Switching industry in Houston,TX

[faraway]

I have some doubt how switching was and is done in Houston.
The class 1 RR have their classification yards. That is not subject of this discussion.

The harbor area is served by the PTRA. The other area is served by the HBT. The PTRA has been founded by the city to support the harbor. The HBT has been founded by the big boys about 100 years ago to get rid of the burden of local switching.
Where is the need for e.g. SP(UP) and/or AT&SF(BNSF) to serve local industry spurs with their own switchers?

Question 1: That would mean I shall not run SP(UP) or AT&SF(BNSF) engines at all on my layout but HBT.

The old conflict between Houston and Galveston lead to the ATSF route passing Houston in the west. ATSF attached to Houston later from the south via a long detour and some tracking rights from the west to get their prominent passenger trains in and out. But ATSF did never build a significant of network of rails in Houston that could connect to a remarkable number of industries.

Question 2: If my industry area is not served by HBT, would AT&SF (BNSF) not the last of all choices? Wouldn't it be much more realistic to serve it by SP (UP) because they have the history of serving the city while ATSF only connected to the city?

The HBT has been founded about 100 years ago. I read UP and BNSF split the engines in 1997.

Question 3: Did they close the company and painted the engines in their colors and use them now free in other locations? Who does the job HBT did in e.g. 1990 in 2005?

ps. I did not name all the predecessors of SP(UP) and ATSF(BNSF) like TNO etc. to simplify the discussion but stick with the current names.

[Gary S]

I'm not very familiar with the PTRA or the HB&T, but give me a couple days and I'll go over to the LHS and ask the guys about them. Every so often I will see a light blue HB&T switch engine (SW1200?) over in the BNSF Mykawa Yard - but only twice a year maybe. I like the paint scheme on the engine, mostly because it has the state of Texas as a logo.

Now, what I am familiar with is the two industrial areas near Hobby Airport on the south side of Houston. I have posted pics of some of the industries in the Industries Forum here at Big Blue, as you know. These areas are switched by BNSF out of the Mykawa Yard. They have four of the Genset switchers that do the work, and they still use an ATSF caboose for that work.

I'm not quite sure, but over in the older area of town at the upper end of the ship channel, I have seen UP GP units with the "Y" marking on them, so it may be assumed that UP does some industry switching in that area, but then again, they may just do yard switching.

Reinhard, you bring up some great questions, and something I need to know more about. It may not be until Friday before I can make it to the hobby shop to ask some questions. I'll also dig around on the net to see what I can find.

So, off the top of my head, I would say you could get away with modeling whichever road you wanted to. And, I see UP engines in the BNSF yard all the time.

[faraway]

Gray, thank you but did not intend to put the whole burden on you. I will post the same question the "Prototype information for the modeler" forum of Trains.com too.

The area you mention in the south of Houston is very close to the original AT&SF route into Houston. That makes a perfect match to support local industry and have BNSF switchers at this time.

ps. The skyline photo I used for my backdrop looks like it has been shot from the north west of downtown. May be of the ramp of Sawyer St / Memorial Dr. Not a good location for a fictional industry area. May be I can find another shot from a more suitable direction (east to south).

[faraway]

Gary,
die you visit this area too?
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=nycjmt7...vl=2&sty=b
It is a little more north west of Hobby airport. the Trackage looks interesting.

[Gary S]

Oh yeah! That area is about 6 miles from where I work. I am loosely modeling that area, will build some of the buildings there for use on my layout. I call the area "Mykawa West" because it is on the west side of Mykawa Road. It is a nice little industrial park, with about 20 rail-served industries. Some of the buildings are fairly well kept, others are run down junk piles. Most of the spurs are still active, but a few have been disconnected. It is an interesting area and quite easy to get pics there. There are a bunch of pics already in the Industries forum here. Just find any threads started by me and you'll find them - although I have also included buildings from another industrial park that is only 2 miles from here, but also served by BNSF.

Edit: This area is switched by the BNSF. Also notice the Old Smokey Barbeque Pit in the first photo!

[Gary S]

Okay... the blue switcher with the Texas logo I see on occasion is actually a PTRA loco -




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Unconfirmed preliminary research says the HB&T is not in existence since 1997 and the areas served by it are now served by the UP or BNSF. There are still some rail bridges around that have the HB&T logo.

[Gary S]

Here is a website abut the Port of Houston with some info about the railroads that switch the area: http://www.portofhouston.com/geninfo/facilities.html

[Gary S]

More info: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/re...?1,1560805

[faraway]

Thank you. I am getting the picture.
The good news is that the choice of switcher to be used on the layout is very free.
PTRA is a problem because there are no models on the market that match PTRA engines. But that can problem can be bypassed easy by using switchers of the class 1 RR. HBT is history... sad story. I liked their yellow MP15DC very much and made four of them out of Atlas MP15DC. Can't be used anymore after 1997.

The photo with the Santa Fe caboose is nice. I understood cabs are frequently in use today as shoving platforms to permit much faster switching when roads have to be crossed while the engine is pushing.

I am waiting for the postman. The tracking systems shows that two SP MP15AC from Trainworld/NY have been loaded into the delivery car at the Stuttgart airport 10 minutes ago. He should be here at lunchtime for delivery. My intention is to have a set of six engines each from Santa Fe and SP to exchange them when ever I like.