72 hour challenge "Unique Industrial Sidings" ending Monday 18th June 2007

[Colonel]

1. All challenges close at 12 midnight (24:00 hours) Eastern Standard Time on Monday 18th June 2007, and will be noted with a "Time's up!" post within the thread.
2. Please use the challenge as a motive to take a new photograph rather than using a photograph that you have taken in the past.
3. Challenges are open to everyone, have fun!!
4. Though not required, commenting on other peoples pictures is encouraged.
5. Only one image per participant so please choose the image carefully.
6. Any posts with images taken before the commencement of the challenge will be deleted.
7. For photos to be eligible they must be taken between the 15th and 18th June 2007.
8. Ensure dates and times on your camera are correct.
9. See All time Challenge Topic (http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=87660)

[Grey One]

I love the challenge and it truly is a challenge for two reasons:
1) What would make a siding unique?
2) Where do I find one?
3) Can I get there and how?

[THarms77]

Hmmmmm.....This is going to take some thought. After a month hiatus, I hope I can find something.

Tim

[MRL]

This will be a challenge. Interesting, hmmmmm let me think.

[r_i_straw]

Gentlemen, and any ladies out there, start you cameras. Verrrroomm....:shade:

[Grey One]

"Verrrroomm"? Yours goes "Verrrroomm"?
Very cool! What brand of camera is it? :)

[NSFan14]

"Verrrroomm"? Yours goes "Verrrroomm"?
Very cool! What brand of camera is it? :)
HAHAHAHA!!! Thats funny!

[Mr. Train]

This is kind of like playing poker "I am out but watching the action" carry on:shade:

[friscobob]

Gentlemen, and any ladies out there, start you cameras. Verrrroomm....:shade:

A camera with a kick-start.......who made it-Harley Davidson? :D :D

[mikado]

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/June_16_07_18_.JPG

Tank cars in an industrial siding at a local potato chip company.

[Matthew Roberts]

Either a "Can-" or Nik-" "-on" or a "Pent-axe"?

:teeth:

[mikado]

How About a Code-aack or a Foo- Gee?

[Scott Stutzman]

Here's mine for this week.
A Carbon Dioxide distributor has it's siding in the middle of the Wye at Vancouver,Washington.
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/968/Carbon_Dioxide_unloading_facility.jpg

[Gats]

A camera with a kick-start.......who made it-Harley Davidson? :D :D

If it was, it'll probably fail you when you need to use it, and if you drop it you won't be able to pick it up without help...

Besides, the obligatory tassles get in the way of the lens in breezy situations! :D

[Colonel]

Good photos so far lets hope we get a lot more

[Tim Loutzenhiser]

Here's the switcher at Padnos Iron & Steel in Holland Michigan. The car behind the engine is on the scale track, where individual cars are weighed. Since it's Sunday, nothing is moving, but tomorrow, the CSX local, Y121, will drop by late in the day to pick up and drop off more gondolas.
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/519/P6170416a.JPG

[Grey One]

This picture was taken on impulse as Rrrr and I were walking to get the bus. I heard the train coming, whipped up my camera and snapped.
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/1113/Spur_of_the_Moment.jpg
It was 100 percent unplanned.

[r_i_straw]

This is the siding for the NALCO company. They make oil field lubricants and water treatment and process improvement services for various industries. The old abandoned Imperial Sugar refinery is in the background.
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/601/IMG_13811.JPG

[THarms77]

This is a siding serving the cold storage facilities in Rochelle IL. What's unique about this is the fact that both UP and BNSF serve these facilities. It's pretty amazing all the sidings in this small area to these facilities.
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/520/Rochelle_IL_6_17_07_003.jpg

[NSFan14]

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/1400/6-17-07_02_RL.JPG

WOW! This industrial siding looks rough!

[THarms77]

Hey NS Post 999 pretty cool!!! :)

[Colonel]

Excellent photographs guys I always worry that one day nobody will enter.

Thanks for all your efforts.

[Mr. Train]

Cool photo there T just goes to show there is more to that town then the park:thumbs_up:

[inch53]

Great photos so far but I'm going miss this one too, not much choice here close on sidings anymore
inch

[Alaska GP49]

I guess you can now consider this a siding. This used to be a branch line up through Lafayette and Erie, CO. I am not sure when the BN stopped running it as a branchline. The branch begins in Broomfield and winds its way to the East side of Lafayette. There are 3 businesses served off of this line. A lumber company, a truss manufacturer, and this shot, a gravel loading area. The company is TXI has their main facility off Hwy 93 and is served by the UP, Moffat line. It was costing too much to interchange cars with the BNSF so they built this area just behind the shop I work where I work. TXI trucks the light weigth aggregate to this site and use the conveyor (seen in the building on the left) to load it into the covered hoppers as needed. I was hoping they would load today to make the shot more interesting, but no such luck. Where TXI loads these cars is about as far as the tracks go now, thus making it a VERY long industrial siding.

