Bethlehem, PA: Central Railroad of New Jersey Depot, Freight House and Roundhouse

Depot: (Satellite)

Freight House: (Satellite)

Roundhouse: (Satellite, just the foundation)

This route is now owned by the Norfolk Southern.

The freight service tracks have been replaced by a parking lot, but the mainline still runs behind the depot.

Street View

Randall Hampton posted three photos with the comment: "Former Central Railroad of New Jersey stations in Bethlehem, PA   [pics - R. Hampton / 9-12-22]"

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Confirmation of the roundhouse foundation in the above satellite link.

1964 Allentown East Quad @ 24,000

Knoxville, TN: CMC/Knoxville Iron Co.

(3D Satellite)

CMC = Commercial Metals Company [cmc]

The mill is served by NS/Southern

Carl G Davis posted
Knoxville Iron Company moved to this location in 1903 and is still in operation today by CMC. Was owned by different Companies over the years. Today many retired and past employees meet for lunch on Fridays continuing our comradeship and catching up on old friends. Many employees worked at the mill for up to forty plus years becoming like family.
Robert Ritchie: This is a good thing you do. Over my career I watched a lot of senior guys approach retirement with unspoken fear. Indeed U was startled to learn in my craft the life expectancy at retirement was two and one half years. Guys would take thier pension and just go home to die.
What you are doing here becomes a huge part of filling a deadly void. For as many old guys that attend your functions there is a very personal reason for all who attend.

"Our mills produce steel long products including rebar, angles, channels, flats, rounds, squares, post, wire rod and other special sections." The difference between a mini-mill and a micro-mill is that a micro-mill does not produce billets. The steel goes from the continuous caster through an induction furnace into the rolling stands. [cmc-products] Two of their main products are rebar and fence posts.

This is one of four rebar mills that CMC (Texas) bought from Gerdau (Brazil) in 2018. "The Knoxville mill employs 237, paying $21 million in wages and producing 600,000 tons of rebar per year, according to a company fact sheet. It was founded in 1865 and has operated under a succession of owners." [KnoxNews]

"The acquisition includes 33 rebar fabrication facilities in the United States as well as electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mills in Knoxville, Tennessee; Jacksonville, Florida; Sayreville, New Jersey; and Rancho Cucamonga, California. Combined, the mills have annual rolling capacity of 2.5 million tons. After adding Gerdau’s melt shop capacity, CMC will have around 7.2 million tons of global melt capacity at its disposal." [RecyclingToday]

I was surprised that the street view driver was able to get past the gate. He drove all the way to the building we see on the far left in this view.

Street View, Dec 2015

The pretty blue buildings are on the south side. The more interesting buildings are on the north side.

3D Satellite, looking South

But it is hard to see the interesting buildings. Is the fence because of fear of industrial espionage or fear of someone seeing an OSHA and/or EPA violation?

Street View, Aug 2011

Tallula, IL: C&A Water & Coal Towers and Grain Elevator

Towers: (Satellite, a farmer has removed all traces of the towers.)

Elevator: (Satellite)

Roger Kujawa posted
A lot of coal mined was used by the railroads that hauled it to power their steam locos. C.U. Williams RPPC C.&A. Railroad Coal Chutes & Water Tank At Tallula, Illinois

A B&W exposure: 

Roger Kujawa posted
One of the biggest uses of coal was to power steam locos. Railroad Train Coal Chute Car & Water Tower Tallula Illinois IL
John Pescitelli: What railroad would this have been?
Roger Kujawa: GM&O Jacksonville line.
Thomas Dorman: John Pescitelli Chicago & Alton James. Coaling tower probably built in 1902 by Link-Belt company. 70 tons capacity.
Raymond Storey shared

Dennis DeBruler commented on Roger's photo
Some topo maps indicate that the sidings where on the southeast side of the mainline. So the grain elevator we see under the spouts of the water tower in the photo would be southeast of the mainline. Thus these towers were on the southwest side of town.
The towers are in the lower-left corner of this extract of a 1939 aerial photo. They were West of Douglas Street. The depot was were the northern three bins of the grain elevator now stand. And the building across the tracks from the depot was probably the freight house.
https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4...
https://clearinghouse.isgs.illinois.edu/webdocs/ilhap/county/data/menard/flight3/0bxd01052.jpg

The town has not grown much since 1909, but the grain elevator sure has grown. 

1909 Tallula Quad @ 62,500

This elevator strikes me as a large one for a town that has lost its rail service. The big bin on the railroad's right-of-way and the even bigger bin next to Yates Street indicates that the elevator continued to grow even without rail service.

