Hudsonville siding well car storage

[Sage79]

It looks like CSX doesn't plan on enough traffic to need the Hudsonville MI siding any time soon since they've got a bunch of well cars stored there. What's the story with those cars? Just an available storage spot? Forgive me if this has come up before, I searched but didn't see anything.

[Super Chief]

Same thing happened on BNSF during the 2009 recession, the entire Monticello Mn. branch was filled with well cars along I-94 west of Minneapolis.

[SD80MAC]

Just a place to store cars. Hudsonville is not used for meets very often anyway, it has somewhat busy crossings bisecting it as well. Wyoming yard is also stuffed with well cars, as is Gross.

[chapmaja]

My guess is that Hudsonville siding became pretty well unneeded when the CP traffic stopped flowing over CSX and the eastern coal stopped going to West Olive via Grand Rapids.

I know when CP was running trains I witnessed a few meets, but once that traffic stopped it cut a bunch of trains off the line. The loss of eastern coal over the line further diminished the need for meets at this location.

Brighton siding has met the same fate off an on over the years. Used to see meets on this section, now I wonder when the last meet was at this location.

[rob]

Just a place to store cars. Hudsonville is not used for meets very often anyway, it has somewhat busy crossings bisecting it as well. Wyoming yard is also stuffed with well cars, as is Gross.

The car in hudsonville are the car from gross.they moved them to work on gross. Both switch and the main line rail are to be replaced.

Rob

[MSchwiebert]

Last time I was down that way, CSX had a bunch of spine cars in the east siding at Hamler OH. The usage of that siding declined significantly when the A&B stopped sending grain trains to CSX destinations and when Anderson's in Metamora both went to the new CSX program where power stays with the train (I&O crews pick up the northbound empties at Cairo Ohio and take them to Metamora for loading. Loads are handed back off to CSX at Cairo) and sending some grain via a I&O/W&LE routing (via Lima) to an ethanol plant near Coshocton OH.