Conrail's Philly Piers

[@njRRtrainer]

I used to live in South Phila.. This and the Pier action were great when I was growing up!.. Glad you captured this and were able to share this piece of engineering and Railroadia!!! Thanks for the effort..

[@portobellotent]

WOW! Fascinating video! Truly Amazing film work! I have found a treasure of industrial history set in beautiful landscapes. Big Thank you for showing how this world works, and I am grateful to You Tube

[@Hickler90]

Thank you for posting this. Its amazing something like this even existed down there. I cant imagine it today.

[@cuzinitr]

Wow, What an operation! If i could be there all day watching, I'd be a happy man! Thank's for posting this video, 5 star and favorite's, Rich.

[@PennRailVideos]

That's 7554! The same GP10 that's now on the EPSN's Perk Branch! Holy cow!

[@njRRtrainer]

This was great, was born and raised in So Phillie.. glad someone captured this and was able to share...

[@haroldalexis4200]

Ah the memories of CONRAIL. This is the first time i've seen the open hopper trains like that. I love it. All trains prior CONRAIL I spotted READING & of course PENN CENTRAL. 😃 Excellent film. 🎥 ✅👍

[@rayinpau.s.a.6351]

these are the things the world never gets a chance to see or witness . I really enjoyed watching this video . it is sad to know that these ways are quickly going away . it seems to be the way of the world ? Thank You for posting this video . Ray in Pa.

[@fmnut]

If you watch the video starting at about 06:10, you can see the rotary dumper at the top of the frame going thru its cycle. The top of the car was open and as it was turned upside down the coal fell out into a bin which was then emptied by conveyors onto the ship or barge. There was no need to trigger the hopper doors at the bottom of the car.

[@BrooklynPerson30000]

i first heard of that type of operation just a couple months ago, and i've been trying to find footage of it in action- finally here it is!

[@ronaldstokes4841]

But that isn't the end of the show. The now empty coal car runs by gravity down a short slope then up another slope, like a ski jump, which stops the car and it rolls backward on to another track to hump back to the yard. Before automatic switches, a man had to switch the track for each car.

[@bartertown]

I think they had spring switches for the kick back track.

[@nonewherelistens1906]

Amazing technology and engineering from a not to distant past. I drove by this operation many times ans never realized its inner workings until this video.

[@fmnut]

+Thomas Nixon It was amazing for its time. Remember, when this stuff was invented and built people were still using horses and wagons. A lot of this has been replaced by self-unloading ships. But the materials technology that made them possible didn't exist in the early 20th Century. Don't judge what you see by today's standards.And by the way, I was to China around the time this video was shot and they were using stuff just as primitive if not more so. Beehive coke ovens worked by hand. Open hearth steel mills. Bessemer converters. Steam locomotives. The difference is that they HAVE the capital to make these changes BECAUSE all of our businesses jumped ship and relocated there. That's why the Waltons are all billionaires. Not too many billionaires in the steel, shipping or rail industries any more.

[@capnfabu]

Man, I docked and sailed a lot of ships there when I was mate and captain on those Moran & McAllister tugboats.

[@donconklin1770]

once in a lifetime piece of history; thanks for postyuing and filming

[@roballen5670]

Dang. Thank u for your time and such great videos of history.

[@Blueboxtrains]

Great video, thanks for posting such a unique record of railroad history.

[@treos17]

thank you so much for posting this, ive been rail fanning greenwich yard practically since i was born and still do since i live a mile from it. I was only 4 when you shot this so never got to see it in action that i can remember. Thank

[@vettebecker1]

Would have loved to have had an opportunity to watch the car loader in person, very neat the way they detach car to go through sprung switch/ hit ramp to change direction and go up loader to dumper. I could have put a lawn chair there and watched that all day!!

[@ronaldstokes4841]

George Holmes, a Philadelphia photographer, has photos and videos of the piers as they looked in the mid-2000s. Mostly twisted metal, railroad ties without tracks leading to the coalers. Plus a video of the demolition of one of the rail derricks.

[@UrbanDKaye]

Fascinating look at an element of railroading not often seen.

[@railroadjim]

Neat, I just saw CR 7554 at pier 124 in that video. I think that's the same engine that now exists as the PRL/ESPN 7554 in East Greenville, PA on the ex-Reading Perkiomen Branch.

[@mdonato249]

Terrific video. Thanks for sharing. I always wondered what went on down there.

[@mjb430]

Thank you for sharing! Where were these located in South Philly? It is the area directly south of the Walt Whitman bridge where CSX now has their intermodal facility?

[@DelcoImagery]

Yes it a little south of the intermodal facility

[@DelcoImagery]

11 years later

[@yaggy9]

awesome video, always wondered about this operation. a shame it's closed up.

[@tomp8871]

Thanks mate, that was some BIG work.

[@ArchTeryx00]

Love the design of the oscar (the device used to push the cars upslope to the dumper). Basically a little narrow gauge pusher on its own set of rails. I imagine it was cable-driven; the hydraulic motors that it used must have been pretty damn huge to get fully loaded hoppers up that steep a grade.

[@fmnut]

Archibald Mirenopteryx the proper term is "barney" and yes, it was drawn by cable.

[@ArchTeryx00]

The barney-drive was a neat idea. It kept workers well clear of the hoppers and the rotary dump frame during operation for the most part. (And BTW, thanks for the correction. I'd heard similar devices referred to as 'oscars' and extrapolated, but I do like to call 'em by their right names. Pays respect to the folks working with them day in and day out). Not just that, either. The mule and kickback track in operation was neat to see as well.

[@Northeastern_Railfan]

No way that this is what they looked like, this is amazing!

[@jtunnel]

Fantastic video, thank you for sharing. Shame it is all just memories now.

