Pdtpuck Member Username: Pdtpuck
Post Number: 63 Registered: 01-2006 Posted From: 208.251.168.194
| Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 5:00 am: | |
Detroit, 1971 Is this yard still there, and if so, is it still in use? (I think the website's server has been acting up, so if it takes awhile to load, or doesn't load at all...) (Message edited by pdtpuck on June 17, 2006) |
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard
Post Number: 874 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 69.242.223.42
| Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 6:30 am: | |
That's the former Wabash RR Boatyard which had its depot/offices at the foot of 12th Street. The Norfolk Southern owns the railroad "facilities" and transloads chemicals and such there. The roundhouses are long gone and the trestle near Jefferson Street to the FSUD became history during the 1970s. |
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup
Post Number: 1105 Registered: 06-2004 Posted From: 69.130.18.100
| Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 10:29 am: | |
that's one huge tugboat pushing the barge |
Hardhat Member Username: Hardhat
Post Number: 132 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.221.38.121
| Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 11:49 am: | |
That's a helluva cool shot... |
Psip
Member Username: Psip
Post Number: 1092 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 68.60.45.70
| Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 12:30 pm: | |
The office tower at Detroit Edison looks to be under construction. Anyone know when that was built?
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Andyguard73 Member Username: Andyguard73
Post Number: 100 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 141.209.33.164
| Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 1:57 pm: | |
Psip, it was finished in '71, which I just now realized was in the link to the picture, lol. (Message edited by andyguard73 on June 17, 2006) |
Jaredrich Member Username: Jaredrich
Post Number: 9 Registered: 01-2006 Posted From: 69.39.74.130
| Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 2:01 pm: | |
This is the spot where they filmed the "trailer by the railroad track" scenes in TRUE ROMANCE... it's where Dennis Hopper lived in the movie. |
Rjk Member Username: Rjk
Post Number: 351 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.41.145.5
| Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 3:24 pm: | |
....and died in the movie. I liked the Detroit part of that movie. Not because it was about Detroit, but I think it got kind of lame somewhere between here and Southern California. |
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker
Post Number: 1248 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 63.41.8.233
| Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 3:42 pm: | |
Here is the Wabash Yard a little farther down river. The building in the center near the river, is the 12th St Freight Depot, and on the left is the ramp leading up to the FSUD viaduct. Probably taken in the mid fifties, guessing by the look of the trucks.
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Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard
Post Number: 876 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 69.242.223.42
| Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 5:24 pm: | |
Wabash from 12th Street |
Wabashrr1 Member Username: Wabashrr1
Post Number: 157 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 64.12.116.204
| Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 7:05 pm: | |
quote:that's one huge tugboat pushing the barge
The Wabash RR owned 3 such car ferrys, The Wabash, The Detroit, and the Manatowak (sp?) to move trains over to Canada. The Norfolk & Western decided it was pointless and a waste of money to keep 3 boat crews on the payroll and began using a single tug to move the ferrys across the river. I don't know if they actually owned the tugboat of if some port athourity did though. Cool shot from the OP.. |
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm
Post Number: 572 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 66.189.188.28
| Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 8:07 pm: | |
I believe the Wabash owned the ferries but contracted for the tugboats when the steam powered boats were converted to barges. If you look at the picture just above, you can see coal smoke from the docked ferry. On that note, anyone have a picture of the Lansdowne as a barge? As to the date, it can't be much later than the mid '50's. I'm probably mistaken, but are there a couple of D&C boats that were tied up at the foot of 2nd by the NYC Freighthouse after the steamship line folded? |
Rustic Member Username: Rustic
Post Number: 2566 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 71.234.183.131
| Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 8:38 pm: | |
Cool photo of the rail facility! Yay Detroit, arsenal of capitalism! As a bonus in the original 1971 photo I think you can see a pre ANR building view of the woodward side of the CC building. cool |
Busterwmu Member Username: Busterwmu
Post Number: 251 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.134.108.131
| Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 11:36 pm: | |
