Hey guys. Been a while since I posted here. So I thought I'd share my 4449 trip report!
So my alarm goes off at 4:30 AM. And I'm excited as all get-out to get going. I gathered my camera equipment, grabbed 2 sodas and some goldfish crackers, and was on my way before dawn! I was so excited the whole time I was driving. I must say I'm a fan of night drives and glad my mom allowed me to do this! But anyway, it was just starting to get blue on the horizon when I arrived in Alma. I took a pit stop there to enjoy the cool summer breeze and watch a barge go through the lock:
Just to give you an idea of how dark it still was. After an hour of nothing on the BNSF, I gave up and drove to Winona (And saw nothing on my way either. Whats the deal, BNSF?) I waited by the CP for an hour for my friends to show up. The CP was just as dead too. It's like they knew I was coming! I was getting sick of everyone playing the UP game at this point. But about then, my friends arrived and we huffed it back north to wait on the BNSF for 4449 to arrive. When we arrived at our waiting spot, we were greeted by a southbound intermodal:
Sometimes I really hate my camera..... But we decided that after this train passed, we would continue North for a better spot. Arriving at some farm area, we found our location! Back to the waiting game. Not much was happening..Of course the CP sure got busy as soon as I left it! What a shocker! Anyway, the same NS train Noah saw passed us. And I got a sub par video of it that I still need to upload onto youtube. After that, 4449 finally arrived. We were at a private crossing and each of us shot videos. Mine was angled too low and we didnt get any whistle action! So like true railfans, we gave chase! All the way to Lacrosse we went! They stopped there to take on water and grease it. We took this opportunity to head it off at Stoddard. And it was there that we got some excellent whistle. My video had a great angle too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZFLukm_fAc
Check it out! I only had one camera on me, so I only got video and no photos....Save for this dreadful still I took from the video:
I'm catching it again when it heads back up North anyway, so no problems! I'll get photos then!
Anyway, we headed back north to check out railfair and see what was stirring in the yards. First was the BNSF yard:
This was cool. MOW equipment, BN caboose, EMDX geep, and a BNSF GP35-then-GP38 rebuild!
Just down the line was this pair of SD40-2s too. Good to see some of them still around. Especially those classy yellowbonnets!
Of course the common stuff was never far from the yard. I guess this GEVO was added to the train as its new leader. Soon the train was on its way.
After that, we headed to the north end of the yard from a tip-off that a neat consist was coming. Well...It never came, but this intermodal did!
We waited for the other train, but it just wasnt coming. So off we went to check on the CP!
This was all we saw there really. CP was never very active the whole day.
After all that, we scoped out railfair. I got to blow the CBQ steamer's whistle and operate authentic CNW semaphore signals! After all the excitement, we headed back for Winona...But on the way, we saw a DME trio crossing the river. So we HAD to go after them. But even after THAT, we noticed something even better sitting on the outskirts of the CP yard:
It's been so long since I've seen a bandit. Last time was when Alec took me to the St Paul yard back in 2006.
So we then went back to go after that DME train. As fate would have it, they were stopped! We got to the head end with ease just as they were pulling out. One of my friends knew of a neat bridge just south of where we were so we chased them down there.
I'd say it came out rather well! But the fun didnt end there! After that, we paced them and headed them off at a crossing. I videotaped both
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uATxq70nlSwPace vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoMjNjKV1L0 Crossing vid
So after all that excitement, we hightailed it back to Winona, our adventure almost complete. But on the way, we found something else...
The colors, Duke! The colors! What a railroad rainbow! And look how crappy the UP unit looks with all the other flashy neat paint schemes! But nonetheless, an ex-GECX AC44 is always a nice roster addition!
Finally we went back to Winona and parted ways for a little while to eat dinner. I had the usual Little Caesars. We then met up again to watch Amtrak come through.
My first Amtrak shot too. Not bad eh?
Your friendly neighborhood CNW fan.
LA - Good stuff there.
More Deshler -
WB went south, stopping with marker just off the island circuit while he waited for a NB for Toledo to move. That train went straight across the diamond, headed north.
Some fans in from SC, after visiting Fostoria. CSX graced them with a manifest EB, with another due in soon.
Still no rain - the fun continues!
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
CShaveRRPicking a couple of nits, Paul... The "Little Joe" has to be either ex-Milwaukee or ex-South Shore. They're mutually exclusive. The other nit (and how you tell a local or an historian): there's absolutely no comma in Chicago South Shore & South Bend (nor was there one in Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee).
The "Little Joe" has to be either ex-Milwaukee or ex-South Shore. They're mutually exclusive. The other nit (and how you tell a local or an historian): there's absolutely no comma in Chicago South Shore & South Bend (nor was there one in Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee).
