Chama, NM: Preserved Wood Coal, Water Towers and 1899 Depot

(Satellite)

Rick Denton posted
COALING TOWER
SAND BLDG
Chama new mexico
Still standing.

Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Inc. posted

Most people only notice the front side of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad’s Chama, New Mexico, coal tipple as they ride by on the train. If you look from the north side, you can see the coal ramp leading up to the coal tower’s below ground coal bin. Drop Bottom Gondola’s were pushed up the ramp where they dumped coal that fell through grates into the holding bin. From this underground bin, coal could be picked up by the coal buckets and lifted up to the holding bin where it could fill locomotive tenders. 

📷 Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Rhine Collection, Rhine, Stan, SR09-118, 8/11/1969.

Daniel C Carroll shared

At first, I thought this wood tower was a testament to the dryness of the southwestern air. Then I remembered that Chama is at one end of a preserved Denver & Rio Grande narrow gauge route. So its preservation is probably a combination of dry weather and some maintenance.

Nadine Clouse, Aug 2015

Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Inc. posted
The Coal Tipple in Chama, New Mexico, was built in 1924, for the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, to replace the deteriorating coaling trestle. It was included in the purchase of the 64-miles of the railroad that is now the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. While the coal tipple is no longer used to load coal into locomotive tenders, it is occasionally used for demonstrations. Over the years, the Friends have stabilized the building, worked on the engine, the bucket system, and more. Most often you see the coal tipple from the front as you pass through the yard, but the back is quite interesting because you can see the pulley systems and the buckets that move coal from the pit into the holding bin. 📷 (Left) Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Dorman Collection, RD010-060. February 1977. 📷 (Right) Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Social Media Collection, Mee, Mike. June 2024. 

Burnett Crispell posted
K-36 No. 487 with a pilot plow sits by the coaling tower in Chama on the C&TS RR 8-31-2011

Andy Why posted, cropped
Coal tipple at Chama Yard, NM. The steam trains still run on coal here, but the tipple is no longer used. A front-end loader tips the coal into the tender.

 

Dennis DeBruler commented on Andy's post
They also have a wood water tower.
36°54'15.0"N 106°34'40.0"W

Looking at a satellite image, I noticed that they also preserved the wooden water tower. They have painted it yellow.

Kenneth E. Goff, Jul 2017

Andres Montoya, Jun 2018

Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Inc. posted

The double-spout water tank in Chama, New Mexico, is one of the prominent and memorable features of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. It is one of only two twin-spout tanks installed on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad; the other was at Cimarron, Colorado. The tank in Chama was built in 1897. The 50,000-gallon tank is still filled from the Rio Chama. When the tank was built, a No. 9 Cameron pump was located in the roundhouse to pump water from the river. Today, an electric centrifugal pump does the work. 

The tank is built lower than the traditional D&RG tanks to accommodate narrow gauge tenders. It is held up by twelve columns that carry the weight of the tank and 50,000 gallons of water. The tank was restored by the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad in 1995. The restoration project stabilized the foundation, replaced all the damaged wood, and reused the original hardware. The staves are individually milled redwood. This wood swells slightly when in water. It leaks when it is first assembled but seals itself after several weeks. The restored tank was dedicated on June 23, 1995. 

The top photo shows the D&RGW water tank in Chama, New Mexico, on May 25, 1939. Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Dorman Collection, Rogers, Donald E.A., RD010-142.

The bottom photo shows the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad water tank in Chama, New Mexico, in 2023. Taken by Friends’ member Pat Maufrais. 

Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Inc. posted

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is a National Historic Landmark. The railroad and the Friends have done an excellent job of keeping the 64 miles of the line as close to historically accurate as possible. 

The top photo shows the Chama yard looking north towards the coal tipple. The depot can be seen on the far left, with a boxcar on the track closest to the platform. In the distance, at the center, you can see the coal tipple and water tank. To the right is the still intact roundhouse. This photo was taken in 1940 by John W. Barriger, III. It can be found in the Friends’ Historic Photo Collection. RD010-094. 

The bottom photo, taken 83 years later, shows the railyard looking very much the same. The Cumbres & Toltec Passenger cars can be seen blocking the view of what is left of the roundhouse.

Shelby Burkhardt provided two photos from the 1970s as comments on the above post.

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Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Inc. posted four photos with the comment:

Did you know the coal tipple in Chama, New Mexico, is 100 years old this year?

