choochooloco
Mega Moves
Back in the days of New York Central, Airline Junction was a busy place. As a young fan, dad and I would sit at the Westwood Avenue crossing and watch anything from switchers to fast freight. Believe it or not, this road passed through the most western portion of the yard and had an 18 track crossing! Rarely was the crossing not blocked.
This yard is sandwiched between the mainlines to Chicago and Detroit.
It continued to be a pivotal point after the creation of Penn Central. Trains from all directions would begin or terminate here. This lasted until the formation of Conrail, when it was decided to transfer all reclassification to Stanley Yard.
While not directly adjacent to the mainline, Stanley was a hump facility. It had the advantage of sporting a large diesel house and car shop. Monies were invested in receiving tracks, bowl tracks, and outbounds.
Across the river at Airline, trees and shrubs occupied what was once ballast and ties. Structures were dismantled and tracks were ripped up. The once bustling property was now a ghost town and would remain so for the next 20 years.
In 1994, Conrail opened the Toledo Intermodal Terminal. This new facility was built to replace the intermodal ramp at the Piling , a small yard located adjacent to the Central Union Terminal. The Piling was a cramped facility that often tied up the busy mainlines whenever a train had to stop and work.
Over a short period of time, the new yard became known as the Mega Terminal. While not nearly as ominous as the name implies, the terminal allowed Conrail to keep the mainlines fluid while also offering potential growth in intermodal business. A permanent automobile loading ramp was once on the drawing board, but never came to fruition. Maybe the hope of "Mega" activity between intermodal and vehicle traffic possibly helped coin the nickname?
It is a fantastic June summer morning in 2015. To take a break from a meltdown in mainline operations, I placed myself on the first trick Mega van site job. It was a great job that offered a good quit, meaning I would only be on duty between 5-6 hours.
Mornings are always a busy time in the Mega as depicted in the photo. The train on the far left is the hot 206, a UPS train bound for the Pan Am Railway on the east coast. It is running down Mega 3 to get into position for a quick pickup. The middle train is 24N, a Chicago train that terminates in the Mega. The locomotive on the right is the unit that I'll use to switch cars on the intermodal ramp. My first chore will be yarding the 24N prior to boarding the high hood.
Not knowing it at the time when I opened the shutter, but within a few years 2 of the 3 locomotives shown would no longer exist. Dash 9 9046 traded in her DC motors in a rebuild to AC44C6M 4329. Sister Dash 9 9014 followed suit and is now the 4245.
Go figure! The oldest locomotive of this three some is the only one still surviving in basically as delivered condition. SD40-2 1634 was built back in 1973 for the Norfolk and Western and still wears her one and only number!
Mega Moves
Back in the days of New York Central, Airline Junction was a busy place. As a young fan, dad and I would sit at the Westwood Avenue crossing and watch anything from switchers to fast freight. Believe it or not, this road passed through the most western portion of the yard and had an 18 track crossing! Rarely was the crossing not blocked.
This yard is sandwiched between the mainlines to Chicago and Detroit.
It continued to be a pivotal point after the creation of Penn Central. Trains from all directions would begin or terminate here. This lasted until the formation of Conrail, when it was decided to transfer all reclassification to Stanley Yard.
While not directly adjacent to the mainline, Stanley was a hump facility. It had the advantage of sporting a large diesel house and car shop. Monies were invested in receiving tracks, bowl tracks, and outbounds.
Across the river at Airline, trees and shrubs occupied what was once ballast and ties. Structures were dismantled and tracks were ripped up. The once bustling property was now a ghost town and would remain so for the next 20 years.
In 1994, Conrail opened the Toledo Intermodal Terminal. This new facility was built to replace the intermodal ramp at the Piling , a small yard located adjacent to the Central Union Terminal. The Piling was a cramped facility that often tied up the busy mainlines whenever a train had to stop and work.
Over a short period of time, the new yard became known as the Mega Terminal. While not nearly as ominous as the name implies, the terminal allowed Conrail to keep the mainlines fluid while also offering potential growth in intermodal business. A permanent automobile loading ramp was once on the drawing board, but never came to fruition. Maybe the hope of "Mega" activity between intermodal and vehicle traffic possibly helped coin the nickname?
It is a fantastic June summer morning in 2015. To take a break from a meltdown in mainline operations, I placed myself on the first trick Mega van site job. It was a great job that offered a good quit, meaning I would only be on duty between 5-6 hours.
Mornings are always a busy time in the Mega as depicted in the photo. The train on the far left is the hot 206, a UPS train bound for the Pan Am Railway on the east coast. It is running down Mega 3 to get into position for a quick pickup. The middle train is 24N, a Chicago train that terminates in the Mega. The locomotive on the right is the unit that I'll use to switch cars on the intermodal ramp. My first chore will be yarding the 24N prior to boarding the high hood.
Not knowing it at the time when I opened the shutter, but within a few years 2 of the 3 locomotives shown would no longer exist. Dash 9 9046 traded in her DC motors in a rebuild to AC44C6M 4329. Sister Dash 9 9014 followed suit and is now the 4245.
Go figure! The oldest locomotive of this three some is the only one still surviving in basically as delivered condition. SD40-2 1634 was built back in 1973 for the Norfolk and Western and still wears her one and only number!