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The Detroit Connecting RR has not been running consistently 5 Days a week as of late as they previously did. There appears to be only one or two customers actively shipping, both utilizing tankers. The first is EQ, on north side of Farnsworth. The other is on the north side of Ferry St. Does anyone know what the other customer is?

FERRY - ST AUBIN by tcamp7837, on Flickr

Detroit Connecting - Ferry St by tcamp7837, on Flickr

EQ

Detroit Connecting switching EQ by tcamp7837, on Flickr

Dormant Customers

Ferrous Scrap - between I-94 and Ferry St. Havent shipped by rail since late 2015. Word is the Adrian & Blissfield wasnt getting paid for switching so service was cut.

Vesco Oil - just south of Warren Ave.

Boomer Materials. Just south of Forest Ave.

Eastern Market. Reefers were unloaded toward the end of the line near Mack Ave. Also, Lagrasso Bros at Theodore St on Conrail's Beltline and Detroit Produce Terminal on the Boat Line has not appeared to have been switched in 2+ years.

Historic Customers.

While this list could be much longer, the buildings or sidings are still intact in some form. Any information to fill in what these customers were in the past is appreciated.

Cattle Unloading - Just south of Trombly St. The spur still exists but likely hasn't been switched in decades since the GTW days. Cattle would be unloaded here and transported to local slaughterhouses.

Detroit Connecting RR by tcamp7837, on Flickr

South of Mack Ave, beginning of the Urban Greenway.

Detroit Dequindre Cut 2 by tcamp7837, on Flickr

Detroit Dequindre Cut 1 by tcamp7837, on Flickr

IMG_0847 by tcamp7837, on Flickr

Detroit Dequindre Cut 4 by tcamp7837, on Flickr

South of Wilkins St

Which one was the Thornapple Valley Slaughterhouse?

Detroit Dequindre Cut 12 by tcamp7837, on Flickr

Detroit Dequindre Cut 7 by tcamp7837, on Flickr

Detroit Dequindre Cut 5 by tcamp7837, on Flickr

North of Adelaide St

Detroit Dequindre Cut 6 by tcamp7837, on Flickr

Detroit Dequindre Cut 11 by tcamp7837, on Flickr

Between Adelaide and Gratiot

Detroit Dequindre Cut 8 by tcamp7837, on Flickr

The original bridges appear to have been wide enough for up to four tracks.

Detroit Dequindre Cut 10 by tcamp7837, on Flickr

Between Jefferson and Woodbridge St

Detroit Dequindre Cut 9 by tcamp7837, on Flickr

At Woodbridge St

Dequindre Cut - Woodbridge St by tcamp7837, on Flickr

ConrailDetr​oit wrote:The original bridges appear to have had been wide enough for up to four tracks.

There were 4 tracks where the line passed under Gratiot Ave. The Stroh's Brewery was right there; not sure what kind of service they got, if any.
Great report. I always saw a lot of activity at the scrap plant visible from I-94 when driving past, sorry to see it suspended.

I thought the scrap metal yard was still shipping although carloads might be down as they seem to at many scrap yards

Word was the scrap is yard is still shipping but instead trucking the scrap to other yards owned be Ferrous.

Maybe to avoid CN. CN doesn't seem to handle much scrap metal compared to CSX and NS. Perhaps CN's scrap metal price point is makes trucking to the other scrap yards more economical.

ConrailDetr​oit wrote:Word was the scrap is yard is still shipping but instead trucking the scrap to other yards owned be Ferrous.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/100613204 ... 362697335/

What is this old building? I have done research on it in the past and can not find anything about it. The siding was clearly built into the ground floor, so it regularly received shipments, or at least frequently enough that it had the property on the cut.

The GTW used to be very busy downtown before 1970. Intercity and commuter service to Brush Street was plentiful, along with the use of the adjacent freight house. CN also operated a ferry across the Detroit River until 1975; the railroad was granted access to use the tunnel then.

My dad sent me a list of Detroit railroad customers from the 1940s. A few of the GTW customers near downtown or Eastern Market included.

Acme Fast Freight - Brush Street Freight House
Allen Industries
Boomer Company
Central Iron Foundry
City of Detroit - DSR Railway, Public Lighting, Water.
Detroit Edison - Hale Street
Detroit Beef Company
GTW Cold Storage Warehouse - Ferry Street
Rickel Malt.

What I want to know is how they got the grafitti up on the side of that building at the roofline and the water tank, in the third pic?

hoborich wrote:What I want to know is how they got the grafitti up on the side of that building at the roofline and the water tank, in the third pic?

That would be the old GTW cold storage warehouse. Its been vacant for years, and has plenty of structural and fire damage. I'd say the stairs are still intact for the taggers to use.

[quote="AARR"]Maybe to avoid CN. CN doesn't seem to handle much scrap metal compared to CSX and NS. Perhaps CN's scrap metal price point is makes trucking to the other scrap yards more economical.

And yet, CN gets scrap loads from the JAIL...

It's my CN gets a car or two occasionally from HESR too

Buster Manning wrote:

AARR wrote:Maybe to avoid CN. CN doesn't seem to handle much scrap metal compared to CSX and NS. Perhaps CN's scrap metal price point is makes trucking to the other scrap yards more economical.

And yet, CN gets scrap loads from the JAIL...

The scrap yard and the A&B had issues. Thats the reason for no more shipments by rail.

Scrap Gons are back at Ferrous as of today 7/21. The DCON should run more regularly than as needed.

The scrap yard and the A&B had issues. Thats the reason for no more shipments by rail.

No say it ain't so someone having issues with the management of the A&B...

How often does the liquid recycling place get switched? It seems they always have a handful of cars in and around the plant.

ConrailDetr​oit wrote:The DCON should run more regularly than as needed.

Want to bump this, what kind of business is DCON seeing right now?

Currently switching Ferrous and EQ. Might be running daily now.

Are they still using the 65Tonner (#4)?

Seems like they've been using a SW1200 for a while. But it's possible the 65T is still on the property.

NS3322 wrote:Are they still using the 65Tonner (#4)?

The 836 is used primarliy. The #4 is rarely used, only when 836 is down for repairs.