BaltACDSince the CSX 800's all the CW & ES44AH's have been delivered equipped for DPU service.
The question I have though is this, can they work with other roads leaders and end of train units. That is, can a CSX unit control another roads end of train unit, or can a BNSF leader control a CSX end of train unit. Based on what I see on camera I am not so sure.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
AgentKid NorthWest Take note of the power involved. I'm not sure how many CSX and NS units(at least the ones they let roam that far from home rails) are set up for DPU. It seems as though the lead unit and rear unit have to both be BNSF or CPR units. If there are CSX or NS units they are either tucked behind a BNSF leader or they are all up front. I actually first noticed this on EB UP coal trains. Maybe Jeff can confirm. Bruce
NorthWest
Take note of the power involved. I'm not sure how many CSX and NS units(at least the ones they let roam that far from home rails) are set up for DPU. It seems as though the lead unit and rear unit have to both be BNSF or CPR units. If there are CSX or NS units they are either tucked behind a BNSF leader or they are all up front. I actually first noticed this on EB UP coal trains. Maybe Jeff can confirm.
Since the CSX 800's all the CW & ES44AH's have been delivered equipped for DPU service.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
NorthWestJust saw a loaded oil train on the BNSF without a DPU.
Haha...
Just saw a loaded oil train on the BNSF without a DPU.I've never seen that before.
Before posting my last entry here, I double checked an old employee timetable. (I actually remember seeing the numbering on the old manual key-controller box at crossing signals.) On the Clinton or East Iowa subdivision they had a couple of areas of "Controlled Block." Something close to, but not CTC. In those areas, the numbering seems to have been reversed with #1 being the north track. (I'm not sure if they were still using the old Consolidated Code or had switched to GCOR at that time. I'd have to go look.)
Jeff
You're correct, Jeff. The CNW tracks were numbered with the southernmost track being Track 1. I always refer to October 1, 1995, as the day the railroad was turned upside-down. It was also the start of the meltdown. For a while the dispatcher was making sure people had the proper track by doubling down on things. "Track 1--the north track."I just think of my old employer when remembering where Track 1 is. It's either the north track or the west track. NorthWest...get it? Or "Nort'west", if you're a real Chicago oldtimer.Ironic, that when there was a Nort'western, this didn't apply.
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)
The main track numbering is found in GCOR (rule book) of which both railroads are a party to. On east/west subdivisions, the northern most track is #1. On north/south subdivisions, the western most track is #1.
As I recall, in CNW days, the westward track in current of traffic territory was the south track and was designated #1. That changed once the UP took over. (The track numbering, not the current of traffic.)
In the earlier post I said, "main" when referring to the BNSF. Actually, there's two main tracks on the BNSF Aurora Sub (C&I Line) through Rochelle. The C&I Line is single track from where it splits from the Chicago Sub in Aurora to Steward (MP 77.3) with five sidings. From Steward, just southeast of Rochelle, to Flag Center (MP 86.3) there are two mains. Main #1 is the track closest to the cam and #2 is the track farthest from the cam. So, according to the timetable, there's nine miles of two main tracks. West of Flag Center to Plum River (MP 142.3) is single track again with seven sidings per the 2010 timetable.
CC
5:30 PM CDT. BNSF rail train eastbound.
What I have noticed on my travels that between Denver and Chicago and west of St. Paul, is that the North track is #1 and the South track is #2. Incidentally, BNSF lineside signals have the track number as the first digit of the signal number--and from a little west of Pacific Junction on, you will have six digits in the signal number as you travel on the former GN--track number, milepost number, and nearest east tenth mile (odd going west, even going east) number.
Johnny
Chris30#1 is the north track (farthest from the cam) / #2 is the south main
Thanks for that, Chris. I was a little afraid that UP had inherited something different from C&NW (with C&NW having been built for left-handed running per the original British financing). I'll try to remember these track designations now.
Is the '400' truck name somehow related to C&NW's old "Route of the 400s" slogan? The way unofficial names for locations or equipment stick and even become official is interesting.
What about BNSF? Are their track designations the same (#1 west and #2 east)? With CTC and bidirectional signaling, these designations have lost their importance but it's still nice to be able to use the correct terms.
ChuckAllen, TX
6/23/15 - 12:30pm
UP has track & time authority on both mains - #1 is the north track (farthest from the cam) / #2 is the south main. There's '400' truck (that's what the CN&W called them) that's sitting on #2 working on the diamonds with the crane picking stuff up from the north side of the ROW. The UP utility truck also has the BNSF main blocked.
Lots of MoW folks gathered on the north side of the RoW and, just as I opened the window, I saw something (?) slowly moving west on the UP. Something might have been a flat but it had something on it that made me think of a rail train. Camera resolution wasn't good enough for any more detail than that.
Might be something interesting going on today.
