Eastern Railroad Discussion > What 150 CN freight cars getting scrapped looks like (ex-PC too)

The other day I drove past a scrapyard on Chicago's far southeast side and, at a glance, saw a bunch of CN cars in it. The next day I came back with a drone to document it, but truly had no idea how many cars had been stuffed into this facility. By my count, which is probably low, there are over 150 CN cars in here, and several dozen other cars, primarily MWCX and RFMX covered hoppers. I don't get by here much, but I've only ever seen a couple dozen cars getting scrapped here.

For example, 5 months ago, I documented GTW 86' boxes getting scrapped.
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,5031403,5031403#msg-5031403
Compare how empty this place was to these current photos; now every single muddy rail seems to be filled. There is a park I've hiked nearby; Burnham Woods/Powderhorn Marsh and Prairie, and I don't even think I realized how far the trackage stretch into what seems like part of the park.

Some of these photos look so much like a model railroad to me, where someone has 200 freight cars and just a 4 x 8 foot layout!

First, some views of the northern end, where there are a few more CN covered hoppers. I'm surprised to see what look like ICG PS 4750's, as there are still plenty in CN grain trains and I thought they were all post-1970 and not yet subject to the 50 year rule.

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Moving farther south, there is a scene that again reminds me of a model railroad.

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Tucked way in the back, there are two GTW 60' hi-cubes, a boxcar that is very disassembled, and a lot of wheels.

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And finally, some autoracks being taken apart, many more cars off of their trucks, and some RFMX covered hoppers showing their PC heritage. It's sad to see those go, there were a rare treat I'd see every couple of years as one of the few amazing examples of a car with a 45+ year old paint scheme intact. Other similar cars that come to mind are the Milwaukee and Rock Island 4750 covered hoppers roaming around.

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 I took photos at that location about 35 years ago. From the street you'd never know it's that large! Thanks for the report.

Fantastic collection!

I can't speak for anyone else, but as soon as I began scrolling down viewing your series, I first thought that I was looking at someone's N scale collection, all layed out on their layout! In fact, the photos containing both cars right-side-up and ones on their sides really captures that misinterpertation. 

Matthew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/20 00:29 by Cumberland.

Very interesting set of pictures!

John

Sure fire method to get rid of grafitti. It does look like so many HO train cars.
Go

Wow, those are some neat shots! Looks like they are out of room, must be paying someone to store cars somewhere, as I have not seen scrapyards take a bunch of cars off their wheels and put them on the ground, usually they just scrap them right away. Those RFMX hoppers, anyone know how many are out there in PC paint like that? I just saw one a week ago. The railroads typically get rid of cars before their scrap date, that's where various companies, AEX, RFMX, INTX, ETC get their hoppers. It could be CN wanted them gone and their was no buyer, so off to the scrapyard they went. 

So, any thoughts on why they're scrapping the 50' and 60' boxcars?  Some of those looked to be fairly new.

The pics of the boxcars on their sides is quite bizarre.

Appreciated your coverage of Azcon Metals yard at the intersection of Brainard/Burnham Avenues in the Hegewisch neighborhood of Chicago.  Amazing how busy they are in November 2020.  Thanks for your unique perspective-!

What was this site originally?  I'm guessing it wasn't always a scrap yard.

junctiontower Wrote:
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> What was this site originally?  I'm guessing it
> wasn't always a scrap yard. 

Located on a branch of PRR's SC&S line, it was a Hyman-Michaels Co. In the 1980's it was a Chrome Crankshaft locomotive facility (and possibly a scrap yard as well?). Today this customer is served by IHB.

Here's a photo of BN RS11 4186 at that facility on 9-19-82



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/20 13:17 by ghemr.

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ghemr Wrote:
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> junctiontower Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What was this site originally?  I'm guessing
> it
> > wasn't always a scrap yard. 
>
> Located on a branch of PRR's SC&S line, it was a
> Hyman-Michaels Co. In the 1980's it was a Chrome
> Crankshaft locomotive facility (and possibly a
> scrap yard as well?). Today this customer is
> served by IHB.
>
> Here's a photo of BN RS11 4186 at that facility on
> 9-19-82

Thanks for posting the history, that is neat to see.

Are most of these boxes 70-ton capacity newsprint cars? If they are specialized for that I guess it would make sense that there isn't another buyer.

Boxcars, like all other rolling RR equipment, have a useful lifespan.  Typically 20-40 years I think.  Obviously locomotives have the most wear and tear and end their lives faster than box cars.  Precision Scheduled Railroading has caused countless locomotives and rolling stock to be sidelined and/or scrapped earlier than usual.

I'm thinking the decision to store or scrap equipment is partly based on scrap steel prices.  Across the street from the West Springfield intermodal ramp was a one-man scrapper that would scrap anything from bridges to submarines, gasoline storage tanks, derailed rolling stock and even intermodal chassis one Sunday while I was working.  He had a giant 'scissors' on the end of his power shovel ('steam shovel to us oldsters).  He said the price of scrap steel had been as high as $200/ton at one time and had dropped to $40 or so per ton during the time I was at CSX.  Often, his contract with the customers would be that he would take ownership of the scrap and have it removed from the premises.  At $200 a ton, he said a couple customers told him THEY would keep the scrap and have a scrap dealer pay THEM for it.  He started charging them more for the scrapping as he didn't get the steel afterwards.

Thanks for the interesting pics...