That is a great photo and tells so much more than just the railroad yard at that moment in 1971. The remains of the NS Boatyard include 15 or 16 tracks, including most of the ones in the forground, between the River and the 12th St. freight depot. The ferry slip that the barge is at and the one just beyond it are still there, complete with tracks, but the leads from the yard sidings have been removed (1971 photo). Also from the 1971 photo, the yard tower and offices are still there, but gutted shells, sadly. The diagonal tracks to the left of the 1971 photo with the open sided autoracks are still there too, and that is the CSX 15th St. Yard, where they transload a variety of cargos. The old cement ramp to the FUSD trestle is still there, albiet with plants growing all over and rails removed. The end of the NS Boatyard is the Free Press plant, which I believe is in the process of shutting down. Still, both CSX and Norfolk Southern send out a daily local to switch the old Union Belt from Delray to the Boatyard/15th Street. CSX uses their yard for car storage and transloading. NS uses there's for storage and to hold cars for a few local businesses. Both roads switch down to the yard in the morning, between 9AM and noon on weekdays. Sad to see what this area has turned into, and how busy it was 35 years ago. Today, both yards end west of Rosa Parks. By the way, the ferries last ran in 1994. In the lower left of the '71 photo, the slanted part of the seawall is where another set of docks used to be... for the C&O I believe. The C&O received trackage rights through the MC tunnel in the 60's and thus could eliminate their ferries in Detroit - contracting with the N&W to haul any oversize or tall cars on their boats instead. You can see that many of the cars in the '71 photo are 86 foot boxcars or 89 foot autoracks, no way they would fit through the tunnel! You can see some great fallen flag railroads in that 1971 photo, including: Pennsylvania, New York Central, Penn Central, Norfolk & Western, Erie-Lackawanna, Illinois Central, DT&I, Pacific Fruit Express, Santa Fe, and more. Thanks for sharing this photo with us! |
Wabashrr1 Member Username: Wabashrr1
Post Number: 159 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 152.163.100.8
| Posted on Sunday, June 18, 2006 - 12:04 am: | |
I was prepping this photo from the 1949 CULMA photo when my connection kicked me off (damn dialup).. Boat Yard 1949 I purposely left the barge coming back across from Canada in the photo. The yard as shown in Hornwreckers photo is from the time that the Pere Marquette operated the yard and the photo is likely from the time or shortly after the time the Ambassador Bridge was built. I'm not certain when the Wabash took over at the yard, probably after 1949 when the C&O purchased the PM. I'm sure that the Wabash always Used the yard and ferrys because their route to Buffalo was through Ontario, sharing trackage with the Canadian National. I know that the Wabash used the three ferrys under their own steam until the merger with N&W. I'm not sure when N&W de-powered them and began using a tug to move them them. My info on this comes from the book "Trackside with Emery Gulash, Detroit". There are several errors in the book so my facts could be a little off but I think by 1970, the tugs were used exclusively to move the barges across the river. |
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker
Post Number: 1252 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 63.41.8.21
| Posted on Sunday, June 18, 2006 - 9:03 pm: | |
I think that this photo was taken at the same time as the one I posted earlier. Is the name of the ferry Windsor?
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Wabashrr1 Member Username: Wabashrr1
Post Number: 160 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 205.188.116.137
| Posted on Monday, June 19, 2006 - 11:47 am: | |
When Was that picture taken, Hornwrecker? I'd think that from the angle, we should be able to see the Ambassador Bridge.. That is unless it's the slip that sits at the bridge (across the yard from where the Roundhouse was). Even still, we should be able to see some hint of the bridge, a shadow or something.. |
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard
Post Number: 884 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 69.242.223.42
| Posted on Monday, June 19, 2006 - 11:54 am: | |
Both times I saw that post of that photo, it seems to have an incorrect, reversed orientation. The background is downtown Detroit, I think... |
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie
Post Number: 457 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 141.216.1.4
| Posted on Monday, June 19, 2006 - 12:08 pm: | |
That photo is correct. There's an Ann Arbor boxcar partically hidden by the supports for the ferry pilothouse, and you can just barely see that the "ANN" (and the pennant) is correct and not reversed. So the photo was taken on the Windsor side. Belle Isle is dimly visible in the background. |
Wabashrr1 Member Username: Wabashrr1
Post Number: 161 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 205.188.116.137
| Posted on Monday, June 19, 2006 - 12:22 pm: | |
I thought the photo might be reversed too but if it were, the "W" in the barge name would be on the end of the name, not the beginning. Never occured to me it might be the Windsor side of the river. Thanks for clearing that up. Ambassador bridge is probably there, just behind the photographer.... |
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker
Post Number: 1253 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 63.41.40.4
| Posted on Monday, June 19, 2006 - 10:05 pm: | |
On History Channel right now, replaying the Wreck of the SS Milwaukee, a GTW carferry that sank on Lake Michigan. Good pickup on the Windsor side for that photo. It was too low a resolution to get any detail of the background to identify anything. |
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner
Post Number: 149 Registered: 04-2006 Posted From: 64.12.116.204
| Posted on Monday, June 19, 2006 - 11:36 pm: | |
strange no reply from trainman |
Rsa Member Username: Rsa
Post Number: 880 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.212.214.108
| Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 10:01 am: | |
i was watching that last night hornwrecker. you (and anybody else interested in old train ferries) should def. go check out the ss city of milwaukee (replacement for the ss milwaukee). it's worth the tour; i took it back when she was docked in elberta/frankfort, but she's now in manistee. |
J32885 Member Username: J32885
Post Number: 38 Registered: 11-2005 Posted From: 68.41.108.161
| Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 11:59 pm: | |
Cool old pic of the Boat Yard, while it was at it's peak back in the old days. Too bad it's not used much by the railroads no more. |