Guess that's one question I must ask....What are "Cabbage Cars"...?
Quentin
I wouldn't know what the limitations are on the Cabbages--evidently they just haven't been cleared for 110.
As far as I know, the passenger cars are pretty much the same--Amfleet and Horizon.
ATCS--Advanced Train Control system. I know Trains had an article about this some time back--it can give warnings of obstructions at grade crossings, etc. I saw some pretty fancy antennas along the line last time we drove up that way.
And the unasked question: such a system would probably work nicely on the line to Milwaukee, and shave a good amount off the schedule...if Amtrak owned the tracks, and if there weren't a whole bunch of CP freights that it had to share them with.
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)
CShaveRR There will be restrictions on the equipment used on these trains...of course, the units will have to be equipped for ATCS to run over that territory, and no Superliners or Cabbage cars will be allowed because of their limitations. There have been doubts expressed about whether single P42s can accelerate their trains up to 110 (there is/will be a second P42 on the opposite end, but I don't think that DPU has been, or can be, used on Amtrak to let them both power the train up to speed.
There will be restrictions on the equipment used on these trains...of course, the units will have to be equipped for ATCS to run over that territory, and no Superliners or Cabbage cars will be allowed because of their limitations. There have been doubts expressed about whether single P42s can accelerate their trains up to 110 (there is/will be a second P42 on the opposite end, but I don't think that DPU has been, or can be, used on Amtrak to let them both power the train up to speed.
1. Why no 'cabbage' cars? What are the limitations?
2. Is the equipment used for these trains different from the equipment used on the Chicago-Milwaukee trains? I know that they used powered locomotives on both ends of the Hiawatha trains on occasion.
3. What is ATCS? Automatic Train Control S_______?
I think that the P42s are capable of those speeds already. There will be restrictions on the equipment used on these trains...of course, the units will have to be equipped for ATCS to run over that territory, and no Superliners or Cabbage cars will be allowed because of their limitations. There have been doubts expressed about whether single P42s can accelerate their trains up to 110 (there is/will be a second P42 on the opposite end, but I don't think that DPU has been, or can be, used on Amtrak to let them both power the train up to speed.
Of course, watch this space for a full report after we make the trip, come what may.
Yeeeeeeee-HAH!
....Carl.....Are there any changes necessary in the Amtrak engine to allow it to run at 110 mph...Gearing...etc...?
Just got some good news via Trainorders.com:
Effective tomorrow, ATCS is restored to Amtrak's Michigan line, and the speed limit is increased to 110 m.p.h. over about 80 percent of the distance between Porter, Indiana, and Kalamazoo (I can see slowdowns through Michigan City, New Buffalo (?), and Niles, and for the last six miles or so into Kalamazoo.
What makes this even better news is that Pat and I are going to be checking it out one week from tomorrow (we've had our reservations for about three weeks already). I am so looking forward to rounding that little curve at Porter and taking off like a bat out of you-know-where!
And you folks in the eastern part of the state: keep the trucks off the grade crossings...our return tickets are for Train 351.
I have to get out that way again sometime. You probably were traveling on 88; I like Illinois 38, for obvious reasons. But I don't think we've been out there since sometime last fall. Hope the birthday celebration went well...road conditions should have been so much worse!
Thanks, Carl.
Beside dinner out with my side or our family, the highlight was spotting a westbound hot shot stack over taking a merchandise just east of I-39 near Rochelle. Quick glances only-I was driving.
Jay
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
Paula just reminded us...happy birthday to Jay Eaton! Many happy returns!
It's been a while since I've seen my grandchildren on my home turf (the first word of the Lounge's name is a strong hint here). While we were lunching today, we were treated to a westbound stack train. Nico (3 1/2) was very impressed with "Four engines!" (which I don't recall having had the opportunity to teach him). The girls were impressed with the train's length.
Unfortunately, except for the pair of scoots at the appropriate times, that was all we saw.
