SDfourD
End CTC: A Transfer Story
Central Ave.
I contend this location to be the mouth of the Soo Line. Sure, there were other spots in which to enter or depart Shoreham Yard, but this was certainly the most impressive arrival and departure spot. It's pretty easy to visualize the second main sitting where the road is, and further down the "golf course" it opens up to four tracks. Those four tracks were hammered on a 24 hour schedule not unlike any other important yard in America, but the nestled confines of Shoreham were unique. Of course the yard included buildings for paint, heavy repairs, a car shop, and a roundhouse that was only recently torn down. Fond Du Lac, Stevens Point, even Thief River Falls can certainly boast of their importance as well, but Shoreham, through my rose-colored glasses, was the pinnacle.
The grandeur had certainly evaporated by this fall day in 2006, the WC Transfer had the old SOO all to itself. Many days were just like this, as the only traffic that the CP had to traverse the Central Avenue control point would be occasional ballast trains, and the one-off call for headroom for the intermodal shuffler called the "House Job." No 940 for Chicago would be calling.
As it was to the neighborhood unaware, they may have thought at least four trains still used these tracks on any given day. While Shoreham no longer functioned as SOO's Minneapolis hub, and the Withrow Sub itself stopped being a thru-route, there was still action in the form of the trackage rights holder. For those of us who enjoy the "why and how" of the story, the general operation during this era was as follows:
The Stevens Point based road crew (Train 5, T005, STNB, and in CN years A40581) would deliver the inbound train off at New Brighton a few hours after midnight if on time, and the Transfer crew would get on and start the day by dumping off their UP, TC&W, PGR(?), and MNNR destined cars into the MNNR yard at said location. Generally speaking, it worked best to have the BN cars on the rear of the train, CP's in the middle, and the MNNR cars on the head pin to simplify this.
Next, they would take the remainder of their train (CP and BN's) West into Minneapolis. Often they would cut their BN cars off in one of two locations West of CTC New Brighton (Townhomes or Stinson) before descending down "Shoreham Hill." If the CP pickup at Humboldt would be short (10 cars or so), they also could leave the BN's on the high line (where the CN boxcar sits above) if both cuts would clear the respective switches they sat between. The latter was a rare occasion during 2006.
On their way back East from CP's Humboldt Yard, they would stash their pickup in between the Foley Wye, or if too much footage as was the case this day, they would leave the cars on the high line. After tying down the CP's, they would go fetch the BN cars again, usually heading back up the hill to Stinson. Once tied on, they would get a lineup back down into Shoreham on "the loop" and then wait for the BN to take them.
After trading cars at Northtown, it's time to head back into Shoreham and pick up the aforementioned CP's again at the Foley Wye or Central Ave. All of the above has happened on this day, in as little as six or seven hours often, as they wait for the signal up the hill only to shove back onto the cars sitting on the high line. They will make Shoreham Hill from a dead stop, lord willing and the creek don't freeze.
Once they arrive back at New Brighton, there are still more handbrakes to tie and air tests to be done. The train, now Eastbound, pounds across the MNNR diamond and pulls up to the East leg of the wye between the mainline and the yard. If they had Ashley Furniture intermodal from the BN on the headend, they would cut behind the last intermodal car and shove down into the yard to make the final pickup with the MNNR. The MNNR traffic was usually heavy in steel coils, boxcars of 50' and 60' variety, lumber, and seasonally TCWR grain hoppers.
After pulling out of the MNNR and back onto the main, the conductor would drive the air test and put the train back together one final time. The usual move was to shove the train back West to clear the CTC signal guarding the CP/MNNR diamond, although on some occasions if necessary for other moves they would head to Cardigan Jct. or even Withrow, MN. Keep in mind, during the 2005-2007 years, it was semi-regular to get trains of 150+ cars heading back to Stevens Point. This was no neighborhood local.
This game of hot potato and track polishing was an everyday occurrence until the CP quit running all of their traffic over the BN's St. Paul Sub. Westbound traffic out of St. Paul yard now only uses the BN for about two miles before getting onto home rails at Soo Line Jct. With that traffic pattern change, all of the rigmarole above simply cannot take place anymore, and therefore the CN-CP interchange was moved to Cardigan Jct (IE: out of the way), and the train no longer ties down on the main at New Brighton.
While the Transfer no longer makes four trips up and down Shoreham Hill, the neighborhood isn't missing out on any action. The gray SD40-3's are sure lacking, though.
