Great Lakes Carbon Covered Hoppers

Great Lakes Carbon produced calcined petroleum coke, which is formed into electrodes for electrolytic refining of aluminum GLC's 1979-built covered hoppers were often seen along CN's Kingston sub, these cars usually travelling in twos and threes. The cars were heading loaded to Varennes, QC and when empty were billed to Enid, OK, one of the largest production sites for calcined petroleum coke. Ben A. shared a photo taken in May 2013 showing Great Lakes Carbon, now INTX 35093, covered hopper at Joffre, AB (that's a long way from the Great Lakes) in May 2013 (above). INTX reporting marks are used by Interstate Commodities. Chris DeVries reported INTX 35083 and 35048 at Symington Yard in September 2015. Other cars in the GLCX 7000 series such as 7042 and 7050 received this 'press-on' lettering. In addition, various forms of logo with black or red background have been applied.

GLCX 7003 in a 1979 Jim Parker photo showing the black/red logo (above). GLCX cars in the 7000-7099 and 8000-8229 totalled 325 in 1995. Online photos of class car GLCX 7000 a mere couple of months old also in 1979, and GLCX 7073 in November 1979. I photographed GLCX 7021-7022 on CN at Belleville in September, 2000, with black/red and red logos respectively.

GLCX 8054-8110-8066 on CN No 321 at Belleville in August 2014 sans logos, though GLCX 8102 was still with logo in Oklahoma in September, 2014.

Great Lakes Carbon cars are available in scale in the Atlas Trainman series, with INTX reporting marks. Also with black logo, black/red logo, or red logo.

Here are my other GLCX sightings including logo if noted and CN train:
Feb 15/81 7054
Mar 26/81 8116
Oct 23/82 8028-8219
Oct 27/98 8156 No 320
Jun 12/99 8138 No 321
May 13/00 7008 on headend No 321
Aug 24/00 8105-8110 No 321
Aug 26/00 8038-7007 on CN No 321 (St-Antoine QC to Toronto MacMillan Yard)
Dec 5/00 8037-7048 and two others No 321
Mar 9/01 8113-7063 logo-7047 logo No 321
Jun 21/02 7046 logo-7023 logo No 321
Nov 20/03 7090
Mar 17/05 8052 No 321
Mar 24/06 7052 No 321
Apr 12/07 8045 no logo-8144 no logo
Feb 8/09 7067 logo-8092 logo
Jun 20/09 7091 logo-8194 logo-8222 no logo No 368 (Arvida QC - Toronto)

Aug 19/10 8148-8203-8218 all no logo.

****June 2016 Update ****
Loyal Trackside Treasure reader Chris de Vries kindly shared two photos of GLC cars still in service, taken at Winnipeg in June, 2016:

 INTX 35003 (above) and INTX 35014 (below)

****December 2022 Update****

Here's GLCX 8034 complete with logo and GLCX 8068, still making miles on a late-running CN No 322 on December 27 (image courtesy Railstream, LLC):

Running extra...

FB this! At the suggestion of blog partner Steve Boyko, I decided to not only check out the Facebook groups he recommended, but also to join the White-on-Blue-F team. I'm still preparing for my first official Facebook rant. Any ideas for appropriate topics?

Steve's post got me wondering what the ideal social media platform for railfans (or regular people) is. Don't worry, Trackside Treasure in blog form will be around as long as Blogger (and I) can support it. It strikes me that rail enthusiast needs are different from the 'family vacation photos, memes and Youtube video links) FB crowd. I do like Pinterest for warehousing photos, but Trackside Treasure allows me to include a story with the photos as well. Like!

The first really useful site I found with FB is Greg McDonnell's site. The first really unexpected photo I found on Facebook - your humble blogger in the lower levels of Union Station getting our school group organized to depart Toronto for Vancouver aboard VIA No 1 in October, 1980:

A VIAphile in the making! With the help of fellow Facebooker Drew Makepeace, we produced an educational trip guide for the group - to satisfy educational requirements and to provide a boredom kill. Not that I was bored, camera and nose pressed to glass enjoying railfanning all the way west! While the rest of the group was relaxing at the Fort Garry Hotel during the 4-hour layover, we were railfanning East Yard and the Depot.

