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Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 3:26 pm
by DaveO
Moving production to Grand Rapids.
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/ ... 095674002/
Looks like the last couple miles of the CSX West Detroit Branch are endangered.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 4:02 pm
by AARR
Although I've been told there are 7 customers on this line in recent years I've only seen cars for two and several spurs were either disconnected or torn out
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 4:34 pm
by DaveO
It appears to me from the google image that only Coca Cola and the scrap metal place on Grand River are active customers.
A couple other spurs are intact but look decidedly unused.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 6:04 pm
by Steve B
Opened in 1943. I suppose it used to get boxcars, then hoppers of sugar before the switch to corn syrup circa 1984.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 9:29 am
by KenB
Actually Detroit Coke Cola never had rail service until they started getting corn syrup. They would get liquid sugar from Flo-Sweet who had a terminal at Detroit Harbor Terminals. When they got their first corn cars the Chessie just parked them on the main line. When the company got happy with the arrangement they put some money into the unloading system and a cover over it and Chessie System arranged the track so they could get around the cars, the trackage that is in place today (see Goggle maps). A few years ago CSXT did major track work on this line.
With Coke gone there will be only one active customer, scrap yard by W. Chicago. Too bad. Used to have many customers but with the de-industrialision of Detroit and the auto plants useing "just in time" delivery of auto parts there is no need for railroad.
CSXT unsually runs Tuesday and Friday on this line.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 10:38 am
by LansingRailFan
The Grand Rapids facility transloads their corn syrup at the CSX yard
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 10:57 am
by ConrailDetroit
KenB wrote: ↑Thu Aug 12, 2021 9:29 am
Actually Detroit Coke Cola never had rail service until they started getting corn syrup. They would get liquid sugar from Flo-Sweet who had a terminal at Detroit Harbor Terminals. When they got their first corn cars the Chessie just parked them on the main line. When the company got happy with the arrangement they put some money into the unloading system and a cover over it and Chessie System arranged the track so they could get around the cars, the trackage that is in place today (see Goggle maps). A few years ago CSXT did major track work on this line.
With Coke gone there will be only one active customer, scrap yard by W. Chicago. Too bad. Used to have many customers but with the de-industrialision of Detroit and the auto plants useing "just in time" delivery of auto parts there is no need for railroad.
CSXT unsually runs Tuesday and Friday on this line.
Still during the day? Last word was on duty at 4pm. Have not observed CSX running on the branch in a few years now
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 5:42 pm
by penn central
The Detroit plant also supplied the Coke plant in Flint when it was a bottling plant i used to haul tanker loads of Coke syrup from the tank car transload at Coke in Detroit to the plant in Flint in 1996.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 12:39 am
by Steve B
1949 and 1961 DTE aerial views possibly show freight cars at the Coke plant. Or maybe they were other structures.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 1:12 pm
by M.D.Bentley
Maybe, if they put the wye at Fullerton back in, Conrail could handle the rest of the traffic.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 1:34 pm
by AARR
I'll bet a short line could build traffic back up. It would compliment Detroit Connecting operations nicely IMO.
M.D.Bentley wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 1:12 pm
Maybe, if they put the wye at Fullerton back in, Conrail could handle the rest of the traffic.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 10:35 pm
by Steve B
Maybe thyssenkrupp (it's lowercase all over their website) Steel Services a block past Coke could use some direct rail service.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2021 5:15 am
by AARR
About 10 years ago or maybe a little longer CSX was delivering coil steel cars to someone on the line. I never found out where they went but it amounted to 5-10 cars a week.
Steve B wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 10:35 pm
Maybe thyssenkrupp (it's lowercase all over their website) Steel Services a block past Coke could use some direct rail service.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2021 5:13 pm
by M.D.Bentley
Coil steel to Thyssenkrupp.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2021 6:29 pm
by AARR
I don't see any signs of a spur at the building. Do you know where they unloaded it?
M.D.Bentley wrote: ↑Mon Aug 16, 2021 5:13 pm
Coil steel to Thyssenkrupp.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2021 3:03 pm
by M.D.Bentley
Cars spotted on track next to building, unloaded by crane, moved by BIG hi-low, cars moved by track mobile. 10 years sound about right. They were hoping to save money by using rail. Turned out to be to slow for their needs.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2021 3:34 pm
by AARR
Thank you MD
M.D.Bentley wrote: ↑Tue Aug 17, 2021 3:03 pm
Cars spotted on track next to building, unloaded by crane, moved by BIG hi-low, cars moved by track mobile. 10 years sound about right. They were hoping to save money by using rail. Turned out to be to slow for their needs.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 8:07 am
by Manistique
Speaking of Detroit Connecting, yes a line like this would have fit into their operations nicely. A lot of small urban lines in Detroit would. But for some reason it isn't easy to get the big lines to sell or contract with them.
DCON has a Pepsi plant right across the Dequindre Street at the end of its line at Mack Avenue but has never been able to talk them into getting rail service, which could be done from their mainline or with a spur into the plant across the street.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 8:27 am
by AARR
I've wondered the same thing. There is also a sizeable scrap yard across from the Pepsi plant that doesn't ship by rail but could easily from DCON's mainline.
Manistique wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 8:07 am
DCON has a Pepsi plant right across the Dequindre Street at the end of its line at Mack Avenue but has never been able to talk them into getting rail service, which could be done from their mainline or with a spur into the plant across the street.
Re: Coca Cola closing Detroit plant.
Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 8:31 am
by LansingRailFan
Manistique wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 8:07 am
Speaking of Detroit Connecting, yes a line like this would have fit into their operations nicely. A lot of small urban lines in Detroit would. But for some reason it isn't easy to get the big lines to sell or contract with them.
DCON has a Pepsi plant right across the Dequindre Street at the end of its line at Mack Avenue but has never been able to talk them into getting rail service, which could be done from their mainline or with a spur into the plant across the street.
ADM has a transload in Battle Creek on NS and Pepsi gets all of their HFCS from that transload and trucked to Howell or Detroit.