It'll be interesting to see what becomes of the $73mil in track improvements NS made to the old PRR line east of Ft Wayne. Left to languish?
Or perhaps it was an issue with all the MOW work going on in NW Indiana...and a sudden influx of oilers. Now that oil trains are a) diminished somewhat b) moving on the old NKP with regularity, it has freed up train slots.
NS operations on Elkhart line are pretty smooth these days.
ed
n012944 Convicted One Perhaps the Chicago 'problem' is finally solved? (sarcasm) Or was an overblown problem in the first place.
Convicted One Perhaps the Chicago 'problem' is finally solved? (sarcasm)
Perhaps the Chicago 'problem' is finally solved? (sarcasm)
Or was an overblown problem in the first place.
Or it was a NS manufacturered problem because of a seriously flawed operating plan and overzealous enforcement of the flawed plan.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
An "expensive model collector"
MP173Will keep an ear open for movements.
My guess is that you likely won't see much more NKP -> CFE movements. I noticed last evening that the Fuel pad once located at Mike Junction is no more. the tank trucks, portable office unit, and employee vehicles are completly gone. not sure what this means long term.
MP173That is quite a long run for NS crews, particularly getting thru the Fort and negotiating all the Chicago terminal issues.
I don't think those crews are going to Chicago. I believe they are working east of Ft Wayne only. Let me emphasize that I'm just speculating, but I think this is their western "away" terminal.
That is quite a long run for NS crews, particularly getting thru the Fort and negotiating all the Chicago terminal issues.
Here is what I am seeing and hearing....it appears that NS has moved the oil and ethanol trains off of the Elkhart line, but some empties seem to be moving back on that line.
Tank trains seem to be moving on the NKP line (and not the CFE line) thru NW Indiana, which indicates that east of Ft Wayne these trains move over to the CFE.
Will keep an ear open for movements.
Ed
Workedout of a local motel recently and for several days in a row I noticed Renzenberger vans picking up and dropping off NS crew, who were staying at the motel. Asking them where they were based, they said "Mansfield". Couple of the guys were just qualifying, so evidently this traffic isn't going to go away, soon anyway. One of the guys mentioned that the railroad had spent $73 million updating the line between Ft Wayne and Mansfield.
CSSHEGEWISCHCP is also one of the six owners of the Belt Railway of Chicago.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/belt-railway-clears-track-for-more-efficiency-1439335347
Best quote:
“We have to do our part to keep the Belt fluid,” said Cindy Sanborn, vice president of transportation for CSX and chairwoman of the Belt’s board. “The owners are very much the source of the problems and the solutions.”
- Paul North.
Saw a renzenberger van delivering a fresh crew to a train that had obviously timed out, only about a quarter mile shy of the fuel stop, last night.
Right up on top of the city's old elevation portion of this line
All the proposals covered on how to fix this is nothing new and is just recycled talking points. Some traffic will still take days to pass across the metro area, crews will still go over 12 hrs and in 10 even 20 yrs from now, we will stil be yaking and thinking on how to fix Chicago.
Interestingly enough, this old PRR line is getting a good bit of use, at least through Fort Wayne, anyway.
Tuesday night I sat out to enjoy a couple burgers at a restaurant near the refueling stop mentioned earlier. And from 9:30 pm till 11:00 pm witnessed 3 westbound trains. .....WEST BOUND! Then this morning was one of the typical tanker unit trains eastbound, waiting for fuel at the pad. And tonight on the way home from work there was a westbound full of Reading Northern hopper cars (I think they were coal cars returning empty)
Anyway, pretty good for a line many seem to want to write off as "dead".
CP is also one of the six owners of the Belt Railway of Chicago.
Well he did say he wanted to buy, lease or operate IHB and BRC.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/02/us-cp-outlook-ceo-idUSKCN0HR28G20141002
The bit I still don't get is why it seems he routes his freight via Craigin, when he has a 49% share in IHB. Maybe it's the fact that the IHB doesn't own all the track from Blue Island to McCook that's the problem, and CSX won't play ball. It's owned as mentioned above, by BOCT. So that's why you have to buy CSX to get a route through Chicago!
Maybe Harrison sought CSX so he could have his own railroad all the way thru Chicago - like he did when with CN.
Jack Fuller
From NS's 2nd Quarter Earnings report:
"Net income for the quarter was $433 million, 23 percent lower compared with the $562 million record results from the same period of 2014. Diluted earnings per share were $1.41 compared with $1.79 per diluted share earned in the second quarter last year."
The Op Ratio has climbed to 70. Share price has fallen to $83.76 from about $114 last fall. Will be interesting to see where they start retrenching.
Perhaps traffic is lower and they are trying to reduce expeditures such as charges paid to to run on the CFE.
There are bundles of ties along the right of way here in NW Indiana. It seems as if NS has quit running on the CFE between the Fort and East Hobart except for the Spriggsboro - East Hobart section....which is pretty well maintained.
MP173 track speed and condition of the rails is not good
Word of mouth has it that a substantial number of ties are being replaced on the CF&E right now, in the Larwill-Warsaw area.
The line had some pretty ugly subgrade problems when it was whole which made it unattractive to NS/N&W in its final years.
