The Trackside Lounge 3Q 2012

Dan,  how is the bridge project going? I haven't been to Oshkosh to see how it is progressing. Hope you are taking pictures so the old bridge will not be forgotten and to post here also.

Don

So far, so good!

"Trains for breakfast" (Mickey D's in DeKalb) scored us one eastbound manifest.  We encountered three more eastbound trains in the 17 or so miles to Rochelle, and another one or two west of Sterling.  Not much in Iowa. 

I'm up a little earlier than I expected to be this morning.  Later on it's breakfast with Brian (and Joanie) Hanel before we head home.

Happy third birthday to the little guy!  He probably doesn't remember when I held him at age only a few months.

Hey, a very happy birthday to Aedan!! Hope it is filled with fun there, big guy!!

And happy Canada Day to those among us who reside north of the border.  (I remember when it was called "Dominion Day"!)

22dec

Dan,  how is the bridge project going? I haven't been to Oshkosh to see how it is progressing. Hope you are taking pictures so the old bridge will not be forgotten and to post here also.

 

Don

Don,

Yeah I am. CN isn't doing much on this yet save for pouring pilings.  It's pretty hard to see what's going on unless you're out in a boat...and I've not had a chance to get mine on the water yet.

Thanks all for the birthday wishes for Aedan.  He's certainly one happy little guy today!

Too hot to even think about outside exploration today--94 as of 3:40 p.m., and tomorrow will probably be warmer.

The trip home from Cedar Rapids yesterday was fairly uneventful.  We had a great time chatting with Brian and Joanie for a good hour and a half over brunch.  We had a bright, sunny, clear day, with more 90-degree weather anticipated.  Despite the fact that we kept the main line within our sights for most of the trip back, little was seen.  Nothing at all in Iowa until we got to Clinton, where an eastbound manifest was in the yard, and a westbound went by us at the old station, coming off the bridge.

In Illinois, we paced a Com Ed coal train from west of Morrison to about Galt (he'd get ahead of us as we slowed down for cities, then we'd catch up).  We had beaten him to Sterling, though.

A break was taken at Rochelle, where--in a good half-hour--nothing at all was seen.  It was relatively cool in the shade of the pavilion, though, with an occasional breeze.  They have wi-fi, but I didn't bring the computer with me to the pavilion.  I should have...

East of DeKalb, we passed what I think was a Wisconsin Public Service coal train, standing still.  We didn't go into Elburn and take the road closer to the tracks.  Again, perhaps I should have...

We got to Geneva, where we encountered traffic signals out in the downtown area.  East of the Fox River, some were on, some were off.  The signal at the county line (where UP also crosses Illinois 38) was blinking red in both directions.  A UP signal employee was in the bungalow there.

At West Chicago, we encountered downed tree limbs, many hampering our progress on the streets.  The little park area between the street and the UP tracks, west of the tower, had major limbs separated from their trees.  More destruction in Winfield, and in Wheaton.  At Wheaton, we met a westbound manifest, and noted that the overpass for the Chase Street pedestrian tunnel appears to be in place, but needs to be excavated beneath.

East of Glen Ellyn, more downed trees, with crews hard at work to clear the road.  Lombard welcomed us with more of the same, and traffic lights and store lights out.  We came home to no power, some small branches and leaves littering our back yard, and 1.2 inches of rain in the gauge.  Fortunately, no other damage.  Keep in mind that all of this was in spite of virtually cloudless skies for our trip.

After searching for an open place to have supper, we cleaned up the yard a bit.  Then I went out to see about damage further east, and to run a couple of payday errands if possible.  I was able to "knock over" an ATM in Elmhurst, and buy a Sunday paper there, too.  But that was lucky--nearly every other place in Elmhust's downtown was closed, and there were trees, branches, and leaves all over the place.  Coming back home from there, I found one open gas station, with lines practically out to the highway (later heard that other gas stations that had been open had run out of fuel).

The story is that a fierce thunderstorm had popped up and clobbered various places around Chicagoland.  It had lasted about two hours in Lombard.  Highest winds in Lombard were clocked at 82 m.p.h. (Winfield reported 90), and we heard about quarter-sized hail.  The destruction continued all the way out to the lake--kayaks on the Chicago River were overturned, but the occupants were okay.

