Observation and a question.
AOK must have picked up some UP boxcars (built by Gunderson on 2002). Seems young. 354xxx for those interested - they kept the old UP numbers.
Question - there was a boxcar owned by one of the lease outfits (MWCX I think, but don't quote me). It was a patched blue boxcar with an old logo from a previous owner. It was a circle with some arrows and stars, red blue and white, I believe (it was pretty faded). I know I've seen that logo before, but I can't remember who it belonged to.
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
switch7frg Carl; Train watching can be as good as a soothing sauve can be. Good luck to on the dentist visit. Cannonball
Carl; Train watching can be as good as a soothing sauve can be. Good luck to on the dentist visit.
Cannonball
You're absolutely right! And I need to get out and do some! Desperately.It's been two days since the big snow, and we haven't really gotten out much. Pat wants to get out, I want to get out. Now if we could just agree on what we want to accomplish while we're out...Tooth is repaired, with a temporary crown on it, and I haven't eaten any solid cheese since getting it. Next visit to the dentist (impression for new crown) is in five days. Cardio visit is now in two weeks. I just got an interesting download from one of my freight-car-freak friends, concerning all of the remaining 86-foot hi-cube box cars. Lots of good information to go through. How this guy succeeds in things I've been working on for years I'll never know (he's been wondering the same thing about me, no doubt...different projects...).
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)
Y6bs evergreen in my mind
Got about six inches or so here at the house, as I was shoveling this morning, I thought that a snow blower might not be a bad investment after all......
Went out in the snow to get taxes done yesterday, along with a few errands, saw a northbound go by with a block of INRD hoppers after getting our fire extinguisher filled, then after lunch, a southbound rolled through. Burlington Job has been very late the last few days, must be different call times. Exercised the four wheel drive in the pickup, roads too slick for that diesel power........
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
Today was snow-quester day here. I got out for a lab test, but my cardiologist appointment was cancelled (the doctor had an operation to do in another hospital), so we stayed home after about 9:45 this morning. Roads were already slick by then.I noted, while out, that freight trains were running at normal speeds, and there were enough of them (caught three, just on the way to and from the lab work in Glen Ellyn. I monitor the Metra service updates for the UP West Line and the BNSF route, and noted only three reports all day. This morning BNSF had to skip stops east of Hinsdale on one train because it was loaded to capacity (an extra followed and picked up the missed passengers). And this evening, two trains on UP West were delayed by heavy passenger loading (imagine that--two fat folks in the same rush hour trying to board!).We shoveled about six inches of snow off our driveway and sidewalks late this afternoon. It's tapering off, and we anticipate about two or three more inches to take care of in the morning. Schools here were not closed today, though daughter Ellen was stuck at home with the grandkids today.
It would have gone through within an hour of noon, Dan. I can't exactly remember.I have to go back to the dentist in Elmhurst today. They were going to start work next week on replacing a loose crown, but said crown came out completely Saturday (helpful hint: a cube of cheese will remove anything loose in one's mouth). I might go a little early for train-watching; I'll use Metra, because I need the exercise of walking to and from the stations.
Today is a gray day; tomorrow is supposed to be an absolutely white day (reports say that we will get more snow, projected amounts range from four to ten inches). And I have a cardiologist appointment tomorrow; it's possible that my choice to use Metra will be very prudent. That trip will take me west to Winfield, so I might be able to see any recent progress on the crossovers in Wheaton (assuming it isn't buried).Plenty of freight-car stuff to keep me distracted today.
Paul_D_North_Jr OK, zug - what's up with the "Protected by Lebanon Levi" tag line ?!? I presume it relates to the nearby city of Lebanon, PA (which had some pretty heavy rail action back in the day). Or are you "channeling" the 1985 Harrison Ford movie Witness ? (see: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090329/ ) - Paul North.
OK, zug - what's up with the "Protected by Lebanon Levi" tag line ?!? I presume it relates to the nearby city of Lebanon, PA (which had some pretty heavy rail action back in the day). Or are you "channeling" the 1985 Harrison Ford movie Witness ? (see: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090329/ )
- Paul North.
Not quite:
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/amish-mafia/about-the-show/about-the-show.htm
Unrelated, while out your way last week I got some interesting shots of the junction just south of the Harrisburg Amtrak station, coal hopper TILX 48941 (and mates) at PPL's Brunner Island Power Plant (equipped with both Rapid Discharge bottom doors and rotary couplers for that method, too), and the Chemetron rail welding plant just south of Steelton rail mill. As soon as I reactivate one of my on-line photo accounts and upload them, I'll post the links here for anyone who's interested. (Carl - interested in some detail shots of the deck modifications to MTTX 930150 for 78 - 80 +/- ft. long rail service from the mill to the welding plant ?)
