The Trackside Lounge 3Q 2012

[CShaveRR]

I took the afternoon to go out train-watching. First Elmhurst, where I dined trackside while scrutinizing the newly-installed eastward signals for the Park control point. Not nearly as complicated as I expected--only two heads per track. Now all I have to do is try to figure out what's happening when I see certain aspects. From the looks of things so far, I'll be seeing a lot more lunar-white in the future.

At West Chicago, the action was very perpetual (I wanted to say "nonstop", but the truth is, a few trains were stopped while waiting for the others to cross the diamonds). In one hour or less, I caught two trains on CN, four freights and two scoots on UP. And going home, I found the UP main line was alive with more freights waiting to get through (or, in the case of one coal train, just waiting).

I had been planning on checking out "my" cactus plant in West Chicago, but I never got there, due to the downtown action.

Perhaps the neatest sight on this trip was a westbound stack train, stopped short of the Sunset Avenue crossing near West Chicago.  Power was four brand-new ES44ACs--two 7900s and two 8000s, including UP 8000.

[jeffhergert]

CShaveRR

 

Perhaps the neatest sight on this trip was a westbound stack train, stopped short of the Sunset Avenue crossing near West Chicago.  Power was four brand-new ES44ACs--two 7900s and two 8000s, including UP 8000.

Well, that explains why they are renumbering the SD9043 8000 series into the 3400/3500 series.  The first time I came across a renumbering a while back was on a train that usually had SD9043 engines for power.  I thought it was great not to have one of them (censored) SD9043 engines, especially as a leader.  Imagine my surprise when looking through the engineer's paperwork.

Jeff

[CShaveRR]

Yesterday I had the pleasure of guiding Roger (never got his last name!), a retired police officer from Winchester, England, around our area.

As had been arranged, I met him at the platform in Elmhurst, after he arrived on a Pace bus from O'Hare.  I was happy enough to stay at the platform and familiarize myself with the new signals.  An eastbound scoot had gone through just before I got there, and right after I arrived a westbound manifest came out of the yard.  Of course, the signals at the interlocking were all red for that combination of moves.

But not long afterwards, an opportunity came for checking them out--and what a show!  First, the signal on Track 2 changed from red to lunar.  Then, the signal on Track 1 changed from red to lunar.  Then, the signal on Track 3 changed from red to high green!  I don't think I'd ever seen all three tracks with a simultaneous lineup like that before.

The first train in was the one on Track 2--a manifest from North Platte.  He headed in toward one of the departure tracks in the yard, so he must have been destined for NS or CSX (probably the latter...no telltale foreign power on it, but the "dirty-dirt" gondolas are usually an indicator).  This train's hind end was still in the plant when the scoot came in on Track 3 (normally inbounds are on Track 1).

Then two things happened:  the signal on Track 3 changed from red to Approach, meaning something was following the scoot.  And the train on Track 1 (another manifest from North Platte) finally showed up.  He was very long--had a DP unit mid-train, suggesting that he was well over two miles long (a DP at the end doesn't always work when train length exceeds 8500 feet or so, and there was as much or more of the train behind this unit as there was ahead of it).  While he was passing, the next eastbound on track 3--a stacker--showed up.  By then his signal was a flashing yellow.  I don't know if the Automatic Train Control got him or what, but not long after he passed this signal, his train came to a fairly quick stop.  Not too long after that, the air dumped somewhere.  The manifest also stopped, but was soon on the move again, so I'm sure the stacker was the one that lost its air.  Before that long manifest had cleared, he was on the move again.

From there on, we had the usual mixture of scoots and freights, mostly stack trains and coal trains.  At one point we got a pair of westbounds showing up at once, a stack train coming out of the yard and an auto-rack train from further east (the racks won that race, at least at first).  After that show, we decided to take a break that would include lunch.

But first, it included Proviso.  We went to the diesel shop and, without getting out of the car, Roger shot everything he could (sun position didn't help).  There was one string of at least a dozen more brand-new ES44ACs, with numbers going as high as 8035.

The Proviso hump seems to have been completely taken over by new six-axle gensets.  A truck from R. J. Corman was in attendance, with people looking over one of the units.  Much track-replacement work is going on in the bowl of the hump; the CRO we talked to says that the new tracks roll very well (that scares me...I don't know how I'd be able to work with something that works right!).  There are also new switches ready to install higher up on the leads.  We also observed and talked to a pin-puller/RCO on top of the hump, who told us how much training they get nowadays (I didn't know him...he hired out well after I'd retired).  Then a quick trip up to Yard 9, so Roger could see the end of Proviso that one rarely thinks about.  While there, we saw the downside to all of this new motive power we'd been seeing:  there was still a track full of older units--both EMD and GE--sitting there, in storage.  Some of these, no doubt, will be going back to lessors, but one wonders whether some of the others will be rebuilding fodder or so much scrap metal eventually.

Then lunch at Portillo's, where Roger seemed to enjoy his Chicago-style hot dog, and the decor.

Sign above one of the two urinals:  "Express Lane--two beers or less."

From there, we went over the Mannheim bridge for an overview of the yard, then through the western suburbs, following the tracks to West Chicago (we weren't close enough to really see them, but we encountered an eastbound manifest, a westbound scoot, and stack trains in both directions on this leg of the trip.  We arrived to see an eastbound stacker, then hung around the diamonds for a while.  Next train through was a southbound CN freight.  Roger was amazed to see that the power on this train was the same pair of units as he'd seen taking a train south through Blue Island three days earlier.  After the passing of both scoots in rapid succession, we checked out the BNSF's little yard (my cactus was still there!), so I could explain how West Chicago had become the first railroad junction in the west.  Then we headed back to Lombard.