BTW, what are the track designations here? "Standard" (traditional) practice would be for the UP track nearest the camera to be designated track 2 (even=east and all that) and the nearest BNSF track would be track #1. Does that hold true on both roads at this location?
0919 CT - UP putting up Red Boards Westbound
A storm just passed through - plenty of lighting and rain, with some wind. No trains while I had the cam up.
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...
just logged in, first train I caught was an empty tank train WB UP, track #2. 17.18 0622 2015
jeffhergert Most environmentalists abandoned support for ethanol a few years ago. About the time it started becoming viable.Jeff
Most environmentalists abandoned support for ethanol a few years ago. About the time it started becoming viable.Jeff
Oh, it's viable, all right. But using corn to make it is energy-neutral at best, and is not profitable in a true free-market environment (i.e., no government tax subsidies, and no manufacturers having to burn off sunk costs in manufacturing capacity incurred when said subsidies existed) until oil gets up to about $125 a barrel. Which will happen eventually. . If we want to leverage efficiency, we'd be much better off growing sugar cane (or paying Brazilians to grow sugar cane) for ethanol.
Now - if we can interest someone named Godchaux into opening up new narrrow-gauge sugar railroads with steam power that burn what they haul... :)
Most environmentalists abandoned support for ethanol a few years ago. About the time it started becoming viable.
tree68I don't think anyone (except the ethanol producers and environmentalists) is much of a fan of ethanol...
Not the denatured variety, anyway.
cefinkjr(We're not real big fans of ethanol in Texas.)
I don't think anyone (except the ethanol producers and environmentalists) is much of a fan of ethanol...
i've caught UP tanker trains almost daily, I've no idea where they are coming from, but it does seem BNSF has a few more than UP. The UTO's we hear and not see, could be them coming and going.
cefinkjr Oil train EB on UP OS at 11:32. Don't think I've seen crude moving through here on UP before. Is this new business or have I just been missing it?
Oil train EB on UP OS at 11:32.
Don't think I've seen crude moving through here on UP before. Is this new business or have I just been missing it?
The UP has been running a crude oil train coming out of Colorado every so often. I don't know if it alternates routings, but it seems like it shows up a few times a week and then nothing for awhile.
AgentKid cefinkjr Don't think I've seen crude moving through here on UP before. Is this new business or have I just been missing it? It could be from the Eagle Ford field in Texas, I think it is called, on its way to east coast refineries. but I believe the big gig for UP unit tank trains is ethanol from points west of Rochelle. Bruce
cefinkjr Don't think I've seen crude moving through here on UP before. Is this new business or have I just been missing it?
It could be from the Eagle Ford field in Texas, I think it is called, on its way to east coast refineries. but I believe the big gig for UP unit tank trains is ethanol from points west of Rochelle.
I don't know for sure but I would think that Eagle Ford crude would go to Gulf Coast refineries. Also, if it goes to the East Coast, Rochelle would be pretty much out of the way; there are shorter, less congested routes between South Texas and Philadelphia.
Maybe it's ethanol. I hadn't thought of that. (We're not real big fans of ethanol in Texas.)
cefinkjrDon't think I've seen crude moving through here on UP before. Is this new business or have I just been missing it?
tree68Being the curious fellow I am, I started digging, finally finding a reference in the FCC database for a tower at 41-54-11.0N 089-06-05.6W.
On the SW side of the main building at Global III.
A poster over on the Trackside Guides forum wondered about a strobe apparently mounted on a line pole near the diamond.
Being the curious fellow I am, I started digging, finally finding a reference in the FCC database for a tower at 41-54-11.0N 089-06-05.6W.
It's a new permit, so may have recently been constructed and lit (with a strobe). It's new enough that it doesn't show up in current satellite imagery yet.
There's another tower at 41-57-36.1N 089-09-14.3W that is 600+ feet tall - tall enough that it might still be visible from Rochelle.
I'd opine that the strobe isn't on the line pole, but rather on a distant radio tower that just happens to line up with the webcam and the pole.
Interesting tidbit.
About that web page reloading business: I downloaded RefresherBand Class (YRefresher) and it seems to work very nicely with a manually set 480 second refresh rate ... until I pin the web site to my task bar. When I then return to the webcam site, the tool bar button is gone and I'm not able to get to the Add On Manager. Any suggestions?
1539 CT - T'storm with rain hitting the lens directly.
cefinkjr An EB UP train (very short, probably a local) just cleared the diamonds and the first thing I noticed was more noise (sounded like a wide gap) as each wheel hit the crossing nearest the web cam. Then I noticed that every car did a dip-and-bow as it crossed that diamond.
An EB UP train (very short, probably a local) just cleared the diamonds and the first thing I noticed was more noise (sounded like a wide gap) as each wheel hit the crossing nearest the web cam. Then I noticed that every car did a dip-and-bow as it crossed that diamond.
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