In the past few days, I had occasion to ride Metra into Chicago twice ("TrainGranny" was in town, and had never been to Chicago before--so I walked them around the Loop and environs on Sunday after she and her sister had arrived on the Capitol Limited, and yesterday Pat and I took them to Navy Pier...not much railfanning on those trips, but we had lots of fun, and talked train travel).
(TrainGranny has been blogging about her recent adventures: http://www.traingranny.com/)
The trips to Chicago, though, were fairly revealing of progress being made on the expansion projects in the area of Proviso. A crushed limestone base has been spread and compacted for the new third main track for about half of the distance between Berkeley and Bellwood, and grading has been completed elsewhere in that stretch. Large holes in the ground alongside the tracks on both sides reveal where the pedestrian tunnels at Bellwood and Berkeley will be; it appears that Bellwood will also be getting a new station platform just east of the existing one.
New signals are popping up like weeds...in fact there are now poles with two- and three-head signals (covered in plastic) in places where the tracks have yet to be laid--quite far from existing tracks. The limits for Park (the control point at the west end of Proviso) will be extended further east, based on signal footings observed. In fact, a new bridge will be built at the spot where, a long time ago, there was a distant signal for the original HM Interlocking. Not beyond the realm of possibility would be the separation of this plant into two adjoining control points, in much the same manner as has been done at Kedzie, close in to Chicago.East of Bellwood, in the Field of Trackless Signal Poles, large areas have been covered with compacted limestone. Main lines will be relocated here; I presume that it will be easy enough to actually slide some of the tracks into their new positions, where possible. The old tail track east of Proviso has been rebuilt and connected to the main line at roughly 19th Avenue (the control point currently at 25th Avenue will be moved east to 19th). Signal bridges at this point have been up for a while, but are still not in service. The new IHB connection via the flyover bridge appears to be connected and completed, though I haven't been lucky enough to see any trains on it yet.Work is also finally underway at the site of the new mainline crossovers in Wheaton--truck trailers for signal supplies have been moved in there, and earth-moving equipment is moving some earth. There is a grade-crossing closure (and replacement pedestrian underpass) that's supposed to be done in connection with this crossover; I haven't seen evidence of that yet.A replacement signal bridge for the westward home signal at West Chicago will soon be erected. This doesn't appear to be necessary for any track-work, so it must be a requirement in connection with new signals that are PTC-compatible. As of now, these are the easternmost searchlight signals of the original CTC system between West Chicago and Nelson; most of the other control-point signals have already been replaced with color-light heads.
The expansions on this part of the line haven't gotten as much coverage as other UP expansion projects, but I'm sure the results will be every bit as helpful to projected increases in traffic.
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)
We had an eventful hour train-watching in Elmhurst this noon (that was about all we could spare..honest!). As we arrived, the two hourly scoots were both departing the station. About ten minutes later, a westbound manifest went by (I think it may have been the West Chicago guy). He was followed surprisingly closely by another westbound manifest, with cars destined for North Platte. My view of this train was soon obscured by an eastbound stack train, which stopped for a time waiting for the manifest to clear. After all of this action in the first half-hour, there was a brief lull before an eastbound manifest (MCBPR? MDMPR? I can't tell any more) arrived. As it was clearing the control point, a westbound train of loaded auto racks came around the yard and blew by. We didn't wait for the westbound that was poking his nose out of the yard...ditch lights were lit, so we knew that he would be coming out sometime soon. As we left, though, a short work train powered by a GP15-1 headed east through town. He had some HLMX ballast cars that had been rebuilt and shortened from old quadruple hopper cars (now only two sets of hoppers). That was the last train we saw in Elmhurst--the eighth in under an hour. However, the next westbound scoot beat us into Lombard.
CShaveRR [snipped - PDN] The trips to Chicago, though, were fairly revealing of progress being made on the expansion projects in the area of Proviso.
- Paul North.
Agreed! If every picture K.P. took would save one of us a thousand words, it would be very worthwhile.KP has expressed interest in the CREATE program, and I'm sure I could keep him occupied for at least a month of good weather (how many calendars would that take?) just scouting out what's going on. Most of what I was describing around Proviso, from Elmhurst to 19th Avenue, are part of CREATE project B-2.
Link to CREATE Project B-2 "Fact Sheet" - includes an aerial-photo type map: http://www.createprogram.org/factsheets/B2.pdf
Glen Ellyn "e-newsletter" of Feb. 08, 2012: http://www.glenellyn.org/enewsletter/2012/02_08_12.pdf
Happy birthday today to Forum contributor and intrepid globetrotter Don Oltmann!
Don's birthday party must be quite a wingding; nobody has been able to post in the lounge for almost two days!
