# How long has it been here?



## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Anyone care to guess how long this flat car has been sitting here? I’ve been with UP coming up on 22 years and this car has been in this same spot at least that long, it’s lettered M&St L, can’t read the number anymore, given the color scheme it was last used in MoW service, I sometimes wonder how many of these forgotten cars are out there tucked away on an old spur or industrial track


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

Is there a pic? If so I can’t see it.


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Yes, there’s a pic, not sure why you can’t see it


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

Trackjockey05 said:


> Yes, there’s a pic, not sure why you can’t see it


Ok. Got it now. Thanks


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

Fits in with the modern American way of life...if you don't want it, toss it. Wherever it lands is just fine.


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## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

Boy, that sure looks like it could be brought back into service with just a little TLC.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

The coupler looks brand new as does the brake hose. I venture to say those aren't looking like that after 20+ years just sitting in the woods.


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

It hasn’t moved from there, it’s shoved half into the trees in the house track at Nelson Illinois


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## OilValleyRy (Oct 3, 2021)

Finders keepers?


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

My wife would skin me if I brought that home


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## Andy57 (Feb 7, 2020)

If you drug it home then your wife could tell us who came and got it, then we would know. While your hide dries over the back fence.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Trackjockey05 said:


> It hasn’t moved from there, it’s shoved half into the trees in the house track at Nelson Illinois


Maybe someone is refurbishing it in preparation to stealing it.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I bet a lot of critters love it for a home?
Makes a nice roof for them.
Wasps too!


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Maybe someone is refurbishing it in preparation to stealing it.


That car honestly has been there that long, there was a Jordan ditcher in that track ahead of it, only thing I can figure is when the mechanical department came out to inspect and prep the Jordan for transport out west maybe they did the same to this car thinking it went with it, as far as stealing, it never ceases to amaze me the stuff that disappears on weekends or at night


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Big Ed said:


> I bet a lot of critters love it for a home?
> Makes a nice roof for them.
> Wasps too!


Wasps like everything, they get into every crevice imaginable, lately we’ve been overrun with groundhogs


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## OilValleyRy (Oct 3, 2021)

Trackjockey05 said:


> My wife would skin me if I brought that home


What do you need that for? Seems a fair trade to me.


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

OilValleyRy said:


> What do you need that for? Seems a fair trade to me.


She’s been pretty tolerant, I have concrete mile markers and whistle posts planted in the flower beds, got a couple switch stands, lanterns, our pump house is covered in railroad signage, and very soon I’ll be getting a full sized signal mast and all hardware, she might not skin me but ide definitely be in the s**t locker for awhile


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## OilValleyRy (Oct 3, 2021)

Tell her you’re getting her the biggest raised flower bed she’s ever seen. Lol


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## SF Gal (11 mo ago)

I've seen several of those flatcars doing service as ditch bridges on farm lot entrances.
Curious if a way bill got lost or does anyone in maintenance even keep track of hand me down train cars?!?!


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

SF Gal said:


> I've seen several of those flatcars doing service as ditch bridges on farm lot entrances.
> Curious if a way bill got lost or does anyone in maintenance even keep track of hand me down train cars?!?!


Once they go into MoW service they become non revenue so I don’t know if anyone keeps track of them


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## miracleworker (Mar 23, 2021)

Trackjockey05 said:


> Anyone care to guess how long this flat car has been sitting here? I’ve been with UP coming up on 22 years and this car has been in this same spot at least that long, it’s lettered M&St L, can’t read the number anymore, given the color scheme it was last used in MoW service, I sometimes wonder how many of these forgotten cars are out there tucked away on an old spur or industrial track
> View attachment 585114


As a big M&St L fan here in their former territory, I have to ask, where is this picture taken?

AKA the Peoria Gateway, the Tootin' Louie, Maimed and Still Limping, Midnight and Still Lost, give me time there are more.

One of my favorite fallen flag regional roads.


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

miracleworker said:


> As a big M&St L fan here in their former territory, I have to ask, where is this picture taken?
> 
> AKA the Peoria Gateway, the Tootin' Louie, Maimed and Still Limping, Midnight and Still Lost, give me time there are more.
> 
> One of my favorite fallen flag regional roads.


It’s in Nelson Illinois, but it’s not accessible as it’s way back in the yard nowhere near public view, when I go back to work on Sunday I’ll see if I can decipher the car number, when I started out here there were a lot of these silver and red M/W cars around, even a couple cabooses in this scheme, I haven’t seen any others in awhile but I’m sure they’re hiding out there somewhere, I have pics of the cabooses but they predate my digital camera so I’ll have to find the prints and scan them


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## Mixed Freight (Aug 31, 2019)

miracleworker said:


> As a big M&St L fan here in their former territory, I have to ask, where is this picture taken?
> 
> AKA the Peoria Gateway, the Tootin' Louie, Maimed and Still Limping, Midnight and Still Lost, give me time there are more.
> 
> One of my favorite fallen flag regional roads.


You can clearly see what I believe is the M&St L flatcar on Google Earth. I was looking at it a couple of days ago. As the imagery date is 7 years old, it looks like the Jordan ditcher mentioned in reply #14, along with a couple of other cars ( a flat car? and a mill gondola?), are also on the house track.

I imagine a lot more weeds and trees have sprouted up in the past 7 years.


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

Mixed Freight said:


> You can clearly see what I believe is the M&St L flatcar on Google Earth. I was looking at it a couple of days ago. As the imagery date is 7 years old, it looks like the Jordan ditcher mentioned in reply #14, along with a couple of other cars ( a flat car? and a mill gondola?), are also on the house track.
> 
> I imagine a lot more weeds and trees have sprouted up in the past 7 years.


There was a whole variety of stuff in there at one time, there was an ex intermodal 89’ flat there for awhile but when the B&B crane crew was there they took it with them, the Jordan was actually scheduled for scrapping as it had been there about 5 years, but then it got sent to Oakridge Oregon where it was needed


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## Mixed Freight (Aug 31, 2019)

Trackjockey05 said:


> There was a whole variety of stuff in there at one time, there was an ex intermodal 89’ flat there for awhile but when the B&B crane crew was there they took it with them, the Jordan was actually scheduled for scrapping as it had been there about 5 years, but then it got sent to Oakridge Oregon where it was needed


Okay, an ex-intermodal 89' flat makes sense. I could see it was a very long car.


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