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Flooding in Upper Midwest

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Posted by Los Angeles Rams Guy on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 7:19 AM

Sounds like the ICE's mainline between Davenport and Kansas City is under siege as the bridge over the Iowa River at Columbus Jct. collapsed; sending the engineer and conductor to University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics.  From the KWWL (Waterloo) website:

 http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=8551580

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Posted by solzrules on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 9:01 PM

Stopped by Duplainville yesterday and just west of the intersection there are cars parked on the mainline and RUST on the railheads.  Never thought I'd see it. 

A short time later I saw a CN train role through the diamond heading south with one CN AC4400 and one CP AC4400 in the consist.  That also looked a little off.  Hard to believe these two railroads are working together, seeing as they hate each other. 

You think this is bad? Just wait until inflation kicks in.....
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Posted by SchemerBob on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 6:33 PM
Saw an IC&E freight heading east through Ottumwa today, so the flooding by the RRX must have lifted. Now if Burlington could get back to normal, the BNSF Ottumwa Sub should be in business again...
Long live the BNSF .... AND its paint scheme. SchemerBob
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Posted by Soo 6604 on Monday, June 23, 2008 1:18 PM
 zardoz wrote:
 Soo 6604 wrote:

CP Rail detours still happening over the CN thru Wisconsin. So far, ive only seen 1 northbounder each day

Paul

I must have missed them somehow.  I was in the Medina area Saturday between 10am and 3pm and all I saw was one southbound (and it was a CN train).

I didnt hear one on saturday, but that doesnt mean one didnt go thru. Saturday on the CN line was very dead.

Todays CP detour went thru Neenah around 9ish

Yesturdays went thru Neenah around 9ish once again. That seems like the norm that they are around the area. Somebody told me that its the CP 287 train that is detouring

On an interesting note, a CP coke train that usually routes from the south, came down from the Point area without swapping units. it consisted of CP 8578, CP 5970 and SOO 6023 with 79 loads of coke for Manitowoc.

Paul

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Posted by Los Angeles Rams Guy on Monday, June 23, 2008 12:42 PM
CP detours also still hot and heavy on the ICE between La Crescent and Pingree Grove.  Hope to be lucky enough to catch some when I go back to my hometown in Iowa Friday evening or on the way back up on Sunday.
"Beating 'SC is not a matter of life or death. It's more important than that." Former UCLA Head Football Coach Red Sanders
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Posted by zardoz on Monday, June 23, 2008 11:57 AM
 Soo 6604 wrote:

CP Rail detours still happening over the CN thru Wisconsin. So far, ive only seen 1 northbounder each day

Paul

I must have missed them somehow.  I was in the Medina area Saturday between 10am and 3pm and all I saw was one southbound (and it was a CN train).

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Posted by Soo 6604 on Sunday, June 22, 2008 8:20 PM

CP Rail detours still happening over the CN thru Wisconsin. So far, ive only seen 1 northbounder each day

Paul

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Posted by billbtrain on Saturday, June 21, 2008 11:58 AM

When we saw the GREX sets they were on track 1(north track).The UP was shoving 2 sets on one train with 2 SD70M's and a SD60M past C st SW.The conveyer units were facing west.The 3rd set was sitting on the CR line at Cole st facing east.All regular train movements were on track 2.The Rock train with the air dump cars was on track 1 facing east with 2 GE units.

Have a good one.

Bill B 

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Posted by blhanel on Saturday, June 21, 2008 9:39 AM
 billbtrain wrote:

I'm working at WalMart in Marion now.I've been there for just over a year.I work 4:30pm to 10:00pm 5 days a week with 2 weekdays off.I'm also working fulltime at CCB Packaging in Hiawatha.We recently moved into a different house as ours was foreclosed on.It's been quite hecktick the last few months.

Holy cow- I would say so!  Two jobs?  Don't burn yourself out.

 billbtrain wrote:
 

The UP bridge over the Cedar River looks to be in good shape from what I could see.They had the trail bridge over the mains taped off so you couldn't go on it(I could have passed through the tape,but figured why risk trouble).We saw that GREX had their conveyer trains down in that area(at least 3 sets),one was on the CR line at Cole St.,which is mostly torn up because of all the heavy equipment being transported.Cole st crossing has been torn out and one of the gates was missing.We didn't get too close because of all the activity.Otis Rd was closed just before the Indian Creek nature center because of high water.We saw a rock train along Otis Rd with 2 UP units and a bunch of airdump cars.I'm not sure where they dumped that.Some of those rocks were the size of the cab of my pickup!The signals by the ponds on Otis were turned inward as were the signals for the crossovers out by Bertram(viewed from Hwy 13).Trains were running Wednesday as we saw 3 eastbounds and heard 2 others.