The Company Photographer Returns Again

The company photographer has been out photographing railway employees doing their vital work. Featured in a previous post last April, it's once again time to sample the results. We've included some possible captions for these vintage photos to show the lighter side of railroading.

CTQ's Vintage HO Rolling Stock

Back in the 1950's, my Dad decided he had to have a transportation empire - settling on HO scale, he set about constructing a car fleet to operate. He christened his railway the Cataraqui Northern Lines, reflecting his interest in the Kingston, Ontario area. Reporting marks were CTQ. It's hard to find a CTQ car in the original scheme since over the years, my modelling efforts included re-working some of his original cars for painting and decalling. Let's take a look at some of this early HO rolling stock, keeping in mind the museum-quality ready-to-run cars of today. (There is no comparison, but hey, it was a different time!)

Photographed on my Vancouver Wharves layout - a basic CTQ tank car I relettered, and a cardboard-faced Strombecker caboose (top photo) with original Cataraqui Northern hand-lettering! The grabs are printed on, as are the windows. My Dad used a small square of green tape to depict the Canadian National maple leaf on the CTQ fleet, and traces of it can be seen on the middle of the caboose body. Two slab-side covered hoppers, also made from wood and cardboard, bracket a similarly-constructed mill gondola. The slab-sides were originally in CTQ grey, in the 580-series, and the originally-black gondola in the 560-series. All CTQ cars had three-digit numbers - it was a small fleet! I re-faced the script car with styrene sides and roof, and decalled the other for CP Rail.

A homemade snowplow with apple-green retractable wings, depressed-centre flat car (both with pencil-lettered cardboard letterboards) and a service coach that I later relettered CP Rail. All these cars have sprung trucks. At the time, cars decorated for Class 1 railroads came with pre-printed cardboard sides. Again, grab irons and ladders were printed on, and the doors really slid! Two of my favourite schemes even today: B&O Sentinel Service promised siding-to-siding dependability, while NYC's LCL Pacemaker freight service featured a distinctive red and grey scheme applied to boxcars, TOFC trailers and cabooses. (If you Google 'pacemaker' or even 'CPR' you'll instantly learn a lot about cardiology.)

These are Strombecker shelf model kits. In 1953, each sold for 35 cents! The kit trucks were wooden blocks holding wooden wheels in them, with no sideframes. These could be converted to operating trucks, as these were. Some early reefer kits - Illinois Central diamond and PFE dual-herald pre-printed cardboard sides:

Homemade boarding car that I relettered CP Rail, passenger express boxcar to which my Dad applied C-D-S lettering to match his CPR maroon Athearn passenger consist, and a double-door Katy auto box featuring built-up roof. The latter is a Comet kit, with a wood floor, roof-end blocks and embossed sides and ends that were applied over veneer sides.

Early metal cars made by Athearn and New One Model Toy Works Ltd in Tokyo, Japan - D&RGW and Santa Fe (above) and CNR and CPR (below). I added balsa wood grain doors to the CN car. All these cars rolled like bricks compared to today's free-running cars. In later years, my Dad would gleefully send just-assembled Athearn cars with plastic sideframes and free-rolling axles speeding around the layout with a push.

Running extra...

This week, the Rosetta Mission landed on a comet 500,000,000 km from earth. Launched in 2004, it travelled 6,5000,000,000 km to orbit Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerseimenko, a 4 km-long comet formed 4.6 billion years ago, which orbits the sun once every 6.4 years. A 100 kg robot named Philae deployed 22 km above the comet, taking 7 hours to fall to the surface, then drilling 25 cm into its surface to gather scientific data on the comet's molecular structure. 

In a related story, also making the news this week, Kim Kardashian landed some champagne in a glass balanced behind her, in an orbit of about nine feet.

