Morton Salt Chicago IL

[FCIN]

Here's another interesting industry that is a bit different and a destination for those covered hoppers...

Morton Salt, 1357 N. Elston Ave, Chicago, IL. http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=41.90...2&t=k&z=18

Here's an aerial view of the area     And a street view     I love the look of the large storage shed and the attached shed where the covered hoppers of salt are unloaded.

Have a look around on Google/Bing maps. Using both of those mapping sites, a person could do a pretty good scaled down model of this facility.

If you're into modeling industrial operations in a large urban setting then Chicago is a dandy! If you want to see some interesting photos and articles about railroad operations in this area of Chicago I suggest this web site: http://www.chicagoswitching.com/. There were and still are some really fascinating switching branches around Chicago. Perhaps some of you have heard of the Kingsbury Branch of the MILW/SOO/CP. Several folks have built switching layouts based on that particular operation.

[Sumpter250]

In the top photo... Elston Ave is on the West side, the North Branch of the Chicago River on the East. Not too far to the West is I-90 I-94. Between the Interstate, and Elston, is now UP, former C&NW tracks. Looks like barge traffic in the upper RH corner. Elston ends at Milwaukee Ave, right at the 800 block ( it ends at the 6100 block, also at Milwaukee Ave ).
At the 300 block, the river heads east to the locks on Lake Michigan, and, the South branch starts, heading South, and then Southwest on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

[MountainMan]

Don't forget to model the homeless guy with the stolen shopping cart... 8-)

[tetters]

Don't forget to model the homeless guy with the stolen shopping cart... 8-)

You noticed that too huh? Glad to read/hear/see your eyes are still sharp.

[faraway]

I lived for six month in the Mid Hudson Valley about 30 years ago. This item of my US kitchen did go with me back to Germany has been refilled hundred times and is still in daily use. I triggers my memories at every use

[MountainMan]

Don't forget to model the homeless guy with the stolen shopping cart... 8-)

You noticed that too huh? Glad to read/hear/see your eyes are still sharp.

Right eye still works... 8-)

[P5se Camelback]

I lived for six month in the Mid Hudson Valley about 30 years ago. This item of my US kitchen did go with me back to Germany has been refilled hundred times and is still in daily use. I triggers my memories at every use

Wow ... thirty years! It's starting to show its age ... maybe we should send you a new one ... you could the retire that one to a place of honor ... maybe as a silo at the Morton plant.

[Gary S]

I am guessing that they are bringing bulk salt in the covered hoppers and then packaging it in the plant. About 20 years ago, the company I worked for as an electrician had a customer which refined and packaged salt here in Houston. They did not have a rail connection, and did not need one because the plant was built directly over the salt dome, which was about 1000 feet underground. They injected water into the salt dome and then brought up brine water. The brine was run through a series of rolling screens and then went into a rotating dryer drum to evaporate the water out leaving only the salt. From there, the salt went to allthe different packaging facilities, some in round cans like we buy at the grocery store, some in 50 or 100 pound sacks, and they also compresed the salt into pellets for water softening. Was very interesting to see all the processes, but wasn't so great to work there because everything was wet and damp and slimey salty. Our tools didn't stand a chance, within a few weeks, they were rusted up, unless you washed and oiled them every day.

It is possible that the Morton plant is over a salt dome, but I doubt it because I don't see any retention ponds for the brine water. I do see the body of water to the right, but it looks like a natural river to me.

[radivil]

Maybe salt is mined differently in different places. There's a big salt mine in downtown Cleveland (like, literally under downtown) and there's no retaining ponds around there.

[Gary S]

The same salt company I did the work for had an actual mine over a different salt dome on the outskirts of Houston. For that one, there was a mine shaft going down 1500 feet, then they tunneled through the salt dome by drilling and blasting like if it were rock. By the way, the salt dome isn't made from powdery salt, it is crystaline salt, looks like quartz, but creates square shapes instead of hexagonal. The tunnels did not require any extra support, they just tunneled through the salt and made all manner of huge caverns down there. Anyway, because of the blasting powder involved, the salt could not be used for human consumption. They used it in animal feed and salt blocks, rock salt, they shipped it up north for use on roads in the winter, and it was also used in oil well drilling mud.

Vertical mines typically have a tall hoist house, I don't see that on the Google image. But by all means, I am just guessing that the salt is shipped in to the Morton facility. There certainly may be a big salt dome right underneath the building.

[mountaingoatgreg]

iving in Hutchinson we have 4 large salt mines within 50 miles of each other. All of them are railserved.
Like Gary stated there are two main types of mining one being brine wells which can be miles and miles away from the packaging plant. The other is using a verticla shaft which is like Gary said Road Salt. If anyone is in Hutchinson Kansas you can actually tour a underground salt mine. It is the only type of museum in the USA and one of two in the world!!
Around here the plants package all of their own products and ship 90% of their product in boxcars. The hoppers that go out are Road Salt.

I Love Google here is what I found out about the Elston Street Facility
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2781.html">http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory. ... /2781.html</a><!-- m -->
This is a distrubution facility that recieves salt by BARGE from Louisiana in bulk. It has facilities to bag the product and ship by truck. It also can ship bulk by railcar.

If you guys have any questions about moving salt by rail I can try and answer them!!!

[tetters]

Also on the subject of Salt Mines I just did a quick look on Wikipedia and the extent of salt mining globally is amazing. Some of the mines are darned shrines too. Carved out of salt! Worth a look even if just for pictures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wieliczka_Salt_Mine

[radivil]

they just tunneled through the salt and made all manner of huge caverns down there. Anyway, because of the blasting powder involved, the salt could not be used for human consumption. They used it in animal feed and salt blocks, rock salt, they shipped it up north for use on roads in the winter, and it was also used in oil well drilling mud.

This sounds like what I've heard of what the Cleveland mine is like inside. Its owned by Cargill and they make a lot of non-food products out of salt. Like the deicing stuff for airplanes. One of the buildings says Halite on it, which I believe is the big chunky kind of salt. My brother lives south of Cleveland and some days the tracks through town are an endless parade of little covered hoppers with Cargill logos on them.

Here's the mine:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qxg23g85q7ys&lvl=18.20019998431683&dir=169.74270623684075&sty=b&where1=Cleveland%2C%20OH&q=Cleveland%20OH">http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qxg23g ... eland%20OH</a><!-- m -->

Bonus: just to the north is a huge field of iron ore and the remains of a Hullett in the weeds.