The little stinker's beginning to read, too...he has a vocabulary of about a dozen words he recognizes, including "start" and "finish"! Sister Emily (5 1/2) can read, but doesn't want grown-ups to know it yet. (I tricked her.)
Research continues, and the series that have been affected by the one project, now two weeks running, include some with AEX and DOWX reporting marks.
Just got the news this evening that Marquette Rail will be acquired by RailAmerica.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/railamerica-signs-agreement-to-acquire-marquette-rail-2012-02-01
That, to me, is sad...a lot of interesting possibilities in locomotive paint schemes (based on the one locomotive and caboose that were repainted) will probably not be seen now. I'm glad I got the stored MQT box cars while I could! It will still be an interesting backwoods (literally!) railroad.
All the best to you! I echo the good wishes of the others!! Hope to see you back on real soon!! Take good care.
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
blue streak 1 Have not and will not be posting for a while. Have a total knee replacement scheduled 0600 Wedensday morning. Have not found out if any internet will be available at hospital and then rehab facility. So all of you stay safe and keep on posting ??????????????
Have not and will not be posting for a while. Have a total knee replacement scheduled 0600 Wedensday morning. Have not found out if any internet will be available at hospital and then rehab facility. So all of you stay safe and keep on posting ??????????????
.....Best wishes on the op, and rehab. And a quick recovery.
Hey, good luck with that, Buddy! Hope they allow you to bring and use a computer while you're recovering!
PLMX.. one of my favorite reporting marks. PLuMX.
Also like BNGX, just because it stands for Bungee!
CRDX is another one, although I can't repeat my interpretation of it in mixed company.
Then there's the infamous TILLYS! (TILX).
Yes, my coworkers do roll their eyes at me a lot. But I'm used to it.
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
Three days later, I'm back...nothing much to report from time well spent (a couple of hours, anyway) at Elmhurst. The Lombard crossovers are making things interesting, as I had one instance where eastbound freights arrived simultaneously on Tracks 1 and 3, within 15 minutes of the time that a westbound scoot left on Track 3.
I would say that my "big" project in my sightings files involved over 10000 words...so far! Cleaning things up now on that. Perhaps another missive to RAILINC will take care of things. Still need to go into a couple of the affected railroads (UP, MP, CNW, MKT, KCS) and private companies (BAYX, MOBX, AFPX, EPAX, PLMX, and possibly others). It is some of the most fun drudgery I know of!
Please do send the link, Paul! Not sure it would help with my projects, but it could probably help with almost anything else!
Might write more after spending some time trackside today. Pat has a meeting and some shopping she wants to do, and we both have shopping and other errands to run, but I should be able to take advantage of her busy-ness for some trackside time, if the UP cooperates.
"3000 files, and about 840 MB" - is that good or bad ?
More seriously, Carl - Have you seen any of the e-mails or notices that the NorthWestern University [ appropriate name, right ? ] has now digitzed Tom Taber's indexes to railroad history publications and collections ? For serious researchers and students, that's an outstanding feat compounded. If not, let me know, and I'll either copy and paste it here, or a link, or something of the sort.
- Paul North.
Miscellaneous:
A quick trip to the tracks today revealed only one eastbound scoot. But for whatever reason, it was on Track 3 when it came to Lombard. By the time I made it up to the tracks, it had crossed all the way over and was on track 1, where it belonged. (The westbound scoot would be on Track 3 about ten minutes later.)
For folks here who are also subscribed to Trainorders.com, I thought I'd point out a neat video of Pere Marquette 1225, taken in 2009. Makes me hope that it will be restored to operation again soon. The two passing sequences show off the whistle pretty well, and the final sequence, taken from behind the locomotive, shows what a hard-working freight locomotive is supposed to sound like. That is a sound I don't think I've ever heard before!
