Trackside Lounge: 1Q 2010 Edition

[CShaveRR]

Our trip to Elmhurst worked out beautifully. I saw three scoots in slightly over an hour, and five freights in the same time frame--three stack trains and two manifests, all eastbound.

The grand finale was also witnessed by Pat after she was done at the dentist (she claims nobody else has a tooth like hers now!). After the last scoot cleared, we bought sandwiches for lunch and brought them back to where I'd been sitting. Coming at us from the yard were two westbound freights! The first to arrive was a stack train (one unit on each end), moving on Track 1 (the track normally used by eastbound scoots, which had in fact hosted one of those about ten minutes earlier). A manifest (MPRDM, I presume) at the same time came out and went west on Track 3 (the other outside track), so both of the platform tracks were occupied. I could think of only one reason why the stacker would have been on Track 1 instead of Track 2--and I was right. As soon as the manifest had cleared the control point, Track 2 got a high green eastbound and an eastbound stack train came right up the middle! He was still moving at a good 60 when he got to the west end of the platforms, but slowed down to about 50 for the control point, and continued to slow a bit afterwards. He had two units on each end.

By the time we got to our car and headed out, Track 2 was showing a lineup for another eastbound into the yard. We didn't hang around, but caught this one (QNPSKP) going through Villa Park.

This was a sum total of less than two hours trackside. Not too shabby for a Tuesday, which is normally one of the slower days of the week.

[CopCarSS]

CShaveRR

The unfortunate thing is that our bikes are in the shop for their annual tuneup. They might be done by the weekend, when the weather's supposed to turn rainy again.

I'm thinking that tuning up bicycles is an automatic bad weather trigger. I just started working on mine since temperatures are getting near the 70ºF mark, and now the forecasters are calling for a fair to meddling snowstorm on Friday (though it depends on where the center of the low ends up). Ahhh! Springtime in Denver!

[CShaveRR]

I hope to see some trains today! Our weather for the next three days includes sunny skies and highs well above normal. Pat has a dental appointment this morning, so I'll be a block or so away, trackside. Perhaps, if the appointment lasts long enough, we'll be able to grab a lunch to consume trackside as well.

The unfortunate thing is that our bikes are in the shop for their annual tuneup. They might be done by the weekend, when the weather's supposed to turn rainy again.

[CShaveRR]

Wow, Dan! On two counts:

The 800 axles on the train, and the temperature up there. You're not supposed to be warmer than we are!

[CNW 6000]

Here's today's catch so far:

CN train 391 was caught coming north through Oshkosh, WI around 2PMish.  I missed hearing it pass the detector at 169.1 and got a visual on it near the north part of the Oshkosh "yard" at the Pioneer Avenue crossing.

I know it's "up sun" but it was that or nothing.

I realized how big it was (six-six axle motors on the head end) and tried to get ahead of it so I could get an axle count at 181.1 just south of Neenah.  Here is the detector report for that location.
http://www.youtube.com/user/icecardinal#p/a/u/0/uOoNR1laNLo

800 axles minus 36 axles for power = 764 axles of cars.  That means 191 cars...wow.

[CopCarSS]

Thanks for the comments on the photos, everyone. And thanks for the rail info, Carl. I actually didn't know where the other "Globals" were. I only know the one out by Rochelle.

Meanwhile, it was too busy of a weekend for any rail activities. I'm hoping next weekend I can get out and actually look for some trains. It's been awhile since I've done that!

[Modelcar]

I have always wondered why they produce "atomic clocks" without second hands....Doesn't make sense.  All 3 of our radio controlled clocks...{one anolog, and two digital...DO have second hands or record in seconds.  So does my watch, it's analog, so it has a second hand.  My first radio controlled watch was digital, and it too, recorded in seconds.

[tree68]

Methinks that time is less important to the railroads today than it was in the days of timetable and train order operation, where your authority was governed by the published schedule and a difference of a few minutes could mean your life.