Were those MOW trains parked on Track 2?  Someone else posted that only Track 1 was in service- there must've been a bad washout somewhere thru there to require that kind of ballast.

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Posted by billbtrain on Saturday, June 21, 2008 8:15 AM

Hello Brian

I'm working at WalMart in Marion now.I've been there for just over a year.I work 4:30pm to 10:00pm 5 days a week with 2 weekdays off.I'm also working fulltime at CCB Packaging in Hiawatha.We recently moved into a different house as ours was foreclosed on.It's been quite hecktick the last few months.

The UP bridge over the Cedar River looks to be in good shape from what I could see.They had the trail bridge over the mains taped off so you couldn't go on it(I could have passed through the tape,but figured why risk trouble).We saw that GREX had their conveyer trains down in that area(at least 3 sets),one was on the CR line at Cole St.,which is mostly torn up because of all the heavy equipment being transported.Cole st crossing has been torn out and one of the gates was missing.We didn't get too close because of all the activity.Otis Rd was closed just before the Indian Creek nature center because of high water.We saw a rock train along Otis Rd with 2 UP units and a bunch of airdump cars.I'm not sure where they dumped that.Some of those rocks were the size of the cab of my pickup!The signals by the ponds on Otis were turned inward as were the signals for the crossovers out by Bertram(viewed from Hwy 13).Trains were running Wednesday as we saw 3 eastbounds and heard 2 others.

Have a good one.

Bill B 

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Posted by blhanel on Saturday, June 21, 2008 6:45 AM
 billbtrain wrote:

Brian,

Any word on the UP bridge by Quaker Oats? I would imagine it has sustained a bit of damage after reading about it 'bowing' from the weight of the water and houseboats.I seriously doubt any bridge can move laterally by very much without being shifted off it's footings.

My son,Will,and I went on a roundabout tour of CR Wednesday.Hwy 13 from Marion to 30 to C st SW to the Prairie Creek power station.We ended up going to the trail head on Ely Road and walked from there to the bridge over the UP(we forgot our bikes,but it was good exercise).When we left there we went to Beverly yard and back to Marion through downtown CR.All very overwhelming and sad.

Have a good one.

Bill 

Hey Bill, where ya been lately?  You still working in Menards?  I keep checking the screens in there for your name when I go in, but no luck.

What did the C St. SW area look like?  I took a quick look Thursday, but stayed up on C St. south of the power plant, and couldn't eyeball the bridge.  I haven't heard anything on the UP bridge at Quaker, but there must be serious damage to it as they haven't made any attempt to remove the railcars off of it yet.  It looked like they were trying to remove the houseboad debris from the west end the other day, but weren't entirely successful.

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Posted by Kevin C. Smith on Saturday, June 21, 2008 2:19 AM
 Victrola1 wrote:

http://www.burlingtonderailed.com/index.php?blogid=1&archive=2008-6-20

It looks like no Zephyr through Burlington (IA) for a while.

The above has photos of a washout on the BNSF just east of Burlington.  

Oh, the poor Amtrak depot. I've been going through Burlington several times over the years but never stopped over until a couple of months ago so I could never check out the depot before. While mostly (seemingly) closed and unused, it was really quite nice. Now, I wonder how long it will take to clean up. Does anyone know if it was it flooded like this in '93?

Strange to look at my vacation photos of what was "high water" in May and see the same places now.

"Look at those high cars roll-finest sight in the world."
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Posted by billbtrain on Saturday, June 21, 2008 1:03 AM

Ted,

New Orleans hit me more personally than the floods here as I went to high school there in the 1970's and had occasions to go all over that city.I went to O.P.Walker High School on the West Bank.I always think about the things I had seen and done,the food,and the friends I had back then.And OH! What trains and facilities I saw!! The last time I was in New Orleans was in 1986.In 1985 I had gone to New Orleans by plane to attend my grandfather's funeral in Mississippi and then left by Amtrak's Southern Cresent afterward.