Satellite

Macon, GA: 1966 NS/Southern Brosnan Yard

(Satellite)

A photo of a dedecation plaque    This page has a brief description of the operation of a hump yard and several photos. It also shows the engine servicing and car repair facilities. I could not find overview photos of the yard, so please visit this page for photos.

"In full operation since late 1966, the 960-acre facility has the never-ending job of keeping NS freight moving on schedule 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Some 57 freight trains move through this rail hub on an average day, hauling commodities vital for daily life." [NS posted]

"This was one of Southern Railway's first yards to use computers to sort out cars on outbound trains." [17:24 video @ 0:40] As president, Brosnan implemented some of the industry's first hump yards. [1:42] I already knew Southern revolutionized grain shipment by introducing the covered hopper car. 

NS got caught up in the Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) trend and closed the hump in this yard (and Moorman Yard in Bellevue, OH) two years ago. [FreightWaves-2020] Now (Sep 2022), they are reopening both of these humps. But they will continue to not route cars out of their way to get humped. But those cars that naturally flow through this yard will be humped rather than flat switched. [FreightWaves-2022] (Just a couple of weeks ago, UP tore down their hump tower in the Proviso Yard. At least NS still had their hump yards to reactivate.)

One reason for opening the hump is "to free up yard crews to help relive crew shortages." [TheTracksidePhotographer] My first thought was that means flat switching requires more labor than hump yard switching. Then I realized that it may be the same amount of labor, but humps use different unions than train crews use.

3D Satellite

safe_image
Joseph Tuch Santucci: They are claiming “volume increases” which is amusing. The volume was always there but they tried to work around it, even forsaking customers if need be. Elmo Harrison tried to close the hump at Winnipeg and move it to a smaller yard in Edmonton plus have flat smaller switching yards in the US pre block some Canadian blocks. It failed miserably and they gave up on it in far less than a year. I did not think it even lasted six months. It wasn’t about logical handling of cars, it was about cutting jobs. That’s all PSR is about, cutting jobs. It has nothing to do with customers or timely delivery.
Ted Gregory: Completely agree with everything you're saying Tuch. Did you know that CP is down to only one hump yard for their whole entire system? Pigs Eye in St Paul. That's it everything else closed.Then csx has repeatedly tried to close humps even well b4 elmo. I remember around the time I was a TM at CSX B&OCT Barr Yd in Chicago, they tried to close Stanley Yard in Toledo. The whole entire northern half of the system tanked and trains were stacked up in outlying yards and main lines, so they had to reopen it- that happened at least twice, maybe 3 times.
Joseph Tuch Santucci: Ted Gregory CP closed the hump at Bensenville in the 90’s which created chaos and then reopened it albeit smaller as they removed twenty something tracks in order to expand intermodal capacity. . Then they closed it again under Elmo Harrison. The IC closed the north hump moving operations over to the south hump side, the closed the south hump and went with flat switching at the bottom end of the south hump. It resulted in many wrecks. Then they closed the entire south hump side, ripped it out and built the Gateway Intermodal facility. The moved the flat switching over to the north end of A Yard which was the old receiving yard for north hump. The yard descended from south to north dropping about twenty-two feet in elevation in less than a mile resulting in the crews switching uphill. Roll outs were numerous and common resulting in collisions, run through switches and personal injuries. Three guys I worked with had their careers ended by accidents in A yard as a reult of cars rolling north after being kicked south up a hill. Several others suffered serious injuries. You had to kick the card harder than normal to assure the would have enough momentum to roll uphill, into the tracks and hopefully couple into the cars already in the tracks. The FRA finally stepped in and required CN to add a third ground man to the switch assignments primarily to act as a lookout for cars rolling back. Between the IC and CN, they spent millions of dollars to prove a bad idea didn’t work.
Also under Elmo Harrison they closed the hump at Flat Rock, MI and converted it a flat switching operation and cut the amount of cars they could switch per day by about two thirds. There are no jumps left on the corner IC or GTW. There were never any on the WC but they have left the hump at Kirk Yard on the former EJ&E open and expanded it. However, there is only one way in and out of Kirk and it’s all at the west end. It is a stub ended operation so not as efficient.
Ted Gregory: When i worked at CP Tuch (I left in 2013) Bensenville was still in service- kind of a measly half hump. They sent almost all freight to the BRC- just like the other 5 class Is that come into Chicago. Wisconsin & Southern also sends a pretty big freight into Clearing every day.I worked as a contractor in 2019-20, on the west end of Kirk Yard- actually the old J Lake Front Yard. They were building a second highway overpass to make the road that leads to the Majestic Star Casino 4 lanes, in Buffigton Harbor. Being CNs only hump, Kirk was really busy.Pathetic what they railroads have become

