| GREX 2900 DumpTrain® Aggregate Delivery System unloads some ballast at the south end of the CN, former SOO, yard at Neenah, WI on 10 Feb. '18. These interesting pieces of equipment can unload 2,000 tons per hour and deposit it up to 50' from the tracks. The hopper cars are permanently coupled together and "empty onto a single conveyor belt that runs the entire length of the train," enabling the transfer car to dump them all in succession. The train is on a remnant of the C&NW main line, now relegated to a passing siding. The former SOO main line is in the foreground. Neenah Foundry Plant 2 & Plant 3 loom in the background. Plant 2 opened in 1960 and Plant 3 was built in 1967. Plant 1 opened in 1918 and stood about a mile to the north, until it was closed in 1994 and eventually demolished. |