WMNB4THRTL Great; thank you CNW! That does help a lot. I'd never seen one before, at least not that I remember/realized. Take care and everybody stay safe out there.
Great; thank you CNW! That does help a lot. I'd never seen one before, at least not that I remember/realized. Take care and everybody stay safe out there.
Dan
CNW 6000 [snip] This is another issue: the 800 number listed on the crossing rings for about two minutes then beeps and hangs up. I now know to call CN's non-emergency 800 number but I'm willing to bet money that the motoring public (and even PD/FD) don't think to try that number.
I agree with your bet - most people would say "The heck with it" - more likely that the dedicated public servants would recognize the problem and try some alternative method, but that takes time, too . . .
- Paul North.
I hope folks have been voting for their favorite route for a run in UP's steam program. I guess this is especially a shout-out to the admirers of the "Tuscola Turn", which is to run from Boone, Iowa, on the Overland Route to Proviso, then (presumably via IHB) to the former C&EI and down to Tuscola. And back, I presume, since they call it a "turn". Anyway, this route, which had been 'way ahead in the totals, is now in a tie with the "Little Rock Express", from Kansas City through St. Louis to Little Rock. Both had 32,757 votes, last time I checked.
I'm wondering, though...has it been said anywhere that one route chosen through this program are all that would be run in this season? I was just thinking: moving the train from Boone back to KC Junction, then down through Des Moines to Kansas City would make a good ferry move, if nothing else.
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)
Thanks, Carl, for that good reminder!! I had voted back before, when I saw your first post about it. I've passed it on, too, to try to get votes from others I know. Keep our fingers crossed and keep those votes going in for Iowa, etc route! Thanks!
Nance-CCABW/LEI
“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” --Will Rogers
Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right! --unknown
Little Rock is ahead now; both have nearly 35,000 votes.
WMNB4THRTL, we try to refer to people by their real names in this thread, at least in passing. Is it okay in your case? (For example, "CNW6000" is Dan, "Zardoz" is Jim, etc.) If not, we'll just keep using your Nom de Keyboard.
Oh, sorry. It's Nancy. I hope the Iowa, etc route wins!! I'm pretty sure we can only vote once, right?
Nancy (a.k.a. Nance)
Got my vote in this morning, and posted the obligatory reminder to my Facebook wall. We shall overcome!
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
Carl & Jim,
U781 (ore empties) was O/S Neenah at around 5:20 this morning. I was right on the # of days in the cycle...just hoping for a run later in the day. Supposedly seven trains were run between 4 and 6 AM around Neenah...too early & cold for me. It's a waiting game now.
Can anyone please explain the train numbers to me? For example, Dan wrote about "U781." What do these numbers mean, if anything? Are they just assigned in a rather arbitrary manner by the RR's or do they have a specific meaning? If you see a specific number, can you tell right away it is a certain type of train? Thanks for your help. Nancy
Nancy,
Great question (again). The train U781 is a CN train I made the note about. Each RR company does things a little differently. Some use letter/numbers (CN, CP, CSX, NS) and some use letters (mainly UP & BNSF). I will attempt to convey the little I think I know about how this works-note I'm going from memory and I do not work for a RR, so subject to corrections/additions from those more knowledgable than I.
The whole train number is actually longer. I will give you an example of one I'm familiar with. The other day I took a picture of a northbound coal train that took a new crew at Shops (North Fond du Lac, WI) and went to Green Bay, WI. The whole number was C70191-04. A mouthful, right? Let's break that down. C means Coal; 701 tells you that, on CN, it's northbound (odd numbers go north, evens go south-generally speaking); the 7 means a unit train; 01 following the 7 tells me that its going to Green Bay; 9 is the area of origin (here I'm a little unsure of which area is what number but I know 9 is around my area); 1 is the section of train, in other words it's the first train going to this destination of this type from this location; 04 was the fourth of January. Now, nobody is gonna go through all that gibberish over the radio and between friends in conversation...so it would very likely be referred to simply as C701.
Each place of origination/termination will have a different number. I don't know what those are for each location. Now, U781 was a Unit ore train empty. 781 is the return of train U780 (loads-going south). Most trains run in some kind of pairing, like U780/U781. Q198/Q199, M340/M341, M342/M343 etc are some common ones I see. On CN "U" trains are unit trains (other than coal), "C" trains are unit coal, "Q" are quality or high priority service trains, "L" is a local, "A" & "M" are both types of manifest train but I'm not sure what they mean.
