Towns and Nature

Sunday, April 2, 2023

Phillipsburg, NJ: Preserved/Union Station: CNJ+DL&W, CNJ (PU) Tower and Andover Ironworks

Depot: (Satellite)

PU Tower: (Satellite)

Ironworks: (Satellite, by 1953, it was a Pensy railyard. Now it is a parking lot.)

Phillipsburg was the western terminus of the Morris Canal.

This Union Station is being restored as a museum. [friendsnjhc]

Street level view:

Street View, Nov 2021

Track level view:

Street View, Aug 2016

R. Donald Winship Photography posted

Green and Gold

Phillipsburg, NJ

The recently repainted NS Reading Lines heritage unit leads NS train 22X past Phillipsburg Union station along CNJ's alignment. There is a *loose* relevance between subject and location -- the B&O controlled the CNJ via the Reading.

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwinship/52786113388/

SmugMug: https://donaldwinship.smugmug.com/Rail-Photography/i-6wTwkW8

J.B. Rail Photog shared

Al Tilltston posted
Norfolk Southern AC44C6M 4001 leads 6K4 east past the Phillipsburg NJ Union Station on Sunday morning June 29, 2025.

Thomas Dorman posted nine photos with the comment: "Union Station (Central Railroad of New Jersey and Delaware, Lackawanna & Western) built in 1914 in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, designed by Frank J. Nies, architect of the DL&W. On South Main Street near Hudson Street. 10 May 2025"

I had to include a lot of the topo map in order to capture the railroad names. The tracks that went along the north side of the station were the DL&W and those that went south of the station were the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Norfolk Southern now has the routes that still exist.

1953 Easton Quad @ 24,000

Just a couple of blocks west of this station is the Delaware River Railroad Excursions.

877trainride
[They offer several different types of train rides. But, like other tourist railroads, their web site doesn't have a map showing where the trains go.]

CNJ "PU" Tower

E. Miller, Sep 2023

Marc Lipkin, Sep 2023

E. Miller, Sep 2023

Lost/Andover Ironworks/Cooper-Hewitt Works

Metrotrails posted two photos with the comment:

Metrotrails Then and Now Series: Historic Phillipsburg, New Jersey scene on the slopes near Delaware Heights along the Delaware River, looking toward the Andover Ironworks, compared to the same scene on our 2020 hike.
Previously known as the Cooper-Hewitt Works, the operation dominated the Delaware Riverfront in Phillipsburg at the turn of the twentieth century.
Here, we see the Belvidere-Delaware Railroad (Pennsylvania Railroad) approaching the furnace, which is now a popular excursion line. It crosses over the Lopatcong Creek just prior to the furnace. The Morris Canal passed along the east side of the furnace, present site of the Andover Morris Elementary School...

Metrotrails shared

The trees made it hard to find the Lapatcong Creek. Fortunately, Google labels it if I zoom in close enough. I could not find the school.

Satellite

An older topo shows the canal.

1891 Eaton Quad @ 62,500

Roundhouses

Phil Craig posted
Map of Phillipsburg NJ. Over the years they had at least 7 or 8 [roundhouses]. Not sure how many can still be located.
William L. Vanderburg: You can see at least 3 from google earth. The one north of the center river crossing is where the steam train ride is now. That train ride actually passes the land area where the rh at the bottom of the map is located. But if you didn’t know it was there, it wouldn’t mean anything to you.

Pokegama, WI: 1984 (CN+BNSF+UP)/DMN Railyard and Shovel Bases

(Satellite)

DMN = Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railway It is owned by CN, but the 2005 SPV Map indicates that BNSF and UP also use it.

Satellite

The yard was built in 1984 to replace a yard in West Duluth. CN and Wisconsin Central would handoff trains at this yard. [wikimapia]

It had to abandon its downtown Duluth yard because of the extension of I-35. [Flickr photo comment]

Kent Rengo posted
Took this shot after work of a KRL depressed flat with an oversize load at Pokegama Yard in Superior on March 31st 2023. No idea as to its final destination.
Jake Isaacson: Sure looks like the main body to a p&h crawler shovel bucket. I’ve built a few that looked really similar,
Alex Silka: Going to some mining operation in Alberta, it rolled through Altoona a couple weeks ago.
Bruce Kettunen: That appears to be the carbody for a very large power shovel like a P&H 4100 or Cat 7495. The tracks bolt to the long sides and the rolling ring and house go over the white area.
Either that or a Stargate.
Kevin Klitzke: Near Fort McMurray, AB is the destination.
[Some comments from people that worked for P&H don't think it is a P&H base. P&H did not have that cone.]
Brian Hahn: That's a carboy for a Cat (Bucyrus) mining shovel.
Rich Pedersen: Looks like the carbody for a Cat 7495 rope shovel. Track frames bolt to the bolt holes you see on the side. Must be going to the Tar Sands.
Jake Calkins: Pretty sure this was in Altoona yard about a month ago.
[Where is the former Bucyrus plant?]

Kent commented on his post
The other side.