Sad that all that has changed and the crime rate is so high that I can never share any of that with my sons.

Have a good one.

Bill B 

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Posted by Ted Marshall on Saturday, June 21, 2008 12:49 AM
 billbtrain wrote:

Brian,

Any word on the UP bridge by Quaker Oats? I would imagine it has sustained a bit of damage after reading about it 'bowing' from the weight of the water and houseboats.I seriously doubt any bridge can move laterally by very much without being shifted off it's footings.

My son,Will,and I went on a roundabout tour of CR Wednesday.Hwy 13 from Marion to 30 to C st SW to the Prairie Creek power station.We ended up going to the trail head on Ely Road and walked from there to the bridge over the UP(we forgot our bikes,but it was good exercise).When we left there we went to Beverly yard and back to Marion through downtown CR.All very overwhelming and sad.

Have a good one.

Bill 

I've heard the conditions in Cedar Rapids compared to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina... I can't imagine what that must be like but I will admit that I did shed some tears watching the news reports. The suffering those people must be going through is unfathomable; I wish I could do something to help someone there get their lives back to normal. Unfortunately, normal as we know it won't be returning to Cedar Rapids any time soon, I'm afraid.

The clean-up will take months, repairs and rebuilding will take years. Reports indicate that many residents say that they will be moving further away from the river in search of higher ground to relocate to and that many neighborhoods will likely become 'ghost towns'.

My heart really goes out to all those affected.

 

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Posted by billbtrain on Saturday, June 21, 2008 12:23 AM

Brian,

Any word on the UP bridge by Quaker Oats? I would imagine it has sustained a bit of damage after reading about it 'bowing' from the weight of the water and houseboats.I seriously doubt any bridge can move laterally by very much without being shifted off it's footings.

My son,Will,and I went on a roundabout tour of CR Wednesday.Hwy 13 from Marion to 30 to C st SW to the Prairie Creek power station.We ended up going to the trail head on Ely Road and walked from there to the bridge over the UP(we forgot our bikes,but it was good exercise).When we left there we went to Beverly yard and back to Marion through downtown CR.All very overwhelming and sad.

Have a good one.

Bill 

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Posted by EJE818 on Friday, June 20, 2008 9:05 PM

I'd say Rochelle is probably very busy with UP being reopen, plus the BNSF coal trains detouring. Also, it sounds like Amtrak's Empire Builder will soon resume service on the BNSF detour route, but that could change if BNSF decides not to let them use the line because of all of its own detours like they did the past few days. I did see some UP on the Rochelle webcam so it looks like they are getting back to normal operations.

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Posted by joegreen on Friday, June 20, 2008 8:57 PM
 Chris30 wrote:

Slightly off topic... With the UP just starting to get back up and running again accross Iowa and the BNSF still shut down in Iowa and other points south I've got a feeling that there are going to be a lot of trains this weekend at a little spot on the map called, "ROCHELLE". There are going to be a lot of UP trains and a lot of BNSF detours.

CC

BNSF Has been running coal detours since the Ottumwa sub was shut down. BNSF will have the same amount of traffic this weekend that its been having the last 2 weeks. UP i dont know about. I will tell you that the BNSF doesnt have to demand the diamond like it used to.

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, June 20, 2008 8:45 PM

 blhanel wrote:
It actually might be going down there thanks to all the levee breaks, Larry.

Well, there's a mixed blessing if I ever heard of one.  You're probably right.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by blhanel on Friday, June 20, 2008 8:36 PM
It actually might be going down there thanks to all the levee breaks, Larry.
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Posted by tree68 on Friday, June 20, 2008 7:40 PM
 Victrola1 wrote:
http://www.burlingtonderailed.com/index.php?blogid=1&archive=2008-6-20It looks like no Zephyr through Burlington (IA) for a while.

The above has photos of a washout on the BNSF just east of Burlington.  

