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CP Intermodal

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  • Member since
    May 2004
  • From: Valparaiso, In
  • 5,921 posts
CP Intermodal
Posted by MP173 on Friday, June 9, 2017 5:20 PM

Did CP shift their Chicago - Toronto/Montreal intermodal trains from NS to CSX?

I heard a CSX Q166 this morning with a CP lead motor.  Q165/166 were the symbols in use when these trains were on CSX.

CP ran the trains as 140 thru 143 on NS and were combo trains of intermodal, auto racks and general freight.  This week I saw 140 adn it was general freight and auto racks.

 

Ed

  • Member since
    August 2004
  • From: The 17th hole at TPC
  • 2,283 posts
Posted by n012944 on Friday, June 9, 2017 9:25 PM

Yea they are back.  They are also carrying a Detroit block that is set off at Northwest Ohio and Q151 brings to CP's Oak yard.  

An "expensive model collector"

  • Member since
    January 2015
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Posted by kgbw49 on Saturday, June 10, 2017 2:00 PM

Ehh, sounds like something may be up in Calgary and Jacksonville...

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: NW Wisconsin
  • 3,857 posts
Posted by beaulieu on Saturday, June 10, 2017 10:01 PM

Doublestacks won't clear the Detroit River Tunnel, except if they are a pair of 8'6" size, which are not too common anymore. CP has been routing a pair of doublestack trains via CSX from Buffalo/Niagara Falls to Chicago on a haulage contract with CSX for several years now.

  • Member since
    August 2004
  • From: The 17th hole at TPC
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Posted by n012944 on Saturday, June 10, 2017 10:03 PM

beaulieu

Doublestacks won't clear the Detroit River Tunnel, except if they are a pair of 8'6" size, which are not too common anymore. CP has been routing a pair of doublestack trains via CSX from Buffalo/Niagara Falls to Chicago on a haulage contract with CSX for several years now.

 

The train stopped running for about six months this winter/spring.

An "expensive model collector"

  • Member since
    May 2004
  • From: Valparaiso, In
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Posted by MP173 on Monday, June 12, 2017 9:57 AM

Observing the CP trains on NS, most would be single stacks with a few double stacks.  I finally determined there must be an issue with clearance except for certain containers....thanks for clarification.

The CP trains on NS were interesting, often 140 and 142 would be within an hour of each other (eastbound) and both would be intermodal/general freight/autoracks.   Why not combine the two intermodal blocks into one train.  Is that what is occuring now on CSX?

Later it was determined that one trains CP140 perhaps was for Montreal and the other for Toronto.

Ed

  • Member since
    October 2016
  • 185 posts
Posted by Saturnalia on Tuesday, June 13, 2017 11:42 PM

MP173

Observing the CP trains on NS, most would be single stacks with a few double stacks.  I finally determined there must be an issue with clearance except for certain containers....thanks for clarification.

Not sure if anybody gets a chance to "double check" these days or if an overheight detector has been installed, but I've heard many stories about the yardmasters in Grand Rapids, MI (back when these ran on the CSX via MI), that they were always on the lookout for the wayward bad double-stack, and they used to find them fairly often. Those cars would have to be setout, and AFAIK, routed to some intermodal yard to correct the situation. 

This vigilance usually prevented any mishaps. However, on at least one occasion, a bad stack was missed, and this was the result. Photos by Jeff O, from 1995. 

Coloma, MI:

St. Joseph, MI:

According to this site, it happened again in 2008, though with many more containers on a re-route, where somebody forgot to check dimensions! 

http://biglittlerr.blogspot.com/2008/09/union-pacific-boo-boo-id-hate-to-be.html

The Detroit Tunnel is definitely antiquated...a good nickname might be the "intermodal cookie cutter", though I've also heard it jokingly called "Flat Top Tunnel", in reference to the Polar Express! 

 

 

  • Member since
    March 2016
  • 1,568 posts
Posted by CandOforprogress2 on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 1:10 PM

So do we have CP Intermodal on the southern teir again?

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