Jeremy, Mar 2019

Rockford Register
Ingersoll Machine Tools has trans-loaded a huge part for the mining industry at Rochelle's transloading siding. The part is due to ship out to Houston, Texas this week. Rockford Register Start

Saturday, April 1, 2023

St. Louis, MO: Concrete Paving I-70 and ADM Milling

Paving: (Satellite)

Milling: (3D Satellite)

The thing that caught my eye is that they were doing on-site batching of concrete rather than using ready-mix trucks. I expected to see that in the 1920s, but not in the 1960s. Especially for the small job of doing just the gutter and curb. My family moved into one of the first houses in a subdivision in 1957. I watched the building of the remaining houses in that subdivision. All of the foundations were poured with ready-mix trucks. That was way back before concrete pump trucks and front-unloading trucks. It was interesting watching the truck driver maneuver around the foundation of a house to get the chute to reach were it was needed.

Missouri's Historic Highways posted
Randy Reardon: After some quick detective work on Google MAPS... It's the 4400 block of Bircher, north of downtown. I found it by the house by the raised truck bed on the left (the high architectural peak and and stones over the door is 4422 Bircher Blvd. 2 houses down, right above the workers is the house with the distinctive white brick inlay is 4434 Bircher Blvd.
Doug Baranowski: https://maps.app.goo.gl/iRHUnvzhWQfo1pwx6?g_st=ic
Jim Buescher: A lot of dump trucks lined up just to pour curb and gutter.
Alan Anzalone: Looks like a father and son are up close spectators of the project. I don't think that would work today. [Today, they would not have been able to get to the median of the interstate before they were told to get off the interstate land. They would have had to watch from public land next to Bircher Blvd.]
Dan Clark: construction crews hate having concrete delivered in dump trucks. it sets up way too fast! [Several other comments assume the trucks are hauling concrete instead of dry mix. I think they are delivering just the dry ingredients and water is added and mixed by the paver.]
Randy J Wendt: Dump beds are interesting being sectioned.
Shelton Singer: My father ran that paver and the dividers in the dump trucks are to separate the batches. The paver is a dry batch paver and mixed the batches in the paver. Each truck hauled 4 batches and they could only put one in at a time. [One of the few Facebook comments that I have "Loved" because it confirmed that the comments about carrying concrete in the trucks are wrong.]
The company is Bangert Brothers Road Builders. Today they are called Milstone-Weber.

The impact of I-70 on St. Louis

Bonus: More on-stie batching of the concrete. In this case I can see tank trucks for water as well as many dump trucks for the dry ingredients.

Missouri's Historic Highways posted
April 1, 1953 - Routes 61 and 67construction paving S of Crystal City

While looking for the paving location, I noticed an "Adm Milling" label. It is rare to see a viable elevator and mill in a downtown location.

Street View, Sep 2022

In fact, the building on the east side appears to be a rather recent expansion. However, it is not that recent. According to topo maps, it was built between 1954 and 1968.

Street View, Aug 2022

The pneumatic hopper on the right would haul flour, the 3-bay hoppers on the left would haul grain.

Street View, Aug 2021

The expansion facility has some serious rail service.

Satellite

ADM
"Anything but run-of-the-mill."

The storage capacity is almost 2 million. [gfai]

McKeesport, PA: B&O Depot, (MK) & Crossing Guard Towers and P&LE Depot

B&O Depot: (Satellite, south of Lysle and close to Locust, but in the middle of the block.)

Interlocking Tower: (Satellite, not only is the tower gone, but so is the B&O!)

Crossing Tower: (Satellite)

P&LE Depot: (Satellite)

Darren Reynolds posted two photos with the comment: "B&Os "MK" Tower Mc Keesport,Pa."

2
"MK" Tower McKeesport Pennsylvania
[Given the steel mill building on the right, I think we are looking East. That means the tracks on the left side of the tower are B&O and those on the right side are the PL&E.]

I found the satellite locations using this aerial.

Earth Explorer: Apr 9, 1952 @ 23,600; AR1NZ0000010087

The blue rectangle highlights the depot and the red rectangle highlights what I believe to be the tower.

EarthExplorer plus Paint

I included the cemeteries because the roads around Lysle Blvd. have changed so much. They confirm that Huey no longer goes across the tracks, but Coursin does go over them.

Satellite

One reason why I got the aerial photo was to confirm that the bends in Locust and Sinclair in this topo are wrong. Identifying those two streets correctly are important in determining the location of the depot.

1953 Mc Keesport Quad @ 24,000

The most recent topo still draws those streets incorrectly.

1993 Mc Keesport Quad @ 24,000

Larry Michael Hindman posted
the railroad tower off walnut st in Mckeesport PA where the railroad used to cut though the middle of town. its one of the few remnants other than a few odd shaped buildings left that let you know that the railroad came right through the middle of town.
Tim Shanahan shared

Brian R. Wroblewski: I've looked at the Apple Maps views of that area & its hard to find any trace of where the tracks once were. I wonder how & why that tower is still there with the railroad long gone & every bit of it removed?

Rich Guenther commented on Larry's post
Similar (but not the same) tower adjacent to the B&O McKeesport depot with RDCs in the 1960s, photo from the Lee Rogers collection, Md. Rail Heritage Library, Baltimore Streetcar Museum.