Johnny
You got that right, Johnny! Except that the guest of honor hasn't been around here in a while (he was on Facebook, though). I celebrated a little late by devouring a couple of (pan)cakes for brunch at church yesterday...supports an upcoming mission of mercy to western Kentucky. The actual day was aided by a trip to an embroidery artist who will do the lettering on three of the four banners Pat's currently working on for our church. (I'm usually Pat's color consultant, so I often have a hand in this...such as coming up with a "pastel black" material for one of them [inside joke]).
I also finished with a pad of old freight-car sightings from August 2007 yesterday, and am now working on computerizing another pad, this one with sightings from March 2008. The very first sighting in that pad has so far caused the creation of two new files, and upgrades to at least twelve others...should keep me busy for the rest of the day.
Yikes Carl. Sounds like job security!
Dan
Pastel Black. Sounds like a good question next time I'm in the fabric store (yes, I do occasionally do some sewing).
All quiet on this front.
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...
They'd probably point you in the direction of the grays, Larry. The material we used is mostly black, with bits of brown and green in it--it won't be too much of a shock in the field of other pastel colors on these banners.Our continued prayers and wishes for Jean (Mrs. Quentin) 's recovery, after a bit of a setback. (Hmmm...would she be "Modelsidecar?")
I ran my bill-paying errands by bicycle today...that included a 16-mile trip to Elmhurst and back (only five or so miles by rail, but I take the scenic route, and bikes can't always go as straight as the trains do), and about an hour trackside which passed quickly as I was writing a letter. Not too much spectacular today, except the chance to see how the Lombard crossovers are advantageous when a track crew has one of the tracks out of service between Elmhurst and Lombard. The westbound scoots had to use the center track for boarding and debarking at Elmhurst and Villa Park, but before the crossovers there would have been five other stations where that inconvenience would have had to be tolerated.Also saw a lady with two very young girls in a side-by-side stroller, who just came out to watch the trains. She was lucky...a freight came from each direction within about ten minutes of the time I was talking to her.
A tree that sews; a chicken that flies thru windows; BC with a quill and inkpot and some parchment;
The things you don't find out on this forum.
or were you using your laptop?
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
I was using paper, a pen (ball-point), and a clipboard, SJ...this correspondent doesn't have a computer. I had an addressed envelope with me, so the letter was signed, sealed, and is probably sitting in the PO for delivery.
Besides, SILP needs some computer time, too, so I left it home for her.
Hey, if you're a fan of "Wait-Wait Don't Tell Me", I guess they're taping in Lincoln this week. I read that tickets may still be available.
Attention, homeowners! Be on the lookout! 'Tis the season, apparently.Even an animal lover like I has to draw the line somewhere--and for me, gypsy moth caterpillars slither well on the other side of that line.
Note: they are easier to spot and squish from a bicycle than from a car.
________________
Kind thoughts, please, for daughter Ellen, who goes in for thyroid surgery sometime tomorrow. We don't know when or for how long, but she expects to be kept overnight. Husband and kids will be well taken care of while this is going on.
MookieA tree that sews;
I've done some embroidery, too. I'll have to take a picture of my major project to share.
Carl - I could see a tablet computer being handy for you, although I'm pretty sure even I could scribble car numbers faster than I could enter them on the touchscreen.
Larry, I do best when the trains are moving slowly; not sure I can keyboard well enough to do it while still searching the car for info. I do bring my laptop on occasion, for data entry after the train's gone and before I forget what my scribblings mean.
Tonight I get hauled up before the village Board of Trustees. I guess it's something I wrote...
It's all good, though.
Mud is going home to drain a bottle of PDN's favorite barleypop.
Why is it that I get the client and client's engineer that want to kill somebody working on a railroad? Client is an Agri-dummy and his el-cheapo rubber tired engineer thinks twenty degree reverse curves with a switch off the inside of the curve is no big deal? (builds the building first, then tries to build/jam-in the track to serve it....has not contacted the railroad yet.)
Think I'm gonna fire the client, and send a nastygram to the board.
Well, it's appropriately named, then - "Railbender" (Erie Brewing) - and that's what they make it for . . .
I thought that by now, the industries and consultants were past that kind of stupidity . . . Maybe they thought because it can be done with HO scale Snap-Trak [TM], it can be done on the real thing, too ? My sympathies, bro'. Class I or a shortline serving them ? (just curious if there was anyone else in sight who might have been able to catch that mistake in time - not that it's the RR's duty, of course)
CShaveRR Larry, I do best when the trains are moving slowly; not sure I can keyboard well enough to do it while still searching the car for info. I do bring my laptop on occasion, for data entry after the train's gone and before I forget what my scribblings mean.
Or get a cheap digital camera and take a photo of each car as it passes.
mudchicken Mud is going home to drain a bottle of PDN's favorite barleypop. Why is it that I get the client and client's engineer that want to kill somebody working on a railroad? Client is an Agri-dummy and his el-cheapo rubber tired engineer thinks twenty degree reverse curves with a switch off the inside of the curve is no big deal? (builds the building first, then tries to build/jam-in the track to serve it....has not contacted the railroad yet.) Think I'm gonna fire the client, and send a nastygram to the board.
