Coal for Kodak

Let's steer it back to the topic at hand- coal deliveries to Kodak...

-otto-

Bottom line is that Kodak Park will be getting smaller and smaller as they phase out domestic film manufacturing. Sooner or later it will no longer be economical to make film in Rochester. This means that there will be less incoming raw materials and need to burn coal - ergo, less rail traffic.

All of Kodak's digital products are being manufactured where cheap labor can be found (i.e., China, Mexico, Malaysia, etc...). What will remain of Kodak Park will likely be logistical functions (distributing, warehousing, etc... - which could mean incoming container traffic from overseas - think intermodal facility), light manufacturing, sales, R&D and executive stuff.

Well, film production at Kodak directly affects incoming traffic to the KPRR. It's good to have an understanding of the customer's business to understand how it affects the flow of rail traffic. Kodak is probably the largest rail customer in Rochester. A significant drop in inbound loads of raw materials and coal will have a direct impact on local rail operations. With Kodak Park being downsized for the foreseeable future - it will mean a drop in rail traffic being interchanged with the KPRR. Not off-topic at all, IMHO.

Don't be too quick to cry "off topic!" the second a message doesn't talk about railroads. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes that directly and indirectly affects the local rail scene.

Well the question is that if Kodak moves out of Rochester in the near future, what will happen to the CSX (ex. NYC) Charlotte Branch and/or the R&S Charlotte Branch (ex. B&O ex. BR&P)?

Kodak may be gone within the next 10 years. According to a reliable source who still works for Kodak (29 years +), the main headquarters is still Kodak Park, but much of the designing, marketing, and manufacturing is done elsewhere (China, Japan, Mexico, Atlanta, GA, etc.)

The R&S track was laid by the BR&P to reach the Charlotte Dock where the BR&P had its coal yard and transfered its coal and some passengers to the steamboats that transported the coal and passengers to Canada. (Note: I am trying to keep the post on topic by not getting into the nitty gritty of coal in the past...if one wants the nitty gritty, please read Coal to Canada by Ted Rafuse). That coal facility and traffic closed in the 1970's. By the R&S creation in 1986, the only reason for the line was to supply coal to Rochester area businesses (mainly Kodak).

The NYC track was laid to Charlotte for three main reasons. Number one to link to the steam vessels in Charlotte. Note the Charlotte NYC station held a rare honor of being a link to the steamboats and the trains. This can be easily understood by looking at the station today and seeing the freight doors on both sides of the building. Number two to serve its new amusement park and Charlotte beach. Number three to link with the RW&O. Well the NYC station has long lost its importance when passenger and freight traffic became limited or non existant. The Ontario Beach Park as it was known closed its real amusement rides more than 50 years ago. The RW&O trackage was abandoned in the 1970's and removed in the 1990's. So, just like the R&S the only reason for the trackage was to serve Rochester area businesses (mainly Kodak).

For you interested folks, here are some links to some webs sites of interest:

Ontario Beach Park:
http://www.vintageviews.org/vv-r/parks/ ... ch.html#pc

NYC and B&O in the 1960's:

http://www.alpharail.net/histpix/rochester.htm

To respond to a few of the earlier questions,
I believe but can not confirm that the "river" coal is Powder River Coal, which is hard coal and alot lower sulfer content. The "major" coal does come from Pa.. The film market Kodak is getting out of is the retail pubic stuff. The stuff you or I would buy to snap a shot of that great new UP paint sceme. Digital has by far taken over the ametuer market. Kodak still plans to produce high quality profession film and motion pic. film. There's also no way digtal will replace photographic paper. The general public still likes to hold, display, photo's no mater what format took the shot. Even tho production of disposable cameras, digital cameras, and some films have moved to Mexico, China. Film development has been centraliozed to a Pa. plant. Kodak is still receiving about 60 % of the car loads it received prior. (not counting the coal) so some fairly exstensive production is still taking place here in Roch.. On one day last month (August) I delivered 43 cars of misc. frieght. the average nightly run would be between 2 - 10 cars. Kodak has too much invested in the Rochester facility to dump it all.

Oh yes, local crews refer to the siding track along the east side of the Charlotte Running track, south of Ridge rd. as the "old way". Considering the history we're hearing about here. Was this at one time part of the original ROW which was used to service Kodak back then?

I can't say how it was constructed when first built, but you're right. The siding to the west of the main was a normal run-around. On heavy nights, the Second Belt would set cars on the west side, then set more on the main. They would then use the Old Way to run around to the south end, and double the other 2 tracks together to take back to the yard.

The south end of the Old Way was a crossover from the main into the Old Way itself. In other words, a train coming north could pull past the switch, then back directly down the Old Way itself. So Roadster, if you went south on the Old Way runaround you would have to pull PAST the switch, then back northward out on the main. Or continue into the Old Way itself. I'm assuming that with removal of the branch, the runaround portion of the Old Way now has a "normal" switch at the south end, allowing a movement southward onto the main, just like the west siding?

There were several other tracks in the area. Back when both the Old Way and the west siding crossed Ridge Road, there was a switch off the west siding just north of the Ridge Road crossing. This led to Little Ridge Team Track, used by Miller Brick to transload bricks before they had their own siding on the B&O (now R&S). Where the Kodak parking lot is, east of the main north of the Kodak switch, was Flower City Lumber, trailing point northbound on the east side. And between Burger King and the tracks there was a siding which had something to do with gas or oil - it was out of service by my time, but the remains of the track were still there and there was a gas station immediately east of the crossing.

Yes, the south end of the "Old Way" now re-enters the "main" Charlotte Runner about 3-4 hundred ft south of the Kodak Park RR underpass. We use it as a runaround when there are too many cars to utilize the passing siding (West track). Normal practice is to shove the cars up the main the runaround them, tie on and head south.