Points noted, Carl - thanks [though I actually expected to hear from Paul /CSSHEGEWISCH instead if there were any corrections to be made]. So I gather that the CSS&SB purchased its 'Little Joes' directly from GE [or Uncle Sam, or the USSR's international trading agency, or whomever else was handling the sale of those then export-prohibited units], not as 3rd-hand-me-downs from MILW. Frankly, I'd never studied or thought about the precise 'chain of title' for them - just knew that they were 'orphans' from the aborted sale to the USSR that then needed a home, and that the CSS&SB took advantage of that opportunity to get a good deal - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Joe_(electric_locomotive) The one at the Lake Shore Railway Museum is lettered for the 'SOUTH SHORE RAILROAD' in the photos from there, so I presume that's its lineage. Above all, I'm just glad that several of those fairly modern cab-type 2-D+D-2 articulated units was preserved for us to look at - and this one is the closest to me. Notably, it is now within about 15 miles from where it was built, at GE's Erie, PA plant, which may be why this museum has one. Here's a link to a 2005 photo of it, No. 802 - http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=139458
I'll have to remember the comma thing for a trivia or history quiz some day. One of my minor missions/ obsessions in life is to add/insert commas where none are but should be - interesting that I got faked out by this one.
By the way, I know I still owe you an answer on the 'Repo' questions about RailBox, NRUC, and the Rock Island liquidation from a couple weeks ago. No two of those 3 are alike - as you surmised - and I want to look up a couple of things to refresh my recollection and be on pretty solid ground when I do reply. So if you're in no hurry, I'll get back to you on that one in due course.
- Paul North.
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)
A few more through trains, including one that had two former UP switchers, a former SP switcher, and three slugs tucked in behind the motive power. Unfortunately, my camera got wet in the storm (more later), but I did get video.
The storm. Thought it was going to miss us, but we got hit square on - pea sized hail, 60+ MPH wind. Took down numerous branches and my tent. Got the tent back up and dried out, but the truck is looking like the place to camp tonight - the storms are training right over us...
ATCS shows an EB and WB queued up for us.
We arrived back in Omaha about an hour and a half late. We had hardly left the Naperville station and we had to wait for an intermodal train to cross in front of us. We also had a lengthy wait for barge traffic on the Mississippi River at Burlington, Iowa. Here are a few photos from the trip, starting with a UP manifest in Glen Ellyn:
Next is a BNSF intermodal at the Naperville Amtrak station.
Some very lazy lions at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Finally, the Chicago skyline and a splash of water. It's not the greatest picture, but it's different.
Willy
The skyline always looks great. Looks like you got both UP and BNSF action too. Nice
CShaveRRAs Joe would tell you, Larry, "Stay safe!" Sounds like you're getting a lot more variety in trains than we had.
Sounds like you're getting a lot more variety in trains than we had.
Sleeping in the truck (on the air mattress, under the cap) was a pain, and it didn't storm like we expected, but if I had stuck with the tent, who knows?
The first movement through after the storm served as the "rainbow," though. Tucked in behind the road power were two old UP switchers, a patched SP switcher, and three switcher slugs, headed east for points unknown. Unfortunately, the storm found a way to get some water into the battery compartment of my Rebel, which rebelled. I got video, but that will take a day or two to unload. I'm pooped.
Made it home in one piece, including a quick visit with grandson in Syracuse. Had to wait on the last train I saw at the diamond to get out of town, and saw one in North Baltimore as I passed through there. That's quite the intermodal terminal they're putting in there, by the way!
Time for a couple of phone calls (it's Mom's birthday) and I'm in bed...
Nice photos Willy....Chicago can be an interesting place. I haven't been in the area now for some years but while still working, I had the opportunity at various times to do so....Not a small place. I've been into all 3 airports at one time or another and yes have been in and out of there via rail....all the way to Seattle and the east coast. Many interesting places to see in Chicago. Hope you did get to enjoy the area.
Quentin
CShaveRRIs the yard at North Baltimore taking shape yet, Larry? When we were there in May, it was mostly just grading, nothing distinguishing.
They've built a berm all along Route 18 - the only views you get are through the access cuts. That's fine for John Q. Public, but us railfans certainly would prefer a better view. Maybe they can be convinced to include a parking area alongside and a viewing platform on top of the berm.....
That said - they are moving a lot of ties (a string of gons at Deshler gets regular visits from a boom truck which would arrive empty and leave full, variously with either wood or concrete ties). I saw both wood and concrete ties with track attached, but obviously not in a place to handle traffic (trains don't stay on well if the track is on a 30 degree angle...). The local foreman had the track in that area - a sure sign of a westbound was hearing someone call for permission through his limits. They were doing signal testing in that area, too.
And they're still doing a lot of grading.
CShaveRRI just read something about an official ground-breaking coming up. Hard to imagine all of that grading and berming being unofficial! Better day today on the rules: 100 percent on CORA and timetable, 99 on GCOR. Somebody will have to watch me in double-track territory, I guess.
Better day today on the rules: 100 percent on CORA and timetable, 99 on GCOR. Somebody will have to watch me in double-track territory, I guess.
How often do you have to take these tests? Same frequency at the T&E folks? Same test even?
Dan
CShaveRRNever the same test--there are always enough fresh changes and "flavors of the month" to make it interesting.