This structure replaced the aging coaling trestle. It was one of three wooden coal tipples built on the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. The other two coal tipples were in Durango and Gunnison. The coal tipple in Chama is the only one that remains today. Made of Oregon Fir it is 83 feet 8 inches tall from the pit to the top of the hoist house. The pit is 11 feet 8 inches from the ground level to the bottom of the pit. 

📷 Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Dorman Collection, Barriger, John W. III, RD010-119. August 1938. 

📷 Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Robart Collection, Robart, Ernie, ERNG19701010-0010. October 10, 1970. 

📷 Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Guth Collection, Guth, John, JG94-017. May 1994. 

📷 Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Education Collection, Sellers, Melissa, 2023-06-19_Coal_Tipple_003. June 19, 2023.

Joshua K. Blay: When was it last used? Had a great look at it a few weeks ago and it looked to be in great condition. Makes sense that it’s no longer practical to use it.

Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Inc.: Joshua K. Blay, the buckets were used in a demonstration this summer. A little bit of coal is left in the holding bin, but there is no coal in the pit. I heard that the buckets tend to get stuck at the top when they dump over, and someone has to go up high and fix them.

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Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Inc. posted

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad’s Chama, New Mexico, depot was built in 1899 after a fire destroyed the original two-story depot. The “new” one-story depot acted as the station and the home for the station agent and his family. 

The depot has been used by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. In 1973, the raised platform at the south end of the depot was removed. The building was renovated in 1998. The raised loading dock was restored in 2003 and wraps around the south end of the building. The depot now serves as the ticket office and offices for the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. 

📷 Top: Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroads, Dorman Collection, Morse, Ron, RD011-051, 5/25/1965.

📷 Bottom: Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Social Media Collection, Mee, Michael, June 2024. 

Gary Gilcrease: In 2008 while working for the Iowa Pacific, I was sent to Alamosa to help out because they were short on engineers. The Iowa Pacific owned the San Louis & Rio Grande (SLRG) as well as the West Texas & Lubbock Railway (WTLC) where I was temporarily working. The SLRG ran 3 passenger trains out of Alamosa at that time. A steam engine & passenger train from Alamosa to La Vita; diesel engine 1 passenger car along with mixed freight from Alamosa to Monte Vista; & a diesel engine 1 passenger car along with mixed freight from Alamosa to Antonito where the passengers would then get on the Cumbres & Toltec to go to Chama. It was very interesting work.

Bob Squaredancer commented on the above photo
October 1982. On the way home to CA. after Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. photo credit Greg Taggart.

Mike Isenberg commented on the above photo
2018

Richard Crabtree posted five photos with the comment:

The Roundhouse at Chama

Originally, the town had a wooden roundhouse, but this burned to the ground in 1899.

It was subsequently replaced with a seven-stall brick structure that survived (intact) until 1946.

At that point, with diminishing traffic on the narrow gauge, the turntable and the five easternmost stalls were removed.

The two western stalls survive today, and are connected to the main engine shop in use today.

The new shop, constructed in 1977, sits just to the east of the two remaining stalls from the 1946 roundhouse.

Photo 1) D&RGW Western Roundhouse

Chama New Mexico

July 11 1939

Photo by Gerald M. Best

Photo 2-3-4) D&RGW Western Roundhouse - Yard & Depot

1961

Chama New Mexico

Photo 5) Present - Google Maps

— in Chama, NM.

Richard Crabtree shared

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Newton, KS: Depot and an Operating BNSF/SantaFe Turntable and Hump Yard

Depot: (Satellite)

Turntable: (Satellite)

Marty Bernard posted
AT&SF Depot, Newton, KS in August 1983   Roger Puta photo

Dennis DeBruler commented on Marty's post
Not only is the depot still standing, but so is the flour mill in the background.
38°02'49.9"N 97°20'40.4"W

Dennis DeBruler commented on Marty's post
I think that is a Boeing 737 fuselage on the flatcar.

Screenshot @ -0:39
Always fascinating to watch. Newton, Ks.

Newton also has a hump yard.

Satellite

Doug Klink posted two photos with the comment: "Still in use by BNSF in Newton, KS."

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Cicero, IL: IC Depot

(Satellite)

Dave Arganbright posted
A typically crappy Chicago winter day, but this 1979 photo at Hawthorne highlights the antiquity of the IC by this time pretty well. Note the fixed train order hoops are still in place. My photo.
Christian Goepel That building was constructed circa 1892 as the Hawthorne depot and served the IC Addison suburban service until 1931. Love the old station signs are still on the building in your photo.

