Operations on the Argentine Industrial District Railway

Operations on the Argentine Industrial District Railway of Chuck Hitchcock start as the Santa Fe transfer run, hidden by the freight house, comes onto the district with a cut of grain boxcars. These empty, unloaded cars are headed to Elevator A. In the foreground, the switchers pull a block of empty refers from the produce yard. On the point is Fairbanks Marsh Number 517. The stockcars are waiting on the stockyard interchange track. They pass by the Kansas City Structural Steel Company and number 517 goes behind the Biddison Manufacturing Company. The yard switcher is blocking the cut and at the end of 5th Street Yard, the train enters the Elevator Lee. These boxcars have been through the elevator and have yet to be classified.

Next it’s onto the north side of Elevator A. The silver building is a loading and unloading shed that was built so that the windows blow out in case of a grain explosion. The tallest structure is the headhouse or workhouse. The north track leads to the west side of the elevator. Number 517 heads for the east end of the yard to switch the cars that were previously filled or emptied by the elevator crew using a cable pull. The engine will classify the cars on the four tracks of the elevator yard but shoving them into Fifth Street Yard.

These empty grain cars will be picked up later by another train. All other cars are classified the same way by a later pickup via transfer run. The Fairbanks Marsh unit has now finished switching the east end. The four tracks on this end were worked by the elevator crew, so the switcher will now classify the cars here on the cleanout or material track. To view the full operating session, view the full Allen Keller video. For more Allen Keller videos, visit our Model Railroad Academy archives.