Turntable on the SS?

My best guess is that it carried loads from the former USS Cyclone fence plant into the far south end of the scrap yard - check it out on google earth. That cyclone fence plant is now centerpoint property, with mostly steel coil processing facilities, but once was a part of Pressed Steel Car Co.

As far as the refer repair shop, that might make sense for the transfer table - it appears to be at the southeast end of the yard, and the short length and light construction would lend itself to moving something like a boxcar or refer. I'm still puzzled by this whole setup though.

Tadman wrote:Here you go - in the morning sun book, page 79 top, there is a 1949 pic of 802 sitting near a transfer table at the burnham yard. Now I'm really perplexed - we've proved there was a transfer table for sure, but it only has trucks at the ends of the table - usually transfer tables have trucks every five feet, to better distribute the weight. Nothing other than a caboose, trailer, or maybe an MU could be moved on the table - no 800's or 700's. Further, what use is a transfer table without a shop building nearby? I've only seen pics of them outside shops and railcar factories, never in a yard as a stand-alone.

The plot thickens...

Go back and look at page 79 again. The caption that refers to Burnham Yard is for the photo on page 78. The photo caption for the transfer table photo is the second caption. That transfer table in the photo is (was) in the MC Yard. Nowhere in any of my trackplans does it show a transfer table at Burnham Yard.

hmmm...

I don't know if I feel more like Indiana Jones when the hot chick turns out to be nazi or the Big Lebowski when someone spills his white russian.

Crumbs. Thought we had that one figured out.

Thanks for the heads-up anyway.

Well, another mystery solved. We've still got that mystery track at Burnham to work on though.

I took a look around while I was at Hegewisch. It looks like the track headed up in front for where BK is now, then crossed Brainard & Burnham Ave almost directly in the intersection. I do believe there is still a gap in the scrap yard fence that lines up with where the track was.

We know it didn't go into IHB yard, as powderhorn lake is in the way.

Perhaps it curved and tied into the current rail access to the scrap yard?

Tadman wrote:dinwitty: I mean the burnham yard on CSS, not others - it appears the xfer table was on the south side of CSS right of way, east end of yard. Your pic appears to be NW/NKP ROW at the SCS interlocker. Also, your photo appears to show three crossed lines under that SD45 - on is obviously NKP, one is SCS(PRR), one is ____??? You can see CSS wires in the background btw. Great pic.

With regards to heavy overhaul at burnham, I don't think CSS ever had a building of any sort there. I can't imagine what the xfer table did. In the morning sun photo, it's very light-duty looking.

yeh, the pic is just an inspiration of the railroads around burnham and some of the crazy trackwork that goes on.

I have the CERA book which has a full track diagram with early map references. I also photocopied topographical maps of the South Shore.

It shows the Kensington turntable on the cera maps.

the only transfer table was at the shops, a mini one combined with a mini turntable, to work on trucks, park a car over the transfer table, disconnect the truck, shift it over, shove it to the turntable, turn it and run it into the shops.
pic in CERA book shows this with an 800 parked in front of it.

Earlier today, I spoke with I friend of mine that works the NS's cummings drawbridge. I thinks that mystery line is a spur of off the C&WI to the cyclone plant.

that makes sense. I think they use IHB now to switch the cyclone plant. Current customers include Macsteel Midwest Div., Macsteel Processing Div., Transload Services. I've been in most of those buildings in the last few years.