Years ago while employed in the food industry, I would load airslide cars of bulk bakery flour to National Baking Company and East Baltimore Baking both located in Chicago. These cars were shipped from Cargill in Kansas. The National cars were filled in small size ATSF or GACX cars while the Baltimore loads were in jumbo cars. If anyone from the area knows, what rrs were these two industries on? Are they still in business today? Just curious.
National Baking is now Alpha Baking or S. Rosen. I assume the location was out past Cicero Avenue just off of the Eisenhower Expressway. Which railroad did you work for at the time?
Dont know about East Baltimore Baking, where was (is) it?
I have quite a few contacts in the baking industry in Chicago…could find out pretty easily for you.
ed
Mapquest and Google Earth show an East Balt, Inc. at 1801 w 31st place in southwest Chicago. Looks to be on CN’s Alton line.
East Balt has an interesting history. Unless things have changed, it’s exclusively the supplier for bread (buns, English muffins, etc.) to McDonalds in the Chicago area. IIRC, it’s on the CN (old GM&O). They were very close to the ICG’s Ashland Ave. ramp and made the air smell good with their fresh baked bread.
There are several stories about Ray Krock (SP?) getting Micky D’s off the ground in Chicago. One of ‘em involves East Balt. Krock didn’t have the money to pave the parking lot at a new restaurant. The owner of East Balt loaned him the money. This resulted in a handshake deal that has stood ever since. (McDonalds traditionallly didn’t have contracts with suppliers, it was all based on the peoples’ word and a handshake.)
If you eat a Big Mac in the Chicago area, you’re eating an East Balt bun. They own Olympic Freightways, a trucking company that delivers bread to the restaurants.
Micky D once had some problems with their bread supplier in St. Louis and East Balt came to us at the ICG to see if we could handle moving fresh bread from Chicago to St. Louis on our TOFC Slingshots. I thought we put a good offer on the table but eventually the bread came out of Indianapolis. I did get some free English muffins out of the deal.
While I’m typing I might as well tell the other McDonalds story I know. The company was then HQ’d in downtown Chicago. On Friday Krock couldn’t meet his payroll. He went down to the bar located on the first floor of the building and offered the bar owner 40% of McDonalds for $10,000. The bar owner turned him down. I don’t know if this one’s true or not. But I did get those muffins.
Bakeries are nice that way. Our hump is downwind of an Entenmann’s plant (it was Burny Brothers when I moved there). Another good place to stand and sniff is at Pepperidge Farm, in Downers Grove (right by the Fairview Avenue Metra stop).
Ray Kroc.
The plant that receives Airslide cars and is readily visible along the Eisenhower is the Ferrara Pan Candy Co. Never linger enough to smell anything there, but they have a small outlet store right in the plant.
There are tons of locations in Chicago that manufacture food. Many have outlet stores, which makes it even better.
Perhaps the best smelling is Sanfillipo Nuts in Elk Grove Village. Great outlet store too.
The stockyards district still has quite a few meat processors. The absolute best is Best Kosher, the hot dog manufacturer. If you are on Pershing Road, stop in and pickup a hot dog. They are huge and are the best hot dogs in the city. Many people have made the mistake of purchasing two and not being able to finish the second. As an added bonus, the former Conrail (now NS) Ashland street yard is a few blocks away and the tracks a block south of Best Kosher are almost always busy.
Today’s appointment books says I am heading to Tootsie Roll Industry (candy) and El Milagro (Mexican food mfg). It is going to be a great day!
ed
Yeah, Chicago has been food manufacturing valhalla, and historically really fine people, although I suppose it’s gone dog-eat-dog the way things are today. Hard to believe that Brach’s candy is made in Mexico now.
Thanks to all for the info. I worked in flour milling 1981-1998 and continue to hold an interest in the milling and baking industry.Slowly but ever so slowly I am building a draft for a book project on KS flour milling which one of these days…will get done.
ed mentions Tootsie Roll as one of his calls today. I think they are still big in Chicago and their Ande’s (chocolate mints often presented with your restaurant bill) are all made right here in Delavan.
That bakery smell used to drive me crazy when I’d pull in to yard 9 after being on the road all night.
Jay:
You are correct. They gave me a big bag of candy…HUGE bag, just in time for the Halloweeners tomorrow night. The bag included three bags of Andes mints. The toffee mints are out of this world. I removed those for adult consumption.
How far are you from Burlington? The smell in that town is pretty spectacular. I believe chocolate is made there too.
What makes that part of Wisconsin so big of a manufacturer of this product?
ed
There isn’t anything in the world that smells better that Bloomers Chocalate Factory. Take the train around the Lake St Curve on a cool morning when they’re making choclate and you’re in heaven.
CC
And while they are small enough to not really scent the town, we have a couple of chocolate companies (Kaap’s and Seroogy’s) up here in Green Bay, too.
Chocolate is just a natural part of Wisconsin’s traditional, healthy dietary lifestyle! (Along with brats, beer, fried cheese curds and booyah.) It’s so healthy, it kills most Californians within 30 days…
An so?
Ah, yes…the Nestle plant, just west of hwy 83 in the south end of Burlington. If the wind has a westerly component while passing there, I nearly hyperventilate as I pass by (or more likely pull off the road and savor the fragrance). YUMMMMMMMMM…
FYI: the tracks that go into the Nestle facility are the same tracks that once extended east to Racine’s lakefront, and west to (at least) Rockford.
I am sick of candy. Where are the chips?
Anyone ever go by the Jay’s plant on the south side? Now that is a smell!
ed
This post is making me very hungry!
(No offense to anyone, the smarta** in me just couldn’t resist this golden opportunity) At least that limits the infestation.
There used to be a bakery across the street from the Federal courthouse in Little Rock, AR. The delectable aroma was by far the best thing about my occasional visits to the courthouse.
Touche’!
ROF LOL
Oh, yeah! Makes delays on 94 almost bearable!
Almost.