Decatur, IN: Bunge/Central Soya Soybean Processing Plant

(3D Satellite)

This was one of the soybean oil extraction plants built by Central Soya. The remnant of the Penn/Grand Rapids & Indiana route between Pennsy's mainline connection in Fort Wayne and Decatur is now operated by the same regional railroad that took over the Pennsy mainline --- Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern (CF&E).

This is the first time I have seen permanently covered storage piles.

Satellite

Mike Snow posted six photos with the comment:

Chicago Fort Wayne & Eastern at the Bunge Plant in Decatur Indiana.. On the former Pennsylvania's Grand Rapids & Indiana and likely the largest single customer along this Route taken 2/7/18

Dennis DeBruler My Dad retired from Central Soya. I remember we took a tour of this plant because it had one room that gave a new meaning to the word "stink."

Elmer J Hershey FOR A SHORT TIME IN ABOUT 1986... I worked what we called the South Wind...Fort Wayne to Decatur local. The track was only good for 10mph at the time and it was an all-day trip to make it to Decatur and back in 12hrs. Central Soya was the main switch and an occasional load of lumber. The track ended at the old Erie crossing.

Mike Snow That track still isn't in the very best of shape.. I figured for the amount of traffic that crosses it that it would being much better shape.

1

2

3

4

5

6

Screenshot @ -1:55
Central Soya Open House- 1952
Dennis DeBruler The boxcar dumper at -1:55 is really neat. Even though the film had exposure issues, you can see how it tilted the car back and forth to dump the grain. This video is a reminder that the covered hopper was not developed until the 1960s.

Richard Miranda posted five photos with the comment:

Central Soya once had a Fort Wayne presence until they moved their operations to the greater St. Louis area in June 2004.

Central Soya no longer exists as a corporate entity. It was purchased by Bunge Limited in 2002 when Bunge bought central Soya's parent firm, Cereol S.A.

Randy Harter: In 1960 the company went public on the NYSE, then in 1985 the firm was acquired in a leveraged buyout by Roy Disney’s Shamrock Capital, who raided the company’s pension fund and then resold it in 1987 to an Italian company, who sold it to a French company, and so on.

By 1988 the company had plants and facilities in 65 locations and over 2,000 employees scattered around the world, and shipped its products to over 55 countries.

The company as we knew it has since been divided into two pieces, with the animal feed (Master Mix) division now owned by Archer Daniels Midland, headquartered in Chicago, and the edible soya oil processing division is owned Bunge North America, headquartered in St. Louis, including the original oil processing plant just as you head south into Decatur.

1

2

3

4

5

Decatur, Indiana - History & Celebrations posted
Central Soya Bean Bowl looking south down Second Street in the early 1960's.

Decatur, Indiana - History & Celebrations commented on their post
November 1, 1961 a large explosion occurs at the local Central Soya Plant on n. Second St.

Yuton, IL: NS/NKP(LEW) Coaling Tower

(Satellite)

Evertt Lueck posted
Along with the photo of NKP 712 crossing the GM&O in Bloomington, here is a photo of the same locomotive (probably on the same trip) taking coal at the coaling tower at Yuton, northwest of Normal. I don't personally remember ever seeing an engine taking coal there, but I remember the structure well. Photo is dated 1954.

My main reason for saving this posting is that there are a lot of comments on the above posting about the running of refer traffic into the 70s. The comments also describe how NKP used Peoria as a gateway to the western railroads to avoid Chicago and St. Louis.

The grain elevator now uses this area.

1940 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

The grain elevator is rail served because a satellite image caught a cut of hoppers setting on its siding.

Satellite

In fact, it looks like they can fill two hoppers at the same time.

Herrington, KS: Rock Island Coaling Tower

Larry L Byers posted
A large concrete coal storage tower stood in the Herington, Kan., switch yard for more than three decades after the Rock Island's steam locomotives were scrapped. This picture was taken during the summer of 1980. The coal tower was demolished by a contractor hired by the St. Louis Southwestern Railway (Cotton Belt) in 1989. (Photo by Larry Byers)

Update:

Larry L Byers posted three photos with the comment:
COAL TOWER DROPPED --- Under a dreary gray sky, with a light mist falling, a former Rock Island Railroad coal tower was dropped to the ground in Herington, Kan., on May 2, 1988. Explosives were used to knock out the six legs on the tower but the work didn't go quite as planned. The explosive charges were timed to cause the huge bin to topple to one side. But the large concrete bin expectedly settled to the ground upright after leaning at a considerable angle for a moment. (Photos by Larry Byers)

Larry L Byers The last Rock Island steam-powered locomotive in Herington left town on Dec. 26, 1952, headed to Kansas City, Kan.

