Lordstown, Ohio http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=41.15633,-80.874095&spn=0.023232,0.025148&t=h&z=15&om=1
I just started to look for auto plants I knew of and Lordstown was the first I looked at! Oddly enough, there was an article about this plant on the first page of the newspaper.
Dan- Just out of curiosity, how did you know from the pictures provided that you were looking at an auto assembly plant? Once you said that I though those are some autoracks, a massive building, and a test track. Were there other clues? I also saw some 3 bay hoppers and some large modern GE diesels so I figured we were in North America. Good Job John!
It looked like there was an oval track there, although I had taken it for a running track (employee fitness option?) and not an automobile track, which it may very well be.
One thing is the yard with no main line exit and the huge spread out building. I saw a few of those in the Detroit area while searching an earlier contest. I tried to find as many auto plant locations as I could on Google to punch them in and see what popped up. I had not come across that location yet. I visited a lot of Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, and Nissan plants all over the country but was having trouble finding GM plants. I could not find any comprehensive list. Way to go wurlitzer.
GM Lordstown, home of the Chevy Cobalt. Also built Sunbird, Sunfire, Cavalier, and many others, since its construction in 1966. The yard is former Conrail Goodman Yard, now run by NS. They connect to the CSX mainline a couple miles north.
Also, I've been down that road (SR 45) just east of the yard. I think the curve at the right of the shot is why I went to Lordstown first.