Central Illinois

[MP173]

Thanks for the reply, Rock.

BTW what is PTC? What form of train control is that?

The signals I saw were SHORT. The masts were at head level.

Had a very pleasant trip thru Central Illinois to St. Louis. Came back via Decatur and the NS line had a couple of trains. I have always thought the BNSF Beardstown line is an interesting operation, didnt see anything on it tho.

MP

[Anonymous]

PTC is positve train control. In short it monotors the trains movment via GPS. The can pinpoint a trains location and keep them either closer or farther apart than the normal block or CTC system. Maybe someone else can shed some light on this. There are a few signals that are on short masts but those are temporary and will be replaced as far as I know. The Beardstown sub is historicly a coal line that provided the CB&Q with a large amount of fuel for their steam locomotives. Now days more powder river basin coal goes down the line than illinois coal goes up it. There is a St. Louis bound frieght that heads down once in a while but other than that its mostly coal. Long live the rock.