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,2668513
In these doldrums, I'm keeping busy with the freight-car research. One lousy sighting from three years ago prompted some research that gave be considerable information on one company's cars and some of their former identities. So far, my file on that company has grown by about 3000 words, one new file will have to be created, one other one nearly doubled in size, and paragraphs added, revised, or expanded in up to a dozen other files. The total item count in the project is close to 3000 files, and about 840 MB (how far we've come since we got the laptop three years ago, and had everything on about 40 floppy discs of 1.4 MB each!).
zugmannNew (to me) reporting mark I saw. EAMX 5200, 3 pocket ARI hopper built in 04. Any ideas of who they used to belong to? The marks looked fresh.
Better late than never, I trust. As mentioned, EAMX is the reporting mark for Everest Railcar Services.
EAMX 5200 and 5201 were previously lettered AMFX 10001 and 10000, respectively (the reverse order is correct). These are the reporting marks of American Railcar Industries, the company that built the cars. I am pretty sure I've seen one or both of these as AMFX cars (though they haven't been put into my computer yet), and they were probably prototypes of the Through-Sill concept.
A picture of AMFX 10000 confirms that it has gravity-pneumatic outlets. It also shows that this car was relettered and renumbered from something else...probably either ACFX or RNDX reporting marks.
It's been about three days, and nobody's ventured a guess on this one. (The folks over at Trainorders.com got it in four hours.) So I'll give you the fully-annotated answer to the original herewith.
CShaveRRRemember when there was a quiz on the Forum from time to time, often a "Where-am-I" sort of thing? Well... I actually got in an interesting freight-pacing experience today. We heard the train near one end of the line [Porter, Indiana], not knowing where it was going (I was filling the gas tank [in Chesterton] at the time). We drove along the old highway [U.S. 20]...not the Interstate [94] we usually take, nor the "scenic" road [U.S. 12] I usually like to take, and the train actually caught up to us for a moment. This was a short train, led by two [Norfolk Southern] GP40-2s (elegantly painted, numbers 3066 and 3064), on a railroad track that the company never owned [The line has been owned by Amtrak since 1976, when Conrail was formed]. I got out ahead of him before the tracks curved away, switched highways [Using IN 520 to get to U.S. 12], went into a large city [Michigan City], and was stopped by the same train at a grade crossing [It was on the way into Michigan City that we were stopped by the two "SouthShore Freight" GP38-2s running light under the electrical catenary wires]. As I crossed the tracks after the gates went up, I saw him going around a curve in the distance, and was amazed by the amount of superelevation in the curve...one would almost have thought that standing still would have invited disaster [This line is primed to be part of Amtrak's high-speed route between Chicago and points in lower Michigan]. It took some doing to catch up to the train again...in spite of the fact that he had a drawbridge to cross, he kept moving very well, receiving clear block signals the whole way (LED lights, some on tri-lights, some on what appeared to be old searchlight-style signals very distinctive to the network of railroads [New York Central] that originally owned the line. However, by pushing the speed limit a bit, I was able to pass him again outside the city, before having to stop at a stop sign. I then caught him again, pacing him at about 50, able to get build dates off some secondhand covered hoppers and observe some truck hunting (the track itself was very smooth). We paced him clear into the next state [Michigan] (a state whose name was part of the name of this railroad's original operator [Michigan Central]) before the track curved away from the road again.All-righty, then! Anyone want to venture guesses on whose train it was, whose track it was on, and roughly where I was? Lots of clues in here...have at it!
