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BNSF trains on acid; thousands stranded
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[quote]QUOTE: <i>Originally posted by Chris30</i> <br /><br />According to the story in the Chicago Tribune, riders were being advised to return to Chicago and then take the UP West Line. Shuttle buses were transfering passengers between UP West Line stations and BNSF stations. Metra spokesperson Judy Pardonet also said that there wasn't Metra could do given the size of the incident (@26 miles). <br /> <br />CC <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />Honoring tickets on a parallel line is the way Metra commonly handles problems. I think the problem with this one was the timing right at the start of the Thursday afternoon/evening commute. Busing along the lines is much harder than busing between them as many of the feeder bus routes overlap between towns along the line. The parallel lines aren't really that far apart. <br /> <br />I also think the word Hazmat generates fear and uncertainty, both for riders and for carrier lawsuits. I checked out the Lisle station area(~30 miles out) on Friday morning and the parking lots looked more like a Saturday or Sunday. A lot of people in the area stayed home and I saw a lot of people washing cars. A heavy westbound manifest on the center track came through at restricted speed and the dust it kicked up did smell a little strange, but that could be my imagination working overtime. I moved to a different location upwind, but traffic was lighter than normal. I did see a rail-service contractor inspection truck go by on the center track, but that could be related to some rail grinding they've been doing - maybe the smell as well. I wonder if the rail grinding along with the location of the white stuff near the Peperidge Farm Bakery siding delayed identification? <br /> <br />The racetrack still does have a large number of freights, including coal, doublestacks, Z-trains, autoracks, and manifests. There are also NS, CSX, and UP runthroughs. Most are scheduled to avoid the morning and evening rush hours, but the reverse signaled triple track main with plenty of crossovers allows a great deal of flexibility.
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