Finkl Steel Closes North Side Plant, Starts Operations on South Side

[TBurke]

Headline from the Chicago Tribune this morning-

"Steel company forges ahead with new South Side plant
A. Finkl & Sons phases out operations at longtime Lincoln Park-area site, fires up new, more efficient furnaces on East 93rd Street"

You can Google the article for more details.

So the number of rail-served customers for Chicago Terminal drops to two-General Iron Industries and Big Bay Lumber.  Get pictures while you can of the rails in and around Finkl.

[TBurke]

Looks like an old rail line was recently rebuilt by NS to accomodate the South Side Finkl plant as well as two new switches.  Interesting use of a tail track to access the plant from the north as shown in Google Earth.

1355 E 93rd St, Chicago, IL

[Brianbobcat]

Does anyone have a photo of the finished products leaving Finkl on a railcar?  I've seen a lot of General Iron hoppers and Big Bay box cars/lumber cars, I even saw a plastic lined hopper at Sipi, but nothing ever from Finkl.  Are we sure they even are still a rail customer?  The article on the Tribune does mention that their new location is so close to the Norfolk Southern line, that they could call for a pickup, and within an hour it's getting picked up.  They do seem like a good fit for their new plant being a former steel mill and all, and with the area still being industrial as opposed to Lincoln Park with river access that they don't use.

[TBurke]

Here's a picture of the finished goods waiting to be picked up from Finkl by CP Rail.  My original caption is incorrect in speculating that these loads were inbound based upon newer information about Finkl.

http://chicagoswitching.com/v6/articles/picturedisplayfromid.asp?photoid=657&locationname=Kingsbury

Their new site is rail-served.  I think the Tribune's wording caused some confusion which is not unusual for a reporter not familiar with railroad operations. 

The closing of the Finkl plant means the end of operations on both what was left of the Deering Line and the C&E North Line.  I expect the city to repave Kingsbury and remove the rails quickly north of Cortland.  The switch at C&E Junction in the middle of Kingsbury and General Iron Industries might be removed by the railroad and replaced with a simple, low maintenance curved track to reach the C&E South Line. 

[GM]

Looks like a ghost town going by it today. There was always some activity going on.

[cnwnorthline]

I'd assume (or HOPE) that they'd wait to see what fills Finkle's spot and if there is any possibility for rail service. 

-Matt

[GM]

Passed by Finkl on Tuesday. There were still employees and equipment moving around the whole property. Must be final cleanup of facility although the smoke stack was putting out a lot of steam. Wonder if they would still use this facility for awhile in conjunction with their south side location?