Trains on Metra's UP West line and the BNSF line were both affected--even though a light Sunday schedule was in effect, trains were annulled as the delays on the prior trains went on beyond their schedules.  BNSF was still having problems this morning.

We couldn't do our grocery shopping today, because the stores we wanted to visit had no power yet.  Some places are not expected to have it before the Fourth.  We were able to see an on-time scoot on our line, and only the usual delays for heavy passenger load and track construction are being reported.

Cripes Carl...that storm sounded like the one we got today...didn't last for 2 hours though.  Rain was nice!

Here's my "trip report" from Sunday July 1 when I got to see one of CN's "new" SD60s.  CN 5433 led A491 north into Neenah, WI where I was waiting.  Here are some of the shots I took.

 A closeup of A491's leader:
http://flic.kr/p/cpq8HG

Closer to me...and a little wider view:
http://flic.kr/p/cpq943

Pulling ahead to an easy stop:
http://flic.kr/p/cpq9j1

Crew conducting a rollby inspection (always wanted to try this shot):
http://flic.kr/p/cpqa2h

Pulling ahead to do work (one of my favorites of the day):
http://flic.kr/p/cpqazu

Doubled up and ready to depart:
http://flic.kr/p/cpqboQ

That wasn't the only train I saw.  A416 had a couple of cars get nailed by a HBDE detector and the resulting work & confusion led them to die on hours in Menasha, WI on Stroebe Siding.  The relief crew had to "normalize" the train by putting all the power on the head end, instead of the "push pull" fashing the train normally is.  A nice catch of a pair of IC SD70s.

Crew running power around:
http://flic.kr/p/cpqaYU

Tied in and about ready to go north to Green Bay, WI:
http://flic.kr/p/cpqb8f

Thanks for looking!

Dan

I was going to say that at least you got to see your storm and hailstones, and feel the cool rain, but then I began to get the real horror stories from here.  Our Historical Society president said that it was horizontal rain, and the hail lasted for a good 15 minutes.  Not sure I would have enjoyed that.  I was also told that the Main Street underpass (under the UP) flooded during the storm (no power, no pumps, I guess--the water would have gotten about 4-5 feet deep in the street, but sidewalks may have remained above water).

Still blistering hot out there.  Power was restored to the stores we'd wanted to visit yesterday, so we finished our errands.  They are talking about highs near 100 for today and tomorrow.

Not much on the train-watching front.  Dan, it looks like you got good shots in a good spot there.  Wish I had time to run on up for a while.

Fondly recalling Andy Griffith, who passed away this morning at 86.  He was the only guy I know who could get a UP passenger train to make a station stop in North Carolina!

Looks like we're going to have a damp 3rd here, although the rain may stop long enough for the fireworks.  No watches or warnings here, yet, so it may just be wet with a few rumbles...

Our storm in Old Forge last week left some canoers bruised after the heavy rain with a touch of pea sized hail came through.

(1) Calling Malaprop Man! MSnbc puts out drivel about fire causes and can't figure out the difference between a radial saw and a 120 stone rail grinder.

(2) Hoping for rain all day. All we got were drops that spotted the ground. Most of it evaporated before it hit the ground.

(3) [ comment withdrawn] -about to declare war on some self declared local know-it-alls.

I hope you're talking about the Denver area and not the Forum when you're referring to local know-it-alls, MC.  I'll bet you'd be an imposing warrior!

It is so nice to see everyone shoot off fireworks, hold picnics, parades, etc., for my mother-in-law's birthday!  (Or is it some other occasion?  I'm confused.)

Seriously, everyone have a safe, sane Independence Day celebration.  Stay safe on the roads, stay cool and hydrated, and don't go crazy with the pyrotechnics (we have a neighbor who kept us up past our bedtime last night...the window a/c didn't drown out the racket).

Actually Carl, now that I've seen that other thread, it kinda applies to both. (people who are so into the "shiny things" that forget about what those shiny things run on and the related science of how you get them to run.)