Larry L Byers commented on his posting
A large excavator was used the following day to fully demolish the large concrete coal bin. A Parsons, Kan., firm handled the demolition work under a contract with the successor railroad, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway (Cotton Belt). (Photo by Larry Byers)

Larry L Byers commented on his posting
 This picture of the Herington coal tower was taken on August 4, 1963, by L. L. Clerico of Wichita, Kan. (Photo from Larry Byers collection)

Columbus, OH: (CSX+IOCR)/C&O/HV Parsons Yard, Roundhouse and Coaling Tower

(Yard Satellite, Roundhouse Satellite)

IOCR = Indiana & Ohio Central Railroad

Robert Stover commented on a post
From C&OHS Same RH at Parsons Yard ca. 1948
[Note the coaling tower to the right of the middle of the photo.]

Peter Hayes posted

C&O's roundhouse at Parsons Yard is Columbus's last of these classic railroad structures, and one of very few combinations of Roundhouse and Turntable still extant in Ohio. It was built nearly 100 years ago, for a world that no longer exists. Even eight years ago the distinctive Columbus Castings foundry would have popped into frame, but it was replaced by the big, grey building now seen above the yard. 

Demolition was slated to begin yesterday [Aug 7, 2024] on the roundhouse. Though timelines are often optimistic on the railroad, I got my photos before work yesterday nonetheless.

Jay Krajcovic shared

Whit Wardell posted
Unsure of the exact date but probably 1987 or 88. A Detroit Edison train out of Russell, KY is about 10 miles short of the former C&O Parsons Yard at Columbus, OH. Train consists of the 120 ton capacity Fruehauf aluminum gons.
Stu Nicholson Looks to be near Lockbourne. I remember seeing those Detroit Ed diesels many times. Great photo, Whit.Whit Wardell Overpass just north of Ashville.

Satellite

Frank R. Emiro posted six photos with the comment: "I was here in Columbus, Ohio last week at the back in the day of the roundhouse of The C&O which is now CSX."
Mike Snow The newest turntable in America..

1, cropped

2

3

4

5

6, cropped

Phillip Kennedy commented on Frank's posting
Vintage photo of Cleveland, Ohio Roundhouse. Date unknown.

safe_image for CSX plans on demolishing 95-year-old roundhouse on Far South Side. Some want to save it. [paycount]
"Chesapeake & Ohio built the 27-bay brick roundhouse in 1927. During the 1950s, parts of the roundhouse at the railroad's Parsons Yard were closed, with unused bays demolished. Fifteen bays remain."
Rob Petersen: BNSF is planning the same fate for the Interbay (Seattle) Roundhouse.
[It is on the edge of the yard with access to a public road so buying the land its is on would be feasible. That would keep the public off of CSX land and relive them of liability. That is the only way it could be preserved.]

Solomon Tucker posted
The old C&O roundhouse at Parsons Yard in Columbus with a rehabbed turntable with no tracks on it anymore. Does anyone know when they took the track off the table??
[Solomon claims he could not find tracks since 2020 looking at aerial photos. But others indicate that it not only has tracks, it is used almost daily.]

Kerry Taylor provided some construction photos in some comments on Solomon's post. Kerry was on the old one when it broke!

1958 Southeast Columbus Quad @ 24,000 via Dennis DeBruler

 

Canton, OH: NS/PRR Railyard, Roundhouse, Backshop

(Satellite)

Elaine Luck shared
Penn RR Roundhouse- Canton
Rick Fleischer posted
Jud Powell The backshop area survived into the early 80's

Jacqueline Crandall Fafrak posted
Canton, Ohio Roundhouse
Jonathan Schriber: Large yard and facilities. It was about half way between Crestline and Pittsburgh. Roger Radbill: Just may be the end. No coal in tenders, B6sb isn’t going anywhere with eccentric rod removed and place looks dead.

According to Historical Aerials, the roundhouse was just east of the backshops. The roof in the background on the left would be part of the backshops.

You can still see vegetation growing in some of the service pits. And the rails for the transfer table are still in the transfer pit.

Satellite

Rick Fleischer posted  (source)

Rick Shilling posted
1946 Pennsylvania Railroad Narrow Gauge 2-6-0 #9684 Mogul at Canton, Ohio Locomotive Shops with Transfer Table Pit In foreground.
Steven Molinaro: Locomotive is preserved at the Waynesburg County Museum in Pennsylvania. They had it operational in the 80’s. It is well taken care off. It was used on the Waynesburg and Washington RR. Allot of the roadbed still exist along with bridge remnants and the station in Washington. They also have one of the passenger cars they are restoring.

Was this shop in this facility?

Mike O'Brien posted
Conrail Work Equipment Shop at Canton,Ohio

Donald Tredent: They rebuilt all the track equipment including engines that were Jimmies. They could be re sleeved. They would make them like new we and test them on the dynamometer. They had a very state-of-the-art system. Also they had a robotic inventory system featuring a computerized forklift.

Rick Kadri: That picture is from the Penn Central days as it still shows the turntable which if I remember correctly was decommissioned in the late 70s,it was a great place to learn railroading with the old timers there. When I was there on the track gang the youngest guy other than me had 30 Plus years of service.

