I think you're right about a seam in the pictures...I notice a bit of distortion in the other track as well.Brian, that diamonds-on-a-bridge at Deval is quite well-known. It was about seven or so years ago that I took Cop-Car Chris here, and they were doing major work at the diamond to alleviate the crumbling bridge problem. Most of the supports in the area are wooden bents. I'd heard rumors once about CN adding a second track through here, but that probably won't take place now that their trains head off onto the old EJ&E and cross the UP Northwest line at (giggles) Barrington.
Deval was the first place I ever went railfanning in Chicagoland. I had just acquired the Train Watcher's Guide to Chicago in 1969, and my parents had some sort of convention to attend in the vicinity of O'Hare and Des Plaines. So I asked to go along, and they dropped me off at Deval, because that seemed to have more potential than Franklin Park at the time. Back then, you could walk around without getting hassled. There were a couple of other railfans there who clued me in to the interlocking signals (semaphores then) and how they'd indicate something was coming. After many hours (including my first ride on a scoot into Chicago and back), I walked over to a factory in DesPlaines (the DoAll Corporation) where the conventioneers were having a tour, and met up with my parents. This was my initiation to big-time railroading.
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)
Such mysterious things as disappearing trains are common on all of the satellite image sites. As hard as they try to stitch together the various images seamlessly, sometimes it's not possible, especially when using images that were shot days, weeks, or even months apart.
Sometimes the "joints" are a little more obvious, like when there's bare trees and snow on the ground right next to a summer scene.
I don't know how many "disjointed" RR tracks and roads I've seen when looking at those images.
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...
If you are a mother (no matter which generation), I hope this has been a great Mother's Day for you (if your weather is as great as ours, the possibilities become endless!).And if you have a mother, please help ensure that she has a great day! Or remember her fondly, if she is no longer with us.
_________________
Hey, folks, there's a new set of crossovers on the UP main line (Metra UP West) in Lombard!I know, I know, I've beaten the topic to death since they were placed in service over six months ago.But some folks haven't gotten the message, and apparently among those people are some who really, really need to.Pat and I took Metra into Chicago yesterday to celebrate our anniversary (a number of years Jack Benny would be proud of!). While we were waiting for our train, an announcement was repeated over our speakers every three minutes or so that the train would be boarding "from the pedestrian platform west of the depot". That makes this very specifically a Lombard announcement, since Lombard is the only station on the triple-track that still has a pedestrian platform.Fine, we thought...the train will be arriving on Track 2, and everybody will have to board at one door. We had no reason to doubt the announcement.Ten minutes before the train's arrival, the home signal at the crossover is lined up--a Diverging Clear on Track 1! The five-minute arrival warning for the scoot is given, and then the announcement for boarding from the platform is repeated. (Our train, by the way, was Number 510...no need to know that, but we heard that number often enough in those announcements that I'm unlikely to forget it soon.)
The signal, however, suggests that anything coming in on Track 2 is going to have to wait for whatever is lined up on Track 1 to cross over ahead of it. Or, more plausibly, that the announcements are wrong, and the scoot will be arriving on Track 1.So in comes the scoot...on Track 1. The crowd spreads out and uses all four available entrances (none of which had been spotted at the pedestrian crossing). The train crossed over and used Track 2 east of Lombard, and at the next two stations commuters got on at the street crossings adjacent to the station. The reason for this move became apparent at Elmhurst, where a replacement weld was being made on Track 1. So, were station-specific announcements with faulty instructions being given at all of the other stations west of us, too (that would be the four stations between us and West Chicago?), or did the "Voice of Metra" just happen to forget which side of the station the new crossovers are on?
Chafing a little over the restrictions put on travel by Metra for the NATO summit this coming weekend: No bikes, no drinks, no packages or luggage bigger than 15x15x4 inches. We can go anywhere, but the crews are expected to make this feel like one great big airport.Thought: Pity the poor Amtrak traveler who comes home to Chicagoland this weekend, gets off his train and expects to go home with his baggage via Metra.
I think I shall sneak around Chicago and get out of town next week...
CShaveRR Chafing a little over the restrictions put on travel by Metra for the NATO summit this coming weekend: No bikes, no drinks, no packages or luggage bigger than 15x15x4 inches.
Chafing a little over the restrictions put on travel by Metra for the NATO summit this coming weekend: No bikes, no drinks, no packages or luggage bigger than 15x15x4 inches.
Although, considering some of the acrobatics I've seen the bike-riding couriers perform...maybe not!
Laying low this weekend. Had a bit of minor surgery today. Removed some skin cancer from my lower back and it'll be about another week to get results from my last (hopefully!) biopsy. My doc is pretty confident that they got it all which is good. It's pretty tender and I'm kinda glad that my son is going to visit his grandmother. No sudden movements, bending or twisting for two weeks. Another nice bonus to ATCS...I'll know something is coming long before it's here!
