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) access.





When I struggled to get a shot of this print they had hanging in the station without getting a glare off the glass, she went into the old agent's office and brought out an historical photo.

When I heard the shutter, I checked the speed: 1/20, ISO 400. I'm impressed I held the camera steady enough to work at 1/20 since the photo was on the floor, and I was facing the camera straight down.

1/125 ISO 3200 This exposure looks "washed out" to me so I'm glad I held the 1/20 exposure steady.

Note the B&O water tower, streamlined engine, and caboose.

She explained that the B&O tracks ran past the south side of the depot. The New York Central ran tracks down from their mainline, which passed Athens to the west. Those tracks ended just beyond the photo. The 2005 SPV Map and the C&O caboose in the color print indicate that Hocking Valley shared this stub. This HV and NYC branch started at Armitage Junction. The HockHocking Adena Bikeway uses the abandoned HV RoW in this area. This spur probably built the bridge that allows the trail to cross the Hocking River. The trail leaves the HV+NYC RoW south of the river and follows the river because the RoW has been redeveloped in town. And the river is better scenery for the bike riders.

A view of the B&O side.

Another view of the HV+NYC side.


Athens has gone from three railroads to zero.