NS had closed the hump in their Inman Yard in Atlanta in 1993 to improve that yard's support for intermodal traffic. When they closed the hump in this yard in 2020, they reinstalled the retarders in Inman and restarted the hump yard. [TrainOrders]

Camden, NJ: Lost/Pennsy Roundhouse

(Satellite, the land has been repurposed)

Rick Grenda posted nine photos with the comment:

The Camden Terminal Enginehouse aka the Roundhouse

As the Pennsylvania Railroad expanded their freight yard along the river in Camden, they needed a larger engine repair and maintenance facility. So around 1901 the roundhouse was built at the southern end of the yard at the foot of Clinton St , where the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion sits today. In front was a movable turntable leading engines to one of 19 repair bays. 

The building stood until about 1970. Phil Rowan advises that the turntable still sits under the pavilion stage because it was too difficult to remove.

Den McNulty shared

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A different exposure of Photo 8:

Rick Shilling posted
1955 Pennsylvania Railroad Roundhouse and Turntable with a 2-8-0 Locomotive on left and 4-6-2 Locomotive on right at Camden, New Jersey. Edward Ozog photo.

Jack Bobby Lou Mulreavy posted via Dennis DeBruler
The roundhouse is near the middle of this waterfront photo. Follow the link for more photos of the waterfront that include the roundhouse.

Thunder Bay, ON: Agricore United Grain Elevator S

(3D Satellite)

2 of 16 photos posted by Michael Hull with the comment: " ALGOMA DISCOVERY (1987 Canada) continues to be docked at S Elevator. [May 19, 2022]"

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1 of 10 photos posted by Michael Hull
EDENBORG (2010 Netherlands) was at Keefer Terminal in the Port of Thunder Bay on July 28, 2022. The ship was undergoing maintenance prior to loading at Thunder Bay Terminals.
[Note the "honey pot" truck on the dock. Other photos confirm that there is a hose going up to the ship to remove waste from the toilets.]

Rob Danielewski posted
I shot this image of "Algonorth" at Thunder Bay, Ontario several years ago. She sat here at the Agricore United Elevator for a few years before being towed for scrap.
Matthew Carlson Ya she sat there with a blown engine. Purvis towed her to the scrap yard using the Anglin Lady and we assisted them out of the harbour with the Glenada.
Rob Danielewski Matthew Carlson I wondered why she was out of service for so long. Seems a shame to be scraped but probably you costly to repair.
Matthew Carlson Rob Danielewski ya the one engine was blown and I think the other was in bad shape. Wasn’t worth repairs. Just after idly went for scrap we got the dockspace for the tugs.
Bill Shaver blown engine, wow, never heard that...
Mike Harlan shared

Google doesn't know about Agricore United Elevator. I believe it was docked here:

3D Satellite

The satellite caught a different ship.

3D Satellite

Looking at a satellite image, this Agricore United Elevator is evidently abandoned because the rails serving it have been torn out! 

It appears the tracks were removed during the Summer of 2015.

Google Earth, May 21, 2015

Google Earth, Oct 1, 2015

I believe the Algonorth is in this image because...

Google Earth, Sep 25, 2011

...in the next image available, it has been replaced by some tugboats.

Google Earth, Mar 7, 2013

I cranked Google Earth back to the earliest year available, 2002, and see that there were railcars at the facility north of this slip, but none for this elevator. Given the bumper crops we had in 2014-16, I'm surprised that this modern looking elevator wasn't reopened for storage. I guess ground piles were considered good enough.

The freighter that had most recently been stored by this elevator has recently (Sep 2022) gone back into service.

David Schauer posted
Fresh from an extended lay-up in Thunder Bay, Algoma Discovery loads ore at BNSF in Superior, just what its fleetmate Tim. S. Dool did a few weeks ago. While the similar Algoma Guardian received a 5-year survey/inspection recently, the Discovery is nearing the end of its approved survey period, hence the reason we wanted to photograph it. 9/24/2022

Matthew Carlson commented on David's post
Seems like just yesterday I seen her leave. 😂. It’s already lonely here, no more neighbors.

Morton, IL: Santa Fe Depot

(Satellite, the building is long gone)

This remnant of the Santa Fe route to Morton, IL, is now effectively an industrial spur that allows the TP&W to serve the pumpkin factory and some industries on the west side of town.

