The Junction Yard Secondary

In the last post, I started a detailed look at the routes that would make up a modern day Detroit Terminal Railroad. I started with the Conrail Marsh Track, and in this post, we'll continue moving clockwise and look at the Conrail Junction Yard Secondary. Once again, here's an overview:

The Junction Yard Secondary (JYS) starts at CP-YD, just north of Conrail River Rouge Yard. On the map to the left, the River Rouge label is right on top of CP-YD. Where the Marsh Track branches to the east, the JYS branches west, winding through Melvindale and into Dearborn.

There is really only one major customer along the JYS, the Ford Motor Company's massive Rouge Factory.

Here's a closer look at the overall route. Once again, just north of the River Rouge label is CP-YD and the switch on the Conrail Detroit Line where the JYS branches off. It then crosses the Canadian National Shoreline Subdivision and passes through Ecorse Junction under I-75. There, it connects with the Conrail Lincoln Secondary and crosses the Norfolk Southern Detroit District.

From Ecorse Junction, the right-of-way heads northward, crossing the Rouge River and skirting the massive Ford Rouge factory. It then crosses the CN Flat Rock Subdivision before passing over I-94. The line then diverges into a wye, connecting to the Conrail/Norfolk Southern Michigan Line.

Here's Bing's Bird's Eye view of CP-YD, which is just north of River Rouge Yard on the Conrail Detroit Line. The track branching off to the east (right) is the Conrail Marsh Track, covered in the previous post. The track branching off to the west (left) near the top of the photo is the Junction Yard Secondary.

 Just to the north of CP-YD is the Rock Dock. In the image to the right, we are looking east, and CP-YD is to the right. The Rock Dock switch is at the top right corner of the photo, and the spur parallels the JYS.

This looks like an exceptionally easy industry to model - just a spur with a gravel road/lot for transloading. Everything else can go on the backdrop.

Next is the Conrail crossing with the CN Shoreline Subdivision, just to the south of I-75, and then Ecorse Junction. The switch for the connection to the Conrail Lincoln Secondary is hidden under I-75, then the right-of-way crosses the Norfolk Southern Detroit District. There's a spur off the JYS winding to the top left corner of the photo, which serves a Marathon Oil facility. Norfolk Southern actually switches Marathon Oil, as well as the Salt Mine in the next photo.

Michigan - and specifically the Detroit area - is extremely rich in salt deposits. What you see in the photo to the right is only the surface facility. Below the surface is a gigantic cavern extending thousands of yards in every direction, where gigantic machines continually expand the cavern as they mine the salt.  Just like the Marathon Oil plant above, the salt mine spur diverges from Conrail-owned trackage, but is actually served by Norfolk Southern. We're back to looking north in this photo - Ecorse Junction is to right.

Here's a closeup of the loadout, a very simple conveyor affair. As such, this could be a very easy industry to model. The gigantic mound of salt would be an excellent view block, and the conveyor is interesting without being a massive challenge to replicate in HO scale.  The switch lead passes some gritty industrial debris and some grimy outbuildings...very Detroit.

Next, the JYS passes a huge refinery. I've driven past here on Oakwood Boulevard, and it is truly massive. This plant isn't served by the JYS, but makes for interesting backdrop fodder.

This is the bridge that carries the JYS over the Rouge River. This could be an interesting scene to model, since the contrast between the industrial and natural elements is so stark here.

This is the Ford Motor Company Rouge Complex. The scale is so huge that you can barely make out the JYS right-of-way squeezed between The Rouge and South Schaefer Highway. At any rate, there are interchanges with Ford's in-plant trackage at both the south and north ends of the complex. There is a grade crossing at Schaefer Road, and then the JYS crosses the Canadian National Flat Rock Subdivision. The CN also serves The Rouge.

The JYS then crosses I-94 on an overpass, and immediately north of Rotunda Dr., diverges into a wye that connects to the Conrail/Norfolk Southern Michigan Line. Technically, Conrail territory ends at CP-TOWNLINE, where the west leg of this wye connects to the Michigan Line. The west leg therefore interchanges with the Norfolk Southern.

As far as modeling the Junction Yard Secondary goes, I have the same issues as I had with the Marsh Track. It's not a former Detroit Terminal property, and is something of an outpost from the core of the DTRR that I envision. In addition, even more than the Marsh Track, the JYS does not hold much operational interest for me. My preference is for this layout to be a shelf-style switching layout where relatively short mixed freight trains switch a variety of industries. The only true customer along the JYS is The Rouge, which is primarily a destination for unit coal trains.  While Marathon Oil and the salt mine provide some additional variety, those industries aren't actually served by Conrail; it would be a stretch to have Norfolk Southern give up those customers to my DTRR.

In my next post, we'll look at what used to be the west end of the original Detroit Terminal Railroad. In my modern-day DTRR, this is the Dearborn Industrial track. This is the only location along the DTRR that I have actually seen firsthand, and the first portion of what I consider to be the core of my Detroit Terminal.