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/TXI_1.JPG

[Grey One]

Excellent photographs guys I always worry that one day nobody will enter.

Thanks for all your efforts.

I would not have entered as I'm not close to any industrial trackage. I don't expect my pun entry to win but I do think a little levity couldn't hurt.

[SteamDonkey74]

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/ColumbiaBlvd.JPG

[Doug A.]

From the folks that brought you "bottled water", here we have an unloading facility for SACKS OF MUD!!!

OK, so it's really bentonite, a.k.a. "drilling mud", used for drilling oil and natural gas wells. But a very simple facility, located in a small town, that unloads boxcar after boxcar of this stuff--and has for decades.

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/651/bnsf_mud.jpg

[doofus]

Here is a look at some industrial trackage. And for Colonel, a switch in a paved street.

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/1432/2007_0717Gurnsey0025.JPG

[MRL]

A view into the Mitchell sugar factory.

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/2007_0716Mitchell_Sugar0013.JPG

[Colonel]

The challenge is now closed, excellent entrants everybody. I will post the poll shortly. I have also change the poll to one vote per member to stop any confusion.

[SteamDonkey74]

There's some nice sidings there. The track on most of these is definitely not mainline grade. You can see all the bumps and wiggles in the track.

[Grey One]

From the folks that brought you "bottled water", here we have an unloading facility for SACKS OF MUD!!!

OK, so it's really bentonite, a.k.a. "drilling mud", used for drilling oil and natural gas wells. But a very simple facility, located in a small town, that unloads boxcar after boxcar of this stuff--and has for decades.

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/651/bnsf_mud.jpg


I really liked and voted for this because it is an industry:
1) I have never seen
2) One I could model easily
3) I liked the title

Doug, is this a small siding or is it a larger facility? Can I get an idea of the layout from a Google Satalite image?

[NSFan14]

YEEE IM WINNING!!

[MOPMAN]

Wow! I don't know which is tougher, taking the shot or voting on one. This is one tough challange to vote on. Great work all of you.

[NSFan14]

Ok so when does the poll end?

[Doug A.]

It will seem like an eternity while you are ahead!!! :omg::teeth:

[Doug A.]

Doug, is this a small siding or is it a larger facility? Can I get an idea of the layout from a Google Satalite image?

Yes, I'd consider it a fairly small siding, although it dominates the small town in which it is located. The actual spur itself holds probably 8-10 cars max, but they store additional cars in the "yard" which is actually a single track, and at the end of the yard track they have another makeshift unloading ramp fashioned from an old flatbed trailer that allows them to unload two cars at a time. Between the spur and the yard track there are usually 6-12 cars at a time, and it seems like they get switched out weekly.

I agree it is a neat little industry and I am thinking about doing an article about it. It's kinda out in the middle of nowhere, so Google doesn't have good enough resolution yet to show anything useful. I'll try to post a thread about it soon so stay tuned. :shade:

[NSFan14]

It will seem like an eternity while you are ahead!!! :omg::teeth:
Just 6 more days :sad: I hope I win..:teeth:

[Doug A.]

I just wanted to add a comment (and bump) about how really cool these photos are! I wish this topic would have received more participation...maybe the "unique" part discouraged some. (actually, as I was out and about I kept thinking the topic was unusual sidings for some reason--I blame the beer*. So that didn't help my cause much!) But what you see everyday, while maybe not unique to some, can still be interesting. So, I didn't really think mine was that unique, but somebody did. (actually, I do think my subject is pretty unique, just not unusual. So again, I am my own worst enemy!)

Maybe "blah, boring, everyday industrial sidings" should be a future title! :teeth:

As an aside, these photos remind me of the old "Industry You Can Model" articles MR used to run. I always liked those articles and it's cool to see all the different ways cars are loaded. I know this was covered in another topic, but if you guys are looking for articles to submit, dig out an old MR and find those old Industry articles and maybe that will spawn an idea for some new version of those types of articles. They would make great one-pagers or maybe two-pagers in some cases.

And now for the comic relief:
Q: How do you catch a unique industrial siding?
A: Unique up on it!
:thumbs_down::thumbs_down:

I'm here all week folks. Tip your waitresses.
:zip:

*Disclaimer: the beer was from the night before. I don't drink and drive, or drink and railfan.**

**Disclaimer Disclaimer: I have drank and railfanned a couple of times after Dallas Stars hockey games while riding the train back home. But it was only two beers, I swear.

[Colonel]

Only a couple of days till voting ends and it looks like we have a clear leader.

[NSFan14]

So when does it end?

[r_i_straw]

I believe it has. Congratulations on your win.

[NSFan14]

I believe it has. Congratulations on your win.
:teeth: Ok I was wondering when it ended

[campp]

Congrats! Great pictures everyone.

[Mr. Train]

Congrats NS:thumbs_up: