FCA Jefferson North Assembly Plant logistics hub expansion

[MiddleMI]

This is months old - the initial demolition happened back in June - but I didn't see a discussion of it on here. This sits at the end of the Detroit Terminal East Industrial Track on the far east side:

A large portion of the century-old former Budd Wheel plant on Detroit's east side was imploded early Saturday morning to expand a new vehicle shipping logistics hub adjacent to FCA US LLC's Jefferson North Assembly Plant.

Crown Enterprises Inc., the real estate development arm of billionaire trucking mogul Manuel "Matty" Moroun's companies, had two sections of the old factory totaling 300,000 square feet blown up at 6:30 a.m. as part of the demolition of the entire 2.1 million-square-foot factory.

Matthew Moroun, president of his family's logistics and shipping company, said Crown Enterprises tore down the building to make room for more Fiat Chrysler vehicles to be stored and shipped by truck or rail on an adjacent Norfolk Southern rail yard.

Fiat Chrysler will be able to expand car shipping at the facility for vehicles not only assembled at Jefferson North, but other plants in the region, Moroun said.

I believe the name of this yard is Mack Yard. Anyone been by to see how much more of the plant is still standing? Apparently, it was to be brought down in phases.

[AARR]

Up to a 130 auto racks a day are shipped from Mack Yard. It's a busy place.

[M.D.Bentley]

Oh Boy ! Tis a CONRAIL yard . Luv the fact checkers.

[detroitbench]

I work here and once completed, by the end of the year, the Budd Yard lot will be FCA’s main yard hub increasing from 3,000-10,000 cars onsite. Expect Conrail traffic to increase dramatically over the next few months on this sub.

[David Lang]

What railroad currently handles FCA traffic when Conrail hands it off?

I assume currently all the FCA autoracks are taken across the CN Mt. Clemens sub, but where do they go from there?

Thanks.

David Lang

[detroitbench]

They go from Mack to Sterling yard before heading to the North Yard to build a manifest to NS Fort Wayne and other areas. I’m sure some people here will have more details than that though, just my basic knowledge.

[MiddleMI]

Shot in the dark, but do you have any idea how many tracks they are being planned/constructed on the Budd site?

[detroitbench]

Shot in the dark, but do you have any idea how many tracks they are being planned/constructed on the Budd site?

0 tracks are being added to the Budd Yard, infact the existing tracks that previously went into the now demolished buildings were all taken out/paved over. Ever car entering/exiting Budd is hauled or convoyed. It’s anyones guess how the new volume will be handled by rail, but my best guess is that train frequency with increase drastically. JNAP is FCA’s crown jewel, and pumping out units like never before seen. Once the new yard comes online things are going to be crazy and I expect rail to follow suit.

[MiddleMI]

Shot in the dark, but do you have any idea how many tracks they are being planned/constructed on the Budd site?

0 tracks are being added to the Budd Yard, infact the existing tracks that previously went into the now demolished buildings were all taken out/paved over. Ever car entering/exiting Budd is hauled or convoyed. It’s anyones guess how the new volume will be handled by rail, but my best guess is that train frequency with increase drastically. JNAP is FCA’s crown jewel, and pumping out units like never before seen. Once the new yard comes online things are going to be crazy and I expect rail to follow suit.

So then this is a just a truck yard being added/expanded on the site of the demolished factory?

[detroitbench]

Shot in the dark, but do you have any idea how many tracks they are being planned/constructed on the Budd site?

0 tracks are being added to the Budd Yard, infact the existing tracks that previously went into the now demolished buildings were all taken out/paved over. Ever car entering/exiting Budd is hauled or convoyed. It’s anyones guess how the new volume will be handled by rail, but my best guess is that train frequency with increase drastically. JNAP is FCA’s crown jewel, and pumping out units like never before seen. Once the new yard comes online things are going to be crazy and I expect rail to follow suit.

So then this is a just a truck yard being added/expanded on the site of the demolished factory?

Confirmed.

[blueheron13]

They go from Mack to Sterling yard before heading to the North Yard to build a manifest to NS Fort Wayne and other areas. I’m sure some people here will have more details than that though, just my basic knowledge.

Just wanted to add that I frequently see trains pulling autoracks from Mack Yard to CP Bonita (this is the junction where the Terminal East Industrial Track, Sterling Secondary, and North Yard Branch all meet). Sometimes a train will go north past McNichols, then shove back into North Yard. Other times the train will simply continue north all the way to Sterling Yard. It may depend on which yard has the room at the time, I'm not sure. Lately if a train is on the Terminal East in the late morning, it has had a NY-7 symbol. If in the late afternoon or early evening, it has had a NY-21 or FD-21 symbol. I don't know if Conrail typically runs trains on the Terminal East at night or not.

Regardless of whether the cars are brought to Sterling Yard or North Yard, eventually they depart south on trains NS 121, NS 171, or NS 31M. 121 and 171 leave the region on the Detroit District (the old Wabash Line), while 31M leaves on the Detroit Line toward Toledo.