New B&P Activity in Orchard Park

B&P is once again using the 3rd sub in Orchard Park again, storing brand new 4 bay hoppers on the line. There are currently 2 strings of cars, parked on both sides of Ellis Rd. extending south to around the 219 overpass and North to around the Taylor Rd. entrance to the MAC center. First activity of any kind since the last 84 Lumber load ~Early 2015. The vegetation/small tress that had started growing in the ROW have all been cleared extending further South on Taylor Rd. which leads me to an educated guess that there might be even more coming.

It will be interesting to see which happens first: graffiti vandals painting the cars, or NIMBY's bee-itching about them being there.

BR&P wrote: ↑Sun Jun 27, 2021 6:00 pm It will be interesting to see which happens first: graffiti vandals painting the cars, or NIMBY's bee-itching about them being there.

Hopefully any NIMBY's crying about the railroad using it's own ROW for revenue will get a cheese platter to go with their whine!

I was told some time ago that car storage fees were $10/day/car for the specific RR. Does this seem to be a norm all over?

Sounds high - I have heard more like $1 or $2 per day per car. But I'm sure there are many factors that cause the precise rate to go up or down, including location, security of the location, how quickly the cars can be retrieved, etc.

Right on cue, B&P brought another string of cars down to OP. The line now stretches over Southwestern Boulevard and extends north to somewhere in between Milestrip Rd. and Southwestern. Tried to look through the buildings/trees along California Rd. but could not get an exact location on where the string now ends. Could definitely see them bringing more cars down as there's still plenty of room, Friday seems to be their day of choice for these moves.

Just to keep tabs on the status of this storage operation, about a month back more cars were shoved down to OP. This cut now extends South along California Rd, over the Milestrip Rd bridge, and further North over the Abbott Rd bridge, ending somewhere between there and South of the Lake Ave. crossing. Another cut is shoved up to the north side of Lake Ave, and this extends quite a bit farther north as well, as cars sit on the overpass on the 90 in Lackawanna and extend North past there. Taking an educated guess, this cut is probably severed at Willet Rd. as well on both sides of the crossing. Seen here is the Milestrip bridge in OP taken 8/26/21. I'll continue getting photo documentation of these cars further North in the next week or so.

I had not noticed this thread until today. Last week, I was driving down in the Blasdell area on Willet Rd and was surprised to see all these cars. They split the cars at Willet so as not to block it. I thought that was unusual to have all those cars there but I'm not down in the area very much. The next day I was on the I-90 and saw more cars on the overpass. Personally, I'd love too have them in my back yard. Hope they stay for a while just to change the appearence.

Speaking of storage, all the piggyback cars on the Gardenville Line have been removed. I've been "out of service" for a couple of months so I have no idea when they were moved.

Here's a shot of the cars over Abbott Rd taken 9/3/21. Might poke around and see where this cut ends next week since it doesn't appear to be visible from the south at the Lake Ave. crossing.

SST wrote: ↑Sun Aug 29, 2021 7:40 am

These I believe were moved in the spring/ early summer. Other storage on the Gardenville line doesn't seem to be imminent, not entirely sure but I believe there are concrete blocks right in the gauge of these tracks to prevent ATVs from driving in it.

I'll have to take a look back there. There was power line and tower construction back there at GJ for awhile. There was concrete blocks there back then. Without a perfect view from Rt400, it looks clear but can't tell further up towards the switch. Visitation is needed. Something to do.

Where are these cars being manufactured and who are the customer(s)??
How many are in storage including the old Beth. Steel plant?

From what I've gathered these are being built at NSC in Hamilton and coming to Buffalo via CP. They're being manufactured and stored here for a new Shell plastics plant being built in Monaca, PA to be completed sometime in 2022. These are being stored all over the area, in Orchard Park/Lackawanna, down in the siding on the Buffalo line in South Wales, and even down in Ashford Jct. Another storage move of these cars went South out of Buffalo to Ashford just yesterday. There's at least a few hundred of these cars scattered in B&P territory, rough estimate. I've heard other shortlines in PA are being paid to store these as well.

More plastics that can't be recycled.................

bkrizzle19 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 10:54 am There's at least a few hundred of these cars scattered in B&P territory, rough estimate. I've heard other shortlines in PA are being paid to store these as well.

Last week, I could swear I saw some of the same type of covered hoppers stored on the WNYP just west of Cuba Jct, but it was from a distance and I was driving.