Well, tomorrow's the day!
I haven't heard a thing, though, about that detour move of Amtrak over the former CNW east of Omaha, except for what was posted here. I checked the eastbound lineup of trains on our line before leaving work, and found nothing. I won't be around tomorrow to check things out (not for long, anyway), but I'm sure I'll hear (and see) plenty about it. Good luck to any pursuers or prospective riders!
Pat and I will be exploring northern and central Indiana for a couple of days, carefully staying north of Indianapolis.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
Happy birthday to Aimee Blysard!
There seem to be an awful lot of October birthdays here in the forums.
The weekend is here at last. It looks pretty rainy, but that won't stop me from doing some train watching at the Amtrak station. Of course, if I see anything interesting I will report it in here.
Willy
CShaveRR wrote:UP hasn't relettered any of its predecessors' cars. But they haven't bought any new ones lettered in otherwise-active reporting marks. Some cars were renumbered when they were rebuilt (so, for example, there are some CNW series of box cars and gons that didn't exist at the time of the merger), but that's it.
The "new" gons I'm am seeing then are probably rebuilds. Makes sense. Thanks. Some of the scrap trains I see have 20 to 30 gons -- a lot of variety.
dd
TrainManTy wrote: Wel,, I have a question, how long does it take for a railroad to repaint equipment after a merger; I saw a train today which had at least 2 B&M boxcars, faded and graffitied, but un-patched. The train also included a MEC boxcar in the yellow "Pine Tree Route" scheme!All were 50 footers, as far as I could tell.
Wel,, I have a question, how long does it take for a railroad to repaint equipment after a merger; I saw a train today which had at least 2 B&M boxcars, faded and graffitied, but un-patched. The train also included a MEC boxcar in the yellow "Pine Tree Route" scheme!
All were 50 footers, as far as I could tell.
UP has made a practice of continuing to use all their heritage lines reporting marks on freight equipment. I have seen new (relatively) scrap gons with WP, MP, and CNW marks.
Getting ready to bike to work in low-40s weather.
Birthday greetings today to Aimee Blysard, Ed's wife!
J. Edgar wrote:not to barge in....but....hiya .....while at work today driving west on I-94 in Detroit i passed under an old RR bridge and whatcha know.....it still had a PC moniker on it.....granted rusted faded and barely readable...but you could still see the noodles....got me thinkin....what other lil tid bits have you all run across like that.....and do your wives look at you funny when you see that and yell....LOOK LOOK PENN CENTRAL!!!
J. Edgar, I've seen two old, rusting L&N nameplates bolted to (1) a bridge on CSX's K&A Sub high above I-285 in Atlanta, and (2) a much smaller, shorter, lower bridge on ex-CSX trackage in Marietta, GA, now owned & operated by the Georgia Northeastern RR. I thought long and hard about how I might be able to .... um ..... "acquire" the one on the GNRR bridge, but one day I noticed it had disappeared, supports and all.
Also, there's an NS Interstate-crossing bridge near Macon which used to be lettered "Southern". Haven't seen it in over a year -- don't know if the lettering is still there or not.
CopCarSS wrote: Julie is my favorite means of finding train status. Just call 1-800-USA-RAIL. Delightful gal to have a chat with. I wonder if she's single.
She's pretty perky-sounding, all right! I believe Saturday Night Live has had a routine or two involving a date with Julie.
I wouldn't expect her to divulge anything beyond when the train departs Omaha or what time it's expected in Chicago based on that. If there are any station stops at all on the UP, they won't be in her system.
I wish I could be on that run, too. But that would involve a day or two off from work, and I have other places to be (in the opposite direction) on the day of the run. Good luck to anyone who attempts to catch her!
Dale, I've heard a tunnel existed on that line to LaFarge too, and a friend of mine said he went looking for it once. Don't remember what he said though, if he found it or not, or if it still exists (seems like I remember something about it being removed when the highway was redone, but I may be remembering wrong).
