Flooding in Upper Midwest

[Soo 6604]

I think the CN wash near Oshkosh is repaired, at least enough to run on.  There have been 3 NB and 3 SB trains since 9:10 this morning.  I think they are the first ones since Thursday of the past week to run.  All were at 10-15ish MPH.  A source I know reports that the unit and cars that tipped are still on their sides in the mud but there's too many CN officials and Rent-a-cops around the area to linger.  They'll let you cross the tracks but you can't sit near the crossing.

Did you make it all the way to Neenah this morning? Neenah suffered a major melt down this morning because a pin was sheared and the truck shifted to the rear of the car just before the coupler

[jeffhergert]

Not a good time to be working for the RR.  Unless you're MOW!

Not necessarily! No trains running means paid days off!

Not if your job doesn't have a guarantee.  The engineer's road pools out of Boone don't, the conductors do.  I've noticed some use single vacation days or paid personal leave days.  Some have given up their pool turn and gone to the extra board, which does have a guarantee.

Because a few gave up their turns in the West Pool, I was notified this morning that my standing bid has put me back in the West Pool.  (Sorry Brian, we'll just have to have a member's get together sometime in CR.)  Since when assigned the pool turn was out at Fremont, I called in and took a couple of paid days.  I last tied up Monday (6/9)at 8AM, 56 times out and when reassigned I had made it up to 16 times out.  (I couldn't jump ship to the extra board because I bumped into the East Pool in May and our local rules require us to stay on an assignment 30 days before voluntarily giving it up.  Besides, I don't care to go to Mason City, and it's not because of RRKen.)    

The last I heard, the UP expected the tracks around Beverly to be reopened this coming Monday.  Of course that's assuming no major damage found once the water goes down and no more heavy rain.  I notice as of this writing, there are two isolated thunderstorms one over Waterloo/Cedar Falls and the other over by Tama. 

Jeff

  

[CNW 6000]

I think the CN wash near Oshkosh is repaired, at least enough to run on.  There have been 3 NB and 3 SB trains since 9:10 this morning.  I think they are the first ones since Thursday of the past week to run.  All were at 10-15ish MPH.  A source I know reports that the unit and cars that tipped are still on their sides in the mud but there's too many CN officials and Rent-a-cops around the area to linger.  They'll let you cross the tracks but you can't sit near the crossing.

[t.winx]

Not a good time to be working for the RR.  Unless you're MOW!

Not necessarily! No trains running means paid days off!

[jeffhergert]

The IDOT just announced that I-380 over the Coralville Reservoir between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City will be closed by 6 PM today.  Water from the reservoir is on the verge of flowing OVER the freeway.  Their recommended detour- take I-80 west to I-35 at Des Moines, I-35 north to US 20, US 20 east to I-380 at Waterloo, then I-380 south!

Saw some more aerial video this afternoon which showed that the old Rock Island RR bridge south of downtown, which was abandoned and the city wanted to remove, is now in the drink.  Takes care of that problem...

Do you mean the ROCK's old bridge that used to go over the CNW main at C Street?  That was removed and replaced with a walking bridge.  Do you mean a different one?

Not much has been said about the Iowa Northern.  Their ex-ROCK line north out of Cedar Rapids must be submerged as it runs along the north bank of the Cedar, and they go through Vinton and Palo that have been hit hard.  They're gonna have a ton of work to do.

I think he means the RI bridge that crossed the Cedar River.  It would be north of the C Street overpass.  

Jeff

[Anonymous]

The IDOT just announced that I-380 over the Coralville Reservoir between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City will be closed by 6 PM today.  Water from the reservoir is on the verge of flowing OVER the freeway.  Their recommended detour- take I-80 west to I-35 at Des Moines, I-35 north to US 20, US 20 east to I-380 at Waterloo, then I-380 south!

Saw some more aerial video this afternoon which showed that the old Rock Island RR bridge south of downtown, which was abandoned and the city wanted to remove, is now in the drink.  Takes care of that problem...

Do you mean the ROCK's old bridge that used to go over the CNW main at C Street?  That was removed and replaced with a walking bridge.  Do you mean a different one?

Not much has been said about the Iowa Northern.  Their ex-ROCK line north out of Cedar Rapids must be submerged as it runs along the north bank of the Cedar, and they go through Vinton and Palo that have been hit hard.  They're gonna have a ton of work to do.

[spokyone]

Ground is spongy in Rock Island. The tracks gave away. IAIA 712went down.

 

[blhanel]

Yep, Prairie Creek is out of its banks- probably a combination of backing up from the Cedar and flooding from yesterday's rains.  The UP main on the east end of Beverly is under water.

[n012944]

Dan, I'm not sure I'd want to be a MofW employee right now, either--at this point you're standing by helplessly while all of your handiwork goes underwater and/or downstream.  When water recedes, though, you're probably right.

I read elsewhere that UP has embargoed all traffic from the east for west of the Mississippi River.  We're finding it tough to classify things in our yard, because of all of the stuff that isn't moving.

 

And things are starting to stack up on the east side.  It will be a mess by the start of next week if the embargo is not lifted.

[Victrola1]

I have been told a Cedar Rapids television station showed a creek overflowing the Union Pacific mainline and yards at Beverly.

Any confirmation?

 

 

[EJE818]

Ok, the bridge in Oshkosh didn't collapse, but it does sound like it does have some flooding damage. The news article from there I read said it did, but that was false. The derailment happened about 2 miles from Oshkosh, but it does sound like the line is closed due to the derailment and flooding.

[CShaveRR]

Dan, I'm not sure I'd want to be a MofW employee right now, either--at this point you're standing by helplessly while all of your handiwork goes underwater and/or downstream.  When water recedes, though, you're probably right.

I read elsewhere that UP has embargoed all traffic from the east for west of the Mississippi River.  We're finding it tough to classify things in our yard, because of all of the stuff that isn't moving.

[CANADIANPACIFIC2816]

I was on my way home when I stopped at my bank to deposit my most recent pay check, and I spoke briefly with the bank's receptionist. I told her that the few problems I have are nothing compared to the people who have lost their homes in the flooding of Cedar Rapids. She told me that she heard that Des Moines, Iowa is now being evacuated. I was listening to the news and this was confirmed for me within the last half hour, and certainly it is not a happy situation.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota is surrounded on three sides by the Big Sioux River, and we might not face a disaster of such a magnitude in the next hundred years, but I am inclined to think that sooner or later it will happen. I remember my Dad's mother telling me out of sheer ignorance several years ago that we would never have to worry about a tornado hitting Sioux Falls, because we are surrounded on three sides by the river, and yet in 1968 a tornado whipped it's way across a lake in Minnesota and wiped out a little community known as Tracy.

Ray

[CNW 6000]

Nope...the swing bridge was still standing and appeared to be aligned as of noon.  The water wasn't to the bottom of the bridge.  That doesn't mean that something didn't shift...but it didn't get topped or dunked.

[EJE818]

Sounds like a bridge in Oshkosh on the WC failed and took a train with it.  I wonder if that would be the swing bridge.

[jrbernier]

  The highway bridge at Winona is scheduled to re-open Saturday morning.  There is a limit of only emergency vehicles, cars, pickups, vans & SUV's on the bridge.  32 gussets are scheduled for repair/replacement.  This was found during the inspection.

Jim

[blhanel]

The IDOT just announced that I-380 over the Coralville Reservoir between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City will be closed by 6 PM today.  Water from the reservoir is on the verge of flowing OVER the freeway.  Their recommended detour- take I-80 west to I-35 at Des Moines, I-35 north to US 20, US 20 east to I-380 at Waterloo, then I-380 south!

Saw some more aerial video this afternoon which showed that the old Rock Island RR bridge south of downtown, which was abandoned and the city wanted to remove, is now in the drink.  Takes care of that problem...

[WSOR 3801]

The CP is also running detours from Portage, down the M&P to MADison, thence to Roundout via WSOR. 

The UP Adams Sub is very slow now.  Nothing past here Monday-Tuesday.  Heard 1-2 trains yesterday, usually hear more than that.   This was tied down in the siding Sunday night, the motor left Wednesday-Thursday.

 

[blhanel]

KCRG just showed some aerial video of the C&NW bridge near Quaker- there are at least a dozen houseboats that broke from their moorings upstream that are jammed against that bridge, and it's still holding!

[blhanel]

Brian, are the two UP bridges in C.R. still standing strong?

Nothing new to report there at this time- monitoring local news.

[blhanel]

Brian, do you happen to know the status of CN's Iowa Division mainline from Dubuque westward?  Also, the IAIS from the Quad Cities westward? 

