Industries on the Joint-Line Mid 70's early 80's in Tales of the Jointed Track

I was asked by a reader to contact by e-mail, which I did. He wanted to know about
the industries and switching we did. Well racked the old Brain..and this is the email I sent
back. I may have an old CLIC Book lying around. Car Load Inventory Control.

What we switched either on the Sedalia turns and/or the Big Lift Local as I remember.

Santa Fe Park branch: The Michelin Tire Company up to the mid 70’s now an AT&T facility.

Western Aspen: Between Belleview and Oxford. You know where the RTD flies over the BNSF
Tracks. On the east side is where it was located. They made Excelsior batting for swamp cooling and other products. There were 2 tracks one spotted with gons with cut Aspen tree logs. The other went down into a warehouse with 3 doors spotted with Box cars for loading. It doesn’t exist, but there seems to be a storage yard for a construction company. Gives you a general idea.

Plastics Company: That was on the other side of Oxford, about 5 car lengths past the crossing. We crossed Windermere to access it. I can’t remember the name of it. There was one track that we spotted and pulled empties, and a another track to a warehouse which did not utilize the railroad, but the tracks were there. One of the trainmen would talk to the shipper and they pulled hoses, off the hoppers. We’d pull the mtys and set them over. Re-spot what wasn’t unloaded and the new cars we brought in. The warehouse of a shipper that also didn’t use the railroad, is still there white in color, you can see it from
South Santa Fe Drive. The Plastic company is still there they truck in their product.

Public Service : Just due north of that was a storage yard for Public Service (now Xcel Energy ) We used to spot flats with telephone poles and an occasional transformer. It is no longer there.

Englewood / siding and house track: There was a Station Agent there till about 1978 or 1980 till Big Lift came into operation. Ballast was stored there for work trains. When the Big Lift Local came down, there was a shipper that unloaded Road Salt for the highway departments. City or County.
The house track, was a team track it split off the siding and ran behind the Englewood depot. That too split to the team track and next to a 1 car dock, for LCL shipments. LCL is Less than Car Load. The Depot was moved east of the BNSF mains and the RTD around Dartmouth Ave
and Galapago Street.

As for power it was usually a unit taken off the Santa Fe symbolled trains 414 or 495 and added back. The units were the basic power. GP-20. GP-30, GP-35,GP-38 as well as an occasional U-23-B. If no power was available, we’d get a C&S SD-9. Power was out of Rice Yard, during the pre-Big Lift era. The train originated and terminated there.

When Big Lift came into being, a unit usually a GP-20 was set out and stayed there till it needed fuel or coming due federal inspection.
If you have a Santa Fe CLIC book it can probably name the tracks and the customer.

Hope this helps