Economically speaking, painting old freight cars just doesn't always make sense either. Railroad have often have better or more important things to spend money on than making sure all of their old cars have been through the paint shop recently (which is why so many rail cars have such ratty paint jobs, though there are just as many nice looking ones too).
Noah
Tyler, B&M and MEC haven't been gone all that long, relatively speaking. The Guilford paint scheme has been around for, what, 25 years tops? You'll find MP and WP cars around by the hundreds, in their original paint, so those have been 25 or more years without repainting, too.
In 1999, when Conrail was split, there were still a goodly number of cars (especially gondolas) lettered for the Pennsylvania Railroad, keystone and all. That's 31 years after the merger that created the Penn Central. Ironically, some of those PRR gons were relettered NYC when assigned to CSX.
You can add a good five years to that--the amount of time after the 1947 merger with C&O that Pere Marquette freight cars, in their original lettering, were in existence.
-ChrisWest Chicago, ILChristopher May Fine Art Photography"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." ~Ansel Adams
Willy2 wrote:Chris - The CZ has been doing much better lately after some schedule changes and cooperation with Union Pacific out west. It's been right on time several times over the past couple months and is rarely more than an hour late. I'm not sure how long this will be maintained, but it's nice while it's lasting.
That's good to know. As I said, I'll be taking the CZ back to Chicago around Thanksgiving. It's been 2+ years since I've ridden Amtrak. Last time I was more than 7 hours late into Naperville and 4.5 hours late into Denver. I'm willing to forgive an hour or two, but 11.5 hours of lost time is a real problem to me.
Still, considering what a woeful thing airport security is anymore (especially when one carries lenses that look like bazookas to the TSA folks), I think I could deal with some delays. We'll see.
CopCarSS wrote: Brian,Julie is my favorite means of finding train status. Just call 1-800-USA-RAIL. Delightful gal to have a chat with. I wonder if she's single. From my experience with the CZ (which I'll be testing again in November), you can anticipate a delay of at least an hour, often more.How I wish I could be on that train, though. There's a lot of places that I've raildfanned that would be fun to ride on. For instance, how cool would it be to go over the Kate Shelley Bridge (and see what's going on with the new one, too!). Oh well...someday...
Brian,
Julie is my favorite means of finding train status. Just call 1-800-USA-RAIL. Delightful gal to have a chat with. I wonder if she's single.
From my experience with the CZ (which I'll be testing again in November), you can anticipate a delay of at least an hour, often more.
How I wish I could be on that train, though. There's a lot of places that I've raildfanned that would be fun to ride on. For instance, how cool would it be to go over the Kate Shelley Bridge (and see what's going on with the new one, too!). Oh well...someday...
Chris - The CZ has been doing much better lately after some schedule changes and cooperation with Union Pacific out west. It's been right on time several times over the past couple months and is rarely more than an hour late. I'm not sure how long this will be maintained, but it's nice while it's lasting.
Steam Is King wrote: Julie is great if you"re on the road.You can also do it online at:Amtrak Train Status
Julie is great if you"re on the road.You can also do it online at:
Amtrak Train Status
I use the online feature at work. The Vermonter stops outside my shop twice a day and when it's late, I have people come in and ask when it's going to show up. I can check online and give them an idea of timing. Then they ask' "Why?", and I tell them, "I dunno."
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
I'm on it... barring any last-minute outings planned with our son and daughter-in-law, who are spending the week with us, I should be able to get track-side, as I have the day off.
EDIT: Hey Willy or someone in Omaha, can you find out if Amtrak makes it through Omaha on time Monday morning and post a quick update?
