Seems about right Robby...now the 703. Personally, I don't know how long CN is going to keep her. With all the oil leaks, she might just end up like the DMIR 212, and get repainted after a major overhaul, or CN will retire her after a major failure. I'm not sure; I guess I could go both ways.
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What's the story with the Gary Railway?
As far as I can tell from reading a little bit, this railway will be created to take over the leftover track and operations that CN doesn't want, like the US Steel Plants. How far am I off?
Maybe you know some inside sources there Robby.
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Now a far look into the future, and another question.
Is anyone here an NRHS member?
Just wondering, because I am already planning to become a student member, and head down to the 2010 convention in Scranton. Hopefully, there will be 2-4 steam locomotives working there. (You have the two at Steamtown, the Blue Mountain & Reading's rebuilt locomotive, and maybe Susquehanna's Chinese steamer.
It would be a 6 hour + drive, but I think it would be worth it. Conventions last an entire week, so it's not like it would be a short weekend event.
I think you're close enough Ty!
Alex
Me and Kale get to host the darn thing this year, so you should all come up!
Mechanical Department "No no that's fine shove that 20 pound set all around the yard... those shoes aren't hell and a half to change..."
The Missabe Road: Safety First
Sounds neat Alex, I'd love to go! Is it just for NRHS mebers though? Maybe you could PM me some more information?
Scranton's about a two hour drive from here. In fact, I was at steamtown last month. Hey, maybe I can take a train there- oh wait, NJT is never going to rebuild the cutoff, I forgot.
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Warning, the following post will be very long! LOL!
We've had three more derailments this week. The first was a UP train dumping a couple cars in Grant Park, unfortunatly it turned into a haz-mat situation. The second one has a CP train derailing on the BRC on the west side of Chicago. The third was a derailment in Brookfield on the BNSF/IHB connection.
Alex, from what I have heard the Gary Railway should get the NW2, the SW1500, half of the SW1200s and half of the slugs, and all the rolling stock except the flatcars will go to the Gary Railway and other USS Roads like the Union RR and the Birmingham Southern. I'm not sure if any of the engines that are supposed to go to Gary RR will go to URR and Birmingham Southern, but it's possible. The SW1001s I have heard rumors about CN and about Gary RR getting them, but nothing official. Judging by the fact EJ&E SW1001 446 was painted yellow I'd guess they'll also go to Gary RR. Basically the yellow EJ&E scheme is actually the paint scheme for the Gary Railway, so anything yellow will likely go to them.
Regarding the SD38-2s being repainted, they were just rebuilt anywhere between 2-5 years ago so they won't need to be overhauled. Basically I think they should stay orange until they suffer a mechanical failure like DM&IR 212 did, and at that point CN will either retire it or repaint it. CN still has hundreds of engines left in IC paint and dozens of GTW blue engines left so they really aren't in any hurry to repaint stuff. 703 will hopefully be shopped quickly and ready to go, as one day if it doesn't fail (which is doubtful) it could be the last J engine.
You are basically right about the Gary RR. It will get all the trackage in the Gary steel mills. Unfortunatly this means the railway will basically be behind the gates of USS and will hardly ever venture into public view, and don't even dare trespass on USS property to get it, you'll regret it as USS is a very strict company.
I have been a NRHS member for the past few years and RailCamp is hosted by the museum it is at as well as the NRHS. I am a member of the Blackhawk Chapter which runs out of Lockport.
Alex, I think a 10 hour drive was worth it, so a 6 hour drive is for sure worth it. At Scranton you'll get the steam action, but you'll also get the famed DL Alcos including their three operating RS3s. I think they'll still be here in 2010 as I don't see DL changing to EMD or GE anytime soon. DL also rosters RS32s, M420s, M636s, C630s and C636s that put on a show, and in a variety of paint schemes. On one of their Alcos you can see 4 different paint schemes bleeding through! Combined between the steam and Alco action, there is rare stuff all over Scranton, plus I'm sure other railways will send some stuff up there for display and to be ran.
Sorry for the long post, lots of interesting stuff to talk about and analize today! I like it!
Ok well thanks for all that info Robby!
I don't really have too much info on the NRHS 2010 convention because I'm not a member yet, and two I guess they are concentrating on the one in Duluth coming up this summer. No, sorry that one is a little too far away for me... A year or so from now when I can drive alone, and maybe those kind of trips will be fun, especially if you can bring some other railfans along.