I actually got in an interesting freight-pacing experience today. We heard the train near one end of the line [Porter, Indiana], not knowing where it was going (I was filling the gas tank [in Chesterton] at the time). We drove along the old highway [U.S. 20]...not the Interstate [94] we usually take, nor the "scenic" road [U.S. 12] I usually like to take, and the train actually caught up to us for a moment. This was a short train, led by two [Norfolk Southern] GP40-2s (elegantly painted, numbers 3066 and 3064), on a railroad track that the company never owned [The line has been owned by Amtrak since 1976, when Conrail was formed]. I got out ahead of him before the tracks curved away, switched highways [Using IN 520 to get to U.S. 12], went into a large city [Michigan City], and was stopped by the same train at a grade crossing [It was on the way into Michigan City that we were stopped by the two "SouthShore Freight" GP38-2s running light under the electrical catenary wires]. As I crossed the tracks after the gates went up, I saw him going around a curve in the distance, and was amazed by the amount of superelevation in the curve...one would almost have thought that standing still would have invited disaster [This line is primed to be part of Amtrak's high-speed route between Chicago and points in lower Michigan]. It took some doing to catch up to the train again...in spite of the fact that he had a drawbridge to cross, he kept moving very well, receiving clear block signals the whole way (LED lights, some on tri-lights, some on what appeared to be old searchlight-style signals very distinctive to the network of railroads [New York Central] that originally owned the line. However, by pushing the speed limit a bit, I was able to pass him again outside the city, before having to stop at a stop sign. I then caught him again, pacing him at about 50, able to get build dates off some secondhand covered hoppers and observe some truck hunting (the track itself was very smooth). We paced him clear into the next state [Michigan] (a state whose name was part of the name of this railroad's original operator [Michigan Central]) before the track curved away from the road again.All-righty, then! Anyone want to venture guesses on whose train it was, whose track it was on, and roughly where I was? Lots of clues in here...have at it!
[My Valentine's Day gift will be a ride over this line to see just how fast things are traveling. I'm betting on 79-95, but it's supposed to be good for 110 soon!]
WMNB4THRTL 2. At a crossing, when the snowplows plow the highway and leave large piles of heavy, wet snow at crossings, does this present a problem for trains? I'm thinking also of after it sits for a while and then refreezes, esp. on a shortline where speeds are lower than the 'open road' and not used all that frequently.
2. At a crossing, when the snowplows plow the highway and leave large piles of heavy, wet snow at crossings, does this present a problem for trains? I'm thinking also of after it sits for a while and then refreezes, esp. on a shortline where speeds are lower than the 'open road' and not used all that frequently.
This question brings back another winter memory. Back when railways had way more manpower, section men would dig out the grader piles across the tracks, with shovels. If the RR got there first, the road graders could handle whatever the RR left behind. I can recall seeing this at the crossing north of our station at Irricana, and also several miles south of town where the line crossed Highway #9.
After the seventies, or so, when manpower stated dropping precipitously, things got a bit more adversarial. I'm not sure if I read it in one of my books, on a Canadian RR web site, or in TRAINS (magazine/website), but after the manpower cuts you would have the County etc. plowing their snow onto the tracks, then the RR plowing snow back onto the road, and so on. Things would turn confrontational between RR management and elected county officials.
The one situation back in the days mentioned in the first paragraph that could turn bad was if the RR left snow plow piles on school bus routes. Each situation was different but mostly arrangements were made to ensure section men got there before the school bus did.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
Nance, I don't think anyone's trying very hard...I put a number of good clues in there for locomotive freaks and historians both.
I'll add another one here: Before we entered the city where this train crossed in front of us, we came to the crossing of another railroad, and found the gates down. We saw a pair of their GP38-2s (2001 and 2003) bobbing along, they crossed in front of us just under the wire(s).
Now, in answer to your first question:
I don't think there's a stretch of railroad anywhere where the track doesn't go down slightly under the wheels as a car passes over--even with empties, and with Class 5 track (pretty good stuff!) like ours, you can see it if you're looking for it. Without seeing what you saw, I wouldn't know if it was excessive or not. But (I think the Mudchicken would agree with me here) the cause of this occurrence is somewhere below the base of the ties, and probably below any well-tamped ballast.
mudchicken Now they steal catenary before the "toy trains" even make their first runs.
Now they steal catenary before the "toy trains" even make their first runs.
If you've ever bought something that you knew, or at least suspected was 'hot', then you can have no complaints when your house or car is broken into.
WMNB4THRTL Question: 2. At a crossing, when the snowplows plow the highway and leave large piles of heavy, wet snow at crossings, does this present a problem for trains? I'm thinking also of after it sits for a while and then refreezes, esp. on a shortline where speeds are lower than the 'open road' and not used all the frequently.
