I don't know about speed limits but I have noticed that most westbound UP traffic seems to increase speed as it passes the web cam. I've looked on Google Earth but can't see a reason for this. Both lines cross the same streets at grade as they approach from the east.
ChuckAllen, TX
At 2:35 CST the camera is up and running fine.
James
It's 2:30 CST on Monday and the webcam is seemingly down...I can hear an occassional gust of "wind" but the screen is pure white. Must be the sudden and significant pickup in the wind in these parts. Update at 2:35...it's back in operation...winds WNW at 23 mph and gusting to 40 mph lately.
BNSF seems to have a high speed limit over the crossing than does UP - is this an official policy, or does UP have other considerations in the area limiting speed?Also - how is the interlocking set up to handling conflicting movements? Does one line have default ROW, or is some sort of first-come, first-served order wired into the ciruits? And how far back is the "order of access" determined?
The track equipment is apparently a major tie replacement project which has been progressing eastward. Old wooden ties are being replaced with concrete. Generally a work train loaded with concrete ties and an excavator modified to handle ties on the rear distributes the ties ahead of the gang. Eventually the gang works its way unspiking and ejecting the old ties then inserting the new concrete ties. This is followed by clipping the rails and tamping/surfacing.
The welders were separate from the tie project; they were "local" maintenance forces trying to fix rough track issues UP is experiencing at the diamonds. Track 2 (closest to the camera) in particular, has quite a rocking problem which is quite visible on the cam.
Well, a little mid-afternoon arc welding going on on the diamond dearest the camera. Two bigger UP trucks and two track workers. Busy week manicuring the plant, I guess.
Blew $25 on a used LG 20" Flat Panel secondary monitor today (last of the big spenders ).
Rochelle now looks great. At least, I think it would if there were anything happening. The wind isn't even moving the tree tops!
rdettmer watching the tie gang right in front today. awesome
watching the tie gang right in front today. awesome
Back today for more. Four trucks and a track machine of some sort on the north UP track sitting west of the diamonds, plus a worker arc welding on the diamond of the south UP and west BNSF track. Busy times and an interesting show.
I'm not afraid of hard work; I can sit and watch it all day long.
Edit: Three or four minutes later, the tamper is now working east of the diamonds. Interesting. Dust. Noise.
Further Edit: This looks to be the Plasser Machine that was in use.
And...at 12:25 CST a WB UP stacker goes through on the south track. Window closed, at least partially.
lots of tie gang machines again today.looks like they are doing a lot of work on the cement ties side of the tracks.
Monday morning and there appears to be a hi-rail front loader on the north UP track and a white dump truck just north of the tracks. The plot is afoot.
JimInCRIs there anybody on site that knows more?
I've only been to Rochelle once (and only caught a couple of trains during my visit). But I've been to Deshler several times - all you have to hear is the sound of train after train hammering across those diamonds to know that they're taking a beating.
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...
Yes, more than a dozen pieces of MOW equipment rolling back towards Chicago - including two with port-a-potties in tow!
Also a truck and a bunch of people by the signal box(?) on the other side of the diamonds.
A few night ago, a UP train was stopped just before the diamonds and a man was walking around all over the place with a flashlight before the train proceeded.
Since I started watching the new webcam when they put it in, it seems that their is a maintenance truck by the diamonds at least every other day. I get the impression that these diamonds are a major mainteance headache and might be in for some major work.
Is their anybody on site that knows more?
Jim in Costa Rica
Modeling freelance Northern California late 1930s
2:25 pm CST on a Sunday - and the UP track gang parade is taking place????Amazed to see ROW work on a Sunday - weather closing in on a project that can't wait until spring, or this more or less customary for UP?
Busy Sunday morning - a double stack train for Savanna with 9 locos and about 80 cars (I assume most of the locos are just 'passengers' being relocated). then a tank train to Savanna with thye Southern heritage unit leading, and finally one to proviso with two ferromex units (so perhaps they're not as rare as I thought).
Although the new webcam is a huge step forward, I miss the still photos that used to be available on the old one (I guess they were triggered by motion sensors).
today i saw a tiegang go thru the diamonds. are they changing the cement ties?
i was there a week ago and saw marks on the rail for replaceing ties. thought concrete ties were supposed to last longer than wood ties. these ties haven't been in for even 10 years???
Friday afternoon and I am noticing something that looks like maybe concrete ties spread on the north side of the UP tracks east of the diamonds. It's hard to make out anything more due to the detail level of the image.
A few minutes ago, I saw a UP coal train with the coal piled in in very few of the cars that I saw.
Johnny
Oil train just gone through heading to Proviso with a Ferromex loco second in line. Don't see those every day.
Just caught the Rio Grande heritage unit leading a westbound UP stacker over the diamonds.
EDIT: Mixed stack/piggy-back, with a patched SP pusher. Nice.
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
That sounds pretty much like UP's rules for a work zone. The employee in chrge must communicate with averyone in charge of particular areas or occupations (very helpful when the work is spread out) and they must all be in the clear before any authorization is given to proceed past the red boards.As we speak I'm listening to the trains on our line (the westbound freight trains will pass the webcam at Rochelle in a couple of hours) giving the proper horn message for workers doing the construction by the station in town.
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)
Semper Vaporo From what I have observed over the years; yes, the bell and whistle are to be sounded through the entire work zone. There is also usually speed restriction, but I have seen that voilated a few times (as well as the bell and extra whistle requirement).
From what I have observed over the years; yes, the bell and whistle are to be sounded through the entire work zone. There is also usually speed restriction, but I have seen that voilated a few times (as well as the bell and extra whistle requirement).
I am not familiar with UP rules. On my carrier the train must communicate with a person in charge of the work zone before entering the limits of the work zone and comply with that persons instructions. Those instructions may include a slow order or they may permit the train to proceed at maximum speed for the train or the person in charge may withold permission until a work action has cleared the track.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
The warning required according to UP System Special Instructions is a long and a short on the horn, followed by a series of two shorts, sounded as long as the locomotive is passing workmen. It doesn't matter how far away from the tracks they are, or whether they acknowledge that they hear the signal.The bell would also be sounded as a matter of course--it's rung at quiet zone crossings and through Form B (work zone) territory.I'm not certain whether UP's bell is interlocked with the horn, but some railroads (CR, CSX, Metra) had controls rigged up such that when the horn was sounded the bell would ring (and on some of those, the ringing of the bell causes the ditch lights to flash as well). UP doesn't have the flashing ditch lights.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
Thanks, Semper. Should it have taken as much warning as the engineer gave? Is the engineer required to continue giving such warning when the work crew is well back from the track?
It is possible that there is track work going on to the east of the camera. "Bell and Extra whistle" is often called for in work areas. I have been hearing east bound U.P. trains with the bell on for a couple of days now.
I wish there were some way we could communicate with the people who are at the crossing. A while ago, I watched as a UP train came east--and the engineer was giving a series of short blasts with the horn, which is the warning for someone or something to get back from the track. It seemed to me that some unknowing person, east of the crossing, was too close to the track and was unaaware of the danger to himself. The engineer turned the bell on (which I had not heard before), apparently in a further effort to warn the person.
When a BNSF train came east, its engineer also sounded the warning--and the engineer of the UP train now passing also sounded the horn warning.
I hope that no person interested in watching the trains pass gets hurt because of ignorance of the danger of standing too close to the track.
A light BNSFengine just went west; I did not hear any warning blasts. It was not as interesting as a long train?
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