Give It To The Andersons, They'll Buy Or Lease Anything

The Andersons seemingly will buy or lease any railcar under the sun and will be damned if they will spend a penny fixing the exterior. Since they handle a lot of organics I presume they keep the interiors of their covered hoppers cleaner than the exteriors.

AEX #4434 X-SQCR #722244 in Glass Service IC-CN Yard Jackson MS Summer 2000

AEX #4430 X-SQCR #722229 in Glass Service IC-CN Yard Jackson MS Summer 2000

In this case, the cars in question are open hoppers of Squaw Creek heritage. These cars were regular visitors to Jackson in glass service. They were typically filled about half-full of green glass (possibly recycled?). Locally, I often saw them parked on a siding at 1350 Flowood drive in Front of what is now Mississippi Warehousing. Back then there were concrete revetments into which the glass was placed. The outline of them can still be seen on the Google map in the link above. That and a number of small businesses have been expunged from their places along the road, but their foundations and outline of the business remain as do tank supports. All of this is near the NUCOR steel facility. BTW, that facility has an SW-series switcher (green), an SW-1 (yellow), and a centercab switcher (green) working inside, all of which are visible using the Google link and zooming in.

Back up Flowood Drive, the rail line (since removed) serving the area crossed the busy road and an IC van used to sit parked on the tracks by the levee. Unfortunately-and I don't know why-I never stopped to photograph it. There was a pivoting metal gate that blocked the line when it was not in use. I believe (though I may be wrong) that this was a GM&O branch; I followed the abandoned ROW on the Google map back across a collapsed truss bridge to where it connects into what is now the KCS line near the abandoned lead to the former GM&O yard which now lies beneath the fair grounds.

More examples of The Anderson's rail car promiscuity (they have a fleet of 24,000 cars) and lack of concern for image:

AEX #903 X-SOU HCS 60 3-Bay Covered Hopper on CSX Almonaster Avenue New Orleans 1997



AEX #951 X-WP aluminum 3-bay covered hopper in a manifest freight north across 10th Street from NS Brosnan Yard Macon GA 10-21-11

AEX #16221 X-Alberta City Farmers 4750cf PS2-CD in a manifest freight north across 10th Street from NS Brosnan Yard Macon GA 10-21-11

50' Ventilated Wood Pulp Box Cars

50' Ventilated Wood Pulp Box Cars

When I lived in Jackson, Ms., in 1999-2000,  one of the things I observed was the proliferation of per-diem cars modified with raised roofs and vents along the sill and in the room. One of the most common reporting marks was OAR, the Old Augusta RR. CN's description of the OAR can be seen here.

These cars are vented because they are rebuilt to carry wood pulp and are vented to minimize fire risk from vapor accumulating inside the car.

OAR #62306 50' Berwick exterior-post SDR box car with sill and roof vents in switch cut IC Jackson Yard Mississippi 04-20-99. Through the open door one can see: the plastic vent opening on the far wall to the right of the door, the freshly painted interior, and very fresh flooring. It's also interesting that the roof was raised such a small amount, but it is likely that installing the roof vents required that the roof be raised to retain sufficient interior cubic space. I also find it interesting that the vents on the roof are directly above the vents along the sill; having them aligned probably creates a mild updraft when the car is moving. That would be sufficient to draw out the vapors and keep the car and its cargo safe.

The CN rebuilt a lot of  50' cars for this service as well; CN chose plug-door cars instead of sliding-door cars.

CN #413601 50' XP Plug Door Box Car CN-IC Yard 05-19-11

CN #413859 50' XP Plug Door Box Car CN-IC Yard 05-19-11

CN #413868 50' XP Plug Door Box Car CN-IC Yard 05-19-11

CN #413871 50' XP Plug Door Box 2 Car CN-IC Yard 05-19-11

CN #413871 50' XP Plug Door Box Car CN-IC Yard 05-19-11

CN #414284 50' XP Plug Door Box Car CN-IC Yard 05-19-11

CN #414309 50' XP Plug Door Box Car CN-IC Yard 05-19-11

CNIS #413226 50' XP Plug Door Box Car CN-IC Yard 05-19-11

CNIS #413563 50' XP Plug Door Box Car CN-IC Yard 05-19-11

Another example of this kind of modified car:

CP #214192 50' ventilated rebuilt FMC exterior-post SDR box car southbound on the passing track around NS Brosnan Yard in Macon GA 10-2009

These cars are an example of what keeps modern railroad modeling interesting.