Great book on that subject
The 4th District was always a "head scratcher" for me, even in context with the officially cited reasons for it's construction. But, if you contemplate the 4th district as a segment in conjunction with the W&LE and Gould's Wabash Pittsbugh Terminal extension....it starts to make sense.
Convicted One It's a shame that the old Wabash 4th district is all gone.
It's a shame that the old Wabash 4th district is all gone.
Is the CFE considered as dark or did they retain any signals besides interlockings?
MP173How is the track east of Ft Wayne on CFE?
I guess that depends upon who you ask. Having not been out that way personally, I can only speculate based upon what others have said. I guess that a lot of the work contemplated for this line has been completed East of Ft Wayne. But again not having seen it with my own eyes....
If you haven't already seen the following, it's worth a read:
http://railroadfan.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=27344&hilit=Wayne+Mansfield&start=520#p324220
Reading down a ways the guy states that most of the line between Ft Wayne and Lima has been approved for 40 mph.
So perhaps that is what they are doing, using the NKP between Ft Wayne and Chicago temporarily (for this new traffic) until the line improvements on the CF&E west of Ft Wayne are complete?
What Mudchicken stated earlier about connections being reworked in conjuction with the Gary airport expansion are likely key to what's going on with the west end of the CF&E.
There are tank trains on the NKP thru Valpo. Perhaps NS is sending some thru on the CFE, but the track speed and condition of the rails is not good.
How is the track east of Ft Wayne on CFE?Ed
Multiple machines were in the video - Each carrier has machines to deal with it's own track characteristics. Ballast spreading, Ballast Cleaning, Tamping, rail replacement and tie replacement are common to all railroads. The functions can be done individually or in concert with each other as the carrier may desire.
The 1st machine pictured was changing the right of way from wood ties to concrete ties - in most cases the machine is leased for the specific job the carrier desires as concrete ties have yet to become the universal replacment for wood ties. In most cases the installation of concrete ties covers a 'test territory' where the performance of the ties will be closely watched over time. While the theory is that concrete ties provide more consistent and longer lasting rail support than wood ties, the demonstrated performance has fallen short of the theory and the make of concrete ties is constantly evolving to remedy the shortcomings found in the test installations.
Mudchicken is the expert on this forum in the track work area.
Do NS and CSX have the big rail and/or tie replacment machines like UP & BNSF use? Similar to this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MKcTbYDP7w
MP173NS doesnt seem to be moving freight between Ft. Wayne and Hobart on the CFE and it seems to be an issue of slow orders.
The funny thing about that, here in Ft Wayne we are getting multiple eastbound unit tanker trains, DAILY coming in on that line from the west. I haven't bothered to stop for an entire day just to monitor this line but I pass it several times per day and see new trains on it frequently. Invariably with consists made up of NS units combined with one of the two big western roads, followed by a buffer car, and then a long stream of tank cars. The varying make up of the consists along with the different buffer cars confirm that these are multiple trains per day and not just the same train sitting there all day. Just the other day I observed two fuel trucks sevicing a stopped train at the fueling stop.
Wonder where they are coming from if they are not going through Valpo?
edit: Are you getting multiple east bound tank unit trains per day on the NKP?
I suppose that it is possible that they are traveling Chicago-Ft Wayne on the NKP and then switching over to CFE at a local west side junction, to fuel and then continue east on the CFE.
Ed,
I would not be so quick to jump to the conclusion that the six eastward trains per day plan is dead.
The article announcing it came out in January. It says 50 miles of surfacing, 10,000 ties, and some rail relay. That is a summer's worth of work for a shortline even if contracted. First do rail changeout assuming it also requires new tie plates. No sense to spike kill new ties. Then change out ties. Have to purchase them, get them and unload them before can even start to change them. A good shortline tie crew can do 500 ties per day if they get full day of track time. That is 20 work days, say a month. Surfacing will probably be at rate of about 1 mile per day, so there is another two months, although surfacing could start about a week after the tie project. Look for ballast trains after tie change but before surfacing. Do not know how much signal work would be required to get reliable predictors in the bungalos. Since this is former high speed line I would assume track circuits are already long enough.
Just because the train you saw was doing 10 MPH does not mean this work is not underway.
Mac McCulloch
I live in Valparaiso, In (NKP and CFE lines run thru town) and have been somewhat puzzled by the lack of NS trains on the CFE...until last Saturday.
CFE sent an eastbound freight with 2 units and 100 cars. Most of the cars were loaded boxcars, loaded grain hoppers, and loaded gons (scrap). The final 20 cars were BNSF empty rail carrying flats going back to Columbia City no doubt for more welded rail. Nice healthy train.
The train was moving at perhaps 10mph. I jumped ahead of it about 10 miles and waited and it was still moving 10mph.
The track looks good, but obviously there are issues. There was probably 11,000 tons with 2 big motors, and the engines were not working hard, so it wasnt a matter of an underpowered train. NS doesnt seem to be moving freight between Ft. Wayne and Hobart on the CFE and it seems to be an issue of slow orders.
How this plays out in the future is something I cannot speculate on, but for now the grand plans of using the CFE as a relief valve for 6 trains daily doesnt seem to be reality.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.