UP does things a little differently. One example I think I know is the M-PRDM. Manifest freight-PRoviso Yard, IL to Des Moines, IA. The reverse would be M-DMPR. It can be a little easier to follow. BNSF uses three letters for their destinations. For example a manifest freight from Barstow, CA to Memphis, TN would be a M-BARMEM.
Does that help?
Yes, Dan; thanks a bunch!! Now, do you get this info off the scanner or how do you know this train passing by you is U781? Do the numbers on the loco ever factor into any of this or not? I'm thinking probably not but...what do I know?
Thanks again, though. I'm anxious to learn all I can and grateful to anyone willing to take the time, energy, and effort to teach those who are new to the hobby. Nancy
Nancy, welcome to the forums.. As you have seen already, we are a friendly bunch, and are glad to share what information we have gathered in our years of following railroad operations whether as employees or non-employees.
An observation about basic train numbers: it used to be that trains simply had one, two or three-digit numbers, but now the long train numbers give a great deal more information about a train, particularly a freight train, as Dan pointed out.
As to direction of operation information, it depends upon the railroad itself. As Dan indicated, an odd-numbered train on his part of the CN is northbound--but if you are looking at the former Illinois Central operations (also CN now), an odd-numbered train is southbound or westbound. In general, southbound or westbound trains were given odd numbers and eastbound or northbound trains were given even numbers (but on the Southern Pacific, all trains headed to San Francisco had odd numbers, and all trains headed away from San Francisco had even numbers).
Johnny
Great; thanks! I appreciate that.
How do you know what number a certain train is? Also, loco's numbers have no bearing on anything, right? I guess a lot of the rest will 'come with the territory,' huh?
Also can somebody please help me with 'dynamic braking?' Does it happen automatically within the engine or...? Does a 1956 Alco S4 have/do this? As you might be able to tell, or maybe not so much, I've been going through all the FANtastic info available on this website to learn all I can. If I look it up, and am still confused, I ask for help.
Thanks again. Nancy
PS I'm grateful you folks are not annoyed at having to review 'Railroading 101' with me, but I figure there must be others who don't know all this, too!
I'm ensconced in a snug hotel room in Peoria now, after a lovely wedding. Both of my sisters (one is the mother of the groom) are in this hotel as well, and we'll probably get together for breakfast in the morning before heading our separate ways. My daughter and her family are in a hotel some distance away from ours, but I swear I can still hear those kids running around! Plenty of chocolate as table favors, three kinds of cake, and no naps. They have to leave the earliest and get home in time for the Bears' kickoff.
Nancy, if there aren't too many trains on a line, you might be able to figure it out from railfan-oriented web sites for a given railroad. A while back we linked to the listing of CSX schedules; I'm pretty sure other sites exist for the other major railroads. From a source like that, you can usually figure out which trains will be on your line. If there are too many to narrow the best way of telling which train is which is to have a scanner and listen to radio transmissions involving the train in question. Once you know the number of the train for sure, you might be able to note pecuiiarities of the train, such as the type of cars it carries, or the time of day (or days of the week) it appears.
Locomotive numbers don't have a bearing on the train numbers, though you may find out eventually that certain trains rate certain types of locomotives. And, armed with a scanner, you'll find that the dispatcher often refers to trains by the number of their lead unit. And knowing the number of the lead unit makes people with cameras go crazy, especially if it's one they haven't seen before. Right, Dan?
Dynamic braking: switchers are unlikely to have this (there were some very rare exceptions). In most cases it is not automatic--an engineer has to consciously make the switch from throttle to dynamic brakes--it's impossible to do both at once. Older diesels with dynamic brakes used the throttle lever to control them; sometime in the 1970s or so they were given a lever of their own on the control stand. No, your S4 doesn't have it. There are some instances--Metra's passenger units are one--in which the dynamic brakes and air brakes work together to slow or stop the train.
As I mentioned before, tomorrow will be a day for railroad research. We have found the right road out of town (Pat and I visited a quilt store on that road today), and we'll go north from Peoria, checking out the new UP-BNSF connection at Edelstein (I guess it's a few years old now), and go on north along UP's Peoria Subdivision to its junction with the main line at Nelson. Then we'll go east, making a stop for dinner and a stop at Rochelle (most likely not at the same time, but who knows?). If it goes true to form, we'll see plenty of trains, but none of them will be where we can stop and scrutinize them. And some eastbound intermodal trains will be moving faster than we are.