Here's a couple of photos from recently.
A pair of GTW SD40-2s work a ballast train southward.
Q119 goes north approaching Oshkosh.
An ex-BNSF Dash 8 brings a train of coke empties south.
Dan
Glad they caught that in time, Dan! Hope you continue to hear good news about it.Your first photo shows some of the Herzog Contracting Corporation's "PLUS" ballast cars. These are converted from old steel coal gondolas--the flat (or twin-tub) bottoms have been replaced by slope sheets and four selective discharge gates (selective--they can dump either between or outside of the rails, at varying rates) that are automatically controlled from a safe distance--possibly the locomotive cab--and at high speed. At any rate, I'm right now at work on determining the origin series for these cars (there are over 2000 of them now). So far, there are at least ten different immediate origins, and some of those cars were either second- or thirdhand. It gets fun, sometimes.
Oh gosh! All the very best to you, Dan!!
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
WMNB4THRTL Oh gosh! All the very best to you, Dan!!
I was thinking of a joke with the punchline being "at least it's no skin off my back..." but thought better of 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
Thanks Nance & Carl.
Zug - I could always slip you some skin.
Sorry to hear that Dan! Hope you'll be feeling better and be good as new in no time.
Thanks CW.
Carl - would you like photos of any of those? If so...shoot me your email and I'll get ya a pile. I see them all the time.
Thanks, Dan, but I don't think photos would help very much. There's no way I can figure out how to determine the owner by just looking at them, unless there are perhaps stamped numbers that would not show up in roster shots.
Taking the show on the road later today...I'm hoping there are a few people on the Forum that I can see again, or meet for the first time. We're going up (but down), through the land of rusty belts, burning rivers, bent rails, garbage trains, limestone slurries, North and South, and if-I-had-a-brother-I'd-love-'im! Pat's along for the ride and will probably be the material girl, historian, and intrepid hiker.
Enjoy, you two!!
CShaveRR Thanks, Dan, but I don't think photos would help very much. There's no way I can figure out how to determine the owner by just looking at them, unless there are perhaps stamped numbers that would not show up in roster shots.
Met up with Jim (Zardoz) briefly Saturday. Sadly...CN didn't cooperate with any traffic. Of course...before and after he was here...
Sorry Jim! Nice seeing you again though.
CNW 6000 Met up with Jim (Zardoz) briefly Saturday. Sadly...CN didn't cooperate with any traffic. Of course...before and after he was here...
After we parted company, wifey wanted to stop at the Fond du Lac mall on the way home. So I dropped her off and went down to Lost Arrow road to sit in the shade and wait. No sooner did I turn on to the road when my scanner announced a train going south over the Lomira detector--so I missed that one by about 5 minutes. Isn't it amazing how the trains go into hiding whenever I show up? At least now I have a witness.
It was nice seeing you again, also.
CShaveRR Glad they caught that in time, Dan! Hope you continue to hear good news about it.Your first photo shows some of the Herzog Contracting Corporation's "PLUS" ballast cars. These are converted from old steel coal gondolas--the flat (or twin-tub) bottoms have been replaced by slope sheets and four selective discharge gates (selective--they can dump either between or outside of the rails, at varying rates) that are automatically controlled from a safe distance--possibly the locomotive cab--and at high speed. At any rate, I'm right now at work on determining the origin series for these cars (there are over 2000 of them now). So far, there are at least ten different immediate origins, and some of those cars were either second- or thirdhand. It gets fun, sometimes.
http://www.hrsi.com/railroad_services_plus_train.php
Neat video on there ^ ^ ^
Locally, we call them the "Star Wars Trains" and I've had several of them to unload. Usually we were told to keep the speed at 16mph. I had one night with a Herzog train that I could write a chapter in a book about. One of those nights on the railroad I'll probably never forget.
zugmann I had one night with a Herzog train that I could write a chapter in a book about.
I had one night with a Herzog train that I could write a chapter in a book about.
Z, that is why I first turn to the Railroad Reading Section of each new Classic Trains Magazine when I receive it. I can't get enough of stories like that.
As you may have read on Newswire, or regular media, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference has issued a strike notice against the CPR effective Wednesday morning. The TCRC represents Conductors, Trainmen, Engineers, Yardmen, and Rail Traffic Controllers, in Canada only, which totals 4,800 members. After reading that number several times, an interesting thought occurred to me.
Dad told me that when he started as an Operator in 1948, he was number 480-something on the Calgary Division Seniority list of the Order of Railway Telegraphers, which represented Operators, Station Agents and Train Dispatchers, and their relief men. The Calgary Division was only two main Subs. in SW Alberta, out of CP's total Canadian operation, and the ORT represented only one of the main five groups represented by the TCRC, and yet they had 10% of the total modern membership. Railroading really was once a significant part of society, wasn't it.
