Just finished a book by Jerry Taylor, "A Sampling of Penn Central". I was wondering what has become of Buckeye & Big Four yards?
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Buckeye & Big Four Yards
- Discussion relating to the Penn Central, up until its 1976 inclusion in Conrail. Visit the Penn Central Railroad Historical Society for more information.
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Buckeye Yard was mothballed by NS a couple years ago. From what I could find online, it was useful for PC and Conrail but not so much for NS. With Bellevue to the north and Cincinnati to the south, those 2 yards can handle the NS traffic for Ohio.
Matt Langworthy
"It is highly likely that the 1990s were an overrated decade."
"It is highly likely that the 1990s were an overrated decade."
At a meeting during the early days of Conrail, someone posed a legitimate question, "What 's Buckeye's primary function?" (You know, like Whiskey Island is coal (and Frontier is snow.))
The answer, given by a knowledgeable operating guy, was, "It keeps Conway from bumping into Avon." Catching his humorous tone, someone else volunteered, "Buckeye is our main source of hump-damaged cabins." [Not factually supportable; we could get hump-damaged cabooses virtually anywhere.]
The point is that Buckeye's usefulness was questioned even at the beginning of Conrail.
Additionally, I suspect Buckeye's value was questioned even before Conrail because the managers at the meeting were pretty much all former Penn Central men. The significant thing to me is that these Conrail managers were not former Penn Central managers, but mostly Penn Central operating personnel.
The answer, given by a knowledgeable operating guy, was, "It keeps Conway from bumping into Avon." Catching his humorous tone, someone else volunteered, "Buckeye is our main source of hump-damaged cabins." [Not factually supportable; we could get hump-damaged cabooses virtually anywhere.]
The point is that Buckeye's usefulness was questioned even at the beginning of Conrail.
Additionally, I suspect Buckeye's value was questioned even before Conrail because the managers at the meeting were pretty much all former Penn Central men. The significant thing to me is that these Conrail managers were not former Penn Central managers, but mostly Penn Central operating personnel.
Just a minor note:
Whiskey Island handled iron ore / taconite on the Dock (site of the Huletts) and Salt from the mine, not coal.
The PRR Cleveland Coal Dock was east of the River and was abandoned in favor of Ashtabula and Sandusky long before the PC merger.
Whiskey Island handled iron ore / taconite on the Dock (site of the Huletts) and Salt from the mine, not coal.
The PRR Cleveland Coal Dock was east of the River and was abandoned in favor of Ashtabula and Sandusky long before the PC merger.
Minor point perhaps, but important to keep the record straight. Thanks, Shel.
(I did get the Frontier thing right, though.)
Todd
(I did get the Frontier thing right, though.)
Todd