Friday, December 7, 2018

BRC served industries north of Clearing Yard.

There is so little carload traffic left that I wanted to capture this information of the industries that are still served by BRC on their mainline along Cicero Ave that went north from the east end of Clearing Yard. Satellite images are embedded throughout this posting.

We begin with this local that Nick describes.
Nick Hart posted
This BRC local out of Clearing Yard switches industries around the Chicago/Cicero border. It operates three days a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) and is usually a late morning departure out of Clearing. It's two main customers that I know of are Charter Steel in Chicago, along with Best Foods, located less than a mile north of where this photo was taken. There's a few other industries that I don't know of. Anyone by chance know the names?
On this sunny afternoon, the train is headed back south to Clearing after switching Best Foods. Crossing the Cal Sag Channel and the BNSF Chillicothe Subdivision (former ATSF) at the location known as LeMoyne, the local has a BRC MP15AC in charge.
Chicago, IL
April 19th, 2018
Craig Cloud How often is the interchange track used?
Nick Hart Craig Cloud Not sure how often it's used, but I believe NS runs a few stacks to Landers Yard, utilizing that connection track.
Zaky Joseph That interchange track connects the BNSF (Santa Fe) junction yard with the BRC. They run stack train transfers to Norfolk Southerns Landers yard, as well as light power and transfer moves from BNSFs Corwith Yard to BNSFs Cicero yard, via the BRC.
Dennis DeBruler Zaky Joseph I'm glad to hear that at least some container traffic is interchanged using steel wheels instead of rubber wheels. (For my reference: message 01/23/09 18:42 in https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1854347)
Dennis DeBruler Looking at the connectors at the former Santa Fe and CB&Q routes, it looks like the transfers would have to be a shoving move along the BRC. That would explain why they are building the Panhandle Project: https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/.../create-wa4...
Zaky Joseph This job also switches home products, south of the CN diamonds at Lemoyne (I55 North of Cicero Ave). And north of Archer ave
Taylor Veldman This job also serves Unilever off of 31st
Ean Kahn-Treras Different name, but same spot as Unilever. 31st St indeed.

There is one other place just south of 47th Street that they serve. You can see 3 or 4 bay hoppers in the satellite view.

Ean Kahn-Treras It amazes me that the Brc couldnt wiggle away any of the former CRI trackage in the lemoyne industrial park before it was all left for dead. Lots of industrial warehouse space back in there now.
[Actually, the crossing is Nerska that was controlled by BRC's Lemoyne tower. Note the bridge in the background.]
4401 W Roosevelt
Charter Steel Trading started as a brokerage house in 1974. It expanded into warehouse and slitting slitting services in this facility at 4401 W Roosevelt Rd in Chicago.  We can tell by the curved tree line in the lower-left corner that some buildings in this area had rail service.
1600 S. Kostner
In 2011, they expanded into cut-to-length services with a second facility. We can see that this facility receives coils of steel in covered coil cars. If we follow this spur to the west, we see it branches from the middle of the remnants of BRC's 12th (22nd) Street Yard. This yard used to support a lot of industries off its 16th Street Branch.
Street View
They have changed their track layout since the most recent satellite image to use the south part of the building. It appears that Dow Chemical is using their property as a parking lot for trailers as well as cars.
Satellite

Nick Hart posted
BRC MP15DC 150 makes a pick-up at Charter Steel, before heading south to Best Foods and Home Products. This is the Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday local out of Clearing Yard. Most of the time, it runs with Geeps, so it was nice to see it operating with a switcher on this sunny afternoon.
*Note* Taken on private property, with permission obtained from Charter Steel staff.
Chicago, IL
April 24th, 2018
Nick Hart got a drone photo of BRC working Charter Steel.

Zaky Joseph posted
BRC #237 switching at Charter Steel in Chicago with a little bit of street running. 11/21/18.
Zaky Joseph John DeWit Woodlock II it should run Tues, Thurs, and Sat, as long as there are steel cars to be picked up or dropped off there.

Will G Benson posted
BRC 231 swaps coil cars at Charter Steel in Chicago’s west side industrial complex. Catching the BRC in daylight outside of Clearing is rare, so stumbling upon this guy while picking up some ductwork was definitely a great find!
Daniel Rappoport This looks like a wonderful modeling opportunity!! How does the factory process the coil cars, do they have an overhead crane inside the building?

Zaky Joseph posted three photos with the comment:
Some people like to go for "heritage units" and mainline trains. This is the sort of stuff I like: BRC switching Charter Steel doing a lil bit o street running near 16th st and Kostner Avenue Chicago, Illinois 11/20/19.
[It is more like Kilbourn Ave and tracks.]
1
Mike Schattl Does this count as street running?? LOL.
Zaky Joseph Mike Schattl read caption : " lil bit o street running!"
Zaky Joseph The switch for those 2 tracks has to be thrown from ground level, not from a switch stand.

