A very recent (April 2025) Google Streetview image of Arrow Reload Systems. Note the variety of car types. YouTube videos filmed on other days show a large volume of flat cars carrying steel products.
Prompted by a recent email from a blog reader, I thought now would be a good time to discuss operations on the Harbor Sub. (north end). Let’s start with the lay of the land i.e. an aerial of the prototype, and the layout track plan.
The old Harbor Sub was split into several sections. I’m modeling the northern piece shown in the map above. Splitting off from the main at Harbor Junction, it’s about a thirty-minute walk to Malabar. There isn’t really anything noteworthy south of Malabar; the line runs a mile or so and then ends in the dirt. BNSF’s massive Hobart Yard is about a mile to the east of Harbor Junction.
Now, getting to the heart of the matter, operations, blog reader Mark H. recently emailed me with the following questions about the operating plan for a future Harbor Sub. layout:
” I would appreciate some insight into your operating plan. Would the incoming freight train be staged straddling the main line/entering the Harbor Sub, then proceed to Malabar Yard to drop cars and pick up outbounds and return to the Junction, with a local servicing the industries with pull and shove moves? Or would a train be staged in Malabar Yard to service local industries, with the main/Harbor Jct. functioning solely as a visual display? I would also be interested in knowing contemplated train lengths and whether trains would feature one or two units.”
I’ll start with the easy ones first before delving into operations. I would run two locos per the prototype. In reality, the trains are quite long. I don’t have that much space, so I’d probably limit them to five to eight cars or so. In most (but not all) cases, I’d probably start a session with a train incoming from Hobart staged on the bridge. Now getting to the bigger question on ops.
I classify industries on a branch like this as follows:
-Massive industries that are frequently switched (often daily…or more). These provide the bulk of the revenue for the branch. In the case of the Harbor Sub, that would be Exxon/Mobil.
-Mid-size industries that are fairly regularly switched and often have the added interest of being car spot dependent. That would be Arrow Reload.
-Small industries that see fairly consistent service such as Dar Pro.
-Small industries that get some switching but rarely, such as Pabco.
Getting to Mark’s question, most of the activity on this line appears to be related to moving cars between Hobart Yard, Exxon/Mobil, and Malabar. I’m not up to speed on how cars are spotted at Exxon/Mobil nor am I clear on what’s going on with incoming/outgoing loads vs. empties. (If anybody knows, drop me a line).
A typical op. session would start with a train spotted on the bridge heading south. Dar Pro would be worked first. The next trailing point would Exxon/Mobil where I would expect some form of load-for-empties swap. After reaching Malabar, the units either tie up for the day or run around the train and perform some significant blocking, the nature of which I’m not clear on. There are also frequent back and forth transfer runs to Hobart the nature of which I’m not clear on either. Certainly, Hobart is the eventual start or end point for every car.
On a separate day, cars for Arrow would be blocked in the yard and the shoved down to the facility to be spotted. On rare occasions a single car might be spotted at Pabco.
Here’s a timeline from my recent trip that might help.
I arrived at Malabar at about 3:45 pm on Wednesday, May 28th, and things were totally quiet. The two units weren’t even idling. I gather they are semi-permanently stationed in Malabar to work the Harbor Sub. Note the long strings of tank cars related to Exxon/Mobil. I spent an hour documenting the area and then drove to the north end of the line.
At end of the day that day, Wednesday the 28th at 4:45pm, I went back to Malabar. Both locos were gone! A few minutes later, I saw them heading back to the yard with a cut of cars from Exxon.
I returned to Malabar at about 9 am the next morning (Thursday May 29th) to find the Malabar yard units working hard at classifying tank cars. Why were they sorting them? It was a pretty extended sequence that blocked several busy intersections for long periods of time.
Shown above is a Bing Birdseye image showing a lone boxcar spotted at Pabco. Google maps shows the same. I’m not sure if this industry is still active, but the switch is still there. It took some digging but the Google aerial time stamp was February 11, 2024 which wasn’t that long ago.
A Google aerial view of the Exxon/Mobil facility. I’m totally ignorant as to the nature of the place and the car flow. Whatever happens car blocking at Malabar seems to be a crucial part of their operational scheme.