IAIS BICB- how long does it stay in Des Moines

[BurlingtonNorthern2264]

Hello all,

Looking to catch the Iowa Interstate BICB train in Atlantic, IA today. I'm not familiar with this area much, and all I know is that it got through West Liberty at 11:47 AM this morning. How long does the train stay in Des Moines (I hear it swaps crews there) because I believe it arrives in Council Bluffs during the afternoon-evening hours.

Should I just try and monitor the road channel from here on out and listen to where it is, and is there a rough time it will usually get through the Anita-Atlantic area? It has the 516 HU on it today, so I'd really like to catch it.

 

Thanks so much

[BaltACD]

BurlingtonNorthern2264

Hello all,

Looking to catch the Iowa Interstate BICB train in Atlantic, IA today. I'm not familiar with this area much, and all I know is that it got through West Liberty at 11:47 AM this morning. How long does the train stay in Des Moines (I hear it swaps crews there) because I believe it arrives in Council Bluffs during the afternoon-evening hours.

Should I just try and monitor the road channel from here on out and listen to where it is, and is there a rough time it will usually get through the Anita-Atlantic area? It has the 516 HU on it today, so I'd really like to catch it. 

Thanks so much

Don't know what to tell you.

If DesMoines is a crew change point, the stop could be momentary step off, step on situation if the outbound crew put on duty based on the trains anticipated arrival; or it could be hours and hours if no crew is available, and the train has to wait on a crew to become rested so they can be called.

I have no idea how the Iowa Interstate operates or their crew situation.

[Ed Kyle]

Some videos online show BICB trains passing through Atlantic mid-afternoon, but the times vary.  The train sometimes stops in Atlantic.  One of the videos had text that said "normally the BICB arrives in Atlantic anywhere between 10:30AM to 11:30AM [but] it was after 2PM when this train was spotted".

 

[jeffhergert]

The biggest delay is probably getting through UP's Short Line yard.

Looking at the IAIS fan's facebook page, someone from Des Moines says the WB arrives about 1am and the EB around 8am.

I believe the normal meeting point for the road trains is at Booneville, about 10 miles west of West Des Moines.  It's the first siding west of the Des Moines area.  The trains swap crews, each returning to their on duty points.

The meeting points where crews swap, on either end of the IAIS, depends on how each train is doing.  The west end sounds like the road trains are a morning to early afternoon operation. 

Jeff

[shrek]

Unless things have changed Des Moines is not a crew change point unless they died HOS.  The road trains try to make Newton to swap crew's ( CB crew gets rest in Newton and a S.Amana crew taxi's to Newton and takes it back to S.Amana)  Thats the last I heard it was being done but it could of changed.