Had to look Burlington up.  After you posted that, I saw a "pig" train moving through Ft Madison.  The track that comes from Burlington down to Fort Madison is under water in Fort Madison.  Looks like BNSF is raising the track there, as it's further out of the water than it was, and I don't think the river is going down...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by CShaveRR on Friday, June 20, 2008 5:01 PM
Brian, I don't think it made too much difference.  The ballast cars concentrated more weight over the length of the bridge than the covered hoppers (just because they're shorter cars with roughly the same gross rail load).  I suspect that if enough ballast cars were available, they would have liked to put them on both tracks.

Carl

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Posted by blhanel on Friday, June 20, 2008 4:23 PM

I've got a question for our experts out there- why would UP use this arrangement of rolling stock- covered hoppers on the upstream side, and ballast hoppers on the downstream side- to protect the Cedar River bridge?

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Posted by Victrola1 on Friday, June 20, 2008 12:38 PM

http://www.burlingtonderailed.com/index.php?blogid=1&archive=2008-6-20

 

It looks like no Zephyr through Burlington (IA) for a while.

The above has photos of a washout on the BNSF just east of Burlington.  

 

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Posted by Chris30 on Friday, June 20, 2008 7:52 AM

Slightly off topic... With the UP just starting to get back up and running again accross Iowa and the BNSF still shut down in Iowa and other points south I've got a feeling that there are going to be a lot of trains this weekend at a little spot on the map called, "ROCHELLE". There are going to be a lot of UP trains and a lot of BNSF detours.

CC

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, June 20, 2008 6:55 AM

BNSF is still sending trains across the bridge and past the webcam at Fort Madison.  Although it is a strange sight - the water is at the tops of the ties for most of the webcam's view.  Saw a lot of people in hardhats looking at the line yesterday.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Kevin C. Smith on Friday, June 20, 2008 3:29 AM

 GrimsbyRailfan wrote:
PLEASE REROUTE TRAINS IN TO SOUTHERN ONTARIO!!!

I just heard tonight that CN put some cars on the ground outside of Sault Ste. Marie a few days ago and things are just returning to normal so even that route was closed out.

Of all the things to happen, at all the times...

"Look at those high cars roll-finest sight in the world."
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Posted by blhanel on Thursday, June 19, 2008 9:48 PM

Well, downtown CR is still a mess- they're working on the tracks south of Quaker, but the railcars are still sitting on the UP bridge west of Quaker, and the mountain of corn from the Cargill elevators is still blocking the entrance to the old MILW yard.  I suppose until those obstacles are removed, Beverly will remain choked up as well.  CN's departure yard is now above water, but still no evidence that they're ready to use it yet.

Interesting sight near us- the Iowa DOT has a fleet of about 70 dump trucks here helping remove all the flood debris, and they're hauling it all past our neighborhood to the county landfill.  Load after load of mattresses, furniture, appliances, you-name-it.

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Posted by CShaveRR on Thursday, June 19, 2008 7:21 PM

We're expecting a flood of our own now--one report said that about 1500 freight cars were coming in from the west now that things were open.

A manifest for North Platte was departing Proviso this afternoon at about the same time I was; in Elmhurst it met an inbound manifest from Eagle Grove.  I'll know things are returning to normal whenever I see a coal train here.

I suspect that Beverly Yard (Cedar Rapids) is still out--we're making a block for direct forwarding to the CRANDIC, and have at least temporarily restored some switching operations to Clinton.  I saw one car for Cedar Rapids being classified to Des Moines instead; I don't know if that was a legitimate diversion or not.

Carl

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Posted by CNW 6000 on Thursday, June 19, 2008 3:37 PM

I hope they're still running this weekend (CP on CN).

Dan

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Posted by Soo 6604 on Thursday, June 19, 2008 2:34 PM
 CNW 6000 wrote:
 Soo 6604 wrote:
 CNW 6000 wrote:

CP is even detouring on the CN.  This picture was taken yesterday in Oshkosh:

CN seems to be back up to speed through town.  The loco that flipped in the mud (IC 6204) is reportedly back on rails again and in NFDL for repair/evaluation for repair.

What time did that reroute go thru? The last couple of days, ive caught them coming into neenah around 9:00ish am. Didnt hear one yesturday (6-18) at all.

Mondays detour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acGmta3IrDE

Tuesdays detour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MYc_JcycNw

 

Paul

NB at noonish.

Missed the one today by 10 minutes. Didnt feel like running 20 miles to catch it. went thru Neenah around 1115am

Paul

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