Since I can generally carry my cell phone as a redundant means of communication when I'm on the railroad (as a rule, it's off, I might add), it often serves as the reference for my analog (quartz) railroad watch.  We aren't terribly constrained by time (aside from trying to leave and arrive somewhere near on time), so accuracy to the second isn't an issue. 

Our Form D's are issued to the minute, not the second.

[blue streak 1]

Paul_D_North_Jr

Would any other industry - let alone other transportation industry - even understand what this discussion is all about ?   

- Paul North.

Paul: In my airline experience usually only to 5  -  10  minutes (non radar) about 15 years ago to the nearest minute until maybe the last 5 years. Now with GPS and arrival metering getting so precise it is down to about 10 - 15 seconds (radar).  Problem is that arrivals cannot be predicted closer because of thunderstorms, icing and the way the wind varies. So the closer you get to an arrival gate the closer the time desired for the arrival gate. I expect it will be down to 5 - 10 seconds in the next few years. 

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Would any other industry - let alone other transportation industry - even understand what this discussion is all about ?   

- Paul North.

[CShaveRR]

Modelcar

CShaveRR

Up on time this morning. All clocks in the house were changed last night, and we went to bed at the "new" time. Cell phone changed itself. I haven't changed my (railroad) wrist watch yet; that will be done after I compare it to standard time at work, via phone. I set it about three seconds fast; it will be within five seconds at least for the rest of the month.

 

Carl....Of course an accuracy of 5 sec. / month should be acceptable to almost any work, but does the railroads accept the new Atomic Clock controlled clocks and watches....?  They have an accuracy of a fraction of a sec. all the time.....

The clocks on the walls of our towers are atomic clocks, and, yes, they're that accurate. But they do not display seconds, so they're not acceptable as standard timepieces. (Same with cell phones--even if they were legal, they don't display seconds.)

Watches currently are required for employees who do not have a standard clock for reference. No brand names (like there used to be); they just have to be accurate and reliable, and display hours, minutes, and seconds. We are supposed to check our watches every day by comparing with a standard clock or the designated time service (which is what I do). Accuracy has to be within 30 seconds. I seldom have a problem with that; if I do, my Accutron probably needs a new battery.

[The Butler]

Modelcar

CShaveRR

Up on time this morning. All clocks in the house were changed last night, and we went to bed at the "new" time. Cell phone changed itself. I haven't changed my (railroad) wrist watch yet; that will be done after I compare it to standard time at work, via phone. I set it about three seconds fast; it will be within five seconds at least for the rest of the month.

 

Carl....Of course an accuracy of 5 sec. / month should be acceptable to almost any work, but does the railroads accept the new Atomic Clock controlled clocks and watches....?  They have an accuracy of a fraction of a sec. all the time.....

I have a travel alarm clock that is one of those "atomic" clocks.  I use it to set my four analog and three digital clocks; my TV (2), DVD player and VCR clocks; and various watches and pocket watches.  My daily watch will lose about a minute a month if I don't keep an eye on it.

Carl, does the UP allow only certain makes and models of watches for it's employees?

[Modelcar]

CShaveRR

Up on time this morning. All clocks in the house were changed last night, and we went to bed at the "new" time. Cell phone changed itself. I haven't changed my (railroad) wrist watch yet; that will be done after I compare it to standard time at work, via phone. I set it about three seconds fast; it will be within five seconds at least for the rest of the month.

 

Carl....Of course an accuracy of 5 sec. / month should be acceptable to almost any work, but does the railroads accept the new Atomic Clock controlled clocks and watches....?  They have an accuracy of a fraction of a sec. all the time.....

[CShaveRR]

Up on time this morning. All clocks in the house were changed last night, and we went to bed at the "new" time. Cell phone changed itself. I haven't changed my (railroad) wrist watch yet; that will be done after I compare it to standard time at work, via phone. I set it about three seconds fast; it will be within five seconds at least for the rest of the month.

