Hopper Car at the H and H Coffee Factory Siding

The rail siding that runs along the west side of the 1932 Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co. factory is still worked. On an overcast April afternoon in 2019 this weathered covered hopper car was parked directly behind the plant wall, its rust-streaked steel body and riveted side panels framed against the white-painted brick above. A riveted ladder and pour chute step up to the unloading hatch on the near end; the factory’s chain-link fence crosses the foreground, and a second hopper’s black end sill sits just behind it on the same track.

The siding’s ongoing use is why several frames in the factory gallery share the same vantage. The railroad crossing, the freight train passing the building, and the two-trains-pass photo all look out from the same property onto the same active line; this one simply catches what stops on it.