Dave McCullough: Rick Kadri Sure looks like Conrail blue locomotives.

Detroit, MI: West Detroit Tower: MC vs (GTW+WAB and LSMS+MC)

(3D Satellite)

What the title should have been if I had the room: NS+Amtrak/MC vs (CN+Amtrak/GTW+WAB and CRSA/(NYC/LSMS+MC)) CRSA = Conrail Shared Assets

And other sources also indicate D&TSL, DT&I and C&O.

David Parker posted
Conrail West Detroit. June 1st 1981 (Photo by David Parker) Ray Peacock: Still labeled by NYC signage Tom Barnett: I once asked TC Robinson, the BRAC TC Division union vice general chairman out of Cleveland, which tower operator’s job, was the absolute busiest, all ex PC Conrail territory west of Buffalo/Pittsburgh, westward to Chicago/St Louis, included? His answer: “West Detroit.” Better know what you were doing, to sit down in the chair at West Detroit.

Charles Geletzke Jr. posted
Conrail (former NYC-PC) West Detroit (Michigan) tower on June 21, 1976.  This tower served the NYC-WAB-GTW-D&TSL-PRR-DT&I and Amtrak. (C. H. Geletzke, Jr. photo)

Giovanni Cardillo: Where was this?

Charles Geletzke Jr. posted with the same comment

Charles Geletzke Jr. posted with the same comment

Tim Shanahan shared

Charles Geletzke Jr. posted with the same comment

Ray Peacock: NYC signage still on it

Charles Geletzke Jr. posted with the same comment

[I added the rrPenn label to these notes, but I don't know how it got here.]

Dennis DeBruler commented on Giovanni's comment
The southeast quadrant of this crossing, https://maps.app.goo.gl/4NfkgVjUxkDfGUQDA. A 1951 aerial photo [AR1PN0000020063]

Charles Geletzke Jr. posted
Westbound on the GTW approaching the diamond at West Detroit, Michigan on January 6, 1991. On the left is the Conrail (former NYC-PC) West Detroit interlocking tower. Here I was running on Track #1 (the only yard on the entire GTW where the Main Track actually had a number and was not formally designated as a Main Track!). The five tracks that we were about to cross were the former MC Mainline from buffalo to Chicago. Beyond the diamond we would enter the N&W's (former Wabash) double-tracked Old Mainline to Delray, which had spring switches at each end requiring trains to keep to the right. The curving tracks to the right was the west end of the GTW's West Detroit Yard and connected to the C&O's (former PM) line to Oak Yard. The Wabash and GTW track was also used by the D&TSL. (C. H. Geletzke, Jr. photo)
T.J. Gaffney: She was already boarded up by then? I didn’t think she came down until ‘95 or so….
Peter Dudley: All of the Junction Avenue railroad overpasses at West Detroit were completed in 1907. The two GTW bridges (right) were replaced by a new single-track overpass (with abutments for a second track) in December 2015, as part of the ongoing effort to improve Amtrak's Pontiac / Chicago WOLVERINE route.
Charles Geletzke Jr. shared

Peter Dudley commented on Charles' post

The trees (center) and the highball signal mark the location of long-gone Grand Trunk Junction Passenger Station, erected by Chicago, Detroit & Canada Grand Trunk Junction Railroad (CD&CGTJ) in 1859.

Grand Trunk Junction (re-named West Detroit in 1887) defined the western terminus of Grand Trunk Railway of Canada (GTR), which stretched east to the Atlantic seaboard at Portland ME -- making it the world's longest railroad mainline operated by a single entity.

The station was demolished no later than 1907, when all of the tracks at West Detroit were elevated.

Until 1887, Junction Avenue was officially-known as Lovers' Lane (!)

The attached, slightly-shopped excerpt from an 1884 Sanborn fire insurance map shows Grand Trunk Junction, the 1859 GTR Passenger Depot and Freight House, a railroad YMCA Reading Room, Lovers' Lane, and a little hotel (the Amos House, NOT The Shady Rest) at the Junction.

Charles Geletzke Jr. posted
Here is a different view of Conrail's (former NYC-PC) tower at West Detroit, MI on March 19, 1985.  The NYC, GTW, Wabash, D&TSL, PRR, and later the DT&I all crossed here. (C. H. Geletzke, Jr. photo)

Mike Delaney posted two photos with the comment:

West Detroit Tower in the old days. Illustrations by Jim Harlow, photos credit as marked. Jim Harlow is at the machine, former Conrail Tower operator in Detroit Area. Top photo by Gary Daniels and bottom photo by Dave Parker.

1
[Per the comment below by westdetroit: "Where it's labeled Military x over is actually just a cross over between the #6 and #5 Freight mains (#4 and #5 were switching leads from Livernois and #6 was mainly used for light power). Military was further west and was a connection to Livernois Yard."]

2

In addition to the railroads that have been listed, it appears that the C&O also went through this junction.

1952/54 Detroit Quad @ 24,000