Let's keep the Rochelle webcam discussion all together, please:
Semi-official Rochelle webcam discussion thread
Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine
Just "bumping" this thread to coincide with some discussion on the main Rochelle Webcam thread about the "diamonds in the rough" visible on satellite images.
So, did anyone else save snapshots of teh action?
great job CShave, it an honor to see them. STEVEL
.....A great collection of photos you linked to Carl. Some beautiful ones other than right there at Rochelle....Especially the evening shots of sunsets, etc....
But the series of disassemble / and bring the new set to the site and install it....Really great. I was impressed with having enough space to "drag" the new set {diamonds}, on top of the double track from where it had been assembled, and have enough space to pass between the signal bridge legs.
I do not think that assembly would weigh 120 tons. But I did wonder why 4 very heavy duty looking cranes were required to do the job. I'm wondering how they kept from damaging the rails on each double track running up over them, part of the time with the additional load on the crane{s}, {from part of the diamond assy.
Certainly was a lot of employees assembled in one spot. I suppose each had a job to do. And the 13 hr. plus proves the job did get accomplished in great time.
I was just surprised I didn't see any lights working on the scene late that night to "watch" the newly installed assy., to be sure everything was behaving....As many backed up trains resumed used of the routes.
Quentin
jclass Any idea how much that panel of diamonds weighed?
The caption to one of the photos linked by Carl says 240,000 lbs., which is 120 tons, or 30 tons for each of the 'diamonds' that consists of 4 'crossing frogs'. But that intuitively seems a little too heavy to me - without doing the math, I'd guess at about 20 tons each/ 80 tons for the whole shebang. But I could be wrong . . .
- Paul North.
It's amazing how efficiently railroads get things done. An equivalent repair on a highway would take months. About 20 years ago, NS replaced a swing bridge near by with a lift one in about a day.
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Wow - thanks, Carl - nice catch ! That's quite an informative sequence. I note that in the caption under this photo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/35746972@N04/5195155028/in/photostream/ - it says that the MOW people dug down over 4' to remove a mud hole - I also saw a small dozer and what looks like a vibratory roller in that "Making the final grade" photo.
What also caught my eye elsewhere in that collection of photos was this caption under this one -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35746972@N04/5148951522/in/photostream/
"Getting Revenge!!
After a hour and a half of delays because of UP hogging the diamond at Rochelle and backing up BNSF trains along the Aurora Sub, a BNSF westbound Intermodal pulls up across the diamond and stops. This maneuver, known as "Ha, Now it's my turn" allows four Eastbound BNSF "Z" trains to continue their journey towards Chicago without further delay.
Shot under the trailer of the stopped Intermodal you can see a waiting UP Eastbound Container train and the nose of the first Eastbound BNSF "Z" Train passing by."
Found these:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35746972@N04/5194721567/in/photostream/
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)
They still appear to be moving slowly this afternoon. 2 BNSF trains and 1 UP and a track gang in the last 30 minutes.
They must still be settling in the new diamonds.
I WATCHED FOR THE FIRST 90 MINUTES AFTER IT OPENED AND COUNTED TEN TRAINS. 3 BNSF
AND 7 UP. (NOT THE SODA). I WATCHED INTERMITENTLY UNTIL MIDNIGHT AND SAW FIVE MORE.
TRAINS. TODAY LOOKED A LITTLE SLOW.
STEVEL
Turning to the Rochelle cam a few times yesterday to see the action, I noted it was "renewing" in one second intervals....Believe before, in the past the best I ever noticed was two second clicks.
I took a look just before the liights began to distort and blind out the camera and I actually could see several rather heavy cranes working, and I supposed they were positioning the diamond assy. at that time.
I appreciate what view is there under normal conditions, but it certainly is no comparison to the Roanoke unit....Either one of them.
That certainly was an impressive amount of work accomplished in the 13 hr. plus as indicated by one poster. I was surprised there was no lights on later in the night to be "checking" how the installation was holding up, etc.....Didn't catch any trains going over it.
Any idea how much that panel of diamonds weighed?
You folk must have access to a better web cam than I do. All I can see in that 1"x2" image is a few Lego men wandering around in a stop action video. I saw no dericks or booms that I could make out, although near to the camera was definitely a pickup truck. When they put up the lights they created a bright spot in the center right that washed out most every thing else, except the little stop action Lego men.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
three trains across the diamonds in 15 mins they must be backed up to both sides of the state, at least it should be quieter for the neighbors.
looks like it took 13 hrs and 14 min for the job. amazing.
CShaveRR (11-20):
You mentioned a "heftier" crane at Rochelle, IL than was at Colton, CA in the photos above.
There was a huge crane at the Colton site for the actual 2009 diamonds trade-out. Everything happened so fast that the huge crane was gone by the time I could return less than two hours later.
The UP did the trade-out in Colton. I wonder if BNSF is in charge at Rochelle.
Whoever is doing the work, the nighttime floodlight show on the webcam is great!
Best,
K.P.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K.P.’s absolute “theorem” from early, early childhood that he has seen over and over and over again: Those that CAUSE a problem in the first place will act the most violently if questioned or exposed.
.....The activity is full blown now....working lights set up to take care of working into the darkness. Front end loaders continuously back and forth what looks like moving road bed material.....A large work force active.