Meridian & Bigbee 5297cf Evans Box Cars -Weathering and a Study in Contrast

I photographed a freshly-painted Meridian and Bigbee 50' 5277cf Evans exterior-post sliding-door box car on CSX in New Orleans in September of 1995. It was a bright robin's-egg blue:

MB #5209 50' Evans 5297cf box car westbound on CSX along Almonaster Ave NOLA 09-11-1995

Fourteen years later my then-fiancee, now wife, and I were returned from a trip to Fort Walton Beach, Florida. We cam through Montgomery on the way back and I persuaded her to let us go by the CSX yard there. This was her first railfan adventure (of many) and while there we spotted this Meridian and Bigbee rust bucket. It was only later when I scanned the car above that I realized that no only were they siblings, but indeed were sequential siblings. What the ravages of time had done to the paint job were impressive:

I can't tell what color this used to be; it may be that the paint under all of that rust is the original 1970s NRUC blue from its Peninsula Terminal days. Regardless, the difference between #5209 and #5210 could not be more stark.

Painting a pair of the Exactrail 5277cf Evans cars for these and running them in the same train would be quite a layout head-turner.

New Orleans Lower Coast Side Trip

When I lived in New Orleans, I spent most of my time in three *PRIME* railfanning spots: CSX Gentilly Yard, NOPB France Road Yard, and NS Oliver Yard, all within a mile of one another. I only went to the West Bank to railfan on three occasions in 7 years simply because there was so much to see in the Upper 9th Ward/Gentilly/New Orleans East. 

One of those occasions that I ventured out was with Chris and Mike Palmieri. They took me down to see the New Orleans Lower Coast (now the New Orleans Gulf Coast) in Belle Chasse, Louisiana. It was an X-UP, originally Missouri Pacific branch line that snaked down from the one-time MoPac Yard in Algiers underneath the Crescent City Connection bridge. 

The switcher the NOLR was using was a former Santa Fe SSB1200 rebuilt from an SW9 in 1979, and it was painted in a base coat of greyish-silver with striping in the Mardi Gras colors of purple, green, and gold (yellow). NOLR #1229 retained its ATSF road number when it moved over to the NOLR.  I never made it down there again, but I am glad I went that cool December day. For shots of NOLR #1229 in action taken by Chris Palmieri, go here.

NOLR #1229 SSB1200 Rear-Cab Belle Chasse Louisiana 12-29-95

NOLR #1229 SSB1200 Belle Chasse Louisiana 12-29-95

CSX's Gentilly Yard and Norfolk Souther's Oliver Yard are the southwestern-most yards in their system. This means that most of the traffic each received in the 1990s was destined for interchange to the UP, SP, KCS (and later BNSF) to points west and a modicum for the IC (now CN) and handoffs to the NOPB. Even so, there was some traffic to be interchanged between CSX and the NS.

NS #5204 GP38-2 transfer run to CSX along Almonaster Avenue; waiting for clearance across Louisa Street to CSX Gentilly Yard New Orleans 1997

NS #5204 GP38-2 transfer run to CSX under the I-10 high-rise bridge eastbound into CSX Gentilly Yard New Orleans 1997

I seldom saw transfer runs directly between NS and CSX, so when #5204 trundled across the L&N bridge and into Gentilly Yard, it was quite a treat. The extreme coat of dust highlights the panels and weld lines on the carboy as well as two large patches on the fuel tank.

A few years later it had dashes added to its sill and remote-control equipment added, but the same old black paint was rotting off:
http://www.nslocos.com/ns5204.html

Norfolk Southern B30-7As in New Orleans-1995

Norfolk Southern 4-axle GEs were not common visitors to New Orleans in their last years of service. Two of the X-Southern B30-7As came into CSX Gentilly Yard with a Union Pacific train. I shot NS #3514 and #3516 as they were being moved by the CSX hostler in March of 1995. They were retired by 2001 and most ended up in Brazil in a scrap line after serving time with NREX.

After the power was turned, #3514 helped take a train through New Orleans and back over the Huey P. Long Bridge to UP's Avondale Yard and points west.

I caught up with #3514 again at City Park in Nawlins. This is UP SD40-2 #3299 and NS #3514 B30-7A crossing Marconi Drive in City Park.

The NS B30-7As ended up being shipped to Brazil and into a scrap line there: 

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=259139

NS #3514 went to NREX and then ended in this boneyard.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2066308

NS #3514 when she was still in SOU colors in B'ham:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1660293

The UP SD40-2, however, is still earning revenue for Uncle Pete on the hump in Houston 17 years later: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2123321