Was this a good birthday, or what?

[CShaveRR]

I promised a more detailed report on my train-watching trip of last Friday (my birthday). It was a pretty good time...

I left the house at about 8:45, and arrived at my selected spot in far western Gary about an hour later. Even though it's my special "fishing hole", it's not private by any means. I'll describe this crossing:

Clark Road in Gary is off Industrial Drive (former U.S. 12, which passes the entrance to the Gary airport). One goes north on this road trough what can best be described as "industrial wasteland"--few buildings, lots of potholes, and plenty of urban jungle growth--still safe to visit during the daylight because nobody's around. 

First, one crosses the abandoned line of the former Pennsylvania Railroad. Speed records were set on this stretch of railroad once--nothing is left. Then the old Wabash main line--gone from the crossing, but recently replaced by a new connection to CSX so Norfolk Southern can continue to serve a sugar factory to the east. This connection crosses just to the north of the abandoned tracks.

After a short distance, one comes to the major grade-crossing complex: one connecting track, owned by Canadian National (former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern), more on that later. Then the main line of CSX (former B&O), two tracks; then the main line of the Norfolk Southern (the former Conrail, originally New York Central), also two tracks. Three sets of crossing gates guard these three crossings, but they're all tied in together so nothing can (in theory) get caught on one of the other tracks while waiting for a train to clear. It's still possible to anticipate which line has the approaching train, though.

Continuing north, one crosses a six-track yard of the CN (possibly their interchange yard with the Norfolk Southern. Then a new underpass, carrying some CN tracks over the road. This is probably the way that CN main line trains leave the yard to access the other CN main lines at Griffith (another historic train-watching spot). Then two tracks at street level, also CN's, and probably serving the same purpose. CN's major Chicago-area classification yard is a short distance to the east. As I found out, trains at these crossings may move back and forth a bit, or sit for a while (probably doubling up or getting air tests). Then an industrial gate (no trespassing), inside of which was another track or two; it was CN power that I saw here from time to time, too. So that's 16 tracks between Industrial Drive and the gate.

I arrived here at 0945, to see a train moving outbound on the CN bridge tracks. It stopped and sat around for quite a while after that. And that was just the start!

0945: Amtrak's westbound Lakeshore Limited on the NS main line.

0949: A westbound stack train on CSX.

0956: An eastbound coal train with BNSF power. Although it was on NS trackage, this is a CSX train at this point, to get to CSX's own track at Porter, Indiana; the coal goes to Consumers' West Olive power plant. (How do I know this? I can tell you some other time!)

1011: A westbound manifest on CSX.

(1019): The CN train on the bridge wiggles a little.

1021: A westbound NS trains with empty INLX (originally Inland Steel) flat cars for slabs of steel.

1024: A westbound Amtrak train from Michigan (either a Wolverine or the Blue Water--I'm not THAT good!). Also on NS.

1027: CSX: crude-oil tanks, westbound (probably empty).

1028: A manifest freight headed into the yard on CN.

1029: Another inbound CN manifest--this one on the bridge line.

1039: Westbound ethanol tank cars (empty) on NS.

1052: A westbound train of empty National Steel (NSAX) and Gary Railway (GRW) coil-steel cars on NS.

1054: An oil train, with BNSF power, east on CSX.

1100: CN power and coil-steel cars beyond the gate, headed toward the yard.

1103: Another westbound Amtrak train from Michigan.

1106: A slow-moving CSX train on the connecting track south of the main lines. This train carried coal, in some of the low-floor coal gone that CSX bought from several other companies (outdated for them--perfect for CSX!). I walked over to this line to see these cars close-up and determine original numbers. Got about 25 of them, some of which I already had seen. Trains like this used to come in to Michigan City regularly (where I could walk the length of the train and get lots of info!), but I haven't seen one there in many moons. A little more on this guy later.

As I was walking across the other tracks...

1108: An eastbound Canadian Pacific manifest, using CSX trackage rights to get to Detroit.

1108: An inbound CN train crossing the bridge over the other two main lines. I thought it would be on the bridge line, but it wasn't.

1120: A westbound move on the tracks behind the gates--it had CSX power, but NS coke hoppers (they're bigger than coal cars).

Here's where I took a little break, and explored further along the road. There was a side road to Praxis and a couple of other companies that was open to use for some distance. I used that to move slowly along the lower CN yard leads, where the "1108" CN train was sitting. Got lots of good cars on him, and got back to "my" side of the tracks before he started across (at which point I caught the whole train and got more detailed info. This train had CN 3035 as the lead unit--the unusual radiator profile makes me think it's one the new Tier-4-compliant General Electric 4400-horsepower locomotives (ES44T4C?).

Meanwhile, on the CN bridge tracks, a CSX train headed into the yard. I was mildly surprised to see that it was the same coal train that was on the connecting track at 1106. It had made a loop somewhere to the west, ascending over the CSX and NS lines, before joining the CN bridge line. I'd have studied this one a little more closely, but had nothing to gain, since I was on the same side of the cars I'd been on before.