Speaking of Space Oddities, I've learned lots of fun facts about space travel reading Chris Hadfield's An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth. Starting his career as an air cadet, Royal Military College graduate, Canadian Forces CF-18 pilot, US Navy test pilot, astronaut and NASA CAPCOM (capsule communicator), Chris eventually lived on the ISS (International Space Station). In his book, he did not mention train-watching from space, but I bet it could be done.

Scale Test Car Tours the Vancouver Wharves

 

CN 52284, an ex-barrel ore car turned scale test car recently visited my HO scale CP Vancouver Wharves layout to test the weigh scales of several online industries. I kitbashed this car from an AHM Flexi-Flo hopper - a model often cited as having a decent level of detail for a 'train-set' car. Chop-nosed CN 4121 delivers CN 52284 to 'N' Yard on Burrard Inlet (above) before CP arrives (trailing a True Line Trains CP script van) to lift the car for interchange (below):

Maintained at a specific tare weight, the car is placed on weight scales which are then calibrated to ensure accuracy. CN 52284 spends the weekend on the engine service track as engine crews arrive for work.

On Monday morning it's in the consist of a train made up and ready to switch local industries:

Set out at Coast Steel Fabricators - a major receiver of scrap steel and occasional shipper of outbound steel products. The car seems insignificantly puny under Coast's travelling crane. Meanwhile, most of the attention is focused on the arrival of the 'gut bucket' lunch truck.

This is turning into a Guy Fieri program on The Food Channel! At the other side of Coast is a semi-permanent food truck - formerly a Hot Wheels Good Humor truck, it now operates as Ozzie's Chip Truck. Serving regular fare like burgers and onion rings, this may be the only food truck in Canada that includes creamy, cool rice pudding on its menu. Will that be raisins or no raisins?

Next door to Coast, in the same industrial park, is Permacon Concrete. Permacon receives cement in covered hoppers. The foreman is coming out of his crow's nest office to have a look:

On the waterfront...formerly Ogilvie Flour Mills on my Winnipeg Terminals layout, this elevator now serves as Alberta Wheat Pool terminal elevator. Receiving inbound grain and oilseeds for shipment to Pacific Rim nations, it's served by two unloading tracks and a pocket track.

The diminutive car has been shuffled in with some 40-foot CN grain boxcars while a track crew works on the adjacent track.

While Burlington Northern cars seem airborne while waiting on the nearby elevated embankment interchange, CN 52284 is now spotted at another waterfront industry - Overseas Commodities. Regularly hosting flat cars with project cargo, heavy equipment or boxcars of export lumber. A burly brakeman has accompanied the car from AWP, remaining seemingly stationary!

Dominion Bridge receives inbound steel and ships bridge components for installation throughout British Columbia. A couple of waterfront denizens enjoy imbibing a bottle of Bingo, seemingly oblivious to the presence of such a well-travelled car critical to the accurate shipping and billing of online commodities!

Making its 'weigh' around the layout, CN 52284 has been shuffled next door to the Fairbanks-Morse plant which receives inbound machinery and ships heavy equipment, transformers and components.

Another day, another industry. Shell Canada's facility and tank farm receives a wide variety of granular and liquid commodities such as fertilizer, oil and chemicals.

Its tour complete, our pint-sized visitor has returned to the engine service track, spotted between a former steam engine tender and a Juneco wood CP end-cupola van. Guarded by RCMP to thwart camera-toting railfans (well, except this one who stayed well back, using my HO scale macro setting!)

Running extra...

The November sale continues - see following post. There are quite a few nice items still available. Thanks to Trackside Treasure readers who have taken part so far!

Watch for an upcoming post in which I'll illustrate the travels of the prototype CN 52284 over the course of one year. While these little fellas get around, they also spend time waiting for their next call to duty.

Remembrance Day  - November 11

A larger-than-usual turnout is anticipated at ceremonies this year. And rightly so.

November Sale on!