[@bartertown]

The ore tipple is gone. They are cleaning out the ore in between the rails of the loop track. Does anyone know what will be done with the loop? Will they scrap the rails or use this to turn power or something?

[@LADYTRIAXLE]

wow the Joe castagna Armand Gerace days in south philly > coal pier #122-24 God bless all those long shoreman who worked on this pier also>great video

[@straightto8]

I visited this area in 2010, had no idea any of this existed there. How long ago did this all cease, and was it all turn up and anything put in its place.

[@fmnut]

The video shows the second to last boatload of coal loaded through Pier 124. The facility was rebuilt by Conrail in the late 1970's to handle primarily hard coal from the Anthracite Region. Bituminous coal was more efficiently handled through Consol's facility at Baltimore. After a successful trial to ensure that the anthracite would not get contaminated by bituminous coal at Consol, Pier 124 was shut down in January 1991 and all east coast rail/water coal was handled through Baltimore. Pier 122 lasted a few years longer. After the shutdown of Bethlehem Steel's mills at Bethlehem PA in 1996, insufficient ore traffic remained to justify keeping it in regular operation. It saw occasional use to unload ships carrying fertilizer, but was permanently out of service before the breakup of Conrail. Niether CSX nor NS were interested in the facility, so it was demolished in 2010. The Pier 122 site was recently made over into a roll-on/roll-off facility for imported vehicles.

[@straightto8]

@@fmnut Appreciate the information, it’s sure changed, I wish I could have seen it all in action back when.

[@roballen5670]

I was just wondering if this operation is still.in operation? Also really great video.

[@fmnut]

Ringman Allen No, the coal dumper shut down a few weeks after the video was shot. The ore operation lasted until the mid 90's when Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem shut down. Occasional loads of fertilizer were handled for a few more years. The ore cranes were demolished in 2010.

[@onionhat9141]

i hope to see this in the upcoming Prr route coming to trainz

[@bartertown]

The ore tipple was recently torn down. We can turn power on the loop tracks now.

[@kman-mi7su]

South Philly? where's the wiseguys? LOL!

[@royreynolds108]

Just about any railroad that hauled coal to tidewater used this type of arrangement to empty the cars for loading into ships and barges on a large scale. This was the best technology for the time even though only one car at a time was dumped. There may have been one or two locations where two cars were dumped at a time. These cars seem to be 50-60 ton capacity. Now the cars are 100 ton capacity, have no bottom doors, have rotary couplers, are dumped with rotary dumpers up to three at a time with no uncoupling. Time marches on.

[@fmnut]

the hoppers in the video are 100 ton cars.

[@weekendrailroader]

Coal cars today are good for about 140+ tons.

[@alexandergrube6437]

That ramp is interesting. I guess it's more efficient than using a traditional locomotive.

[@fmnut]

The ramp is necessary because of the need to reach the height of dumper in a short distance. If a grade suitable for a locomotive was used, the pier would extend halfway out into the river.

[@terenceoneill3075]

I found a photo postcard from 1965 in my father's stuff that shows Captain Faber's ship at the PRR Ore Dock, South Philly (that info is direct from the card, not me). Is there anyone interested?

[@Ben31337l]

How did they trigger the wagons to unload?

[@megatrains]

Nice catch!!!!!!!!!

[@thunderstormzlightning]

great video thanks for shareing

[@miggitymase]

my dad kenny and his brother marc along with a crew of operating engineers cut all 4 cranes apart plus the coal loading apparatus and coal loading crane.

[@PaulPeirceFan]

wat was that ramp thing used for?

[@ekapus]

This video is incredible. When was it shot?

[@fmnut]

1990

[@c.h.s9022]

What’s the narrow locomotive at 1:43? What was it used for?

[@fmnut]

Typhlosion 157 it's a car mover that pushes the cars through the tipple with a side arm. It runs on narrow gauge tracks in between the standard gauge ones. See my Hulett videos for a similar setup in more detail.

[@c.h.s9022]

fmnut thank you for the explanation.

[@railroad9000]

Well orchestrated operation.

[@2READYCRETE]

My Dad worked that job, caught that job off the Erie Ave Road Board

[@boatbound3300]

Amazing

[@mattsfirewoodvideos738]

Looks very different now in 2021

[@NomaDairy]

Thats really really neat!

[@cr1901]

When was this filmed?

[@fmnut]

cr1901 1990 and 1991

[@cr1901]

fmnut Good stuff! I'm from the area and was born in 1990. Interesting glimpse into times I don't remember...

[@BNforever2009]

nice video

[@Darthsimpletext]

Ore Dump:Come in little coal car, i want to turn you upside down, make you throw up and spit you out Coal car:Why should i come? Ore Dump:Because it's my function, and what i do is discreet, other coal cars said it's a wild experience

[@fmnut]

Nice, but it's a coal dump, not an ore dump.

[@geoffreylee5199]

Different from the Huletts.

[@fmnut]

Yes, these are a beefed up version of the Brownhoist design that was a Hulett precursor.

[@FrehleyFan3988]

Featuring a conrail ex penn central GP7

[@fmnut]

7554 was a GP9, not GP7

[@FrehleyFan3988]

@@fmnut oh... it's so hard to tell the difference between the 2

[@fmnut]

@@FrehleyFan3988 look at the louvers on the long hood. GP7 has 2 vertical rows under the radiator grill at the rear end of the hood. GP9 has 3 to 5 clusters of louvers extending forward from just under the dynamic brake. (front and rear above reference a unit set up for short hood forward operation).

[@FrehleyFan3988]

@@fmnut oh, now I can tell the difference. I thought before that gp9s had dynamic brakes and GP7s didnt. I guess that all depended on how the railroads ordered them

[@fmnut]

@@FrehleyFan3988 correct.