The Trackside Lounge 2Q 2012

[zugmann]

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. 

 

 

[WMNB4THRTL]

Oh gosh! All the very best to you, Dan!!

[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  These are converted from old steel coal gondolas--the flat (or twin-tub) bottoms have been replaced by slope sheets and four selective discharge gates (selective--they can dump either between or outside of the rails, at varying rates) that are automatically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. 

[CNW 6000]

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.

[zardoz]

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. 

What is the TSA expecting? Bike-riding, latte-sipping terrorists? Kinda tough to balance a huge, heavy explosive to your back while drinking from your coffee cup while changing gears on a ten-speed.

Although, considering some of the acrobatics I've seen the bike-riding couriers perform...maybe not!

[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.  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]

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?

[tree68]

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.

[CShaveRR]

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.

[zardoz]

blhanel

Are you sure he's not just traversing a crossover there?  It looks like there's a seam between pictures there- there appears to be the start of another covered hopper along with its shadow just below the MOW truck, but it vanishes into clear track.  Interesting that about halfway down the train there's an elevated diamond on a bridge over a city street.

That diamond is where the CN crosses the UP/CP main (joint trackage there between Shermer (where the train to the north is waiting) and Bryn Mawr). And yes, it is directly over the road. You can see the huge platform which covers the road under the diamond.

In regards to your other observation: I do not remember a crossover there, although it has been 20 years since I rode those rails. But there is not any sign of track damage where the apparent derailment is. Although the shadows seem to maintain the angle of the "derailed" cars, the photo is not quite clear enough for me to make a good determination.

And yes, now that you mention it, I do see the seam where the hopper just fades away (kinda reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode that took place in the kids bedroom where the wall becomes a portal into another dimension).

[blhanel]

Are you sure he's not just traversing a crossover there?  It looks like there's a seam between pictures there- there appears to be the start of another covered hopper along with its shadow just below the MOW truck, but it vanishes into clear track.  Interesting that about halfway down the train there's an elevated diamond on a bridge over a city street.

[zardoz]

CShaveRR

Here's a Google map of the area--the revision is in the region north and east of the pointer for what was the main intersection in Bensenville (this still shows the new UP line under construction, and the interim alignment):  http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&rls=en&oe=UTF-8&q=bensenville+illinois&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x880fb39241e07189:0xf703c58eeeaf3ff8,Bensenville,+IL&gl=us&ei=gyqsT8PqKceUsALFvoCfAg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CDcQ8gEwAg

If you look at the map and follow the UP tracks north, check out the area around Deval: there is a southbound train crossing the diamond with the single locomotive right on the Northwest sub tracks; but if you look closely, it looks like the rear-end of the train is on the ground blocking both mains just north of Deval.

[CShaveRR]

And, as if all of that action weren't enough, UP just cut over its new realignment of the "New Line" (Milwaukee Subdivision) around the expanded O'Hare Airport on Tuesday (May 8).  This included grade separations over Green Street, Irving Park Road, the Metra main line, and CP's Bensenville Yard.  The old line here was good for 50 m.p.h., according to the timetable; the new line may be slower, as I suspect that the curves are sharper.  It's still a double-track line, though.

Now CP has to build its own overpass over Irving Park Road, which will be two tracks immediately to the west of UP's new line.

Here's a Google map of the area--the revision is in the region north and east of the pointer for what was the main intersection in Bensenville (this still shows the new UP line under construction, and the interim alignment):  http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&rls=en&oe=UTF-8&q=bensenville+illinois&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x880fb39241e07189:0xf703c58eeeaf3ff8,Bensenville,+IL&gl=us&ei=gyqsT8PqKceUsALFvoCfAg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CDcQ8gEwAg

[jeffhergert]

CShaveRR

--Of course, at Clinton, we'll have the new high bridge over the Mississippi River, and a new yard west of town to replace/supplant the one in town, with mainline refueling pads, etc.

Carl, the talk going around for a while now says they may use a lift bridge to replace the swing bridge.  Even though they would like a fixed span bridge, they are having trouble getting the land needed to go high over the river.  Still sounds like the Low Moor yard will still be built.

I missed this month's union meeting, but last month they had a Blair subdivn construction update.  The yard office is going to move from Missouri Valley to California Jct, about 5 miles to the west.  Currently, Mo Valley is an away from home terminal for the long pools out of Clinton and North Platte, no one is based there.  The yrd office construction has been pushed back a few months, but here is the interesting tidbit.  The parking area around the yard office is planned for 300 - 500 parking spaces.  All the crews based in the OMC area wouldn't need that many spots.  Could the hand writing be on the wall for running thru Boone and Clinton?  A movable bridge at Clinton would still cause headaches during the navigation season though.  We will just have to wait and see.