I just looked now, and there are still four large boom trucks at the diamond site (any one of which is heftier than those in K.P.'s shots). The fact that they're still there suggests that the new diamond set hasn't been put down yet (once it is, small moves could be made with front-end loaders, and they'd want those big machines out of the way).
Only Track 1 on the UP (the north track) has concrete ties, ending fairly close to the diamonds (within the boundaries of the signal bridges). I'm not sure of the concrete-tie situation west of the diamonds presently; at one time they were saying that both tracks would be tied in concrete clear across Illinois.
Pat and I observed a westbound manifest through town here in late morning; since it wasn't the West Chicago Local, I suspect that it's sitting out there somewhere waiting for the tracks to be restored.
(We expected that they'd take advantage of the track closure here to install some of the new crossovers in town, but they haven't done that yet--in fact, when we were out, we saw three trains, one on each of the tracks, so they don't have anything out of service here.)
I'm getting a red "X" now when trying to access the Rochelle webcam, so I don't know what is going on there. But, here in California towards the end of 2009, a similar diamonds replacement took place between the UP Sunset Route and the BNSF Transcon. That whole thing is believed to have started at dawn and by 9:00 A.M. everything was being cleaned up. The following photos were shot around 9:30 A.M.
So, the Rochelle trade-out could be done in just a few hours, but it is unknown if the same approach will be taken.
I had the good fortune of photographing the installation of the OWLS diamond in Durand, MI. They closed the tracks early in the morning and began work. In just a few short hours they had the old one removed, but due to water problem they had to remove the sub-grade to a depth of about four feet and dump in many tons of ballast before installing the new one. That did slow things down, but did solve the water problem.
There was never a lack of action for a guy who would rather focus on MOW operations than catching pictures of trains at crossings. OTOH, the additional work delayed the end of the project till 10 PM. Scheduled completion time was three or four hours earlier. Knowing things weren't going to get done on time led them to bring in floodlights in mid afternoon.
Bear in mind Durand has one low speed line crossing two east/west mains. The Rochelle intersection has four diamonds. It's a big project getting everything up to specs, and I doubt it will allow the MOW guys to get home at their usual supper time.
Norm
I disagree with the above statement completely. While work is slow, it's well worth watching if you're in the area. And I believe that given the stoppage rate of the camera "timing out", plenty of others disagree with your statement as well. As for after the work is finished, well, I'm sure that will be one hell of a parade to watch go by! Too bad you can't see the trains well at night...is there expected to be decent traffic tomorrow morning? Perhaps morning viewers could catch action if there are leftover trains.
Webcam this morning shows plenty of work going on. I don't think it's worth going out to see, because these things usually go at a disappointingly slow rate. (Besides, I'm out to see trains!)
Ralph, if you're going to Rochelle on your way to California, you'll be missing the easternmost hundred or more miles of Route 66.
Rochelle diamond replacement is going on today, Saturday November 20, 2010. The crews shut down the line right about 0700 this morning (the Trains webcam shows a UP movement of a stack train at 06:54).
The project is expected to last the whole day--up until 1800 or so. The Union Pacific will hold most of their traffic. The BNSF is planning on sending four eastbound intermodal trains south out of Savanna to Galesburg and then east into Chicago and deramping them at Willow Springs/Corwith. The rest of their traffic will be held until after the work is complete.
When the last time they replaced the diamonds, the UP sent two eastbound intermodals over the IMRL (now it's the ICE/DME) through Savanna and Davis Junction, IL. Don't know if that will be the case today.
Lance
THANKS FOR THE PHOTO, blhanel. I'M IN JERSEY BUT HAVE BEEN TO THE DIAMONDS THREE TIMES ON TRIPS TO VISIT FRIEND IN CHICAGO. LAST TRIP WAS 14 MONTHS AGO. UP CREW WAS THERE WORKING ON IT THE DAY I ARRIVED BUT THE NEXT DAY I GOT UP CLOSE AND IT WAS STILL IN POOR SHAPE. ITS AMAZING THE PUNISHMENT THEY TAKE. I WILL BE OUT THERE
NEXT MAY ON A ROUTE 66 TRIP TO CALIFORNIA, WILL BE GREAT TO SEE WHAT A DIFFERENCE THE NEW DIAMONDS MAKE. THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE FILLED IN THE GAPS THAT I CAN'T SEE ON THE WEB CAM.
Does anyone know the time that this will take place?
From the Rochelle trainwatching park, you can see that the UP side has concrete cross ties. (I do not know if they extend all the way up to the double-diamonds frog, though.)
BNSF is still using wooden cross-ties, although from the releatively less pounding and swaying those TOFC's do going over the diamond heading east, both the frog and the crossties are more secure now than they were just a couple of years ago.
The crossings just east of the park now use synthetic "microchip" warning bells, but BNSF's sounds more realistic.
zardoz I'm surprised they are using wood ties. Would concrete ties shatter from the pounding? What about steel ties?
Too many 'specials' or unique ties would be required with all the different rail locations and special tie plates, and the varying shapes/ 'humps' of the ties - almost "No 2 alike !". Plus the loadings at the midpoints are not something that concrete ties deal with real well.
Further, lLook at the photo linked above real closely and ask yourself if there are any long ties that strech all the way across, from left to right - probably not, which means that there are likely some that end in between the running rails of one of the tracks.
Maybe more on this later.
Al, I can't find it in Google, and I hope it stayed in business, but there was one in that house kitty-corner from the park (the one with the MILW caboose in the yard).
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