We know most of the roads between Rochelle and home to follow the tracks closely, and we'll be doing that for as long as the daylight lasts. Around here in Peoria, we will be guided by the DeLorme atlas for Illinois, so we shouldn't miss too much.
Oh, and Nance, you can vote for your favorite UP steam route once per day. Little Rock is ahead again, as of now.
I keep forgetting things I wanted to say. Dan, it sounds like I couldn't possibly have gotten up early enough to catch that train of ore empties. We actually did see a northbound (westbound) train on the old EJ&E this morning (where it ducks under I-55), and my hopes were up for about a second, but it was a manifest. Moving right along, though!
Fantastic, Carl; thanks a bunch! I hope you both have a fantastic rest of your trip. Happy train- and quilt- hunting!!
I'm so happy to be learning all this!!This is wonderful.
Be safe out there. Nancy
PS Oh, no!! I only did it once bc I was mistaken. I'll get busy and get back to my contacts to tell them, too! Finger crossed, here' hoping!! It's my best chance of getting to see it, too.
Nancy, since a locomotive number was a definite identification of a particular locomotive, it was always given, along with the train number when a train order was sent to the conductor and engineer of a particular train. Thus everybody concerned knew exactly which train(s) was/were affected by a particular train order. I do not know if locomotive numbers are used in issuing track warrants (if nobody responds on this thread, I may post the query on the thread about Train Orders and Track Warrants).
CShaveRR We know most of the roads between Rochelle and home to follow the tracks closely, and we'll be doing that for as long as the daylight lasts. Around here in Peoria, we will be guided by the DeLorme atlas for Illinois, so we shouldn't miss too much.
Incidentally, Ricki has been told by her home visiting physical therapist that she should be improving in her ability to get around.
CShaveRR Locomotive numbers don't have a bearing on the train numbers, though you may find out eventually that certain trains rate certain types of locomotives. And, armed with a scanner, you'll find that the dispatcher often refers to trains by the number of their lead unit. And knowing the number of the lead unit makes people with cameras go crazy, especially if it's one they haven't seen before. Right, Dan?
CN's RTC (dispatcher) uses the lead locomotive number to talk with trains most frequently...but the crews will use the ID fairly often...and I'm beginning to recognize patterns of traffic (what cars are on what trains) and the time of day I see the train. It's all a process that takes time and learning from the right people by being willing to :shut up and listen' (personal experience, lol).
Trackside by 7 AM tomorrow...night!
Deggesty Nancy, since a locomotive number was a definite identification of a particular locomotive, it was always given, along with the train number when a train order was sent to the conductor and engineer of a particular train. Thus everybody concerned knew exactly which train(s) was/were affected by a particular train order. I do not know if locomotive numbers are used in issuing track warrants (if nobody responds on this thread, I may post the query on the thread about Train Orders and Track Warrants).
When issuing authorities: track warrant, track and time, track permit, etc the engine number is used. Most rules also require the use of initials of the engine's owners, even if on home (the owner's) rails.
In years past, the initials wouldn't be used on a home road's engines, but on those of other railroads (foreign line) that were detouring, on trackage rights, or on run thru trains. (Run thru trains go from one railroad company to another without change in the train's makeup. Many times now, some or all of the engines will continue on with the train.)
Jeff
On CN's Fox River Sub "Track Authority" is issued to each train. They ID the train as (an example) "CN 9549", give a limited range to work (MP-X to MP-Y), joint authority (working with other trains & MoW crews), and any other restrictions or permissions that may be needed for the train to get it's work done.
This may not be exactly like what's out there but it's what I found after a quick search:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_warrant
Gonna be a busy day: looking at 6 trains between now and 9 or 10!
EDIT:I just went through my pictures from yesterday. 987 + 7 = 994 units. Hopefully today I can get 6 more roster shots to hit 1,000. Off I go!
Deggesty CShaveRR: We know most of the roads between Rochelle and home to follow the tracks closely, and we'll be doing that for as long as the daylight lasts. Around here in Peoria, we will be guided by the DeLorme atlas for Illinois, so we shouldn't miss too much. Carl, does your car know the roads as well as you do? If so, just put it on autopilot after giving it the course, and devote your attention to watching for trains. Incidentally, Ricki has been told by her home visiting physical therapist that she should be improving in her ability to get around.