Jeff  

[mudchicken]

PDN:

Suspect at least one of those "Tunnels" is a Big R prefabricated structural plate arch (from talking to the Big R plant people up in Greeley recently). If so, the sand backfill and some grouting would be required.....The key will be pouring the concrete footers/ haunches atop the piling tthat the arch keys into. If they widen the tracks to fit a universal crossover, then the shoofly component needed for the structural plate arch is already there.

[CShaveRR]

Thanks for that, Paul...the construction method makes sense, but I don't expect that the line could be closed for any length of time, even during the night (though they did a lot of work at night on the control point east of Elmhurst and the Lombard crossovers). 

Haven't seen any of the tunnel sections yet, but I will be on the lookout for them!  There are four tunnels that I know of that will be built under this line:  Bellwood station, Berkeley station, Lombard station, and this one.  Berkeley appears to be the farthest along, Lombard's hasn't been started yet.  At Bellwood and Berkeley, yard tracks could be used as a detour (it's been done in the past--I've even seen a meet between scoots on the Proviso departure tracks!), provided the powers that be allow it.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

CShaveRR

  [snipped - PDN]  Work is progressing in the vicinity of Chase Street in Wheaton, where the next set of crossovers is due to be installed.  First, though, a pedestrian tunnel is to be built under the tracks there (the grade crossing will be eliminated, but that remains a major route between Wheaton College and lots of student housing).  Pilings have been driven and some fill sand was being moved in today.  Not sure why fill sand is needed at a tunnel site, but it was being dumped on the low side of the tracks.  Perhaps the distance between tracks will be widened to current UP standards for the crossovers to be built.

I'll speculate that probably the sand will be used for backfill of the tunnel excavation.  Likely the tunnel will be squarish precast concrete sections, and over a weekend closure or curfew of 1 or 2 tracks at a time, the hole for the tunnel will be excavated, a thin sand layer placed and leveled for the tunnel section to rest on, and then the tunnel section craned into place.  More sand will then be used to fill the spaces around the sides of the tunnel sections, and maybe a little sand on top as well to protect it and any waterproofing membrane there from the sharp points of the ballast stones above.  In such confined spaces and tight schedules, sand has the handy ability to compact quickly and easily to fill voids - it takes some effort, but not as much as anything else except concrete - yet drains well to prevent the accumulation of much water. 

- Paul North.    

[CShaveRR]

Actually, Jim, the stretch between Kedzie and about Maywood hasn't seen too much action since CNW tore out the Kenton Avenue Interlocking after all of the tracks were lowered for stack trains.

Some of the bigger projects haven't been begun yet.  I foresee big things for:

--Noble Street to California Avenue:  Probable relocation of Western Avenue crossing to the vicinity of Noble Street and a track swap with Metra as far as Western Avenue.

--Vale to 19th Street:  Third main track (includes new or expanded bridge over the Des Plaines River).

--Lombard:  Overpass for Great Western Trail (land now cleared), tunnel at station (this year and/or next).

--Wheaton:  Pedestrian overpass at or near passenger station.

--West Chicago (Kress) to Peck/Keslinger:  Third track, including grade separation at Roosevelt Road (has to include replacement of Randall Road overpass, the nearly-new Peck/Keslinger overpass, and a new span across the Fox River, possibly on existing piers.

--West of Elburn:  Concrete ties, Track 2 (Elburn to Rochelle), widened distance between tracks.

--Rochelle to Nelson or Clinton:  Concrete ties, both main tracks, widened distance between tracks.

--Of course, at Clinton, we'll have the new high bridge over the Mississippi River, and a new yard west of town to replace/supplant the one in town, with mainline refueling pads, etc.

Now these are just the A&B expenditures I've heard mentioned, either in connection with UP or Metra.  I'm sure there may be others, and I'm just as sure that I'll never see some of these.  My own "wish list" for desired projects contains a few more exciting things.  The concrete-tie project on the main lines was abandoned when the economy tanked, and it may never come if the projected power-plant closings happen and coal traffic dwindles.  But looking at urbanization of this whole line, I'd think that cases could be made for extensions of Metra service as far as Maple Park (still in Kane County) or, with the inclusion of DeKalb County in the Metra district, beyond to Cortland and DeKalb.  UP would, of course, require a third track to be installed for this.

What's the disclaimer here...The preceding material contains forward-looking statements that are not statements of historical fact.  Forward-looking statements speak only of, and are based only on information available on, the date the statements were made.  Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results.  And so on.

[zardoz]

Carl,

Thanks to your timely dissemination of information of construction, I hereby nominate this thread to have the official subtitle of "Geneva Subdivision Triple-Track Updates".

Is there any part of the old Geneva sub (west of Western Ave) that has not been rebuilt recently?

[CShaveRR]

Well, you can call me "Mudturkey" today.  (No, I'm not a bigger bird than the Mudchicken, but I'm probably a lot...well, "Turkier"!)