Not "light" power, but "lite" power. Unless it's a power company's engine.
I got bored one day and looked up "light" and "lite". Sorta kinda makes sense.
When did that light power move go Carl? I've always been amused by the term "light power"...as the units are pretty heavy.
Dan
CShaveRR Zug, you get weekends off? With your seniority (sorry!)?I retired being unable to hold weekends off (Monday and Tuesday were my days off, but it was on the day shift.). One thing I'd forgotten to report about my little trip to Elmhurst yesterday was the mad dash made through town by the two CNW Dash 9s, 8646 and 8701. Instead of taking a block of cars to West Chicago, they were running light. Not sure why.
Zug, you get weekends off? With your seniority (sorry!)?I retired being unable to hold weekends off (Monday and Tuesday were my days off, but it was on the day shift.).
One thing I'd forgotten to report about my little trip to Elmhurst yesterday was the mad dash made through town by the two CNW Dash 9s, 8646 and 8701. Instead of taking a block of cars to West Chicago, they were running light. Not sure why.
We have guys with 2 years holding regular locals.
I hold the midnight yard job, weekends off. I know how lucky I am.
I missed a good one up here...right by us, too.
CN and CP going right by each other by the Denfield Rd....
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
hey... we survived another week.
Carl,
Next time I come down I'll visit for sure. I had to fly north sooner than expected due to work. I have to say I did enjoy the limited sightseeing I did.
Off to bed!
Not much to report today, except a couple of casual observations:
Serendipity is when the ATWS system goes off and nothing is showing...yet! (Both trains hit at about the same time, and I was on the right side!)Two eastbound freights within about 20 minutes of each other...both loads of ethanol. How unusual is that?
Welcome to our humble little city, Dan! (I'm only a day early for Sarcastics Awareness Month.)
Today we had 15 movements in four hours past my observation point in the Sheldon Peck Homestead Museum by the Grace Control Point in Lombard. It takes at least four scoot sets to run the midday service on the UP West Line; I caught seven Metra movements while there, missing the numbers on the last one. Of the four sets I noted, each had a different number of cars (4, 5, 7, and 8). It appears that the same train has the same number of cars from day to day (for example, the train due in Lombard at 12:20 will always have four coaches, and that train probably would return at 2:04 (or maybe 3:04).Two of the moves noted today were light-engine movements: three units westbound at 10:42 and two units eastbound at 1:15.
The most interesting move was a nearly-solid train of Case and New Holland combines, headed east with only one unit, at 11:16.
There were three stack trains in this time (two west, one east). The eastbound had three units on the point and one DP in the middle. One of the westbounds had three units, the other only two (but more than half of his train was empty tubs).
There was also a westbound manifest (one UP and one NS unit), and a westbound auto-rack train with three units.Oh...I was also doing volunteer work at the museum. We had 385 guests from inner-city schools taking tours today.
Holy cow, Chi-cago!
Greetings from E. Wacker Drive in Downtown Chicago. I managed to catch a few SB CN and WSOR trains on my trip south through the snow/drifts/slush. I'll be in town for a few days for the Livestrong National Assembly. Might have a chance to see some sights tomorrow or Friday evening. All in all...not a bad trip down. I walked downtown tonight to get some local food (pizza) and then decided to head back here due to the rain.
Off to upload to Flickr...