Lost in the hoopla out here is how both railroads threw resources, money and manpower at the fires and continue to do so. (Including the shutting down of a Loram Grinder train (at $1000 + per hour) and sending it (with it's water cars, four water cannons and fire suppression systems south out of Wyoming to aid with the Waldo Canyon Fire on the USAFA grounds)

Still holding out my tin cup looking for rain.

mudchicken

Lost in the hoopla out here is how both railroads threw resources, money and manpower at the fires and continue to do so. (Including the shutting down of a Loram Grinder train (at $1000 + per hour) and sending it [with it's water cars, four water cannons and fire suppression systems] south out of Wyoming to aid with the Waldo Canyon Fire on the USAFA grounds)

That's a story that really needs to be told!  Good call, by somebody!

mudchicken

Still holding out my tin cup looking for rain.

So are we.  I figure that the only reason we didn't have a flood here in the Green Valley (ha!) is that the ground drank it up almost as quickly as it came down.  Now we're back to where we were before the storm.

Well, that was a surprise...I didn't expect much rail traffic today, as the railroad says it likes to keep its road crews around home for the holidays. But we went to Main Street Cafe to eat lunch (big meal in a cool place...should do us for the day). And in the 40 minutes or so we were in there we saw four freight trains. All of them (manifest, empty coal gons, stack--with a mid-train DP unit--and another manifest) were westbound, which means they were freshly crewed at Proviso. As we left, another empty coal train went west. And as we crossed Grace Street, we saw the lights of still another westbound off the curve. He didn't come through while we were along the tracks; he could have been holding for a more favorable signal indication.

So that was six freight trains in under an hour, all in the same direction. No eastbounds, no scoots. Maybe we were just lucky.

Just got a note from Metra saying that the most recent eastbound scoot had filled up with passengers, and would be expressing to Chicago from Berkeley, with an extra scoot following it and running on its schedule. Now that's how to run a railroad!

Just heard over the radio that our official temperature made it to 100, with the (typically) warmest hours yet to come.  My next communication might be from the dungeon.

Just got back from taking Aedan to the local 4th festivities.  I figured we'd beat the heat of the day at "only" 93 degrees and matching humidity.  Supposed to flirt with triple digits today.  I'm glad there was a squirt gun game for kids...we spent plenty of time there...dad got wet too.  Felt good I might add.  Now we're home in the A/C and chilling (literally) until tonight when we can go see fireworks.  Man...I can't wait for snow!

CN sent another pair of SD60s this way yesterday.  One of them is on the north end of A415/416, the "push-pull" train from Green Bay, WI to Stevens Point, WI.  The south end is handled by a former BNSF Dash 8-40CW.  Neat to see...and I noticed that the windows are staying closed.  A/C is working it appears.

MC - how common is it for those Loram trains to be used as firefighting apparatus?  I realized they had water and nozzles...but not how effective they are.  I suppose the effectiveness depends on how accessable the area is or the availability of air assets to reach too.

CShaveRR

And happy Canada Day to those among us who reside north of the border.  (I remember when it was called "Dominion Day"!)

Thank you, Carl. And I will return the favour by wishing all US readers and my forum friends a happy Independence Day.

Dan, I liked your last batch of photos. I kind of smiled looking at the first two loco shots of that "new" CN unit. It was still clean in nooks and crannies that will soon never be clean again, no matter how much power washing they do!

I thought I would mention one thing I have been seeing on the Canadian forums. If you remember a few months ago I said that CP had retired their SD9043MAC's in the 9100 series. Well things are changing for those units, as well as many other "Canadian" units.

A number of years ago, rules were standardized to make it easy for US and Canadian roads to run through their power into the other country. But as they say the big print giveth and the fine print taketh away. And the devil is in the details. Everyone started from the same point, but it turns out that loco airbrake inspection and rebuilding cycles are different. Canada has a 48 month cycle and the US has a 36 month cycle. As time marches forward, this is causing things to get out of sync, and making it more difficult for shops to have the properly qualified units on the ready tracks, at the right time.

And there is another wrinkle, These EPA Tier(whatever) anti-pollution regulations, and which units are grandfathered and which are not. The combination of these two issues is what has led to the sidelining of the 9100's, or maybe not. CP has recently bought and installed the necessary parts to make the 9142 compliant for use in the US, and sent it south for use on tracks possibly near you. I guess it is a test to see if it is going to be cost effective to upgrade the rest of the series, or sell them off and let somebody else pay for the upgrade.

