Freight Car Cornucopia - 11-30-2020
Here are some recent shots:
1. ACFX 67623 has a load limit of 222,500 lbs, volume of 5400 cubic feet and was built by AC&F 11-1989. Seen leaving Shelby KY on a combined Q692 + K428 on 05-17-2020. ACFX is now Wells Fargo Rail, fka GE Railcar Services, nee ACF Industries.
2. NAHX 39073 is also Wells Fargo, nee-GE. Shelby KY.
3. TILX 193848 (Trinity Industries Leasing) has a load limit of 195,000 lbs. Abengoa, a Spanish company, obtained a huge loan from the US DOE to build a new ethanol plant in Kansas. They went bankrupt and sold off most of their interests in the U.S. Well it’s an impressive name! Shelby KY.
4. TILX 193848. View 2. Shelby KY.
5. Missouri Pacific (Union Pacific) MP 718139 used as a buffer car brings up the rear of the combined K428-16 (Charlotte – Chicago-CP) and Q692 leaving Shelby on 05-17-2020. Shelby KY.
6. INTX 7558 is Interstate Commodities Inc. This car is ex-NAHX, and GE Railcar Services. South Point Ethanol is a defunct plant site in South Point, OH. It is now a US EPA Super Fund reclamation site. E/b grain train G726-16 arriving Shelby KY on 05-17-2020.
7. ATGX 90125 is Atel Leasing Corp. The car is ex-NRLX (CIT Group), nee-CCLX (Crystal Car Line). Shelby KY.
8. No secret where INTX 6527 came from. Shelby KY.
9. INTX 47436 is ex-Illinois Central Gulf. It was built 08-1972. Shelby KY.
10. INTX 35059 was built 05-1979. At one time it was leased and/or owned by Great Lakes Carbon, a large producer of calcined petroleum coke which is used in aluminum smelting. Shelby KY.
11. INTX 765814 came from Illinois Central Gulf. This train was full of “fallen flag” cars. Shelby KY.
12. INTX 349550 came from the Chicago & Northwestern, Carl Shaver’s old employer. Shelby KY.
13. Indiana Harbor Belt coil steel flat was built in 2006. IHB 167009. Betsy Layne KY on 07-18-2020.
14. National Salvage & Service Corp. gon 100071 is ex-ESIX (EnviroSolutions Inc), exx-SRLX (Southern Rail Leasing), nee-DEEX (Detroit Edison) coal gon 9036. Also on Q692 on 07-18-2020. Betsy Layne KY.
15. A topside view of IHB 167009 passing Bays Branch KY (near Prestonsburg).
16. National Salvage & Service reclaims old ties and poles, demolishes industrial sites and scraps abandoned rail lines. NSSX gons 100071-100068. Bays Branch KY.
17. CSX gon 482522 has a load limit of 186,500 and a volume of 1,995 cubic feet. It was built in 10-1974 as Pittsburgh & Lake Erie 19058. Seen at Casky KY (Hopkinsville) 10-21-2020.
18. AIMX (American Iron & Metal LP) gon 15016 on a s/b Canadian National (IC) freight at Fulton KY on 10-2020. AI&M handles metal reclamation and industrial plant demolition.
19. AIMX gon 1132. Fulton KY.
20. AIMX gons 19223 and 19378 were built in Hamilton, Ontario CA by National Steel Car during 2019. They look like coal gons from the 1970s, but they are already dented from hauling scrap. Fulton KY.
21. AIMX gon 19378 has a load limit of 221,700 lbs and a volume of 4,000 cubic feet. Fulton KY.
22. NSSX gon 100121 has a load limit of 263,000. It was built by Ortner in 07-1976 for Detroit Edison as their 9203. In the meantime it has been ESIX and SRLX 2061. Shelby KY on 11-08-2020.
23. NSSX gon 100107 was also built 07-1976. Shelby KY.
24. Interesting paint job on NSSX gon 100090. Ex-ESIX, exx-SRLX-2030, nee-DEEX 9107. Shelby KY.
25. NSSX gon 10038 has same history. Shelby KY.
26. NSSX gon 100107. Shelby KY. Carl Shaver has this to offer on the history of these cars:
Cars in ESIX series 100060-100151 were obtained in late 2005 from Southern Rail Leasing Incorporated. They were rebuilt, repainted, relettered, and renumbered in order from SRLX series 2000-2091 (see Southern Rail Leasing listing). These cars had been built by the Ortner Freight Car Company for the Detroit Edison Company (DEEX series 9001-9300; see Detroit Edison Company listing), and acquired (and cut down in height) by Southern Rail Leasing Incorporated in 1998. These cars are black, with white data and no corporate lettering. The upper portions of the sides were rebuilt, and the cars were equipped with fire-suppression apparatus.
27. EnviroSolutions gon 100138 arrives at the Princess KY landfill (on the old Lexington Sub. near Ashland) on 03-19-2007 with trash from another state. I figured that fitting on the upper right side for a fire hose could be used for drowning rats! ESIX gon 100138.
28. ESIX gon 100031 is different. Complaints on the smell from the land fill prompted Boyd County to restrict the intake to local trash only. I don’t think any trash is brought in by rail now. Princess KY.
29. Detroit Edison 9190 at L&N’s Ravenna KY yard on 10-14-1979. It is almost brand new having been built by Ortner in 08-1979. DE trains were common on the L&N and C&O in those days. DE later went to other car designs and made the west their primary source of coal. DEEX gon 9190.
30. NSSX gon 1158 is ex-JTSX 101515, nee-WEPX (Wisconsin Electric Power) 1169. The load limit is 210,000 and the volume is 4,200 cubic feet. These were built by Ortner in 08-1985. WEPX trains were once common in the Appalachian coal fields but no more. National Salvage & Service also sells new ties. A saw mill is on this site at Shelby now, and one of their intentions was to cut ties for railroad use. I wonder if these gons are to be loaded with fresh cut ties and then sent elsewhere for preservatives to be added. Shelby KY.
All for now.
Train images used by permission of Everett N Young