1154: An eastbound stack train on CSX.

1205: Another train on the connecting track--this one powered by CSX power again, but hauling coke cars. It was shorter or otherwise faster than the coal train had been, thankfully.

At 1211 I called it quits here.  Totals, in about 2.5 hours:

Eight trains on CSX, seven trains on NS (including three Amtrak), and four trains on CN, exclusive of yard moves and one CSX train counted previously.  For CSX and NS, four trains eastbound, 11 westbound--surprisingly lopsided.

 

I then headed to my favorite lunch place to grab a salad and a bathroom (not in that order!). I spent most of my time there talking with the waitress and proprietress (old friends--we've made this a regular stop on our Michigan trips). The restaurant has both the NS and CSX tracks (same main lines as I'd been watching before), but they're south of the place, and the windows all face north. Nonetheless, I heard at least four trains on NS while I was there. 

North of the tracks are a pair of leads that extend east from the CN's yard. I usually see those tracks (I'd thought there was only one) being used for pulling hump shoves back for humping at the CN yard. But this time I saw a move headed by CSX power! Would you believe, it was that same coal train I'd seen twice before! It took a while to thread its way through the yard (not sure how much "threading" was involved) and come out the other end. I still have no idea exactly where it was headed. It stopped soon after the hind end got out of view of the restaurant.

After lunch, I went east, accompanied by an eastbound train on NICTD's (South Shore) main line. It stayed with me all the way into Michigan City (where it beat me to the grade crossing), in spite of the two additional station stops it had to make. I ran my errand at the Corelle store (buying a few new elliptical plates and exchanging a chipped dinner plate), then went for another potty break at McDonald's.  Ran into our church's custodian and his wife while we were there--total shock!  He was in Michigan City for a friend's birthday party.

I then headed west for Chesterton and Porter. Porter used to be another great place to watch trains, but not so much after the Conrail breakup and the "railfan shenanigans" attracted the attention of railroad and municipal police. But I had another special mission here. There's a quilt store in Chesterton, and I was going to buy some material all by myself! Earlier this month, Pat bought a grab bag (literally) of material at the auction in Coopersville. It included one pice that I thought would make a neat shirt for me--only there wasn't enough of it. We realized that I'd never be able to match precisely the print, but I was hoping that I remembered enough of the colors to come close enough so it could be used for parts of the shirt, like pockets, cuffs, collar, and yoke. I found something I thought would be close, called Pat to see how much we'd need, and bought it. I didn't see any trains at Porter, so I stopped and got gas before heading west (about 30c/gallon cheaper than by us).

I backtracked through Gary, and went through East Chicago, Hammond, and Burnham without seeing much. Dolton Junction (another hot spot)--nothing. Barr Yard--a few interesting cars partially visible (enough so I was later able to figure out what I'd seen). Blue Island (another fan favorite)--nothing, until I was leaving. Crossing the Cal Sag Channel, I noticed a train headed in to Blue Island. I was able to pull off the road and let it move by me. Very worthwhile move--the cars were mostly "exotic" for me.

Continued home by way of Bedford Park, Summit, and LaGrange, where I paralleled BNSF's line at the peak of the Dinky Parade (trains on all three tracks at once, fairly often!). I left that line at Hinsdale (work continues on the replacement for the Oak Street bridge there), grabbed supper at Five Guys, then got home, about eleven hours after I'd left. A pretty fair day's work, netting myself a lot of interesting cars, representing almost a thousand previously-unreported new cars, four or five new reporting marks (all private companies) for me, and work to do on my files that even now, three days later, I've barely scratch the surface of what will need to be done.

 

Postscript: Pat was totally amazed at how closely my fabric matched hers--there are plenty of differences, but putting the two prints together will look like it was done deliberately. Pat had accomplished a lot while I was gone, so it was nice to relax with her.

[mudchicken]

"Clark Road in Gary is off Industrial Drive (former U.S. 12, which passes the entrance to the Gary airport). One goes north on this road trough what can best be described as "industrial wasteland"--few buildings, lots of potholes, and plenty of urban jungle growth--still safe to visit during the daylight because nobody's around. " - My guys just referred to it as "yechh"., were always expecting to find bodies in the thickets - Charming "hood". Notice the missing 2 span GW/IHB Dune Park Branch bridge at Tolleston (PRR/WAB/GW) west of the NYC diamonds? CSX made it go away.

[Paul of Covington]

   Twenty trains in less than 2.5 hours!

   Happy Birthday!

[erikem]

Carl,

Last Friday was my birthday as well, sounds like you had a happy one.

 - Erik

[CShaveRR]

Happy birthday, Erik!  Tree68 also shares our birthday.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Blue Island Junction and Lavergne on BNSF are my usual spots when I get a day off.  I usually start at either spot at about 8:30 AM and stay until about 1:00 PM when I check out nearby yards (plus NRE if I'm at Blue Island).  If I have just a little time, I'll check out Argo (IHB) and Clearing, possibly Landers.