The same issue will also apply to CN as well. I think photographers would do well to get photos of older Canadian motive power while the getting is good, because I think the days of power crossing the border routinely are about to change. In CP's case especially, old non Soo Line origin, DC units. Happy hunting.

If TRAINS is still looking for article ideas, I think this might be an opportunity for the right technically qualified author.

Bruce

CShaveRR

Well, that was a surprise...I didn't expect much rail traffic today, as the railroad says it likes to keep its road crews around home for the holidays.

Reduced operations, unless they need to recover from service disruptions or have a business opprotunity.  Reduced operations across all business lines except for automotive, coal, grain, intermodal, premium manifest and fence posts.

Jeff, first out at Fremont.  

Ouch...my condolences, Jeff.

You gonna get the call for one of those fencepost extras?

The two hopper trains I saw would have gone through Shermer before the wreck there this afternoon (based on news reports we were just about coming home from lunch when it happened).

CShaveRR

Ouch...my condolences, Jeff.

You gonna get the call for one of those fencepost extras?

The two hopper trains I saw would have gone through Shermer before the wreck there this afternoon (based on news reports we were just about coming home from lunch when it happened).

CShaveRR

Ouch...my condolences, Jeff.

You gonna get the call for one of those fencepost extras?

No, I caught an empty grain train.  We spotted it at the elevator just east of Boone right about midnight.  While the conductor was back tying handbrakes, an elevator employee drove up to the head end.  He asked if we got anything extra for working on a holiday.  I told him I got go for a train ride.   

As a consolation prize for working the 4th, plus the preceding 5 days, I do get 48 hours off. 

Jeff  

CShaveRR

those fencepost extras?

I couldn't sleep, I had to know what a fencepost extra is. I haven't heard that one before.

Bruce

Bruce, Jeff and I were being a little facetious there.  I haven't heard of fencepost extras, either.  Consequently, between that and the air-conditioning, I slept just fine.

There is a plant in Chicago Heights that recycles steel rail into fenceposts--rather ingenious, actually...the rail is heated to the point that it can be rolled into the new form, but not hot enough to melt.

We might be able to do that in the sun today.  The temperature is supposed to get up to 105, which is currently the warmest temperature ever recorded in Chicago.

Our trip to Des Moines yesterday afforded me a glimpse or two of the UP Transcon along the way, and one of those opportunities just east of Tama yielded an unusual sighting- an eastbound stacker with three or four engines up front, not much more than a dozen wells, and a DPU bringing up the rear.  Can you say "overpowered"?

In my post about holiday operations, the railroad always says it will slow down operations except for certain lines of business.  The exceptions for things that still must move means just about everything except the lowest of the low manifest, locals and yard jobs.  Sometimes even they still work, too.

In my listing of the business lines, I threw in fence posts for a couple of reasons.  One to illustrate how the exceptions render a holiday slow down kind of moot, that we're only going to move "priority" things but everything is a prioritiy.  Also to reference an old joke about fence posts.

I've heard it told years ago on the Rock Island.  I've seen it in print in Trains about 25 or so years ago (IIRC the author, Ken Brovald in his story about an Omaha Road Brasspounder, I know Bruce knows what that is.) and an even older Railroad Magazine story by Peter Josserand, Night Chief Dispatcher on the Western Pacific.  I'm sure many old heads on many railroads will claim it happened on their railroads, too.  The story goes something like this.   

A train was overtonnage and had to reduce before leaving the yard.  Certain loads are more important than others, like perishable or livestock, high value merchandise etc.  Looking over the train list for what could be set out,  the yardmaster came across a load of fence posts.  Now in the scheme of things, it's hard to imagine fence posts being a hot item.  So the load of fence posts, along with other low priority freight was set out. 

A few days later, the yardmaster got a reprimand for setting out the most important car in the train.  It seems the superintendent had personally gauranteed delivery to the consignee on a certain date, and setting out the car it missed that date.  So after that, whenever a train had to reduce tonnage, the instructions were to set out anything except fence posts. 