It's autumn - time to den up with my collection and pluck out some items to offer Trackside Treasure's loyal readers. First email received indicating interest to mile179kingstonATyahooDOTca - the item is yours! Each item will be shipped well-protected via Canada Post, upon receipt of payment. Shipping costs will be actual postage. Payment by cheque, money order or well-concealed cash. Thanks for browsing through my items, the most I've offered in a single sale. I hope you'll find some items you'd like to add to your collection!

ITEMS SOLD SO FAR: 1, 2, 3, 7, 13, 14, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 29.

(Above) 

ITEM 1: LRC locomotive manual for locomotives 6921-6930, May 1983, 80 pages with diagrams $20.

ITEM 2: 5th Anniversary Special Edition Canadian Railway Modeller, $10

ITEM 3: Soo Line 1976 Annual Report, 16 pages, illustrated, $7

(Below)

ITEM 4: Brampton Intermodal Terminal operating manual 1993, 15 pages with pull-out schematic, $7.

ITEM 5: Sarnia/Port Huron Operating manual 1990, 71 pages with pull-out schematic, $7.

ITEM 6: Bill Coo's Scenic Rail Guide to Central & Atlantic Canada, 1983 softcover, 160 pages, $7.

ITEM 7: Bill Coo's Scenic Rail Guide to Western Canada, 1982 softcover, 192 pages, $7.

Annual reports: 

ITEM 8: CN 1998; ITEM 9: CN 1997; ITEM 10: CN 1981; ITEM 11: CP 2003. $5 each, or all four for $15.

ITEM 12: Useful package - CP Rail historical national map, Chronology, Facts and Figures, Bibliography and The Big Railway. All for $8

ITEM 13: 1997 BRS Canadian Trackside Guide, $7.
ITEM 14: 1999 BRS Canadian Trackside Guide, $7.

ITEM 15: Tales of the Rails - The Newfoundland Railway by Clayton D. Cook. Softcover, illustrated with colour cover, 94 pages, 1991, $9.

ITEM 16: Hardcover Kalmbach Books The Hiawatha Story by Jim Scribbins. Hardcover, 267 pages profusely illustrated, dustjacket wear, scarce, sweet price due to well-loved condition, $30.

Train order mini-collections for the paper collector:

ITEM 17: CN 1972-1982 Ontario, Newfoundland >10 pcs train orders, clearances, $6.

ITEM 18: ONR 1970's >15 pcs train orders, $5.
ITEM 19: L&PS 1985 1 train order, $3
ITEM 20: ACR 1976-1989 >20 pcs train orders, clearances, $7

ITEM 21: VIA Postcard Collection, 35 postcards,most featuring equipment no longer in use. Partial collection shown - classic! All for $5.

Blank complete pads:

ITEM 22: CP train orders 1/2-inch thick, 200 forms, $5.

ITEM 23: CN train orders 1 cm thick, 100 forms, with carbons and cardboard separator, $5.

ITEM 24: CN clearances 50 triplicate forms with carbons and cardboard separator (# forms estimated), $5.

Photo print collections - 4x6-inch prints ideal for modelling, scanning or for your viewing and collecting enjoyment. No duplication in each collection. Partial collections shown below. 

Try one or more - you will not be disappointed!

ITEM 25: CP locomotives - wide variety - 50 prints, $10.

ITEM 26: CN locomotives - 40 prints, $9.

ITEM 27: Canadian shortlines - 20 prints, $5.

ITEM 28: Preserved equipment - locomotives and rolling stock - 110 prints, $19.

ITEM 29: Rolling stock - 110 prints, some detail shots. Varied, $19.
ITEM 30: Structures - 30 prints. Highly modellable, $7.

ITEM 31: L&PS - 8 prints, $3.

ITEM 32: US locomotives - 70 prints, some newly-built, $13.
ITEM 33: BC logging - 7 prints, $3.

ITEM 34: From the Operator's Desk: CP operator lineups, train orders, clearances, crew sheet, journals and messages from one day in autumn 1981, Ignace, ON. Partial package shown below, all for $15.

Running extra...

New to Trackside Treasure's sidebar - my brother Dave's Rolly Martin Country blog. Reposting information formerly found on the Rolly Martin Country website, now with larger photos, new and improved!