But check out their website Ty, good amount of information there:
http://www.nrhs.com/
It's a really good price for students too, only $16.00 per year.
Traveled through CP territory over the last couple of days, so I was able to catch some CP action for the first time.
First up, CP AC4400 9337(I think that's the model. Personally, I can't tell the difference between the AC4400, ES44AC/DC, or the Dash 9)
Next up, ES44DC 8889
And ES44DC 8795
And at last, a shot of all three together
coborn35 Me and Kale get to host the darn thing this year, so you should all come up!
my head already hurts.....lol
I'd like to join the NRHS as it seems like a good group, but the problem for me is that the local chapters are all a good distance away. One is in Milwaukee and the other in Rockford, IL, both around 2 hours driving. Both have some nice members and I've been told the slide shows are really interesting, but it's hard to justify the time and expense. And for some reason, pre-planned railfan events never quite trip my trigger like just going out and railfanning at my local main line does. Not to say that I wouldn't mind going up to Duluth for something like the NRHS meet this year, but with a trip in the works to the LS&I in June and another possible "circle tour" of a few railroads in Minnesota and the Dakotas planned for later in the summer, a third trip to Duluth is hard to justify.
Robby, I hope the CN does keep a good portion of the EJE stuff around in orange. Hopefully it'll be like the Missabe, where things survived for several years before they began to repaint and retire en-masse. Wish I had more opportunities to get down and shoot the J.
Noah
I did not attend to catch a train at this spot on this day here in Neenah at Shawano/Fox River Jct....But when I was just shooting around this area and when I was walking back to the the truck I heard a canadian horn....So I waited and this is what came about:
According to Brent...This is train 198 here at Shawano/Fox River Jct
BNSF & DMIR 4Ever Traveled through CP territory over the last couple of days, so I was able to catch some CP action for the first time. First up, CP AC4400 9337(I think that's the model. Personally, I can't tell the difference between the AC4400, ES44AC/DC, or the Dash 9) Next up, ES44DC 8889 And ES44DC 8795 And at last, a shot of all three together
CP only has ES44AC's, and the one in the middle is an AC4400CW.
And nice shots Mr. Trane!
Thanks....I was hoping to catch more action...But had to get back up town.....
Well, this is it, it could very well be the final day of the EJ&Es 121 year existance. It's sad to even think about this fact, but it is the fact. Another historic railway is about to fade into history. Another interesting short line is about to be lost to CN.
I did manage to catch what may be the final State Line coal train to run under the EJ&E name. I also shot it at two places I haven't shot the J before.
The J heads light through Liberty in Aurora to pick up the state line. http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1463500
What will likely be the final EJ&E State Line coal train heads east through the curve at Normantown Road heading into Plainfield. Next trip it will probably be called U something, not the State Line. http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1463499
Tommorow may very well be the end of EJ&E, or is it? The fact is while the trains won't be the State Line or Line trains, and the line will probably not be the Western Subdivision, things won't change overnight. L whatever, formerly JSW1, will probably have a pair of SD38-2s, the yard switcher will be a pair of SW1200s, all the signs, engines and cars will still say EJ&E on them. How long will this last? Nobody knows, so it's game on to get as many EJ&E photos as possible!
Not even regarding the EJ&E (but it pretty much only helps my point), plain and simple Class 1 railroading officially blows. I saw some nice stuff last monday (7 SD40-2's, all solid sets of 2 and one of 3) but its getting so dang hard its ridiculous. BNSF just ordered 350 new engines! Well, there goes the remainder of the SD40-2's, the rest of the Oakways, and anything else they can get rid of. Soon Gensets will be picked up in hordes and will replace the BN's GP28Ms,GP38-2's,GP39V's,E's, and the former Santa Fe GP30's and GP35's. Then you will have literally no chance to see any standard cab leading a train ever again, and even older widecabs. Did I mention the BN has stored around 10 or so SD60M's at Northtown?
Sorry for my rant, but the future of railfanning is sad to think about. The economy is only speeding change up too. I dont think there has ever been a time in history when things got to be this boring, the only thing to come remotely close was when all of the railroads were buying F Units.
Alec (Railfanning from 2002-2009, not sure how much longer....)