I spent most of this weekend in the Chicago area, working on an upcoming Trains project. As part of that, I needed some video footage of an Amtrak train in Naperville, Ill.
So, on Saturday, I drove out to Naperville, planning to catch the both westbound California Zephyr (scheduled to arrive in Naperville at 2:35 p.m.) and the its eastbound counterpart (running not quite an hour late and due at 2:50 p.m., according to the "Check Train Status" feature on Amtrak's website). One shot of a train passing in each direction, and I'd quickly be on my way.
Or not. Those scheduled times quickly started eroding for both trains, and the eventual result was far different than I'd anticipated: One intense 25-minute burst of activity at Naperville's station — and, I suspect, one dispatcher for BNSF's Racetrack who was not having a good day at his console at company headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. This was such an entertaining burst of railroading (for onlookers, if not the dispatcher) that I thought our readers might like to hear about it.
The prelude to our little drama began at 3:06 p.m. — these times are according to the time stamp on the video camera — as a westbound freight pulls up and stops short of the station on the center track, thereby significantly limiting our anonymous dispatcher's possible moves. Meanwhile, the westbound Zephyr, which had slid from 15 minutes late to 30 and beyond, is nowhere in sight. (It should be noted that Metra BNSF trains were running 12 to 20 minutes late "due to ongoing track construction," according to Metra announcements. No doubt that plays a part in what is to come.)
Finally, at 3:31 p.m. the eastbound Zephyr that appears first, running one hour, 38 minutes late. Notably, it is on the north track, which would normally be for westbounds.
The Zephyr departs at 3:35 p.m.— just as the eastbound Southwest Chief, 53 minutes late, arrives on the south track.
At 3:40 p.m. the Chief departs. A few brief moments of quiet end at 3:44 p.m., as the westbound California Zephyr arrives on the north track— already one hour, 10 minutes late, just 28 miles from its starting point. Murphy's Law being what it is, the Zephyr appears to be ever so slightly delayed at the station when a passenger falls as she gets off the train, bringing several Amtrak staff members rushing to help. After she is helped up, she is apparently unhurt.
At 3:47, as the Zephyr departs, that freight which has been holding outside the station follows close behind. Having crossed over to the south track, it proves to be a unit tank car train with CSX power. Not only that, but another set of headlights which had appeared on the north track turns out to be Metra's train No. 1311, due at 3:37, which had to hold to the east until the Zephyr cleared the platform.
Just after the Metra train departs, at 3:52 p.m., the westbound Southwest Chief arrives. All things considered, the fact that it is a mere 17 minutes late looks pretty good.
While the Chief is in the station, a BNSF stack train comes around the curve to the east of the station. It has just reached the Chief when, at 3:55 p.m., the passenger train departs, quickly leaving the freight in its wake.
Just watching all this activity, and trying to figure out what was coming next, was exhausting. I can't imagine trying to dispatch the whole thing.
Even on a normal afternoon, when all four trains are on time, the Zephyrs and Chiefs hit Naperville in a little less than two hours. To get all four in 24 minutes — along with two freights and one Metra move — is pretty intense stuff. It may not be typical, but it does show why the Racetrack is one of the great shows in railroading.
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