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Decatur Elevator
Posted: Wed May 13, 2020 8:19 am
by Super Chief
Since there has been no unit grain trains from this facility in quite a while I assume the goverment has padlocked it? Since the farmers that owned it are awaiting their fate with the bankruptcy court? Amtraks had clear sailing thru this area as the freight on this end has all but vanished. I would imagine the 2 trackmobiles are also locked up inside?
Re: Decatur Elevator
Posted: Wed May 13, 2020 8:37 am
by AARR
Welch's still gets a little service. Are there any other active customers left?
Super Chief wrote:Amtraks had clear sailing thru this area as the freight on this end has all but vanished.
Re: Decatur Elevator
Posted: Wed May 13, 2020 8:41 am
by DaveO
Northstar Grain in Decatur was purchased by Cargill during 2013. Is that the place you're talking about?
Re: Decatur Elevator
Posted: Wed May 13, 2020 9:42 am
by Super Chief
Yes thats it. Must be no crops or contracts as there is absolutely no activity last 6 months. No trucks in town or at the facility.
Re: Decatur Elevator
Posted: Wed May 13, 2020 3:22 pm
by NS3322
Is this a correct listing of customers between Porter and Lawton?
Re: Decatur Elevator
Posted: Wed May 13, 2020 4:20 pm
by DaveO
I read a news article that said they could load 50 cars under the previous owner/criminal.
Cargill was going to make it capable of loading 75 cars.
Going from the google aerial image, it appears that Decatur could load 100-110 cars.
I went looking for nearby Cargill locations. They have several on the NS mainline including one of those modern loop loaders at Milford Junction, Indiana.
It's a 55 mile drive from Decatur to Milford Junction. Would that be a reasonable drive from Decatur?
Re: Decatur Elevator
Posted: Wed May 13, 2020 7:08 pm
by AARR
Ameriwood closed recently IIRC. All the Niles customers no longer ship by rail IIRC. Co-Alliances and Welch are the only active customers at this time. Things might change again in the future.
NS3322 wrote:Is this a correct listing of customers between Porter and Lawton?
nscustomers.PNG
Re: Decatur Elevator
Posted: Wed May 13, 2020 8:36 pm
by NS3322
AARR wrote:Ameriwood closed recently IIRC. All the Niles customers no longer ship by rail IIRC. Co-Alliances and Welch are the only active customers at this time. Things might change again in the future.
NS3322 wrote:Is this a correct listing of customers between Porter and Lawton?
nscustomers.PNG
Thanks for the response!
The Ameriwood facility in Dowagiac is being repurposed into a distribution center. Although, it is doubtful they will use rail service.
Re: Decatur Elevator
Posted: Wed May 13, 2020 11:24 pm
by GP30M4216
How do Amtrak ballast hoppers get to the MofW base at Niles? Do they arrive on B05, or do they come to Amtrak from the east someplace since Amtrak now maintains the Michigan Line east of Kzoo?
Re: Decatur Elevator
Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 7:48 am
by Super Chief
The Burns Harbor job brings them to Niles. One time caught them in Michigan City sitting in the siding with a whole train of Herzog ballast hoppers. That was when they were laying down a lot of ballast. They position them for Amtrak at Lawton too and then Amtrak uses their truck/loco where needed.