by kevikens
With the new publication on railroads in the cement region of Pa. , say Nazareth, I was wondering if there is still activity in the area and if so when and where might it might be found. Thanks
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SemperFidelis wrote:As per cement you have Hercules which is a very busy place, Essroc which has two locations both with a decent amount of activity and Keystone whose activity levels I am not aware of.Hercules doesn't get many (if any) cars anymore it seems. 84 Lumber was sold to a tire company, and they don't get cars. There are however at least one or two industries east of Stockertown which have sprung up lately.
There's also 84 Lumber up by Hercules that used to get a few cars a week and I heard that Crayola offloads cars on the extreme east end of the line.
There used to be dozens of customers along the line but I don't know too much about the history of it. I do know that Casillio Concrete in Bethlehem used to accept sand by rail, but truck competition killed that move. They still have one or two siding tracks in place, I think.
I used to live within site of the tracks in Bethlehem and I loved watching them.
kevikens wrote:Semper Fi Is Hercules a town or a plant ? If the latter what town is it located in. Also thanks to the other writers. I think I will drive up there a day this or next week for a look-see. I think I have seen the train whcih leaves Bethlehem abot 9:00 AM I once followed it for a few miles out of Bethlehem before giving up as I had no idea where it (or I) was going.It's in Stockertown. The crew (operating as H75) is on duty out of Allentown around 0800ish I believe Mon/Wed and Stockertown Tue/Thu. Friday is a turn job from Allentown.
carajul wrote:Don't forget it was also illegal in Penna to haul bulk cement on the highways until the PennDOT changed this rule in the early 1950s. The RRs were guaranteed a monopoly until that time. I was really shocked looking at the amount of freight traffic on the NS Portland Secondary (as they call it now) even in the mid-70s. Hercules, and the other mills, had 40,50,60+ cars jammed in their yards.There was more to this. In 1972 & 1973 I worked summers @ Chemical Leaman's shop @ Stockertown. Originally the pnumatic trucks were all freight 'prepaid' by the Cement producer. Chem Leaman had 105 trailers and MTS had 55 serving Hercules. Any end user wanting to transport their own bulk cement had to pay the same 'freight included' price per ton giving the 'house' motor carriers a strangle hold. There was always a 2nd 'smaller' motor carrier giving the impression of competition plus the master Teamsters contract had a 'cement haulers' agreement section that was $1.00/hr less than the liquid tanker across the board...
SemperFidelis wrote:I do know that Casillio Concrete in Bethlehem used to accept sand by rail, but truck competition killed that move. They still have one or two siding tracks in place, I think.Casilio owns the old Saucon Roundhouse and some of the Saucon Yard property. A few years back when a few of us wanted to trespass in Saucon Yard and the old roundhouse I went to Casilio in Bethlehem to ask for permission and spoke to one of the owners. In the conversation I asked about the sidings. Apparently Conrail killed that deal. She told me they made it IMPOSSIBLE to consider rail with the ridiculous amount of money they wanted to install/repair/maintain the sidings. BTW - She was incredibly nice and allowed us to explore their property!