The old Imperial Sugar scale test car is still in the yard. I don't know if it gets used any more now that the refinery is shut down. They may use the scales for loads coming out of Nalco.
That scale car really looks as if it is in pristine condition. It must still be in use for something.
I foud this mess behin the steel works in lorain, ohio. Heres a REAL modelling challenge! http://usatrains.fpic.co.uk/p40463013.html paul
A friend sent me this photo. I'm not sure where it came from. It would also be a modeler's challenge. mg:
Anyone know what is wrong with the position of the tie??? Joint is old but other than that I dont see what is wrong. Please EDUCATE me or should I say please be learnin me
Physically speaking, it's much better to support both rail ends at a joint. In this photo, the unsupported rail will bounce up and down for every wheel that passes. This will severly flex the joint plate and the bolts, all of which will eventually break because of metal fatigue. Remember bending a coat hanger til it broke when we were kids....not a good situation for a railroad.
I'm guessing there are no anti creepers(the clips on each side of the tie to keep it from moving back and forth). I use to work on a shortline and most of the anti creepers were gone and trains would atually pull the rail in whatever direction the train was running. This probably was the situation here.
This is a great thread to check out for a guy (like me) who plans on modeling a freight yard. Fantastic photos.:thumbs_up::thumbs_up:
Here's some stuff from Jeff's junkyard at the McCloud River. I could have taken 100 pix of stuff like this.
Mack the kitten Was little Mack a feral kitty? If so you are durn lucky to be able to domesticate him. At the BNSF depot building in Rochelle IL, which is now used as a crew office and TM office, we had a feral cat who took up residence in what was the freight house area of the depot. She got in through a chink in the freighthouse door. She had a litter of kittens a number of years ago. They were cute little things and they would poke their noses around the doorway into the crew office. You couldn't get anywhere near the mother cat or the kittens. Make one step toward them and they would retreat to their den. On of the guys who worked a regular job there used to bring a can of cat food for them. Some of the guys would give them scraps from their meals . The guys who fed them had a pan near there den for food. As I say, they were cute little things but well flea-bitten. Hadda bring some spray insecticide to the place when the cats were out! CT