# Industrial railroading



## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Sterling Illinois was the home of Northwestern Steel and Wire , they shut down in 2001, a small remnant of the plant is operated by Azcon Sterling steel industries, they have their own rail system on site, NSW was well known in the 80’s as they still used several steam locomotives in plant, those were replaced with 3 SW1001 switchers, they also had an old repowered Baldwin switcher, a few years ago they got 3 GMTX SW1000 switchers, within the past month a fourth has arrived on the property 








GMTX 80 is the newest unit, it was transferred from the Azcon plant in Alton IL








I like the grittiness of industrial railroads, especially ones that serve steel industries








I was surprised to find this tucked away in the back of the property, one of the original SW1001’s, I thought they’d all been sold and sent elsewhere, makes me wonder if the old Baldwin is still lurking somewhere








a home built scale test car








they have some interesting track work laidon steel I beams in one area, with welded brackets holding the rail in place, not sure what the flat pieces welded in the middle are for
















I have pics of the other 3 switchers, as well as the original NSW units, I’ll post those when I find them


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## Raege (Jan 7, 2022)

Cool pics thanks for sharing.


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## KWPhillips05 (5 mo ago)

Once the world's largest steel mill, now leveled.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

KWPhillips05 said:


> Once the world's largest steel mill, now leveled.


2010, From the top of the Scott Key bridge,








Bethlehem Steel Plant.... Sparrows Point, Maryland


First picture approaching the Scott Key Bridge on RT 695 North bound eastern spur. Entrance to Baltimore Harbor. Little Island in the water used to have cannons protecting the harbor in the horse and buggy days. I got to take a picture on a nice day. All you can see in the picture used to be...




www.modeltrainforum.com


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## KWPhillips05 (5 mo ago)

I feel saddened now whenever I drive past and look over there.


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## Jim K (May 8, 2012)

I'm thinking they were just running a little 3 rail in some locations.................


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

GMTX 75 dragging scrap gons across the scale


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

GMTX 72


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Heres some older pics of the Azcon GMTX units








GMTX 72 when it was much newer
























GMTX 75








GMTX 73








The mill environment has been tough on these units, compare these with the previous posted pics


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

These are the old switchers Azcon had before the GMTX units showed up








The repowered Baldwin switcher Azcon 1, no idea where this one ended up, it sat in this spot for quite some time, then one day was just gone, after finding one of the SW1001's still on the property I'm wondering if this one is still there somewhere








Azcon 2








Azcon 3








Another shot of 2








#3 dragging gons from the mill








Old and new together in the yard, the red and white units were originally Northwestern steel, and inherited by Azcon, 2 have been sold and left the property, I assumed the others had too, but found at least one still lingering


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

This switcher belongs to Rock River grain, it's a mile West of the Azcon plant








I&M Rail link 13, was originally a CP Rail unit


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Would make a cool switching layout.


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## miracleworker (Mar 23, 2021)

Trackjockey05 said:


> These are the old switchers Azcon had before the GMTX units showed up
> View attachment 588043
> 
> The repowered Baldwin switcher Azcon 1, no idea where this one ended up, it sat in this spot for quite some time, then one day was just gone, after finding one of the SW1001's still on the property I'm wondering if this one is still there somewhere
> ...


The first picture of Azcon #2 shows radiation detection equipment at trackside. That is rather disturbing.


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Here’s one from last winter


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

Nice photos. I'm curious about the numbering on the GMTX locos. The numbers painted on the sides don't match the small numbers on the loco ends. #5 has #72, #6 has #73 and #7 has #75.


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Gramps said:


> Nice photos. I'm curious about the numbering on the GMTX locos. The numbers painted on the sides don't match the small numbers on the loco ends. #5 has #72, #6 has #73 and #7 has #75.


The small number is the GMTX number, the big single digit on the side is the Azcon number, their original units were 1-4, they numbered these right behind them


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Caught #5 shoving slab cars into the mill this morning


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## Jscullans (Jul 8, 2019)

I go to a couple places that have their own locomotives but I think a lot of industries go to railcar movers if they can. I believe American bridge in Gary Indiana has a gp loco and I know for sure they have a railking rk330. Those 330s are quite the machine. 33000 pounds of tractive effort and can go on the road to get out of the way if needed.


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

ADM in Clinton Iowa has an interesting mix of motive power, from old Geeps like these that they own to all forms of leased power including a couple genset units, these were out in the open when I was there the other day so I got them








this one is usually around the corn dump








this one has an interesting modification, it was involved in a collision awhile back, hence the sheet metal work on the battery box and step


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Here are some more pics of the ADM power in Clinton IA








Another view of the corn dump unit









A closer shot of the lobotomized Geep
















Closeup of the mishap that resulted in the sheet metal work seen in the previous pics








This unit was one of the most elusive, I saw it back in the plant many times but never close enough or in the open for a pic, finally caught it on the dock track outside the main plant
















Have not seen this one in awhile, don't know if its still around








Caught this one in the UP yard before they handed it off, this one usually stays within the plant


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Another industrial operation in Clinton IA is the Equistar refinery West of town








They originally used these two RLCX switchers
























These were stored when the plant started using 3 Republic locomotive switchers








They have this red one and two yellow ones that do the switching in plant
























I haven't been near this plant for quite awhile, so not sure if the old RLCX units are still around, I was told there was a CF7 here at one time, but have never been able to confirm it


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

A few more shots of the Azcon units


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Just West of Azcon across the UP main from the grain facility was Ameristeel, now closed, they had this little switcher








It was sold to an individual and now sits in an equipment yard in Rock Falls IL, nowhere near a rail line


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Another steel operation in Bartonville IL near Peoria is the former Keystone Steel and Wire, now Liberty Steel and Wire, they have extensive in plant trackage and several locomotives
































This plant is inaccessible, the UP track cuts across it on a fill, even on the fill I still had to stand on my trucks toolbox to get these due to the trees, I was only able to get these two, there are at least two more in this plant


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Allen grain South of So Pekin IL has a couple Geeps for moving cars around their operation
























This unnumbered unit has been there for as long as I can remember, the WAMX unit showed up within the last 5 years, supposedly there is an ex Indiana Harbor Belt unit added to this roster but I'm yet to get back down there to confirm or photograph it


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Another industrial operation is the Burlington Junction railway in Rochelle IL, they interchange with both BNSF and UP and switch all the meat packers and cold storage wharehouses on the Southeast side of town, they also keep a switch engine at the Del Monte plant next to Global 3 yard
















They have quite a mix of newer and older power
















Check out the plow on the back of this one








Caught this same switcher in the yard at Sterling, it had apparently gone elsewhere for service or repair, it was set out here by an Eastbound train, then taken the rest of the way by the Sterling local the next day
















This engines heritage is obvious, this is the switcher at the Del Monte plant








They have 2 of this type, the other one stays in the warehouse park with the 2 EMD's


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Not sure if it counts as an industrial railway but Sterling Rail services just West of the Azcon plant and right next to Rock River grain has this ex BNSF B23-7, Sterling Rail cleans and repairs railcars, they use this to move them around, or rather they did, as I haven't seen this unit in awhile, not sure if its still on the property, lately they've been using a car mover to switch stuff around


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## Jscullans (Jul 8, 2019)

I was working on a Trackmobile at the ssab plant in muscatine the other day and they have a pair of LTEX locos there. Not sure what they are exactly but cool nonetheless


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