2

3


This is the newer facility that makes sheets from coils. The original facility is still in the southwest quadrant of Roosevelt and Kostner. It makes split coils. It used to have rail service. You can still see the tracks in Kilbourn Avenue. So they must truck coils from the southern facility to their northern facility.
Dennis DeBruler commented on Will's posting
Medium
Dennis DeBruler commented on Will's posting
Medium
Halsted Pazdzior posted four photos with the comment: "The BRC Works Charter Steel. Chicago. 2/21/19"
Jon Moore Was this a remote or conventional job?
Halsted Pazdzior Jon Moore remote


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2

3

4

Zaky Joseph posted two photos with the comment: "BRC MP1500AC #150 switches at Charter Steel doing a little bit of street running. 9/19/19. Chicago, Illinois."
Mike Schattl MP15DC.
1

2



Satellite
William L. Brushaber One correction, Best Foods at 2816 s.Kilbourn is in Chicago and this 77yr old was 1st introduced to railfaning in the'40's by my grandfather when the BRC still had steam. And my Suntimes paper route in 1955 was 28th St. ,Kilbourn and Kenneth st.. I also got to watch DiamondT trucks on the test track north of 28th St. where there is a Highschool now. The BRC is the border between Cicero and Chicago .

Satellite
I don't know why, but Google offered two different images for the same URL. I'm saving both of them because they captured two different staging and spotting patterns.

By the diagonal (lower-left corner) and curved side (upper-middle) of buildings, you can see that a spur used to run all the way through the property to Kilburn Ave.

Satellite
Later, when I was looking for an oil company, I found a satellite image that not only has a track past the curved building, there are two cars spotted at the curve. And Google labeled it Unilever Best Foods. I also are now a lot more tanks on the property.
Satellite
I'm back to the newer image, and a lot of the tanks have been removed. But they have built some new tanks down by an auxiliary building. I'm guessing the change is because they switched some receivables from rail to truck.
Satellite
Halsted Pazdzior posted
BRC 151 is about to work Best Foods.
3/5/19
Zaky Joseph BRC switchers on that job are not that common , they usually run with geeps.
Nick Hart posted
After switching Charter Steel and running around/rearranging the train, BRC MP15AC 150 arrives at Best Foods to perform the final switching duties of the afternoon. After about an hour and a half, it was off to Clearing Yard.
BRC Kenton Line   Cicero, IL   03-16-19
[In the right background I now notice their office building. It is representative of an architecture that was very common for manufacturing plants, but it is becoming rare as the old buildings are being torn down.]


Satellite
This job also serves Homz Products. Judging from the silos and covered hoppers, I'm guessing they receive plastic pellets. Browsing some of their products (e.g. seasonal), many of them are made with plastic.


Taylor Veldman This job also serves Unilever off of 31st.
Dennis DeBruler Is it BWAY now? It looks like their spur has been paved over. https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4...


Satellite




Ean Kahn-Treras It amazes me that the Brc couldnt wiggle away any of the former CRI trackage in the lemoyne industrial park before it was all left for dead. Lots of industrial warehouse space back in there now.
Dennis DeBruler Indeed, it is just east of their Lemoyne Yard. https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/.../chicago-and...




The petroleum company is served by a different job.
Satellite


By "north", I meant along the mainline that goes north to the former Milwaukee route. But another interpretation of north would be all of the rail-served industries that were along the north side of Clearing Yard.

Alliance Steel
Unfortunately, BRC is loosing another industry --- Alliance Steel.

Lucas Irons shared an InsideIndianaBusiness link.

David Jordan The Belt Railway of Chicago's 8002 Tariff lists Alliance Steel at 6499 W. 66TH Place in Bedford Park, which is close to the 65th Street address listed elsewhere. 
http://www2.beltrailway.com/customers/8002.pdf


Alliance Steel is moving to Gary, IN.


Johnny Hansen posted
As BRC’s “NOSI” job just finishes all of it’s work for the day after switching their last customer along the line, Home Products. Finally making it’s way back south on the BRC Kenton Line, seen here approaching Archer Avenue heading back towards the Belt’s Clearing Yard in Bedford Park with BRC MP15AC #150 and BRC GP23ECO #236, with 1 car from Home Products, 3 from Charter Steel and 15 from Best Foods. Usually this job runs with 1 locomotive 90% of the time, but they used a MP15AC and a GP23ECO, which is kinda rare for NOSI.
BNSF H-NTWBRC can also be seen in the background right behind the NOSI job with a fakebonnet scheme leader, BNSF C44-9W #767 leading BNSF #1071, a H1 scheme C44-9W. NOSI would continue straight down the Kenton Line and enter Clearing Yard on the east end while H-NTWBRC would get on the 59th Street Branch at Archer Avenue and enter Clearing Yard on the west end.
3-25-21
Johnny Hansen: Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday.

Johnny Hansen Flickr

HalstEd Pazdzior posted
The NOSI job works its last industry (Home Products) before returning to Clearing. BRC 580 is in charge today and is one of the few unrebuilt GP38-2's left on the roster.
5/24/22
Craig Cloud: RC job or two man?, I enlarged photo but don't see engineer.
HalstEd Pazdzior: Craig Cloud   RC  They only use rc jobs for the sosi (south industry job) which is right by clearing and the Nosi which works three industries a couple miles north.
Kevin Vahey: HalstEd they use RCO in South Chicago/Commercial Ave as well.

Given their product line and the silos by the building, I presume that the covered hoppers carry plastic pellets.
3D Satellite


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