Amtrak trains between St. Louis and Chicago

[dkparks]

Sorry if this has been answered somewhere before. I have noticed something odd lately on a couple occasions. What struck me as odd is that I don't get a chance to railfan like I would prefer so the fact that I have noticed it multiple times is what caught me.

Why are some of the Amtrak trains from St. Louis to Chicago running a locomotive at both ends? Which trians are they? I believe I read this past winter they were doing this due to ice storms stranding trains south of Springfield but I am seeing this on beautiful, not a cloud in the sky days.

Anyone know why they are doing this and on which trains they do it to?

Thanks.

[jsoderq]

Don't know which trains, but Amtrak between Detroit and Chicago have locos on both ends so they dont have to monkey around turning the train or moving the loco to the other end. Some of the locos are cab control = no motor in them.

[nanaimo73]

  Why are some of the Amtrak trains from St. Louis to Chicago running a locomotive at both ends? Which trians are they? I believe I read this past winter they were doing this due to ice storms stranding trains south of Springfield but I am seeing this on beautiful, not a cloud in the sky days.
 
Thanks.

Are both of the locomotives of the newer type ?

Could one of them be a "cabbage" car, a former F40 turned into a cab control / baggage car ?

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/srchThumbs.aspx?srch=cabbage&search=Search

[dkparks]

No, they are both Genesis locos. The only thing I can think of is that thanks to the wonderful support of the State of Illinois with the addition of trains to the schedule that they almost needed to add it to eliminate backing into Chicago at the scheduled time.

I am not sure how much time that would save but perhaps it was the only was to make sure it would fit the schedule.

Still looking for anyone who would know for sure.

Thanks.

[cordon]

Don't know for sure.

I've come into Chicago about seven times on the Texas Eagle and the Capitol Limited.  My recollection is that the trip into and out of the wye takes about 20 minutes.  The train goes very slowly through there.

 

 

[Anonymous]

It is very possible that the trains you are see are the Ann Rutledge trains.  As far as the locomotive on both ends, one locomotive is probably just a cab car, it is possible that Amtrak had some Genesus units (pardon my spelling) that had been wrecked or need some major wiring or major engine work and so instead of spending the needed money they would still be able to make money with the unit as a cab control car.  It could be possible that the wye there in chicago has been taken out of service (oos).  The only way to find out why would be to track the train into a station and just ask.  Most of the Amtrak employees are really nice and they would be glad to answer any questions that you may have.

[Anonymous]

Are you sure you're not seeing the Michigan-Illinois trains? I know of two routes that use double-ended trains. One has P42's on both ends, one has a P42 on one end, and an F40 converted to a baggage/cab unit at the other (I think that one's the wolverine). I have never seen the Anne Rutledge (303/304, 305/306, etc.) use a loco on both ends. I've seen it double headed on the front, but never one on each end. The only scenario I could think of was maybe it was terminating at one of the stations down the line with no wye, and rather than reversing back, they used the other loco.