Zoomed in on the "ironman."

Chicago, IL Depot: Rock Island and Panhandle Depot in Washington Heights

(Satellite, Metra now owns it)

This station was at the crossing of the Rock Islands mainline with the Pennsy's Panhandle. The station where the Rock's branch line crossed the Panhandle was in Beverly Hills.

BRHS posted
The Rock Island station at Washington Heights, as it looked on June 14th, 1970.

Street View

Thanks to Greg's comment below, I finally noticed that the building that was south of the Washington Heights Tower has the distinctive bay window of a depot. This depot is a reminder of how important passenger service was on the railroads in the 1800s. Pennsy's Panhandle, which no longer exists, also used to provide passenger service.

Bill Molony posted
Looking railroad east along the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks at the crossing of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad tracks at Washington Heights on the south side of Chicago.
Greg Burnet Was there passenger service on the Panhandle line? I'm curious whether the station in the photo would have been used for Pennsy riders, or was it only for the Rock?
David Daruszka There was passenger service and that was a combination station for the two roads.
Greg Burnet Thanks. Its position between the sets of tracks made me wonder.
Raymond Storey shared
Dennis DeBruler A comment on the original post motivated me to collect the Washington Heights photos that include the depot.
https://towns-and-nature.blogspot.com/.../rock-island-and...
Bob Finan commented
Bill Molony posted
The photographer is looking railroad east on the Pennsylvania Railroad's tracks at the crossing of the Rock Island's main line at Washington Heights on the south side of Chicago - circa 1955.
[I contributed comments about the Bernice Cutoff.]

I have copied other photos from the tower notes that include a view of the depot.

Bill Molony posted
This photographer is looking railroad west on the Pennsylvania Railroad's tracks toward Washington Heights, where the PRR crossed the main line of the Rock Island in the vicinity of 104th Street and Vincennes Avenue on the south side of Chicago.
To the left is the Washington Heights station, which still stands today and is used by Metra.
To the right is the Washington Heights interlocking tower, which is long gone.
Bill Molony posted again

David Daruszka commented on Bill's posting
Bob Lalich The industry in the background was Chicago Bridge & Iron Co, which occupied most of the triangle formed by the CRIP, PRR and 107th St.

David Daruszka provided an enhanced image on another post
Greg Burnet Wow, I'd never seen some of those details until you cleaned the pic up, David. And I never realized there was a coal yard on what I believe is now the site of a CTA bus barn. Great stuff.
David Daruszka If you look closely you can see a streetcar running on the track parallel to the Rock.
David Daruszka It appears that the track was actually a connecting track to the Panhandle. There was a freight house located at the junction.

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

BRHS posted
Rock Island EMD FP7 #403, leading an outbound passenger train past the Washington Heights depot - circa 1960's.
Dennis DeBruler It looks like some sort of "hot piggyback" service on the head end.
Mike Breski Shiftable next to the head end a big no no LOL. I have seen other older photos with same does anybody know when that rule went into effect?
Dennis DeBruler For those of us who are trying to learn about railroading, what does "shiftable" mean? Does it mean loads tied down with chains? In this case trailers.

Now that I think about it, I've never seen piggybacks up close. When a train goes past at 45mph, you can see the special bracket that holds the fifth-wheel pin. But how is the rear end fastened? If they have to cross chain the rear, that sounds labor intensive.

I know from watching videos about big container ships that containers are held with special locks at all four corners.

Mike Breski commented on a post

Sterling + Lyons, KS: MKC Grain Elevator

(Satellite)

Bob Summers posted three photos with the comment:

Since the railroads decided to let the truckers have the short hauls, more facilities like this branch of the Mid Kansas Co-op located on Kansas Hwy 96 & 14 between Lyons and Sterling, have been built. Note this facility has two high capacity receiving legs, large side draw spouts from the jump form tanks for rapid loading of semis, and provision for piling grain on the ground. The semis wil haul the grain to area train loading elevators to be loaded onto 100+ hopper unit trains - mostly to the port elevators on the Gulf of Mexico.