Carl, do you know anything about this, it was on the ICErail List-
I was just informed 30 minutes ago that due to bridge work on the BNSF in Iowa, next Monday October 15, 2007, Amtrak #6 will detour over the CNW/UP from Omaha to Chicago. This is a RARE in advance notice of a DETOUR RARE MILEAGE move. If people get this soon enough, then they can ride Omaha to Chicago (about $60 or so one way). Amtrak's website shows seats available MON for $62. TUE #5 is the same price Chicago to Omaha.#5 COULD/MAY detour if the bridge work takes longer.The conductors do not change Omaha to Chicago, but the engineer's do change at Ottumwa. So, I THEORIZE Cedar Rapids will be a stop for that.Bus service will be provided from Omaha to Princeton for the missed stops for #6. Amtrak has a service alert on their website www.amtrak.com <http://www.amtrak.com/>.Please pass this along to any and all people you know who may appreciate a RARE and TIMELY advance notice of a RARE MILEAGE detour. I get communication from people all the time wondering when Amtrak will detour across Iowa or Wyoming. NOW is YOUR chance!Enjoy! Updates and corrections will be posted when available.
Perhaps Brian could get a shot of it.
Hi Bob,
That area sounds perfect for canoeing.
Apparently there is a tunnel that still exists from that line, which I'll have to locate for Wikimapia. This should make 60 tunnels on the CMSP&P. 48 on the mainline (2 more planned), 1 in Indiana, 6 on the Great Falls line, 1 on the Bovill line and 3 on the Metaline Falls line.
I wonder if I could track down all of the North Western's tunnels ?
nanaimo73 wrote: Noah Hofrichter wrote: Now if some of the old branch lines to Viroqua and LaFarge were still in, chasing a train on those lines would have yielded lots of colorful photos... I was just reading about that LaFarge line last weekend, it was pulled up in 1939. It was supposed to be quite crooked. It must therefore have been very scenic.
Noah Hofrichter wrote: Now if some of the old branch lines to Viroqua and LaFarge were still in, chasing a train on those lines would have yielded lots of colorful photos...
Now if some of the old branch lines to Viroqua and LaFarge were still in, chasing a train on those lines would have yielded lots of colorful photos...
I was just reading about that LaFarge line last weekend, it was pulled up in 1939. It was supposed to be quite crooked. It must therefore have been very scenic.
Thanks for the compliments guys, I appreciate it. A to all those celebrating today as well.
Dale, the whole colors thing around here is actually kind of weird. Around where I live I'd say peak colors are just about here (probably sometime this week). As we were driving towards the river in the morning on Saturday, about 40 miles in-land from the River the colors were goreous; lots of Reds and a few oranges in with yellows. But once we got around the river itself, most of the trees were either still green or had already been stripped of their leaves (such as the hill in the background at LaCrescent). There was a nasty storm that passed through a few days before, and I wonder if it didn't knock alot of the leaves off over that way. Now if some of the old branch lines to Viroqua and LaFarge were still in, chasing a train on those lines would have yielded lots of colorful photos...
Very nice photos, Noah!
Thanks for the birthday wishes, Carl and Chris!
Not too much happening on my birthday so far since today was just another school day like any other.
Now, I need to send Pat a happy birthday email.
Great shots, Noah! Thanks for sharing!
And a very to Pat and Willy! Hope you both have a great day!
Noah, they did the two ends of the line while they were here earlier this year; the remaining stretch of Track 1 (Creston to Sterling or thereabouts) should be done before year-end, possibly this month. That 909 concrete-tie machine is in demand in a lot of places on the system.
Great pictures, Noah--thanks for posting!
I forgot to mention the ICE train we saw on our trip west (before we got to Rochelle): Four nice-looking blue-and-yellow units, with an incredibly long freight behind them. We were driving over the ICE on I-39 when the head end went under. No convenient exits for us to break off and pursue, unfortunately.
Dale, at least down here our colors got an early start, but the warm weather has caused them to kind of stall out. I'm also afraid that they'll be rather dull, due to the dry summer and early fall that we've had. We have a lot of still-green leaves dropping in our yard.
Nice shots, Noah.
Looks like your fall colors are a week or two away. Are they later this year ?
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