I bet this is the same guy that designed a propane unloading place that is on a pretty good downhill slope (towards the bumper), and to spot the first tank car, you have to have the knuckle literally less than 6" from the bumper (did I mention this is a downhill track?) and what's beyond the bumper? A 30' drop.
This place has a lead and several sidings coming off the lead. The one siding actually has 2 clearance points. The parallel(ish) tracks get further apart for about 3 car-lengths, then come back together to foul. I have got to win the lottery so I can go to engineering school...
In other news... have a decision to make. Soliciting dispatcher resumes, but I am also slowly getting close to hogger school (not there yet, but maybe in under 3 years?) I don't know.... ... ...
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
Paul_D_North_Jr Well, it's appropriately named, then - "Railbender" (Erie Brewing) - and that's what they make it for . . . I thought that by now, the industries and consultants were past that kind of stupidity . . . Maybe they thought because it can be done with HO scale Snap-Trak [TM], it can be done on the real thing, too ? My sympathies, bro'. Class I or a shortline serving them ? (just curious if there was anyone else in sight who might have been able to catch that mistake in time - not that it's the RR's duty, of course) - Paul North.
On the inside?
Is there a soft spot for the cars to land on?
23 17 46 11
Haven't heard much from Dale ("Nanaimo 73") lately, but today's his birthday (thanks to the flat-wheelers for pointing that out!). He's another guy you can count on (along with Paul North) for finding references quickly. Happy birthday, Dale!And happy Star Wars Day to everyone! (Thanks, Dan!)
Haven't seen a public announcement yet, but Lombard has been designated as a "Train Town" by the Union Pacific. The village got a large aluminum sign (suitable for posting at village limits or something...more might be available), a commemorative coin, and will be receiving a set of banners that will be hung in the vicinity of the train station (probably after the Lilac Time banners are taken down in three weeks or so). As the culprit who wrote the application at the request of the Historical Society (who got the request from the Village), I was at the ceremony last night.
mudchickenMud is going home to drain a bottle of PDN's favorite barleypop. Why is it that I get the client and client's engineer that want to kill somebody working on a railroad? Client is an Agri-dummy and his el-cheapo rubber tired engineer thinks twenty degree reverse curves with a switch off the inside of the curve is no big deal? (builds the building first, then tries to build/jam-in the track to serve it....has not contacted the railroad yet.) Think I'm gonna fire the client, and send a nastygram to the board.
Reminds me of a few places I go into in the Northeast that believe we can get a 75 foot long vehicle into a place designed for the horse and wagon. You never know how tight a spot one can get a trailer into until you try (like the beer distributor in Randolph, MA; by the time I got it square into the dock, the guy next to me couldn't open his drivers door, our mirrors were overlapping).
I do wish Millis would spec the trailers with extra long slider rails, makes it a lot easier to get in spots when the tandems can go nearly to the middle of the trailer.......
Randy Vos
"Ever have one of those days where you couldn't hit the ground with your hat??" - Waylon Jennings
"May the Lord take a liking to you and blow you up, real good" - SCTV
edblysard On the inside? Is there a soft spot for the cars to land on?
With a number 8 turnout, that's almost a thirty degree curve ....Numbnuts, the engineer, pointed at a switch table and said that it was only a 9-31'-06", I about gagged. Do Engineering schools ever put out recall notices?
I assume my favorite switchman shoves downhill against the handbrakes on the car to a hook? How many track bumpers have been replaced at $1500 a pop? (those things the knuckle shouldn't touch!)
mudchicken I assume my favorite switchman shoves downhill against the handbrakes on the car to a hook? How many track bumpers have been replaced at $1500 a pop? (those things the knuckle shouldn't touch!)
I don't know what that guy does, but for me, it depends on the hogger. A good hogger? No worries. A lesser hogger? Yeah, best be safe. I swear... that is one of those places that is a textbook of how not to design a hazmat rail facility.
This just in:
Congrats to Willy2, our Forum meteorologist, who "Received official notification today that I've been accepted for a SCEP internship with the Air Force Weather Agency at Offutt AFB!"
(Offutt is downriver from Omaha, in southeastern Nebraska.)
Congrats to Willy!
Any word on Ellen?
Mookie Congrats to Willy! Any word on Ellen?
+1
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
CShaveRR /snipped/ And happy Star Wars Day to everyone! (Thanks, Dan!)
/snipped/ And happy Star Wars Day to everyone! (Thanks, Dan!)
ATCS is live and humming up here. Having a 4G Android and a laptop/radio rig makes "surgical strikes" much more predictable now.
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