I haven't heard any bad news about either, and there's nothing on the Yahoo list about any problems on the CNIC- their bridge at Cedar Falls must have survived.  I think the water's back down below track level there now, so maybe they're up and running?

The IAIS Yahoo site, however, reports a washout just west of Moscow, IA (yep, the Cedar River) which has severed the mainline.

[Los Angeles Rams Guy]

The CPRS mainline between Milwaukee and Portage remains closed as of today (Friday 6-13); no word on when it'll be reopened.  For the time being, it looks like detours are being split between the BNSF southward from La Crosse and also on the ICE from La Crescent down to Sabula and then eastward to Bensenville.  I'm still not sure what Amtrak's Empire Builder is doing.

Brian, do you happen to know the status of CN's Iowa Division mainline from Dubuque westward?  Also, the IAIS from the Quad Cities westward? 

Nothing's detouring over the UP (St. Paul - Eau Claire - Milwaukee)?

There could be.  I'm simply not aware of it at the moment.  Just from checking the A.E.I. reader at La Crescent, I see that one westbound detour train came by there yesterday in the late A.M. (with 53 autoracks; man, how I WISH I could have watched that baby go through both Lansing and New Albin.....arrrrrgggghhh!) and then later on that afternoon there was a long eastbound that headed toward Sabula.  So it looks like 2 a day on the ICE and not sure how many detour trains BNSF would be accepting.

Brian, are the two UP bridges in C.R. still standing strong?    

[CNW 6000]

Not a good time to be working for the RR.  Unless you're MOW!

[Anonymous]

The CPRS mainline between Milwaukee and Portage remains closed as of today (Friday 6-13); no word on when it'll be reopened.  For the time being, it looks like detours are being split between the BNSF southward from La Crosse and also on the ICE from La Crescent down to Sabula and then eastward to Bensenville.  I'm still not sure what Amtrak's Empire Builder is doing.

Brian, do you happen to know the status of CN's Iowa Division mainline from Dubuque westward?  Also, the IAIS from the Quad Cities westward? 

Nothing's detouring over the UP (St. Paul - Eau Claire - Milwaukee)?

[CNW 6000]

CN put two on the ground last night I was told this morning.
-One was a washout on the Neenah Sub mainline near MP 179 north of Oshkosh.
-The rescue train dispatched with one engine and several cars of ballast to shore up the area struck another washout on the main south of Oshkosh. The engine and some of the cars supposedly on their sides as well. The crew was reportedly unhurt climbed out the side window of the locomotive.

The same source for that info reported water over the rails near Byron and that nothing is moving north or south from FDL.

[Los Angeles Rams Guy]

The CPRS mainline between Milwaukee and Portage remains closed as of today (Friday 6-13); no word on when it'll be reopened.  For the time being, it looks like detours are being split between the BNSF southward from La Crosse and also on the ICE from La Crescent down to Sabula and then eastward to Bensenville.  I'm still not sure what Amtrak's Empire Builder is doing.

Brian, do you happen to know the status of CN's Iowa Division mainline from Dubuque westward?  Also, the IAIS from the Quad Cities westward? 

[nanaimo73]

BNSF's Quincy bridge is the only railroad bridge built between St. Louis and Minneapolis high enough to clear river traffic with a fixed span. It seems somewhat ironic that it looks like it will be the first to close. Hopefully it will be the only one to close.

[ALCOC415]

 we (Burlington Junction Railway) are closing the flood wall in Quincy, Ill tomorrow. We plan on working out of our yard until the BNSF gets shut down at W. Quincy. In Burlington they are closing the flood wall today over our tracks.

[Soo 6604]

The one at Quaker appears to be hanging in there based on the latest pictures.  No one's paying any attention to the transcon bridge, though- it's downstream from downtown.  I wish it were easier to get around to that side of town; I'd throw my bicycle in the van and get on the bike trail off of US 30 and ride down to the ped bridge (where I got my previous picture Wed. night).

I was just about to post asking about the UP double main bridge.  An updated picture would be sweet but what about a video?

Still trying to find a video of the train bridge coming down but to no avail

Paul

[blhanel]

The one at Quaker appears to be hanging in there based on the latest pictures.  No one's paying any attention to the transcon bridge, though- it's downstream from downtown.  I wish it were easier to get around to that side of town; I'd throw my bicycle in the van and get on the bike trail off of US 30 and ride down to the ped bridge (where I got my previous picture Wed. night).