Jeff

jeffhergert

A train was overtonnage and had to reduce before leaving the yard.  Certain loads are more important than others, like perishable or livestock, high value merchandise etc.  Looking over the train list for what could be set out,  the yardmaster came across a load of fence posts.  Now in the scheme of things, it's hard to imagine fence posts being a hot item.  So the load of fence posts, along with other low priority freight was set out. 

A few days later, the yardmaster got a reprimand for setting out the most important car in the train.  It seems the superintendent had personally guaranteed delivery to the consignee on a certain date, and setting out the car it missed that date.  So after that, whenever a train had to reduce tonnage, the instructions were to set out anything except fence posts. 

Oh man, does that ever sound like railway logic as practiced by the CPR. Thank you for that. I have heard many, many railway stories in my 58 years, but I have never heard that one before. You really can learn something new every day.

Bruce

Interesting about that stack train, Brian.  I've seen short trains handled with one unit at each end, but not something like this.  As they say in the railfan biz:  "It could be a power move."  (I'd say, yup, power's moving, all right.).

Perhaps, though, this is a train that will fill out its consist at Global 3 (Rochelle).  It's not impossible to envision this train going past the yard, backing in, and bringing out a whole bunch of tubs behind what you saw as the rear unit, for delivery to North Baltimore, Pitcairn, or wherever stack trains go on the eastern railroads nowadays.

(Today we saw a westbound stacker similar to what you describe--three units on the point, only about ten or so cars, a DP unit, then considerably more cars behind that.  They probably aren't getting all of the advantages of a DP unit that they could be, but if it saves time in the operation down the road it's probably a good thing.)

CNW 6000

 

MC - how common is it for those Loram trains to be used as firefighting apparatus?  I realized they had water and nozzles...but not how effective they are.  I suppose the effectiveness depends on how accessable the area is or the availability of air assets to reach too.

 

Very unusual for the train to be pulled off line and sent elsewhere, several hundred miles, to fight a fire. Never saw it happen in my experience working between Kansas and the west coast. Roadmasters would fight tooth and nail to keep those machines running on their territory.

The above being said, I was around when the fire protection started with just a small fire hose (2" line) in the 1980's , with one line run to either end of the train and lashed to the host railroad's waycar and pilot locomotive. Snorkels, water cannons, ground spray covering the ballast section and additional pressure all added to the capabilities. On occasion we would back up to put out a tie fire or R/W grass fire that late ignited. (and the trailing inspection crew in hi-rails could not handle themselves) ... rarely see that even happen anymore.

All being said, the railroad willingly pulled up stakes in Wyoming and cleared a path for it to go all the way to Academy/Monument until relieved by the special fire train from the Pacific NW to protect an asset. Expensive, but prudent move in an unusual set of circumstances.

mudchicken

  It would appear the operating bubbas got bored/lonely and invited the Track, B&B and Mechanical troops out to a party (at double time of course, with the supervisors just getting cheaper) 

- Paul North. 

P.S. - Thanks to Jeff et al. for reviving the 'fenceposts' story - a great example of when logic and common sense fail (due to a lack of management communication).  I've only seen it in A Treasury of Railroad Folklore, edited by Bodkin and Harlow, as best as I can recall. - PDN. 

mudchicken

CNW 6000:

 

MC - how common is it for those Loram trains to be used as firefighting apparatus?  I realized they had water and nozzles...but not how effective they are.  I suppose the effectiveness depends on how accessable the area is or the availability of air assets to reach too.

 

 

Very unusual for the train to be pulled off line and sent elsewhere, several hundred miles, to fight a fire. Never saw it happen in my experience working between Kansas and the west coast. Roadmasters would fight tooth and nail to keep those machines running on their territory.

The above being said, I was around when the fire protection started with just a small fire hose (2" line) in the 1980's , with one line run to either end of the train and lashed to the host railroad's waycar and pilot locomotive. Snorkels, water cannons, ground spray covering the ballast section and additional pressure all added to the capabilities. On occasion we would back up to put out a tie fire or R/W grass fire that late ignited. (and the trailing inspection crew in hi-rails could not handle themselves) ... rarely see that even happen anymore.

All being said, the railroad willingly pulled up stakes in Wyoming and cleared a path for it to go all the way to Academy/Monument until relieved by the special fire train from the Pacific NW to protect an asset. Expensive, but prudent move in an unusual set of circumstances.