CShaveRR: We know most of the roads between Rochelle and home to follow the tracks closely, and we'll be doing that for as long as the daylight lasts. Around here in Peoria, we will be guided by the DeLorme atlas for Illinois, so we shouldn't miss too much.
Carl, does your car know the roads as well as you do? If so, just put it on autopilot after giving it the course, and devote your attention to watching for trains.
Great news about Ricki, Johnny! Hope we can look forward to seeing you in our neck of the woods again soon!
(I hope I didn't take that wrong, and it isn't the therapist saying. "You should be improving...why aren't you?")
The car doesn't know the roads quite as well as I do...sometimes said roads were taken by bicycle. The problem with "autopilot" is that the routing might have to change on very short notice should something show up. One neat thing about this line is the long stretches of straight track--you look west from where it crosses the Lincoln Highway in DeKalb, and you can see a good 15 miles to Creston!
We have to pack, but I'd better get my vote in for today first! Good...we're ahead again this morning!
OUr track authorities (TAs) don't require the initial of the engine if it's one of our own engines. Just the number will suffice. So I will get a TA addressed to 5620 @ here, check box 3, work between here and there on the main track, etc.
Now some dispatchers will add on the engine's reporting marks, although they don't have to.
On a side note, I just got awarded a regular job for now. 3rd shift local with tons of work, but I don't have to be on-call for now.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Thanks so much Dan, Jeff, Zug, and Carl (hope I didn't forget anybody 'recent'-that I haven't thanked!) As I said, I am very grateful for your helpful answers/info and your stellar patience with my 'rookie' status. This is such a fascinating hobby, but SO MUCH to learn!! (Guess maybe that's one of the many countless reasons it IS so interesting!) Stay warm, Nance
And congrats Zug on your job status! (I hope; it sounded good)
I held this last February for awhile. It is the worst job in the terminal, but hey, for now it is MINE.
Oh, sorry! It sounded good, but then again, what do I know?! Obviously, not much! But, then again, as you say, at least you have a job, when so many are looking. Take care and stay safe (& warm) out there. Nance
Greetings from the railroad park in Rochelle, where free wi-fi is now available!
But so far, unfortunately, when it comes to trains...well, we did see a couple, coming in, but it looks quiet for now. The line west of here, from Nachusa to Ashton, seems to be pretty well plugged with eastbound stack trains, presumably for Global 3. We saw three of them stopped in that <20 miles.
We've found a fantastic place to eat...stopped at The Huddle, in downtown Ashton. It's about a block away from the tracks, and I took the one side of the one booth from which a view can be obtained. But we chose it for Sunday dinner, and were not disappointed. We got out of there for just over 30 bucks, but that included a coffee mug that Pat bought. Dinners included entree, vegetable, appetizer (cottage cheese or juice), soup or salad, potato, and ice cream for dessert. Definitely worth driving beyond Rochelle for (it's at the opposite end of Global 3 from Rochelle)!
No action on the Peoria Sub, but we did catch a BNSF train at Edelstein, and saw some of the trackwork at the connection (the culverts say 2008, so that's when the connection was built).
Zug, there are times when even working nights is better than being a slave to the phone.
Gotta run...something's coming!
Nancy,You're welcome! I was there too, and still am...in lots of ways.
Zug,There's always something to be said for holding a regular job. Here's hoping the job treats you as well as possible.
Carl,Good to know about Wi-Fi...I'll have to test it out later this year (June maybe?). After a much slower morning than yesterday...I had to call the 'fanning activities for today. If I check correctly (via BlackBerry) I now sit 3 locos short of my goal. Hopefully that happens this week! Off to Shawano via Neenah and then home in time to get to bed.
Signals north...
Reporting from Cedar Rapids...
I actually got out and about this afternoon to check on the local scene, as Joanie was sent away on a plane this morning for Melbourne, Florida for the week (lucky her). It's good to see that you're getting action in Rochelle, Carl, because the UP here is DEAD. Even the signal lights at Beverly are showing red in both directions. I did catch a few CRANDIC jobs running around, though, and took a couple of pics with my cell phone. Maybe I'll download and post them later.
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