This area I have chosen to reproduce in my pike is of the town where I grew up. The time period is around 1945 to 1954, and though the town was small it was big in commerce. You could always find work here, if not in the factories there were always the docks at the harbor. The Rail Roads were very active bringing in coal to be loaded on to the big ore boats for shipping to other ports on the great lakes, or picking up of iron ore unloaded from the boats to feed the steel mills to the south. The Superior and Union docks comprised three large dock areas devoted to iron ore and coal, the PRR served one, and the NYC the other two.
There were also three other docks called the Penny Docks two of which handled self unloaders only and the other handled both Loading and unloading of general merchant. Sidely a company that makes concrete products, and also supplied stone, and ready mixed concrete for construction jobs. Had a dock also where they received stone, gravel, crushed rock, and sand. There was an Acme Scrap Yard in town that had a dock area where they shipped cut up cars. There was a car ferry dock some where on the river which I have not been able to place yet. I am not sure if it was for rail cars, automobiles, or both.
Over the years there were many RR in the area, C&O, B&O, NKP, V&O, etc., some were combined to form others and died out while others remained. There was Conrail, and PRR combined with NYC to become PennCentral.
Between the harbor and up town on 21st off of lake avenue was the main passenger train station and rail way express. Leaving the station going west was a half round house, and large sorting yard to the south, and a quarter round house to the north side of the tracks. Further west was a reclamation plant where they burned old rail cars and salvaged what they could of metal parts. Up town was trackage that served The Arthur Louis supply co., two Lumber Yards and the Acme Scrap Yard located off 48th street. The NKP track ran along side 48th street passed Sidley Concrete Co., and the freight depot, and then a cross main street and out over the truss bridge to the east toward Erie Pa. |