Happy post-hunker-down day!We spent a bit more than an hour shoveling about four inches of snow off surfaces that needed it (Pat did the short walk to the front door and the driveway; I did the driveway apron to remove what the plow had left, our front sidewalk, most of the neighbor's front walk, and the walk to our patio). Then, because it was warm enough, we did our errands on foot. Both of us went to the Historical Society, Pat went to the library while I went to a bank, we met up for lunch, then Pat went to the drug store while I went to the other bank. And that's when things began to get interesting on the UP!While we were eating lunch, an eastbound stack train passed through...short one, with only one unit. That was the only freight train we saw while we were having lunch. We then walked toward the bank and the drug store. After I finished with the banking, I heard the crossing-gate bells at Elizabeth Street. Coming at me was an eastbound manifest (I'd guess MDMPR, but I've been away too long to be sure), moving very slowly. A CN EMD 8900-series EMD unit was the second of three. The freight crawled a few carlengths across the street, then stopped short of activating the bell for the depot walkway. This train, by the way, was on Track 1, where I would have expected to see the next eastbound scoot in about five minutes.Pat got done at the drug store, and we walked back toward the station, since we couldn't cross the tracks at the street any more. As we got up to the engines and could see around them (the lead GE startled Pat with an air-compressor "whoooop"), we noted that the passengers were waiting on Track 3 to board. And about then the scoot arrived and left with all of the riders (except for one who didn't make it to the other side). I expected the scoot to cross over at Grace, but he had a high green, and continued down Track 3. It was then that I noticed a couple of other things: the freight train, which was still strung out across two grade crossings and stopped short of the depot walkway, had a stop signal at Grace on Track 1. And just beyond Grace on Track 2 was the hind end of the stack train we'd seen at lunch. I didn't know why the signal wasn't lined for the freight. A lady waiting for the next outbound scoot, due in about ten minutes, was confused by the eastbound on Track 3, and wondered which side she'd need to use to catch the westbound. We told her that it would be on the same side (Track 3), because Track 1 was already taken. I figured that the westbound scoot would have to wait east of Elmhurst for the eastbound to get out of its way, which would probably make it a few minutes late. So I was surprised when a five-minute warning came at close to the scheduled time.And when the scoot's headlight showed up around the curve, it was on Track 1. The prospective lady passenger panicked again, and asked what side she should be on. "Stay right here," I told her. And I made sure she was watching when the scoot crossed over at Grace and stopped with one door right in front of her.As soon as the scoot got out of the way, I noticed two things again: the stack train on Track 2 had moved on, and the signal for Track 1 was now lined up for the freight. Just then, he whistled off and moved through.
So why all of the strange routings? (Keep in mind that in Elmhurst and Villa Park, the trains in both directions would have been on the "wrong" side.) The eastbound scoot was on Track 3 because MDMPR was on Track 1--that was simple enough. But why didn't the westbound come all the way out on 3, and the eastbound cross over at Grace ahead of MDMPR? The stack train on Track 2 probably was part of the equation--apparently it had to go into Global 2. By putting the westbound on Track 1, it gave him a chance to get in more quickly than he otherwise would have if he had to wait for the eastbound, and the eastbound on Track 3 was completely out of the way of both of the Proviso-bound freights. It looked strange, but was probably the slickest move possible under the circumstances. However, the people waiting for the freight and two scoots at Elizabeth and Finley Road may not have appreciated it so much. (Why MDMPR didn't stay stopped west of Finley I don't know, but it would have made things a lot less interesting for us!)
When the freight finally cleared, we headed home. A westbound stack train blew through before we got back to the crossing. So we had five trains in sight in about a half hour. And I have a few more freight-car sightings to check out.
We're hunkering down today, and it seems like the railroad might have beaten us to it. Last Thursday I had 17 trains in about four hours; today it was only seven trains in 2 1/2 hours: four scoots (four different train sets), a stack train in each direction, and a loaded EDGX coal train for Sheboygan, Wisconsin (two units on the point, and one DPU).
The snow started falling (as graupel) at about 10:30 this morning; by noon we had had several inches of very heavy stuff down. It hasn't let up at all, and we are currently expecting about seven inches. We didn't get any rain in the mix, but I suspect that this snow is considerably heavier than the 10:1 ratio you commonly hear about. This is probably the heaviest (in more ways than one!) snowfall of the winter for us.
Our old pal Colin ("MetraKid2") was very lucky a couple of days ago...in one day he caught (and got videos) of two separate moves featuring NS heritage units on the point...the Illinois Terminal unit was leading a string of tank cars west on BNSF (someone else caught it at Rochelle), and the Erie unit on a WEPX train coming in on UP and bound for Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
The architect has posted his sign in front of our house...that's the first indication that something's going to happen.
The freight cars that I've seen them mostly on are the newer coal hoppers/gons.
A few months back we did have a short (just under 1 mile) manifest that had an anglecock turn partially while we moving about 2/3rds back in the train. It didn't close completely, but enough that the rear end pressure started dropping, without showing any air flow on the head end. Only time I've had that happen.
Jeff
I've used them other places, as Zug mentions, but never on the brake line. The handles we have seem to lock positively enough (lift, turn, drop) - never had one change.
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...