We've been doing our rules (NORAC) annually, with brakes every two years, but there's word we may back off a bit. With volunteers, though, the annual thing gives us a chance to bring everyone together at least once a year.
CShaveRRCORA and timetable, 99 on GCOR
Hi Carl,
I'm not familiar with CORA. What does that mean? And I think GCOR is General Code of Operating Rules, right? Wouldn't that cover timetables though? What sort of extra items would a timetable test cover, or am I misunderstanding the "CORA and timetable" part?
I've read my Dad's UCOR, Uniform Code of Operating Rules, book a couple of times over the years. Do any railways still use it? And I presume NORAC that Larry talks about, is another varient again. Actually my Dad had two editions (releases?) of the UCOR. Looking at the oldest one was cool because all of the relevant illustrations used steam engines.
Hope you enjoy your vacation.
AgentKid
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
Northeast Operating Rules Advisory Committee's rulebook is probably nearly identical to GCOR's as far as content goes. CSX also has its own rulebook, and I think NS does, too.
There are some regional variations (three-step/red zone/in-between, f'rinstance), but the basics are the same.
CShaveRRI am a T&E folk, so I take it every two years, just like the rest of them (engineers may do it more often, for licensing purposes). Never the same test--there are always enough fresh changes and "flavors of the month" to make it interesting.
Never the same test--there are always enough fresh changes and "flavors of the month" to make it interesting.
Engineers may have to take it more often because of the licensing process. In addition to taking them ever two calender years, you have to take it the year you recertify. I took the tests last February. I have to renew my license next year so have to take them again before my b-day in April. It depends on how things fall into place.
There are also different tests for trainmen and enginemen. Engineers that are set back to working as conductors have to take the engineer's test. There are two different test booklets for both crafts, so make sure your answer sheet clearly states which booklet was used!
Jeff
CShaveRRAgain, we were allowed to use the book on this test--you were given scenarios and had to figure them out.
Carl, is your open book exam more difficult than a closed book exam would be? When I was taking physical chemistry in college, we would have one or two thorough tests each semester, and the tests were given us in the chemistry library.. The first part was on theory, and it was closed book. The second part was one or more problems, and we could use any resource found in the library (including Beilstein's Handbuch des Organische Chemie, which was in several volumes). I was glad to finish the course. I did enjoy the lab work, even when I had to repeat an experiment that failed because I began with an entirely wrong assumption.
When you come up against a difficult situation at work, do you have time to look through the book, or do you have to quickly realize that a hammer and a few nails will get you home? (I'm sorry, I couldn't resist this reference)
Johnny
It's my experience that an open-book test still requires that you have a pretty good knowledge of the subject matter. As Carl points out, if you know where to look in the book, it's a handy resource.
Generally speaking, the people who have the most trouble with an open-book test are the ones who don't know the material to begin with. If they know the test will be open-book, they rely on that instead of learning what they need to know.
Our passengers are generally a pretty mellow lot. A couple of times that we have encountered issues, they've always taken it in stride. We had problems on a grade with leaves one time, requiring a "rescue" by our Utica train locomotives, and most of the passengers thought it was quite the adventure. Same with the time, right after a snow storm, that the way was blocked by downed trees. The few passengers on board thought it was quite the lark, and later shared their pictures from that day with the crew.
The boorish are the exception.
The Adirondack Park is huge - bigger than each of 6 of the states. No wonder she didn't happen upon us, unless she was in the Lake Placid/Saranac Lake or Old Forge areas.
CShaveRRThere is a chapter in the book for each of the twelve major railroads in the Chicago area (next version will have 11--EJ&E will be consolidated into the CN chapter)
That is just amazing! I wanted to get back to you sooner but there isn't time for everything. I appreciate your reply.
I read something like that above, or the interesting photo's and discussion with wanswheel and Henry6 over in The Classic Trains forum about railroading in New York City, and I cannot believe the scale of the operations. I look at the pictures of the CN single track mainline in BC in the August issue of TRAINS or TrainBoy's recent picture of the CP single track mainline at Exshaw, AB and it is hard to believe that they are the transcontinental mainlines in Canada.
You see and hear about picturesque logging and mining railways right up to major Class I operations, but railroading in NYC and Chicago almost seems like you are talking railroading on another planet. the scale is so huge. Thank you Carl, for your reply.
Over the weekend I unpacked and set up an old 80's vintage desktop scanner I have had in storage since the early 90's, and put in some frequencies from the most recent Canadian Trackside Guide I have.
Just a few minutes ago, at 2:12 PM MDT I heard someone call "CG". That is the old TELEGRAPH call sign for the Laggan and Red Deer Sub's. dispatcher's office. My father used to talk about working in both "CG" and "CY", the old commercial telegraph office, by using those call signs.
It's living history like that that keeps me coming back to this hobby.
Carl - you'll be accomplishing something I recently realized I've now done twice (albeit not all at the same time/on the same trip) - drive completely around one of the great lakes. I've been completely around Erie and Ontario now. Maybe that's a goal for retirement - get around the other three...
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