Dan, it occurred to me that some of the monsters I've been seeing on CN could be the same ones you see. I think that even before the EJ&E merger, CN was routing some of its trains off the old WC onto the EJ&E, and then in to the city on the old IC. On the other hand, cars that look like they came from "up north" were in the minority on the two most-recently-seen trains.

[CNW 6000]

zardoz

CNW 6000

Trains on the CN are definately back to 'longer' lengths.  I've heard 650+ axle-count trains almost daily lately.  Even a few in the low 700s. 

I have to give credit to the locomotive engineers that run those trains.  To operate a train of 170+ cars over the roller-coaster profile of CN trackage in Wisconsin without getting knuckles or drawbars shows the high level of skill those engineers possess. 

I heard of another monster but didn't actually witness it.  A "reliable source" informed me that there was a 192 car train from Stevens Point to Superior within the past week.  I would hate to be the conductor on something that size and get nailed by a detector anywhere near the rear.

[CShaveRR]

Chris, that's UP's Global 1 in the foreground of the shot that you labeled as the United Center. Just below that is the BNSF (ex-BN) main line.

[Modelcar]

.....Enjoyed all the photos Chris.

[CopCarSS]

Hi James,

BCT was in use until 1979, so I would say that yes, this is probably where you departed from.

[The Butler]

Cool photo, Chris.

  Would this have been where my mom, brother and I caught an Amtrak from Buffalo to Chicago in the late 1970's?  That trip and the trip back were the only interstate train trips I have ever taken.  

[CopCarSS]

As promised, here's my shot of Buffalo Central Terminal while we were on final approach to Runway 5 at BUF:

I've got all my stuff taken from the air posted. There's some nice views of Chicago and Buffalo, with a couple bonus shots of southern Detroit and a few shots along Lakes Michigan and Erie. The set is here.

[CShaveRR]

Same crossing, another train today. This one was westbound, at about the same time as yesterday's eastbound. And it seemed just as long (I'd bet they were close to 170 cars, but maybe they just seemed that way because they were blocking my commute). Then this afternoon, when Pat and I were out running errands, we were blocked here again--this time by a local with no more than 15 cars.

I've been having more luck seeing trains on CN lately than I am on the UP through town!

I forgot to mention that we were out with our daughter and all three grandkids for a trip into Chicago on Monday (by mom-mobile, not by train). I had to be in the far back of the van, sharing the seat with Katelyn, age 5. I mentioned to her that sometime when the weather was good, I'd like to take her down to the tracks somewhere and look for trains. You should have seen her eyes light up! She actually remembered the time over a year ago that we walked across the street from the restaurant in Downers Grove (2Toots), and stood trackside for about five minutes. She remembered that I showed her the signals. But we didn't see trains then...whenever we do it again, we hope to change that!

[zardoz]

CNW 6000

Trains on the CN are definately back to 'longer' lengths.  I've heard 650+ axle-count trains almost daily lately.  Even a few in the low 700s. 

I have to give credit to the locomotive engineers that run those trains.  To operate a train of 170+ cars over the roller-coaster profile of CN trackage in Wisconsin without getting knuckles or drawbars shows the high level of skill those engineers possess. 

[CNW 6000]

CShaveRR

Dan, you might be right about CN trains getting longer. On the way to work today I was stopped in Villa Park by a very long CN eastbound train (this is the former IC Iowa Division, known as the Chicago, Central & Pacific for a time). I should have counted axles... He took several minutes to get across, moving at 35-40 m.p.h.

CCP, eh?  I was too lazy to look up those reporting marks when I saw a beat up Jordan Spreader at Shops Yard (NFDL) last winter.  Makes sense now. 