Bob Summers Here in central Kansas we have a lot of grain production and lots of elevators to handle it, so a number of unit train loading facilities have been built to supplement the terminal elevators in Salina, Hutchinson and Wichita that have the ability to load the unit trains. Also some of the short line railroads, like the K&O, will let a shipper load from several elevators so they can turn a full unit train over to the BNSF or UP where they connect, say in Hutchinson. Our terminals now receive by semi, and ship by rail in this area. Some of the grain from these country elevators will be trucked to area flour mills or ethanol plants, as well as local feeders - but if it goes to the unit train loading facilities it will usually be shipped for export on the gulf or the west coast.

Dennis DeBruler I see there is an ethanol plant just a little further north.
https://www.google.com/.../@38.2852574,-98.../data=!3m1!1e3
I noticed that plant is rail served. So a railroad is close to MKC, they just refused to connect to it. They do have the option of connecting if the railroads learn in time that they can't shrink their way to long-term prosperity and they lower their rates.

Bob Summers Visited with a friend at MKC just this evening. They call this location "Rice County" and have plans to expand next year. Are in negotiations to acquire the land needed to do what you suggest. However they are a partner on the train loading facility I call "Canton-Galva" that I posted a couple of months ago. The bottom line is to make the investment in land, trackage, grain loading equipment necessary to load the 100+ car unit train in 24 hours pay off, they need to be able to do this probably 25 or 30 times per year. They also need to actually own the grain they ship to destination which is over one million dollars in inventory per train load. Takes a lot of volume and deep pockets to do business this way!

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Bentley, KS: A modern truck only grain elevator

(Satellite)

The old wood grain elevator was moved to the Old CowTown Museum.

Bob Summers posted two photos with the comment:

As recently as 50 years ago virtually all of the grain elevators in the western two thirds of Kansas were served by the railroads, and almost all shipments from the country elevators was by rail except for a little corn and milo to local feed lots. I can recall less than a half dozen elevators not on railroads - they were referred to as "inland elevators" that had never had rail service. By the '80's the railroads began abandoning marginal branch lines, then virtually all branch lines that did not have a significant industry other than grain elevators for them to serve. Today most elevators, even on major main lines, no longer load by rail unless they can load full 100+ car trains. We now see new elevators being built, like this example at Bentley Kansas, that have never had rail service and are designed to unload and load trucks very rapidly. This one is a branch of the recently merged co-ops at Halstead and Mt. Hope here in central Kansas.

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Cleveland, OH: Saving the Hulett Ore Unloaders and C&P (Whiskey Island) Dock

(see below for satellite information)

(Update: photos of the dock before Huletts were developed)

Nov 2023 update:

safe_image for Historic Hulett Ore Unloader Could Rise Again On Lake Erie's Shore

Ron Wood posted
Huletts coal unloaders at Whiskey Island, Cleveland Ohio. July,1992. These were used to unload coal and ore from lake boats . They became obsolete when the more modern lake boats arrived with self unloading features. I'm not sure if any of these remain but they were quite an impressive sight! I only wish I got to see them in action but alas when I visited there were no boats docked.

 

Richard Wagner posted
The HULETTS digging deep in the 1960s.
Dan Meyers shared
Whiskey Island, Cleveland OH 1960's

The industrial spur to the dock went under the NYC mainline.

Ron reed posted
Access to to C&P dock under the Main on Whiskey Island Cleveland 1981

Ted Gregory shared Thomas Wentzel's post
Whiskey island Cleveland, Ohio Hulett unloaders, Conrail railroad circa 1995

It looks like the above was cropped out of this photo.

Hulett Iron Ore Unloaders posted
Hulett Ore Unloaders on Whiskey Island, Cleveland, Ohio, 1999. Photo copyright Jerry Mann
John Boles shared

 

Association for Great Lakes Maritime History posted

The bulk freighter Colonel of the Fontana Steamship Co. being unloading by Hulett ship unloaders at Cleveland, Ohio (Image Source: Cleveland Public Library – Photographic Collection). 

The date and name of the photographer are not included in the notes for the image. Based on the vessel’s history, the date is circa 1922-1943, after its flying bridge was enclosed.

[The description continues with a history of the freighter.]

William Potter's posted
The Huletts at work, unloading iron ore from a lake freighter, May, 1943.

John S Pacetti provided two photos in the comments on William's post:

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Picture taken from my boat, Cleveland.