Similar design to a lot of the A&R, MU, and actuating hose anglecocks that the locomotives have. Guess it's some sort of self locking thing. They seem susceptible to dust and ice, though. At least in my experience and opinion. Around here, they first started popping up on certain flat cars and boxcars with the anglecock located directly under the drawbar (another design favorite of mine!).
Won't let me directly link to the NYAB page, though. Search for 1 1/4" Ball Type End Cock with Locking Handle - Brass Body. Gives you an idea of what I'm babbling about.
PS: it actually let me type anglecock? Color me surprised.
zugmann It's the small things. What's with these spring loaded anglecocks? The old ones too simple, thus had to be modernized? These things seem more trouble than they're worth...
What's with these spring loaded anglecocks? The old ones too simple, thus had to be modernized?
These things seem more trouble than they're worth...
Anybody got a close-up photo of one ?
Is there any operational benefit to them ? Otherwise, it seems that they're just one more thing to go wrong, one more set of parts that the car inspector will have to look at and the storekeeper or car shop will have to stock (and not have when needed). Or, the parts manufacturer(s) needed a new proprietary part to increase their revenues and profits ?!?
zardoz zugmann It's the small things. What's with these spring loaded anglecocks? The old ones too simple, thus had to be modernized? These things seem more trouble than they're worth... Progress is always change, but change is not always progress.
It's the small things.
Rgds IGN
You talking about the ones that look a little like clothespins?I didn't have problems with the old ones, either.
Yesterday (finally!) ground was broken for the grade-separation project in Bensenville, which will take CP's two tracks over Irving Park Road (AKA Illinois Highway 19). This bridge will be sandwiched between UP's new bridge over this highway and York Road, a busy street parallel to the tracks at this point. From the conceptual illustration, it appears that this bridge will be longer than UP's, requiring a center pier in the median (it probably will accommodate turn lanes that UP's bridge doesn't have to). Reports name all of the governmental agencies involved in this project (part of the CREATE program), and mention that Metra and CP are both involved...interesting, because Metra doesn't use this route. It's possible, I guess, that the sharp curve that takes this line into Bensenville Yard might be alleviated by taking this line over Metra's track in the area, a move that would also eliminate a conflict between these trains and the Metra route. Stay tuned...we might get out that way from time to time.
As alluded to yesterday, I was trackside for this morning and early afternoon. The really nasty weather won't hit for a few hours yet, but it was raw out there (even though actual temperatures are warmer than yesterday). Fortunately, I spent very little of my time outside, and was able to perform my job at the museum while looking out the window, for the most part. Here's a summary of what came through.
0915: Eastbound manifest, crossing over from Track 1 to Track 2.
0921: Westbound scoot on Track 3.
0928: Eastbound stack train (three units on the point, plus a DP on the hind end). Crossed over from Track 1 to Track 3.
(When I saw that crossover move, I figured that this stack train was headed around the yard and into the city. Crossing over here would give a westbound freight a chance to leave Proviso without waiting for this guy. And, sure enough...)0948: Westbound manifest, on Track 2.
1005: Eastbound scoot, on Track 1. (No westbound scoot this hour.)
1033: Local train LPJ-02 westbound on Track 2, with CNW Dash 9s 8646 and 8701...the last two units in CNW paint and numbers.
1046: CWEX empties westbound on Track 3. Three units on the point, no DP unit.
1109: Eastbound scoot (eight coaches) on Track 1.
1118: Westbound scoot (five coaches) on Track 3.1127: Eastbound stack train on Track 1. Three units on the point.
1140: Westbound manifest, Track 3. Two units.
1146: Westbound stack train on Track 2. Sounded horn for the grade crossing, because...
1146: Eastbound repo train on Track 1. ("Repo" in this instance referring to empty stack cars being repositioned for their next load)
1218: Westbound scoot on Track 3, four coaches (no eastbound scoot this hour).
At this point we changed venues for lunch.
1252: Westbound auto racks--track unknown, but definitely not Track 1!
1304: Eastbound scoot, Track 1; four coaches.
1320: Westbound scoot, Track 3, six coaches.
So we had 17 trains go through in a little over four hours. Roughly four trains per hour. If you take away the scoots, that's ten freights. Another freight was staging at Finley Road when we left; it would eventually head east on Track 2.Just a thought...it didn't seem like it at the time, but this passage of trains probably meant that the gates at the nearby grade crossing were lowered between 20 and 25 percent of the time we were there. (That doesn't count a couple of false activations that occurred around noon.)
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