But that doesn't mean we were done seeing trains...a westbound stack train wouldn't let us out of town for a while.  When we did get on the move, we saw a westbound auto-rack train at the curve by Sunset--I think Roger got a good shot of the train coming right at us.  Not two minutes later there was a westbound Com-Ed coal train at Winfield, then another westbound stacker west of Wheaton.  Finally, a westbound manifest was moving through Lombard.  We picked up Pat, and on the way to the airport to drop Roger off, we saw the northbound Roadrailer train on the new O-Hare bypass embankment, powered by a pair of NS GE units (too far away to catch the numbers).

Roger said that was about the busiest day of his trip to Chicagoland, with the possible exception of the weekend days spent around Chesterton and Porter (by the way, he strongly recommends Riley's Railhouse, the bed-and-breakfast in Chesterton, where he spent a couple of nights among the railroadiana).  It wasn't a bad day for me, either...I saw freight cars from two railroads that I'd heretofore not known of (one might just be the only piece of equipment that railroad operates!), and nearly filled my mini-legal pad with assorted sightings.  Now, on to the research and logging of all of this good stuff from the past two days!  (Can't wait to hear how many total UP locomotives Roger recorded on yesterday's trip.)

[AgentKid]

CNW 6000

CNW 1 is a former UP LNG fuel tender.  CN acquired it.  Here's a shot of it:

Dan, click the link below to find out what CNW 1 is up to now.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2012/09/27/edmonton-cn-natural-gas-train.html?cmp=rss

I don't know what is up with the caboose. I guess they thought it would look good for the media.

EDIT: I later realized it must be where testers and evaluators must ride, so it must be a fully outfitted caboose and will probably ride along on most of those engine's test runs.

Bruce

[CShaveRR]

Bruce, I think you're right.  I wouldn't be surprised if the caboose were very highly instrumented.

We're just back home after a weekend in the North Country...We had a party to attend in Pat's family, and the "last hurrah" of a quilt show in which Pat had a display and an entry.  Entry didn't win; display piece is going to a very special new home.

The highlights of the trip for me included a peek into Riley's Railhouse, the bed-and-breakfast in the old New York Central freight house in Chesterton, Indiana.  It's a very impressive remodeling job, with a large-enough "common room" large enough to host a good-sized party.  The old Santa Fe/South Shore caboose and the old CNW 40-foot box car on the premises will be converted to additional rooms.  While we were talking with the owner and his two large dogs, four or five freights blew through.  I don't think we were there for very long, but it was a nice visit.  Almost makes me wish I lived further away, or was capable of doing a Chicago-Chesterton bike trip.

At Michigan City, we saw a loaded train of ISGX coke cars.  It was in a perfect position for me to take a hike and obtain original numbers off several dozen of these cars.  Some were CSXT coal gons (ex-GSNX, GRDX, and SFIX), but most were ISGX Coal-veyors with UFIX origins and PMRX ancestry.  Over 20 of the ISGX cars and six CSXT cars had not been documented by me before.  The biggest challenge is that there is no pattern to the renumberings--I can't use the origins I find to project others.

I'm not sure where I'd find those ISGX loads before they come to Michigan City or after they leave, but there don't seem to be any big coke piles in Michigan City.  And today, when I wanted to clean up a couple of leftovers today on our way home, the cars were gone.

[CShaveRR]

A postscript to the train-watching trip with Roger from Winchester last Tuesday...Roger writes:

"From my view it was a wonderful day, and I enjoyed learning about your career and experiences with the railroad, and to then visit Proviso and see it all close up for myself was beyond my expectations. You can't buy experiences like that.

"I have examined my notes and photos and the day yielded 7 different Metra locos, 115 UP and 8 others (NS, CP and CN), including 78 UP at the 3 Proviso locations and 28 at Elmhurst. The freight in the yard at W Chicago was indeed one that had passed through Elmhurst earlier.

"I am glad you enjoyed the day as much as I did and it really was one of the highlights of my train watching career."

My week was made complete by this.

[Deggesty]

Paul_D_North_Jr

mudchicken

  It would appear the operating bubbas got bored/lonely and invited the Track, B&B and Mechanical troops out to a party (at double time of course, with the supervisors just getting cheaper) 

    Looks like a nice neighborhood - probably a couple eating establishments nearby that the railroaders could step into to cool off, re-hydrate, and get something to eat.  Plus, more than enough coal laying around to fuel the "mother of all barbeques", if someone would be so inclined - might even keep going as long as the reconstruction project lasts !

- Paul North. 

P.S. - Thanks to Jeff et al. for reviving the 'fenceposts' story - a great example of when logic and common sense fail (due to a lack of management communication).  I've only seen it in A Treasury of Railroad Folklore, edited by Bodkin and Harlow, as best as I can recall. - PDN. 

Paul, I honestly do not remember reading it the Treasury, but it may be there. As you say, it is an excellent example of what can be done, to the detriment of the company, when decision makers do not have the full information they need before making their decisions. As I am sure you know, it can be difficult to locate a particular anecdote in the book. Shall we revive the account of the dispatcher, the conductor, and the mules?

Today, I have enjoyed reading the first two weeks or so of the third quarter Cafe--I was out of contact for the first two and a half weeks of July. Once I was fit to use my new laptop, I took advantage of the nursing facility's free wireless service--and when I had to go back to the hospital because of a severe infection, I used the hospital's free service.

[Deggesty]

After posting the above, I realized that I was in the Lounge, and not the Cafe. So, to explain a comment or two, I had earlier posted a note in the Cafe about my return home yesterday from a thirteen week absence from home, which I spent in a hospital and skilled nursing facility (were they skilled! The personnel made it possible for me to be on my own again after being barely able to move).

[The Butler]

Link to next quarter's Lounge:

The Trackside Lounge 4Q 2012

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