2
1992

Bill Kloss posted
Columbia's Ashland under the Huletts at the C&P dock in Cleveland.
Barry Stone

https://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/item/438692

 

Bill Kloss posted
The Huletts at work unloading Algomarine at the C&P Dock in Cleveland. 1986.
Bob Denyer: My late father-in-law, Harold Mescall, was General Superintendant of the docks for Hanna Mining. Hanna managed the C&P for the railroad.

(6:20 new window) (Mike Harlan shared; Ernie Grose shared)

It describes the Huletts at Whiskey Island and the shunt locomotives that poled the hoppers.

And what they looked like from the land side.

Ron Reed posted
Cleveland, Ohio 1981

 

Ron Reed posted
Access to the ore dock under the main on Whiskey Island, Cleveland 1981.

Pete Hommel: I hated that tunnel. Always flooded and the pump house was a piece of shit.

Ronald Picardi commented on Mike's share

They were the most efficient way to unload freighters prior to self unloaders. Three workers were needed to operate one, the crane operator that rode in the bucket, the lorry car operator that loaded the rail cars, and the oiler that keep everything lubricated.

Most unloading docks used four of them.

Photos from the Ralph Roberts Collection.

Association for Great Lakes Maritime History posted

The freighter E.A.S. Clarke being unloaded by Hulett ship unloaders in Cleveland, Ohio, circa May 1943 (Image Source: Library of Congress - Office of War Information Collection). The photographer was Jack Delano (1914-1997). 

A source further identifies the location as an iron ore unloading dock of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Dock Co. The company was a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad. [I presume Pennsy built this dock after they built their dock on the river. Did they build the C&P to replace the old dock or to add more capacity? Freighters could access the new dock a lot easier than the old dock.]

Image Information Source:

Fred Bultman

[The remainder of the description is more history about the freighter.]

Steve Vanden Bosch shared

Ronald Picardi commented on Mike's share
The bucket could rotate making scraping the bottom of the hold between hatch frames much faster.

Ronald Picardi commented on Mike's share
The rail lines which used a "Mule" to push the hopper cars along. (this one is color corrected,) Note, this cargo is raw iron ore. Photos are from the early 70s.

Al Miller posted

From an Associated Press wirephoto on June 5, 1943:

"Cleveland, June 5--BREAKS LAKE RECORD -- The 640-foot freighter Benjamin F. Fairless, operated by U.S. Steel Corp.'s subsidiary Pittsburgh Steamship Co.,, pulls up at her unloading dock with the biggest cargo ever carried on the Great Lakes -- 17,101 gross tons (bill of lading weight) of war-vital iron ore. Cargo came from Two Harbors, Minn."

James Torgeson shared

This share leads to more photos and videos.

Ray Saikus posted the following comment:

The Hulett Ore Unloaders cause/battle wages on, read the Plain Dealer Story & learn of our Win-Win-Win proposal at these links:
Newspaper story by the Plain Dealer at this link: http://www.cleveland.com/…/push_underway_again_to_move_hi.h…
Review our comprehensive proposal, download at this link: http://www.citizensvision.org/…/proposed_scranton_improveme…

Bill Kloss posted
https://www.greatlakesvesselhistory.com/histo.../i/ishpeming
Cleveland Cliffs Marquette at the C&P dock in Cleveland. A Cleveland Press newspaper photo from the Cleveland Memory Project. 4/10/1941
Dennis Nicholson: Collided with the Senator in Lake Michigan.
Edward Hodgkinson: One of those small pilot houses you see around the lakes.
Tim Grimm: Back in the early seventies an inexperienced operator punched numerous holes in the bottom of our cargo holds which was also the top of our ballast tanks. Had to stuff rags with wood shims to stop the leaks. Spent a day in the shipyard getting things welded back up.

Two were scrapped and two have been disassembled and are rusting away on Whiskey Island. (Update: my current understanding is that all four Huletts on Whiskey Island where scrapped. The two that are in storage came from LTV/Republic in Chicago.  [CitizenVision]  Another update: These two came from Whiskey Island. The Republic Huletts were scrapped in place in 2010. [James Torgeson comment in post])

Satellite

Bill Kloss posted a couple of photos with the comment: "A couple of undated Chuck Drumm photos of Cliffs Victory at the C&P dock in Cleveland."

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Bill Kloss posted
From the Chuck Drumm folder, an undated photo of Frankcliffe Hall at the C&P dock in Cleveland.
Converted during the 1979/1980 lay-up season and scrapped in Turkey in 2011.