Thank you Carl for clearing up that reporting mark issue with Procor. I could never figure out why I couldn't find countless photos of their equipment on the internet, compared to the countless other photos of freight cars out there. Once you put PROX and Procor into a search engine, away you go!
Hope everyone is doing well.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
zugmann http://www.hrsi.com/railroad_services_plus_train.php Neat video on there ^ ^ ^ Locally, we call them the "Star Wars Trains" and I've had several of them to unload. Usually we were told to keep the speed at 16mph. I had one night with a Herzog train that I could write a chapter in a book about. One of those nights on the railroad I'll probably never forget.
Interesting video; I wonder where the ballast cars get the electric power to receive commands and operate the doors? Were those solar panels I saw on the top of the hoppers? I suppose the solar could supply sufficient power to operate a circuit board, and send signals to an air actuator, but how would that work at night and in tunnels (as the video advertises)?
zugmann http://www.hrsi.com/railroad_services_plus_train.php Neat video on there ^ ^ ^
Those MILW/Soo cars seem to have remote-controlled dumping, so that fancy chair is a bit of an improvement from the old method of walking along and manually opening the doors. And those doors are an improvement from the ones that you had to gradually let down via chains and ratchets.
The video was great--I didn't know that different types of trains (PLUS or SMART) existed. Something else to find out...which cars go to which type of train.
First day of the trip was rocky. I thought our hotel was closer to Berea than it is, and we had to struggle a little to find it (and now that I'm here, I'm not so interested in going to Berea). Tomorrow should be better.
Star Wars, never heard them called that but I'm sure it's because of the satellite control. When you're old enough to remember having to dump ballast with a tie jammed under the hopper for leveling off the ballast, a Herzog train is a wonder to behold. It amazed me how they could stop dumping at road crossings and open deck bridges, all because of the satellite.
Even that photo posted by zardoz above is a huge improvement over the old traditional method of diverting and using just regular coal hoppers instead (not as much demand or need for them in the warmer weather when most MOW work is done), with a tie either wedged in front of the wheels, or held in position by chains, and regulating the doors with a 'come-along', etc. The cars in that photo are/ have specialized ballast hoppers on the botttom, and appear to be remote-controlled in 'real-time' by that fellow sitting on the 'bosun's chair'. In contrast, the Herzog trains are pre-programmed with location and amount of ballast to dump, inside and outside of each rail, etc. Also, the old way of doing it with the tie sliding along the tops of the rails tended to provide the same amount of ballast - full up to the top of rail - regardless of how much ballast as actually needed in that section of the track.
zugmann, you should write up that chapter on your unforgettable night with the ballast train now, while it's still fresh in youir mind, even if you then just file it away for future use or reference.
- Paul North.
I remember watching that done once--the tie had bolts in its ends, and was chained to the hopper just ahead of the following truck. These days, the folks doing the work (including the train crew) would be given some sort of face mask, but not then. That was a standard 70-ton triple hopper. In my earliest days on C&NW, we did a similar job, but at least we had longitudinal hoppers. As the senior brakeman (three whole months' experience!), I was able to claim the job of providing grade-crossing protection, so wasn't always up close to the action. Never thought I'd see the day when a light rain was the preferred weather...it kept the dust down!
To answer a few questions/thoughts:
1. Yeah, "Star Wars Trains" because of the automatic, GPS, computerized, hi-techy stuff.
2. Power source - there's solar panels, and one of the cars has a diesel generator mounted under it, if I recall right.
3. Maybe someday I'll pound out the story. Or not. I always figured I won't miss what I can't remember. Maybe I'll post it to this thread, though the zugtales of prior always got a lukewarm reception at best.
C'mon...those tales are awesome.
Paul_D_North_Jr zugmann, you should write up that chapter on your unforgettable night with the ballast train now, while it's still fresh in youir mind, even if you then just file it away for future use or reference. - Paul North.
zugmann Aww, nothing like a moonlit walk in the ballast at night. A man alone with his thoughts (which made it a lonely trek in my case).
Aww, nothing like a moonlit walk in the ballast at night. A man alone with his thoughts (which made it a lonely trek in my case).
I started out my first year on the railroad trying to figure out why my legs were so sore. Finally figured out it was from walking in the rockin' and rollin' passenger cars.
Fortunately, for us a five car train is long, so walks on the ballast aren't quite such a challenge. Still, trying to walk on ballast nicely profiled at 45 degrees or so ain't fun.
I remember C&O using the tie method of levelling ballast. As I recall, though, they just let the front wheels of the rear truck push the tie along. Then it was jack and tamp, jack and tamp - although I do believe they were using a tamper, not track jacks and forks (or air chisels).
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