Clark Road (now called Gary-Chicago Airport in the NICTD timetable) is the last of the "street" flagstops in Gary on the South Shore.

[CShaveRR]

Paul, is there actually good access to the airport from that stop?  It's on the opposite side from the terminal.  I know you couldn't get to "my" spot from there without a bit of a hike, and I don't recommend it.  I haven't seen any bodies yet (MC), but that may be because I keep my eyes on the road (or the tracks).  

When I wrote the initial report, I was on another train-watching trip--slightly more mundane (details forthcoming).

[CShaveRR]

I wrote my report on my special birthday trip on Monday...I was armed with my computer, but trackside, at the station in Elmhurst, on Metra's "UP West" line and Union Pacific's Overland Route, the original transcontinental railroad (they extended it east from Omaha by taking over the Chicago & North Western--may not be historically accurate, but it's true for all intents and purposes).

Pat and I had some errands to run at a grocary store, a hardware store, a pharmacy, a bank, and Chipotle (not in that order). After we were done, I lingered for a few hours to prepare my report, garner more sightings, and continue work on the ones I had. Of course, I kept getting interrupted...

1335: Westbound stack train on Track 1 (usually the eastbound track).

1338: Eastbound stack train on Track 2.

1354: Westbound stack train on Track 3. This one was comprised of mostly K-Line containers, so I named it "Al". That was the Tiger in me.

1359: Westbound WEPX empty gons on Track 2.

1420: Westbound scoot on Track 3.

1420: Eastbound scoot on Track 1 (both were about eight minutes late, due to "track construction").

1430: Eastbound intermodal on Track 1.

1432: Westbound intermodal ("The Bird?") on Track 3.

1443: Westbound NORX coal empties on Track 3.

1515: Eastbound scoot on Track 1.

1515: Westbound scoot on Track 3.

1545: Eastbound manifest, Track 1.

1610: Westbound scoot, on Track 3. I got on this one for the ride home. At the time I noticed the headlight and ditch-lights of a train ready to depart Proviso for points west, and figured that it would have to wait for the eastbound scoot, which had been delayed by "trackwork". We met the eastbound scoot just east of Villa Park, on Track 1.

Getting off at Lombard, I sat down to respond to a couple of emails and other messages, then walked parallel to the tracks (Parkside Avenue) to head home. When I got to Elizabeth Street, I looked to the east, and nothing was yet in sight, so I headed south on Elizabeth for home. It was less than a block before the gates went down again. It was the next outbound scoot, sheduled less than a half-hour after the one preceding it, sgnaling the start of the rush-hour Fleet on UP West. I thought, "This scoot wouldn't delay that freight coming out of the yard; it should've been able to come out on track..." Before I could even say "two" (yes, I do talk to myself on occasion!), there it was--an outbound train of empty CWEX/MWGX coal gons. Less than three hours, 15 trains. Not quite as good as Clark Road had been on Friday, but it still brought a smile to my face. And I'd gotten some work done.

[MP173]

Carl:

That is quite a report.  I was at the site in February (-10 degrees) and in an hour there were 13 trains, before getting run off by an FRA official.  

What is name of the restaurant?  I will have to stop in sometime.

Next time you are in Chesterton, stop at the bookstore downtown.  Quite a collection of used books on just about any subject imaginable...including railroads. It is well worth the stop. 

 

Ed

[CShaveRR]

Ed, what were you doing that invoked the wrath of the FRA?  (I just sat in the car except for the one time when the car couldn't have made it as close to a train at the crossing as a pedestrian could.)

The restaurant is the Great Lakes Cafe.  It's on the east edge of Gary proper (not Miller--go west on U.S. 12-20 from I-65); signs will direct you north from the highway.  To get there, you have to cross the South Shore and the CN-CSS connecting track, then duck under the CSX and NS main lines, followed by a spur off the NS.  Workers from nearby industries go there, as do Gary firemen and policemen.  "Mom" (Cindy) runs the place, "Pop" runs the kitchen, and daughter Jessica is one of the waitresses.  I seldom can go in there without getting a hug from Cindy or Jessica (if you go, tell 'em I sent you!).

I agree with your assessment of that bookstore in Chesterton; we were in there once, and I saw their railroad books, but did not buy any (I either had them already or didn't want them that badly).  Pat was impressed with the store, too.

[MP173]

Thanks for the tip regarding Great Lakes Cafe.  Sounds like my kind of place.  I will certainly drop your name and see if it results in either a hug or a discount!  What is their specialty?

The fact we were on railroad property was probably the issue.  No problem with that as I respect the job they have to do.

Ed

[CShaveRR]

Their specialty is breakfast and lunch.  I usually get a burger or a salad for lunch, and a "2x2" for breakfast.  They close at 2:30 in the afternoon (12:30 on Saturdays), and are closed on Sundays and major holiday weekends.  Definitely a family thing.