Bill Kloss posted
An undated Chuck Drumm photo. Ernest T. Weir and Edward B. Greene at the C&P dock in Cleveland. Ernest T. Weir became the Courtney Burton for Columbia, and Edward B. Greene still sails as Interlake's Kaye E. Barker.

This one catches much of the ore bridge and yet another spacing of the Huletts.

Bill Kloss posted
An undated Chuck Drumm photo of Upper Lakes Red Wing at the C&P dock in Cleveland.
Edward Hodgkinson: Red wings bridge looked quite modern for the time. Beautiful vessel.

In 2019 I came across an update concerning Cleveland's lakefront plan. Evidently they have given up on restoring a complete Hulett.

1, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders
Huletts unloaded iron ore from freighters docked at Whiskey Island for decades.

2, Courtesy Jeff Kerr, Environmental Design Group; and Dick Pace, Cumberland Development, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders
Renderings of the proposal to erect the 60-foot-tall bucket arm of a Hulett ore unloader at Dock 32 next to the William G. Mather Steamship at North Coast Harbor. Decorative paving on the dock would create a shadow image of en entire Hulett, in which the bucket arm served as a key part. The bucket arm would be embedded partially in a raised platform evoking the hold of a freighter such as the Mather, from which Huletts scooped as much as 17 tons of iron ore in a single bite. Landscaping would evoke a row of holds running down the dock parallel to the Mather. Digital displays could also display what the Huletts looked like and how they operated.

3, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders
Huletts unloaded iron ore from freighters docked at Whiskey Island for decades.

4. Courtesy Jeff Kerr, Environmental Design Group; and Dick Pace, Cumberland Development, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

5, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

6, Courtesy Jeff Kerr, Environmental Design Group; and Dick Pace, Cumberland Development, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

7, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

8, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

9, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

10, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

11, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

12, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

13, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

14, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

15, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

16, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

17, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

18, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

19, Plain Dealer file, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

20, Courtesy Jeff Kerr, Environmental Design Group; and Dick Pace, Cumberland Development, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

21, Courtesy Jeff Kerr, Environmental Design Group; and Dick Pace, Cumberland Development, Saving industrial heritage: Hulett ore unloaders

Screenshot
In the background, you can see the unloaders working on Wiskey Island in Cleveland, OH.

This photo has been moved to "Cleveland, OH: Pennsylvania Ore Unloader Docks."

This image has been moved to "Cleveland, OH: Pennsylvania Ore Unloader Docks."

This image has been moved to "Cleveland, OH: Pennsylvania Ore Unloader Docks."

 

This photo has been moved to "Cleveland, OH: Pennsylvania Ore Unloader Docks."

This photo has been moved to "Cleveland, OH: Pennsylvania Ore Unloader Docks."

This photo has been moved to "Cleveland, OH: Pennsylvania Ore Unloader Docks."

This photo has been moved to "Cleveland, OH: Pennsylvania Ore Unloader Docks."

This photo has been moved to "Cleveland, OH: Pennsylvania Ore Unloader Docks."

Robert Jovanovitch posted

Dennis DeBruler

Since there are four Huletts, a lot of water on the left, tracks for a narrow gauge polling locomotive and big storage piles on the right, I'll bet this was Whiskey Island in Cleveland.

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017878201/

Robert Jovanovitch

Author

Dennis DeBruler

 yes you are correct. That large pool of water on the left is Lake Erie.

 

Bill Kloss posted
Columbia's Ashland under the Huletts at the C&P dock in Cleveland.

James Torgeson shared
The 604’ Str. Ashland (built 1943, scrapped 1987) is under the PRR Hulett unloaders in Cleveland. She was named for the Armco Ashland Works in Kentucky, not the Wisconsin city which was a loading port for Gogebic Iron Range ore until 1965.
[I disagree that it is under the PRR unloaders. Given the buildings in the background of the photo, these Huletts are on the north side of Whiskey Island.]
Kenny Baldauf: One of the things I remember about the Hulett was how fast it moved it plunged down into the hull going way faster than seemed possible or safe and them telling us that the Hullit could compete with ore bridges as far as tonnage

 

Bill Kloss posted
Paterson's Canadoc under the Huletts at the C&P dock in Cleveland. A Chuck Drumm photo. No date given.
Philip Pirrip: The wheelhouse sat high in the sky on this freighter.
Barry Stone

https://www.boatnerd.com/.../perspect.../canadoc/default.htm

Steve Vanden Bosch posted
This photo of the Col James M Schoonmaker was taken in May of 1943 when she was being unloaded at Pennsylvania RR Hullets in Cleveland. The photo was taken by Jack Delano and is from the Library of Congress.
Kelly Schumacher: Now she rests in Toledo at the National Museum of the Great Lakes

Comments on a post

Robert Jovanovitch posted eleven photos with the comment:

Being hired as a Carman by Conrail in July of 1976 at the Collinwood Backshop in Cleveland Ohio allowed me at times to work at Whiskey Island over several years.

