Towns and Nature: August 2024

Saturday, August 31, 2024

Greenport, NY: Long Island Railroad Museum/Depot & Turntable, Antique Carousel and North Ferry

Depot: (Satellite)

Turntable: (Satellite)

Carousel: (Satellite)

Ferry: (Satellite)

Street View, Aug 2018

Lincoln Sander IV posted two photos with the comment: ""Greenport Long Island New York.

1956/58 Greenport Quad @ 24,000

Antique Carousel

Street View, Aug 2018

North Ferry

Street View, Aug 2012

Ottawa, KS: Santa Fe Railyard and Museum/Depot

Railyard: (Satellite, most of the railyard is gone.)

Depot: (Satellite, 254 photos)

Kansas Travel at KansasTravel.org posted
This post card shows the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad yard in Ottawa, Kansas, about 1911
Robert Chitwood: Wooden box cars were constructed here.
Jim Goff: So this is looking south?
Robert Chitwood: Jim Goff Yes

Street View, Jul 2014

Passenger trains had to do a backing maneuver to access this station.

1956 Ottawa North and South Quads @ 24,000

Susan, Feb 2018

When we moved into Downers Grove, IL, in 1976, the town had a drug store that still had a soda fountain. The machines on the right under the calendar were used to stir the milk and malt shakes. They were made with real ice cream.

Susan, Feb 2018

Del Rey, IL: Lost/IC Depot and Grain Elevators

Depot: (Satellite)

Old Elevator: (Satellite)

New Elevator: (Satellite)

This is one of those towns along US-45 that did not get an exit on I-57.

Onarga Historical Society and Museum posted
Such a cute little depot from a long, long time ago ... the ICRR Depot just south of Onarga located in Del Rey, Illinois. Thanks, Skip, for the awesome photo!
Thomas Tomlinson: A little farther to the left (not shown) along trackside was a post with a hanger on it that the train's mail car snagged the outgoing post office mailbag--of course the incoming mail bag was just kicked out the door of the mail car.
Shirley Larry Knilands: Thawville had the pole for the mail bag. Mail sent and received 2 times a day.
Brian Bottorff posted
Farm village, Iroquois county

Note that there were two bunches of bins west of 550 East Road.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Brian's share
The depot was east of the tracks, and the grain elevator was on the west side. 1940 aerial photo
https://maps.app.goo.gl/VQctdZhFGZJtZXPz9

The grain elevator did grow in its original location.

Street View, Oct 2007

But the elevator finally bought some land on the north side of the town so that it could grow some more. This is one of several locations owned by Ludlow Co-Op. They would not haul the grain to Ludlow because they have bigger, rail-served, elevators that are closer.

Satellite

Friday, August 30, 2024

Horicon, WI: WSOR/Milwaukee Depot & Railyard and Grain Elevator

(Satellite)

WSOR = Wisconsin & Southern

Street View, Jul 2018

Brian Dessereau posted
The former MILW depot in Horicon, WI, now owned by Wisconsin Southern, shot in the spring of 2011.

Daniel Peters posted three photos with the comment: "Former MILW depot at Horicon Wisconsin. Used as an office for Wisconsin and Southern. It sits inside the wye along with some other buildings from the MILW era that have been remodeled and had facelifts. Some others have been added for WSOR."

Jack Franklin shared

Brian Allen commented on Daniel's post
Yesterday [Feb 10, 2024]

I checked out the grain elevator in the background of Brian's photo.

Satellite

This is another view of the fall protector, and it is another example of an elevator that is lucky enough to be on a shortline railroad so that it can get rail service. It also shows that grain trailers are old enough to be on the used market so that farmers can now afford to have their own 18-wheelers.

Street View, Nov 2016

This view caught them actively loading a train.

Street View, Sep 2022

Street View, Aug 2019

Update: I'm not the only one who pays attention to rail traffic generated by grain elevators.

Daniel Peters posted nine photos with the comment: "United Co-op in Horicon Wisconsin. One of 3 of their locations that WSOR serves Rail Transportation in the area. Thousands of railcar loads are shipped each year from United Co-op. Horicon was a terminal for the former MILW, and now WSOR."

Daniel Demaske: United Coop also has the ethanol plant in Necedah on the former Milwaukee Road Wisconsin Valley Line. Served now by CN. I read they use about 36,000,000 bushels of corn annually. I'm not sure how much comes on by rail and how much by truck but I'd imagine most of the ethanol goes out by rail.

Tim Schneider: they have a very large facility in boscobel too.

i believe now they have two---100 car sidings there.

Lebanon, PA: Reading and Pennsy Depots and Big Feed Mill

Reading: (Satellite)

Pennsy: (Satellite)

Feed Mill: (Satellite)

Street View, Nov 2021

John Cowgill: DC Railroad Examiner posted
Old Train Station, Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
Jim Kelling: Reading Company station

I wasn't able to determine which rectangle along the Reading was the depot, so...

1955/56 Lebanon Quad @ 24,000

...I got an aerial photo. Because of the dormers and tower, it was easy to find. The track and field of the middle school makes it easy to correlation this old aerial with today's satellite images. It was in the southeast quadrant of 8th Street and the tracks.

Apr 24, 1951 @ 24,000; AR1OY0000020080

In fact, it still exists.

Dennis DeBruler commented on John's post
The station is extant, https://maps.app.goo.gl/zYoBuv4bK5XJwDq88.

Pennsy Depot

Street View, Nov 2020

Gardy Lawrence posted two images with the comment: "Here are two old postcard photos of the Cornwall & Lebanon Station in Lebanon, PA. The black & white shows the original station and the color shows the station after the addition was built on the south side. Later it became a Pennsylvania RR facility. It is still standing and beautifully restored housing the Strickler Insurance Agency."

Triple M Farms Feed Mill

Eastern Rails Photography posted
On the second day of CSX reroutes over NS due to tunnel work near Baltimore, CSX AC44CW 539 leads the Monon "heritage" unit and another GE past Triple M Farms feed mill in Lebanon, PA with train M371. To bypass Baltimore, the trains run from Philly to Harrisburg, then down the Lurgan Branch and eventually back on CSX rails to reach Cumberland, MD. 2/2/25
[I presume it is the construction of the Frederick Douglas Tunnel that cause the detour routing.]

Street View, Nov 2022

Street View, Nov 2021

I wondered if those big bins were for feed or for shipping grain to market. It looks like they ship enough feed that they don't ship grain to market.

tripplemfarms

triplemfarms_services

Instead of a lot of small bins, they have a lot of big bins. That is because they sell supplements to farmers that mix their own feed. This page lists the supplements they offer. Some I expected like corn distillers. Others I did not expect like roasted soybeans and blood meal.