CRL/LSBC/Rock Island Port Yard

(Satellite    As we have come to expect, most of the tracks have been removed.)

This comment taught me to look for a Port Yard.

Kevin Piper posted
Picking up the pieces of the old Rock Island in the Chicago area, I worked for the Chicago Rail Link from 1987 to 1995. At first CRL was like a dream job. Nothing at all like typical railroading, just endless fun every day. They had some of the worst power I have ever run though, a hodge-podge collection of junk...but it was a challenge too! All good things must come to an end. An influx of stupid former Class I managers eventually made CRL intolerable for me, and I moved on. Here is a typical CRL job, arriving at the ex-RI Port Yard in the Calumet area on 7-2-93. KEVIN PIPER PHOTO

A B&OCT map called it the K&E yard. LSBC was the name of some Rock Island freight assets until the Chicago Rail Link name was adopted. The name was changed to CRL because LSBC abandoned its RI assets in the LaSalle, IL area.

CSX broke the link

The grain elevators in the background of Kevin's photo still stand. I think the ship is not in use. It is just parked there.

3D Satellite

More comments on Kevin's post:
Dennis DeBruler: What are the streets for an intersection that is close to Port Yard?
Dennis DeBruler: I think I found were it was. I see there are no named streets close to the yard. https://www.google.com/.../@41.6721622,-87.../data=!3m1!1e3

Kevin Piper: Dennis DeBruler 130th & Calumet Expressway & S. Doty. Area is very different than I remember. South Shore transfer is gone. It ran under 130th next to the Calumet River on the sharp curved track.

There is still curved track under 130th near the river.

Either Maryland Pig Iron of Illinois has given up on rail service, or they run their patched Conrail switcher through a lot of dirt. I caught a photo of the switcher up by their building in May 2016. So if it is abandoned, it is rather recent.