End CTC: A Transfer Story
Central Ave.
I contend this location to be the mouth of the Soo Line. Sure, there were other spots in which to enter or depart Shoreham Yard, but this was certainly the most impressive arrival and departure spot. It's pretty easy to visualize the second main sitting where the road is, and further down the "golf course" it opens up to four tracks. Those four tracks were hammered on a 24 hour schedule not unlike any other important yard in America, but the nestled confines of Shoreham were unique. Of course the yard included buildings for paint, heavy repairs, a car shop, and a roundhouse that was only recently torn down. Fond Du Lac, Stevens Point, even Thief River Falls can certainly boast of their importance as well, but Shoreham, through my rose-colored glasses, was the pinnacle.
The grandeur had certainly evaporated by this fall day in 2006, the WC Transfer had the old SOO all to itself. Many days were just like this, as the only traffic that the CP had to traverse the Central Avenue control point would be occasional ballast trains, and the one-off call for headroom for the intermodal shuffler called the "House Job." No 940 for Chicago would be calling.
As it was to the neighborhood unaware, they may have thought at least four trains still used these tracks on any given day. While Shoreham no longer functioned as SOO's Minneapolis hub, and the Withrow Sub itself stopped being a thru-route, there was still action in the form of the trackage rights holder. For those of us who enjoy the "why and how" of the story, the general operation during this era was as follows:
The Stevens Point based road crew (Train 5, T005, STNB, and in CN years A40581) would deliver the inbound train off at New Brighton a few hours after midnight if on time, and the Transfer crew would get on and start the day by dumping off their UP, TC&W, PGR(?), and MNNR destined cars into the MNNR yard at said location. Generally speaking, it worked best to have the BN cars on the rear of the train, CP's in the middle, and the MNNR cars on the head pin to simplify this.
Next, they would take the remainder of their train (CP and BN's) West into Minneapolis. Often they would cut their BN cars off in one of two locations West of CTC New Brighton (Townhomes or Stinson) before descending down "Shoreham Hill." If the CP pickup at Humboldt would be short (10 cars or so), they also could leave the BN's on the high line (where the CN boxcar sits above) if both cuts would clear the respective switches they sat between. The latter was a rare occasion during 2006.
On their way back East from CP's Humboldt Yard, they would stash their pickup in between the Foley Wye, or if too much footage as was the case this day, they would leave the cars on the high line. After tying down the CP's, they would go fetch the BN cars again, usually heading back up the hill to Stinson. Once tied on, they would get a lineup back down into Shoreham on "the loop" and then wait for the BN to take them.
After trading cars at Northtown, it's time to head back into Shoreham and pick up the aforementioned CP's again at the Foley Wye or Central Ave. All of the above has happened on this day, in as little as six or seven hours often, as they wait for the signal up the hill only to shove back onto the cars sitting on the high line. They will make Shoreham Hill from a dead stop, lord willing and the creek don't freeze.
Once they arrive back at New Brighton, there are still more handbrakes to tie and air tests to be done. The train, now Eastbound, pounds across the MNNR diamond and pulls up to the East leg of the wye between the mainline and the yard. If they had Ashley Furniture intermodal from the BN on the headend, they would cut behind the last intermodal car and shove down into the yard to make the final pickup with the MNNR. The MNNR traffic was usually heavy in steel coils, boxcars of 50' and 60' variety, lumber, and seasonally TCWR grain hoppers.
After pulling out of the MNNR and back onto the main, the conductor would drive the air test and put the train back together one final time. The usual move was to shove the train back West to clear the CTC signal guarding the CP/MNNR diamond, although on some occasions if necessary for other moves they would head to Cardigan Jct. or even Withrow, MN. Keep in mind, during the 2005-2007 years, it was semi-regular to get trains of 150+ cars heading back to Stevens Point. This was no neighborhood local.
This game of hot potato and track polishing was an everyday occurrence until the CP quit running all of their traffic over the BN's St. Paul Sub. Westbound traffic out of St. Paul yard now only uses the BN for about two miles before getting onto home rails at Soo Line Jct. With that traffic pattern change, all of the rigmarole above simply cannot take place anymore, and therefore the CN-CP interchange was moved to Cardigan Jct (IE: out of the way), and the train no longer ties down on the main at New Brighton.
While the Transfer no longer makes four trips up and down Shoreham Hill, the neighborhood isn't missing out on any action. The gray SD40-3's are sure lacking, though.