Posted by dtslman on 12/15/2013, 2:26 pm, in reply to "Re: GM Hamtramck update"
50.33.165.83
A little history. When they were originally constructing this plant in the mid-1980's I happened to work some of the jobs that brought in the welded rail, which was welded at the GTW's welded rail plant then in existence in Battle Creek, MI. Believe it or not, the connection to the GTW to enable the GTW to bring the rail into the plant was originally hooked-up to the trackage on the east side of the Milwaukee Jct. roundhouse (the Inbound Fuel Track). The viaduct over Hamtramck Drive had not yet been constructed at that time.
Interestingly, as the rail was laid and the track completed, Conrail also built their own lead into the B.O.C. Plant from the east side with the intention of building a grade crossing over Mt. Elliott. Shortly before the yard and plant opened, the GTW had discussions with Conrail and while I can honestly say that I do not know the terms of the discussion, the net result was that Conrails new lead and trackage was dismantled! At this point, the GTW was to assume ALL switching within the confines of B.O. C. Yard!
Now I have to take exception to one thing that Mr. Borg stated. Before the plant opened there were two completed tracks built within the plant, which ran from the north side of the plant through to the south. Each was accessible from either side. Each track was built in a "well" and had a concrete dock on each side. Shortly before the plant opened it was apparently decided that ALL parts for automotive production would arrive via truck and a contractor was brought in and filled each of the wells with sand and then paved over the rails with concrete. Thus, the trucks would drive into the plant from one side and exit from the other. Special semis designed for off-loading from each side were utilized. If you were to dig down, the welded rail is still inside the plant! To this day, not a single carload of autoparts has ever entered that plant!
Now about the coal. When the plant first opened and I was on the very first job to switch the plant, we brought the coal in in hoppers. This lasted for several years. Then GM decided that if the coal arrived by truck, the driver could dump the load himself. The rail operation required two UAW employees; but only one was necessary for coal received by truck. Thus the receipt of coal by rail stopped and NEVER returned...even though the freight rates on coal by rail was cheaper. Interestingly, the coal, which used to come from southern Ohio was trucked directly from the mine. The mine was served by the Ohio Central Railroad and they would have loved to have retained this additional business. When the B.O.C. Plant was first constructed the nearby Chevrolet Gear & Axle and Forge Plants had their own boiler house, which provided the steam to serve their own plants. When the new B.O.C. Plant was opened after a year or so, a piped was constructed running from the B.O.C. operation to Gear and Axle and this allowed them to dismantle the G&A boiler house. This operation was later acquired by American Axle and the entire production facility was shut-down and ALL railroad track within the Gear & Axle facility was dismantled too.
At times when changes were made within the plant gons would be furnished for scrap loading by contractors to remove outdated machinery. Aside from tri-levels, these were the only other cars ever loaded (or unloaded) at this facility.
In closing, before the B.O. C. Plant first opened, the GTW envisioned that it was going to have at least two crews per shift switching that facility. Because the GTW never had the parts business, at the very best one engine for a part of each shift switching the ramps was the most business that the GTW ever had within the plants confines.
Lastly, as I was on the first job that ever switched that plant and I also had the distinction of working the last CN assignment, which pulled the last of the storage cars out of B.O.C. Yard.
In my opinion, operations Never materialized for the railroad the way they imagined and truthfully, I don't thing that they ever have for GM either! Just saying...
Posted by Ron on 12/15/2013, 7:24 pm, in reply to "Re: GM Hamtramck update"
98.209.192.37
I can add a couple notes to this also.
Back when it was being constructed I was working as a supervisor in Lansing.
I was asked to get all of the information I could about the Conrail track between Jackson and Lansing.
I spent three or four days driving up and down through there and talking with the businesses there about the number of cars they handled each year. I measured the industry tracks lenghts from the swith points to their gates or property lines.
The Trainmaster in Lansing got together some figures for the amount of traffic Conrail was getting from Oldsmobile, and together we sent our information to Detroit.
We were told that the GTW was going to offer up the BOC Hamtramck Plant to Conrail in exchange for the Jackson - Lansing trackage.
I never heard any details, but one day it was dropped and GTW was going to get BOC Hamtramck.
Also those two tracks that looped around the huge plant and entered it from each side were connected. It was designed to have an engine pull in one side right through the plant and cut away from the cars and leave out the other end.
At least that was my understanding and all the maps of the complex showed it that way. I will agree though that there was never any loads of auto parts spotted in that plant.
There was a lot of money spent on rail structure that was never used. And the whole yard was built on a curve. And access to the BOC Yard was via that bridge over Hamtramck Drive. A derailment on that bridge, a couple did happen, would cause many problems because most of the crews going on and off duty left their locomotives inside the BOC Yard.
The GTW did get a lot of automobile loads out of there.
Ron