Eastern Railroad Discussion > Toledo Junction Railroad and related area

Decided to stop by Toledo on the way back from Erie, Pa today. 

I hadn't been to Toledo's dock area in a long time. I did not realize the "new" dock operation that has been built up down there. Nice to see the new business down there. 

I witnessed the Toledo Junction Railroad doing some switching along John Q Carey Dr. They were using 703 and 1718 on the property to switch some mixed freight on the small stub end tracks. One of the cars they were switching was a depressed flat car with what appeared to be a large transformer on it. 

Seemed like a busy place overall. The other area I noticed was along Front St. which Google Maps identifies as Ironville Rail and transfer. I noticed a couple locomotives that I was not able to identify all the information about. One was GMTX 2214, which is in the Heart of Texas paint scheme, It was sitting on the track alone near the Millard and Front St traffic circle. 

Also on the property I noticed two units, which I could not clearly identify due to distance away. They appeared to be GP38-2 or similar units, maroon in color. What locomotives were these and which railroad do they belong to? They appeared to have writing under the cab window, but I could not read it from the distance I was shooting from. 

Also, while in Toledo I did see the AA with their unit stored at Mondolez International. Additionally the AA was using the orange unit to move some cars around Ottawa Yard and CSX had two jobs working the dock area, plus a set of raod power (3037 and unknown near the yard office under the bridge) . CSX 4377 was moving a cut of ore cars (RFBX marks) towards the dock, while 6522 had been at the south end of the yard and then moved the north end of the yard then waited for 4377 to makes it way through the yard. 

One of the things I noticed in the dock yards were a lot of gons with scrap metal in them. Has CAX changed their operations and are now basing their locals in Toledo out of the ore dock docks and those are from a local customer serviced from those yards? 

 

The brown GPs at Ironville Dock belong to Toledo Industrial RR, which is the plant railroad for the new Cliffs hot-briquetted iron plant on the east side of Front Street. Toledo Junction, by contrast, is operated by the dock stevedore. Midwest Terminals has done an impressive job over the past decade-plus building rail traffic at the two dock complexes.

The scrap gons were probably from OmniSource on the Toledo Terminal "Back Side" by Detroit Avenue. The job switching that scrap yard is now based at the dock now that Boulevard Yard has been completely ripped out (which in turn was preceded by removal of the house track where the old TT office building used to be).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/21 20:46 by toledopatch.

Thanks, 

I did not realize boulivard yard had been torn out. Why was this done, just because they did not need the extra yard in Toledo and the dock yard had the capacity and ability to handle the traffic without too much strain on the railroad. In fact, it might make it easier given the addition of the traffic at the port, which is likely interchanged at the dock yard. 

How is CSX moving the traffic from the dock yard to Walbridge for classification or are they just originating outbound trains from the dock yard. 

Also, how much is Stanley Yard still used by CSX? I thought I heard the hump was being deactivated, and from the looks of the Google Maps satallite, that is accurate, but what traffic still uses the yard? Is it mainly a storage yard now? 

chapmaja Wrote:
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> Thanks, 
>
> I did not realize boulivard yard had been torn
> out. Why was this done, just because they did not
> need the extra yard in Toledo and the dock yard
> had the capacity and ability to handle the traffic
> without too much strain on the railroad. In fact,
> it might make it easier given the addition of the
> traffic at the port, which is likely interchanged
> at the dock yard. 

I'm sure the counting of beans underlay the decision to remove Boulevard Yard.

> How is CSX moving the traffic from the dock yard
> to Walbridge for classification or are they just
> originating outbound trains from the dock yard. 

CSX transfer jobs with yard symbols move the traffic between the docks and Walbridge.

> Also, how much is Stanley Yard still used by CSX?
> I thought I heard the hump was being deactivated,
> and from the looks of the Google Maps satallite,
> that is accurate, but what traffic still uses the
> yard? Is it mainly a storage yard now?

It's mainly storage, but several industry switchers are based there and possibly still the Woodville job. Transfers lug the cars to and from Walbridge to feed those trains. CSX also sometimes uses the Eastern Runner or other long tracks as a parking lot for trains that don't have immediate outbound crews when they come in. This has happened several times with Q132, coal trains, and at least once this wind-turbine blade train seen backing out from the Eastern Runner through Stanley interlocking before heading north into Michigan last month.

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