An asphalt/petroleum terminal was in Elberta starting around 1992 until around 2004 using land where the old ferry staging yard was located. Petroleum products was shipped from Indiana and stored there. It was a large storage terminal capable of storing 268,000 barrels of product IIRC. Maybe that would make more sense than a refinery. It's timing would make more sense and although traffic would be less it still could be substantial enough to justify keeping the line open.
It'd be nice to have another large shipper in Elberta to go with an asphalt customer. Canning plant perhaps? I couldn't realistically convert the log yard into a major customer since all the product came from MI locations.
The sand pit in Harlan is still there but unused since the 1980's. The equipment sat there for many years but I don't know if it's still there. However, Sargant's is operating a sand pit around Ludington so reopening the one in Harlan is realistic. So are the car volumes.
The incinerator idea was considered however the trash was supposed to come from Green Bay by barge to Elberta then trucked to Thompsonville. I like my idea better.
What are your ideas to make this more fluid?
Steve B wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 5:41 pmSome interesting concepts! Though, I don't see how an oil refinery on the Elberta waterfront would have gotten approved on any government level. There indeed was a pulpwood loading operation there for a bit. I remember reading about the proposed incinerator and trash train to Thompsonville. However, your timeline might need adjusting a bit, since Frankfort-Thompsonville was ripped up in about 1994. The state called all the shots on the end of service up there; TSBY might have remained OK with the occasional trip to Frankfort but the state didn't want to maintain that long stretch anymore. Also, both 387 and 386 were unserviceable by the end of 1982 at the latest.AARR wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:27 pm...
The line from Yuma to Elberta was acquired in the late 1980's when TSBY abandoned it. It was pretty much dormant other than an occasional inspection ride until the late 1990s...oil refinery was built where the old ferry "staging yard" was in Elberta...387 was acquired after a wreck on TSBY in the late 1990's...