This allowed me to get up close to the Hulett iron ore unloaders while they were unloading iron ore boats and also watching the tug boats help these huge ships snake their way through the Cuyahoga River.

Here's a few pictures I took in August of 1992 of the 4 Huletts after their final move before being dismantled and of the electric shunts that they used to move the iron ore hoppers around and a tug boat helping one of those huge ships snake its way through the Cuyahoga River.

Sights and sounds I will never forget !!!

Randall Hampton shared 

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One of four photos posted by Steve Vanden Bosch
[Go here for all four photos and other photos of "before Huletts."]

2 of 7 photos posted by Lance Aerial Media with the comment: "The most powerful, fastest freighter on the Great Lakes, the MV Edwin H. Gott - visiting Cleveland for the first time in nearly 20 years. This freighter is over 1000’ in length and can cruise at 18mph with nearly 20,000 hp. If you look close, you can see a windsurfer circling the front of the ship as it’s leaving the Bulk Terminal."

Chad Rawson: Great photos! Its interesting that the Edwin H Gott is the fastest, most powerful footer now and able to pull 18 MPH.

The Edward Ryerson was also the fastest ship in her day, also able to pull 18 MPH.

From one “Fast Eddie” to another!

John Putnam: Maybe the fastest footer, not the fastest of all.

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Francis Driscoll Jr. posted three photos with the comment: "They have started to clear the trees and debris around the Hullets that are stored at the CBT for removal. It was nice to see them more exposed. I’ve seen coyotes living in them. Wouldn’t you love to go and explore them. Cleveland Ohio. 3.28.24"

James Torgeson shared with the comment: "The days of the Cleveland Huletts are numbered!"

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Stephen Budweg provided three photos in the comments on James' share:

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 2 of 32 photos posted by DRONE OHIO with the comment:

This pile of steel is roughly 114 years old, and is the ONLY TWO REMAINING Hulett Ore Unloaders left on this planet! The Port of Cleveland has signed a contract with Maple Leaf Demolition of Canton, Ohio to remove the disassembled components of these two historic Hulett ore unloaders from the Port’s Cleveland Bulk Terminal on Whiskey Island! Yes, there's a long story behind all this, but facts are facts! Cleveland was an industrial powerhouse in the late 1800's and early 1900's. These Huletts were invented here, built here, and operated here for nearly a century! Huletts fueled not only Cleveland's steelmaking but all the ancillary businesses that grew from the resulting copious supply of steel, and fueled the vast steelmaking needed to win both World Wars. This is CLEVELAND HISTORY at it's finest, and it may disappear all together unless something is done NOW! It is the 11th hour folks!!! Share this post, send it to the Mayor, the Governor, etc, etc!!! A contract has been signed to scrap the Huletts, in my humble opinion, that would CRIMINAL!!! Sorry for all the Caps, but it really irks me that we are at this point playing with Cleveland History!!!!

Dan Nelson shared with the comment: "I know a lot of people on here will want to see this."

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Dan Meyers suggested two videos of Huletts in action on William Potter's post: one and two.

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Apr 2024: I didn't watch the 17:07 video, but in case you are interested. 

safe_image for Cleveland's Hulett Ore Unloaders Are Being Scrapped!

 

1 of 5 photos posted by Hulett Iron Ore Unloaders
As of yesterday [Apr 25, 2024], there is no going back. The Port Authority has scrapped the second walking beam on the historic Hulett iron-ore unloaders. Cleveland, our nation and the world will never see a Hulett unloader standing tall next to the Steamship William G. Mather, as originally envisioned by the Committee to Save Cleveland’s Huletts. We could go on longer, but suffice it to say we believe it is clear how shortsighted this action by our region’s leaders is.
Gibson Smith shared
It’s not strip mining but it’s still an irreplaceable loss

Kevin Nelson posted a reference to these notes.