Question:
2. At a crossing, when the snowplows plow the highway and leave large piles of heavy, wet snow at crossings, does this present a problem for trains? I'm thinking also of after it sits for a while and then refreezes, esp. on a shortline where speeds are lower than the 'open road' and not used all the frequently.
Metra in Chicago used to (I don't know if they still do) arrange passenger equipment such that the first trains inbound to Chicago in the morning that originated in Kenosha, Harvard, and McHenry would have the heavier locomotive lead instead of the cab-car.
After years of running cab-cars to the bumping post in the depot, it was very strange the first time I ran a train locomotive-first into the terminal. To see the bumping post disappear below the nose of the loco was very disconcerting (as visions of Silver Streak danced in my head....).
Hhmmm, no takers on Carl's 'puzzle' yet, huh? I have not had a moment to even think about it.
Questions:
1. Is it normal for a rail to move up and down quite a bit when the train is passing over it? A news clip showed this the other day (NOT part of their story) and it got me wondering.
Thanks, as always, and be safe out there, whatever you are doing!
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19763254 Now they steal catenary before the "toy trains" even make their first runs. Why couldn't RTD be load testing the new lines?
I like your avatar, Bruce!
We used to have to fill in drafty cracks in the tower windows with paper or whatever (usually old hump sheets). There was one time when the furnace gave up on one of those very cold nights. They brought in a "salamander" to sit in the basement and heat things up (didn't know about their potential for carbon monoxide, I guess), and there was an extra-board guy working in the tower beside me, to do nothing but scrape the ice off the inside of the windows!
____________________
Remember when there was a quiz on the Forum from time to time, often a "Where-am-I" sort of thing? Well...
I actually got in an interesting freight-pacing experience today. We heard the train near one end of the line, not knowing where it was going (I was filling the gas tank at the time). We drove along the old highway...not the Interstate we usually take, nor the "scenic" road I usually like to take, and the train actually caught up to us for a moment. This was a short train, led by two GP40-2s (elegantly painted, numbers 3066 and 3064), on a railroad track that the company never owned. I got out ahead of him before the tracks curved away, switched highways, went into a large city, and was stopped by the same train at a grade crossing. As I crossed the tracks after the gates went up, I saw him going around a curve in the distance, and was amazed by the amount of superelevation in the curve...one would almost have thought that standing still would have invited disaster. It took some doing to catch up to the train again...in spite of the fact that he had a drawbridge to cross, he kept moving very well, receiving clear block signals the whole way (LED lights, some on tri-lights, some on what appeared to be old searchlight-style signals very distinctive to the network of railroads that originally owned the line. However, by pushing the speed limit a bit, I was able to pass him again outside the city, before having to stop at a stop sign. I then caught him again, pacing him at about 50, able to get build dates off some secondhand covered hoppers and observe some truck hunting (the track itself was very smooth. We paced him clear into the next state (a state whose name was part of the name of this railroad's original operator) before the track curved away from the road again.All-righty, then! Anyone want to venture guesses on whose train it was, whose track it was on, and roughly where I was? Lots of clues in here...have at it!
zugmann Pretty cool stuff, this railroading at times.
Pretty cool stuff, this railroading at times.
Cold weather like we are experiencing here (-13°F) can get me thinking about things I will never see again.
Like how the mixed train crew had a piece of canvas that they draped over the diaphragm on the passenger end vestibule of the combine, and they cinched it down with a thick rope against the folds of the diaphragm.
Or storm windows on cabooses.
Or the time an engine crew decided it was too cold to work, so they sat and talked in the waiting room. It seemed OK the first hour, but my Dad was starting to wonder what was going on when they stayed for a second. That happened during the Christmas break during one of my first years of school, and when I recalled the incident to my Dad years later, he still thought it was one of the stranger things he had seen. They weren't happy with the cab heater, but they didn't seem to be doing anything about it, and they didn't ask to use the phone to complain to anybody. He wasn't sure when they were going to leave, and to the day he died he never did know why they picked the time they did, to go.
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