Errands were run on the bicycle today, in spite of a forecast for scattered showers.  I thought I was being prudent when I decided to go to Wheaton instead of Elmhurst, saving a mile or so in each direction.  But somebody in Glen Ellyn must have wanted me to stay--I was caught in sudden (as in two minutes before it was sunny) showers as I attempted to leave the town in either direction.  Yes, I have the muddy stripe up my back from the rear tire.

There was plenty of railroad action along this route, which (thanks to the old CA&E roadbed, now the Illinois Prairie Path, paralleling the UP main most  of the way) kept me close to the tracks.  This was in spite of the fact that one of the tracks appeared to be out of service.  Stack trains predominated (including a well-choreographed meet in downtown Wheaton), but there were a couple of manifests as well.

Work is progressing in the vicinity of Chase Street in Wheaton, where the next set of crossovers is due to be installed.  First, though, a pedestrian tunnel is to be built under the tracks there (the grade crossing will be eliminated, but that remains a major route between Wheaton College and lots of student housing).  Pilings have been driven and some fill sand was being moved in today.  Not sure why fill sand is needed at a tunnel site, but it was being dumped on the low side of the tracks.  Perhaps the distance between tracks will be widened to current UP standards for the crossovers to be built.

[CShaveRR]

On the way home I made a brief Internet stop in DeKalb (got a reply to an e-mail I'd sent in Rochelle), during which three westbound trains (stack, coal, and manifest) all blew through.  Kind of nice to see a freight (the stacker) moving faster than the 50-mph limit that had been imposed in Metra territory.  And this was right through downtown DeKalb...yeeee-HAH!  (They're allowed 70, and I wouldn't have been surprised if he was doing all of that.)

[CShaveRR]

I don't know if anyone else knew this before (I didn't, but I haven't been here in a while):  the Rochelle Railroad Park has wi-fi.  So, greetings from under the shed!

In the 35 minutes or so that I've been here, it's been all BNSF, train-wise:  three intermodals, two westbound and one eastbound. 

UP did provide two excuses to block BNSF, though--a westbound hi-rail truck and an eastbound set of light power:  four units, the fourth of which was UP 1995--the C&NW Heritage unit!

[zardoz]

CNW 6000

 

zardoz:

 

 

CNW 6000:

You're welcome Carl.  I had a Wookie Steak for dinner tonight.  Surely you've had one...you know, a little Chewy?  Hehe...

 

 

I'm not sure whether to giggle or groan....

 

 

I'd opt for a little of both.  Especially since yesterday was "The Revenge of the Fifth"...

 

Of course, then there's "The Return of the Sixth"....

[CShaveRR]

A little chewy must have been kinda cute...that's why I didn't nibble at him.

[rvos1979]

zardoz

 

CNW 6000:

 

zardoz:

CNW 6000:

You're welcome Carl.  I had a Wookie Steak for dinner tonight.  Surely you've had one...you know, a little Chewy?  Hehe...

I'm not sure whether to giggle or groan....

I'd opt for a little of both.  Especially since yesterday was "The Revenge of the Fifth"...

Decision made: GROAN

We will now have a moment of silence for the joke that just died......

[zardoz]

CNW 6000

 

zardoz:

 

 

CNW 6000:

You're welcome Carl.  I had a Wookie Steak for dinner tonight.  Surely you've had one...you know, a little Chewy?  Hehe...

 

 

I'm not sure whether to giggle or groan....

 

 

I'd opt for a little of both.  Especially since yesterday was "The Revenge of the Fifth"...

 

Decision made: GROAN 

[mudchicken]

EdB & PDN:

Do they make coin operated pin & knuckle vending machines? and maybe a little grease & a brush dispenser to go beside it? (I sense a business oportunity if Hulcher doesn't move in pretty pronto.)

[CNW 6000]

zardoz

CNW 6000:

You're welcome Carl.  I had a Wookie Steak for dinner tonight.  Surely you've had one...you know, a little Chewy?  Hehe...

 

 

I'm not sure whether to giggle or groan....

I'd opt for a little of both.  Especially since yesterday was "The Revenge of the Fifth"...

[CShaveRR]

zardoz

 

CShaveRR:

 

And, if I hear that joke about the boatload of salad dressing going down on this date one more time...

 

Carl, do not, I repeat, do NOT go the 'humor' thread for a few days.

 

 

I wonder if I could have gotten $120 million for "The Scream" I just uttered.  Do you suppose somebody egged him on?

That's it...I'm sticking with Miracle Whip!

[tree68]

CShaveRR

Air Force Weather Agency at Offutt AFB!"

Once known as "Global Weather Central."

Spent about half of my USAF time in Air Weather Service, a predecessor to AFWA (the other half was either spent in schools or in an "installation" squadron, installing and removing weather equipment).

Congrats, Willy!

Just remembered, I need to buy more "Miracle Whip."