D Scott Kramer posted
Here's a nice Sante Fe Pekin District shot of the southbound “Chico Chief" passing the depot at Morton, IL on April 26, 1969.
Photograph by Roger Holmes
Ken Morrison: Santa Fe still had passenger service to Pekin in 1969?
D Scott Kramer: Ken Morrison This was a special railfan excursion.

The cartagrapher for the Monticello, IN, depots spoiled me because he marked black rectangles in the red area and labeled them "Sta." The cartagrapher for this map did not add a black rectangle for the depot.

1970 Morton Quad @ 24,000

So I tried an old map where they used to mark each building. Unfortunately, there is no long, skinny black rectangle parallel to the mainline.

1932 Mackinaw Quad @ 62,500

So I found an historical aerial photo. I put a red line north of the building that I believe was the depot. This aerial photo shows the siding that we see on the right side of Roger's photo is south of the depot. So the train is westbound.

1939 Aerial Photo via ILHAP

Monticello, IN: Monon and Pennsy Depots

Monon: (Satellite, it was in the northbound lanes. The steet jogged around it.)

Pennsy: (Satellite, it was in the northeast quadrant of the intersection of the Monon tracks and Foster St.)

Both depots are long gone. So far, I have photos for just the Monon depot. The Pennsy route is now part of the TP&W. The Monon route is now abandoned. It used to do street running up a median in Railroad Street.

1962 Monticello South Quad @ 24,000

We are interested in the two rectangles labeled "Sta" in the above topo map. The Pennsy depot along Foster Street makes sense. The one north of Harrison Street on Railroad Street does not make sense. There is not enough room between the tracks and the northbound lanes for a depot. So I found an historical aerial photo.

EarthExplorer: May 29, 1960 @ 18,000, AR1VWN000020216

The aerial shows that the northbound lanes jogged east around the depot. In fact, the slanted driveway out of this parking lot is probably part of the old street's route around the depot.

Satellite

Model Railroader magazine posted
Linn Westcott's contributions to the railroad hobby were considerable, especially his photography, where his all-encompassing passions are visible in the scores of 8 x 10 prints that remain in the library. 
https://cs.trains.com/.../linn-westcott-knew-his-way...
"A pair of F3s is plenty of power for the Tippecanoe's five cars. Linn H. Westcott photo"

I like this photo because it shows that express freight was an important part of a railroad's passenger train service. 

Photo via trains
"Monon train 11 approaches Monticello, Ind., on a cold morning in December 1950. Linn H. Westcott photo"

Freemont, NE: 1895+1955 130mw Lon D. Wright Power Plant

(Satellite)

"Unit 6: 16.5 MW (1957), Unit 7: 22.0 MW (1963), Unit 8: 91.5 MW (1976)" [gem]

Street View

remontne-generation
The first five units were in their downtown plant, which was retired in 1976. "Units 6 and 7 were designed with natural gas as the primary fuel and coal as the backup fuel. Coal is the primary fuel for Unit 8, with natural gas as a supplemental fuel. With the gas shortage occurring in mid-1970, the operation has been using coal as primary fuel, with natural gas and propane used only for startup and flame stabilization."

fremontne-plant
"When number 6 and 7 boilers operate at full capacity, they can convert 50,000 gallons of water per hour into steam at a pressure of 900 pounds per square inch and at a temperature of 910 degrees. At full load capacity the No. 8 boiler can convert 81,000 gallons of water per hour into steam at a pressure of 1,800 pounds per square inch and at a temperature of 1005 degrees."

Wheelabrator-spray-dryer-absorbers
This was added in 2015 to remove up to 90% of the SO2.

power-eng, Photo courtesy: Amec Foster Wheeler
They added equipment to Unit 8 in 2016 to comply with "the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule. The upgrade included a new pulse jet fabric filter, along with a spray dryer absorber and an activated carbon injection system."

Oct 27, 2021: FremontTribune [paycount 1]
By Dec 31, 2023, they are required to add improved ash handling equipment to Unit 8 because of an EPA rule.
[I presume that the metallic stuff in this photo is pollution abatement equipment.]

Caleb Johnson posted two photos with the comment: "Couple shots of our largest unit with the turbine house off."

Bill Rymers: These units were made to last except for cracks the control valves under the hp was a bear to remove,lots of beers were sweated out on outages.

Scott Laugel: Love the old Turbines and Generators. I see the hydrogen coolers sticking up. Our GE Generator was bigger but configured similarly. The Hp bowl and steam governor are old school.

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