Yesterday (in the fog) I sat where I met you and your wife while I had some time to kill.  Must've been a slow day as I only saw 2 trains in almost 90 minutes.  It was also a fairly quiet day on the radio.  I heard the NB one first at 4 detectors!  First was south of Shops at MP 144.6, then 196.1 south of Oshkosh, train then passed me, short while later at 181.1 south of Neenah and then ever so faintly at 194.6 NW of Neenah going towards Stevens Point.  The second train must've been in the siding at Anton (just past 194.6) because shortly after the NB cleared I heard the 194.6 detector sound off but southbound.  The reverse happened!  I heard it on all 4 detectors.  Never had that happen before.  NB train was 672 axles (3xSD75I for power & 165 cars) and SB was 700 axles on the head (2 GEVOs, 2 -9s for power & 171 cars).  SB was definately more loads than empties. 

[CShaveRR]

Thanks, Paul! I do what I can.

Dan, you might be right about CN trains getting longer. On the way to work today I was stopped in Villa Park by a very long CN eastbound train (this is the former IC Iowa Division, known as the Chicago, Central & Pacific for a time). I should have counted axles... He took several minutes to get across, moving at 35-40 m.p.h.

[CNW 6000]

CShaveRR

from Railway Age today:

 

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood had a “little bit of political advice” for the airline industry Tuesday.

 

“Don’t be against high speed rail,” LaHood said. “It’s coming to America. This is the President’s vision, this is the Vice President’s vision, this is America’s vision. We’re going to get into the high speed rail business.’’

 

“People want alternatives,’’ he said. “People are still going to fly, but we need alternatives. So get with the program.”

 

LaHood made these comments in a Q&A session as he addressed the Federal Aviation Administration’s annual forecasting conference in Washington, D.C. The first questioner wanted to know why the administration was giving $8 billion to high speed rail.

 

Eight billion is chump change compared to what they've been getting for years.

Agreed.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

''+1''

Two good posts back-to-back, Carl - thanks !

- Paul North. 

[CShaveRR]

from Railway Age today:

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood had a “little bit of political advice” for the airline industry Tuesday.

“Don’t be against high speed rail,” LaHood said. “It’s coming to America. This is the President’s vision, this is the Vice President’s vision, this is America’s vision. We’re going to get into the high speed rail business.’’

“People want alternatives,’’ he said. “People are still going to fly, but we need alternatives. So get with the program.”

LaHood made these comments in a Q&A session as he addressed the Federal Aviation Administration’s annual forecasting conference in Washington, D.C. The first questioner wanted to know why the administration was giving $8 billion to high speed rail.

Eight billion is chump change compared to what they've been getting for years.

[CShaveRR]

Back then, MC, I was more concerned with the rail turning over beneath us than I was with us actually turning over.

Dan, it's the time of year when the ground softens, and anything and everything goes out of whack. We were dealing with a lot of switch problems in the yard yesterday. FRA would spot 'em and we'd fix 'em...but not before they caused a session of "Adventures in Creative Classification." I don't want another day like that!

[CNW 6000]

mudchicken

If you want to get techical about it, railcars belonging to DM&E derailed and fell over in South Dakota & Nebraska in the early days of that railroad at ZERO (0) miles per hour. Cause: Unstable subgrade in the marsh areas that that railroad ran on that it inherited from CNW. There were also standing derailments caused by exceedingly bad tie and ballast conditions. (Penn Central had a few too)

Ha!  The ultimate anti-graffiti defense...

Trains on the CN are definately back to 'longer' lengths.  I've heard 650+ axle-count trains almost daily lately.  Even a few in the low 700s.  I do wonder if that has been rough on the main (especially near Neenah) as the last two times up there I saw quite a few hi-rail trucks either on the Neenah-controlled siding or the main working on rails or switches.  Usually too far away for my camera to reach to help me guess what they're working on.

[mudchicken]

If you want to get techical about it, railcars belonging to DM&E derailed and fell over in South Dakota & Nebraska in the early days of that railroad at ZERO (0) miles per hour. Cause: Unstable subgrade in the marsh areas that that railroad ran on that it inherited from CNW. There were also standing derailments caused by exceedingly bad tie and ballast conditions. (Penn Central had a few too)