Detroit Railfanning - Page 28 (2024)

8/11

Lincoln Street Art Park, Detroit

CN M384

CN M385

8/12

NS 171 at Delray

CN A451 at CP George

8/14

NS 21N in Wyandotte

NS 421

CN M391

CN M384

M384 in Detroit, over Michigan Ave

ogauge47 wrote:8/12
M384 in Detroit, over Michigan Ave

The lead end (rear, really) of the trailing unit reminds me of a favorite non-US locomotive (although most were made here as export units), the Class 66:

9/18
NS B73 outside Romulus

10/8

CP T28 returning to Windsor, ON with three SD33ECOs

NS BD09 shoving back to Oakwood Yard with an old N&W caboose

NS 176 passing Delray tower

Delray Connecting RR bottle train on the CN Marsh Track

Lucas, Do you know if those Bottle Cars are in-service or being taken away for scrapping?

It's nice that you take those pictures of real-life trains and share them here. Some of us would never take ourselves to such vantage points to be able to observe and photograph those trains.

Be well and safe, always. And continue to have a life full of success and prosperity.
Murph

MurphOnMillerAve wrote:Lucas, Do you know if those Bottle Cars are in-service or being taken away for scrapping?

It's nice that you take those pictures of real-life trains and share them here. Some of us would never take ourselves to such vantage points to be able to observe and photograph those trains.

Be well and safe, always. And continue to have a life full of success and prosperity.
Murph

Thanks!
Yes, those bottle cars are in service. The Delray Connecting RR transports them between Zug Island and the US Steel plants downriver. The northbound run is empty, hence the cab end close to the railcars. Even empty they are quite hot, you can feel the heat radiating off of them.

And that radiation of heat occurs even with the lining of brick that those cars have to protect the cars from their own contents, which has been my understanding from being among them back in the 60's in Pittsburgh.

Also, Allan Miller, of OGR, mentioned to me, some time ago, that the engine was usually separated from the cars by a freight car, such as a gondola, to provide some distance between the men and those hot metal cars. I see they are not separated in that train; perhaps, because the contents have been emptied (?) The occasion of his mentioning that factor to me was his seeing this photo of my having a train of them, along with some "Ladle cars" on my layout, which as you can see, has no freight car separating the engine from Bottle-cars. In my imagination, they are being taken to a scrap yard, long out of use and empty.
Thanks, again.
Murph

MurphOnMillerAve wrote:And that radiation of heat occurs even with the lining of brick that those cars have to protect the cars from their own contents, which has been my understanding from being among them back in the 60's in Pittsburgh.

Also, Allan Miller, of OGR, mentioned to me, some time ago, that the engine was usually separated from the cars by a freight car, such as a gondola, to provide some distance between the men and those hot metal cars. I see they are not separated in that train; perhaps, because the contents have been emptied (?) The occasion of his mentioning that factor to me was his seeing this photo of my having a train of them, along with some "Ladle cars" on my layout, which as you can see, has no freight car separating the engine from Bottle-cars. In my imagination, they are being taken to a scrap yard, long out of use and empty.
Thanks, again.
Murph

Yes, steel mills regularly insert spacer cars (gondola, flat car, something) between the locomotive and torpedo (hot metal), slag pot (thimble), or ingot buggies. In the photo below, I failed to do that.

The 1:48 engineer was hopping mad (all 1.5" of him)!!! He filed a grievance with the union and we had to pay a fine.

George

What is a 'Conservative'? "Someone who wants society and policy to recognize objective reality- economic, biological, and historical."

—Katy Faust

G3750 wrote:

MurphOnMillerAve wrote:And that radiation of heat occurs even with the lining of brick that those cars have to protect the cars from their own contents, which has been my understanding from being among them back in the 60's in Pittsburgh.

Also, Allan Miller, of OGR, mentioned to me, some time ago, that the engine was usually separated from the cars by a freight car, such as a gondola, to provide some distance between the men and those hot metal cars. I see they are not separated in that train; perhaps, because the contents have been emptied (?) The occasion of his mentioning that factor to me was his seeing this photo of my having a train of them, along with some "Ladle cars" on my layout, which as you can see, has no freight car separating the engine from Bottle-cars. In my imagination, they are being taken to a scrap yard, long out of use and empty.
Thanks, again.
Murph

Yes, steel mills regularly insert spacer cars (gondola, flat car, something) between the locomotive and torpedo (hot metal), slag pot (thimble), or ingot buggies. In the photo below, I failed to do that.

S-2 & slag cars.jpg

The 1:48 engineer was hopping mad (all 1.5" of him)!!! He filed a grievance with the union and we had to pay a fine.

George

For the loaded runs on the Delray Connecting they run cab forward, with the engineer operating the locomotive off the front steps with a belt pack. I guess they want to be as far away as possible!

Random sidenote: the current Conrail timetables specifically mention crews are not to approach those bottle cars on foot or move them with a locomotive whatsoever. I believe CN and Norfolk Southern crews are directed the same.

roger

I support thread drift.
If God didn't want women to be looked at, He would have made 'em ugly. RAH

rogruth wrote:Lucas,
Then how do the cars get moved?

The cars are only permitted to be moved by the Delray Connecting Railroad and their crews

roger

I support thread drift.
If God didn't want women to be looked at, He would have made 'em ugly. RAH

ogauge47 wrote:... For the loaded runs on the Delray Connecting they run cab forward, with
the engineer operating the locomotive off the front steps with a belt pack. I guess they
want to be as far away as possible! ...

12 inches to the foot scale Lionchief operation!.

I've observed similar operations on the Union Pacific in their N.Platte, NE yards, moving
locos in and out of their repair building.

I was informed that the U.P. uses over a million gallons of fuel per day for refueling and
operations in that yard alone.

-----
Unplug When Done.
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Peace,

MYron R. MOOre

9/21

NS 121 at Delray

CN E280 was right behind

CN M384 a few minutes later

And finally CN M385

9/22

CN M384 in Wyandotte

CN M391

NS 332