I have seen people get off and climb up on either side, they stand and talk and laugh to their companions like it's nothing. One frequeny jumper, before school, was at the center early bouts 7-8 am, climbs up on the right side of the camera, was daily about it. The wall appears to be chest high. Don't mean to contradict anyone, just my obserance.
xjqcf Last year I observed an older gentleman, standing on the concrete block to the right of the stairs leading down to the patio and facing the UP tracks absent-minded step backwards , lose his balance, and fall at the bottom of the steps. Several people rushed to his aid, and after a few minutes to recover, escorted him back up the stairs toward the pavilion.
Last year I observed an older gentleman, standing on the concrete block to the right of the stairs leading down to the patio and facing the UP tracks absent-minded step backwards , lose his balance, and fall at the bottom of the steps. Several people rushed to his aid, and after a few minutes to recover, escorted him back up the stairs toward the pavilion.
I also witnessed his fall- having been there several times myself and knowing how far that drop is, I was very surprised he was able to get up. Someone posted later that they thought emergency response personnel responded soon after that, though.
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
MrLynn Then, I'd have done the same thing. I can remember playing on the big baggage carts at the station at Silver Spring, Maryland. /Mr Lynn
Then, I'd have done the same thing. I can remember playing on the big baggage carts at the station at Silver Spring, Maryland.
/Mr Lynn
Our "thing" when I was young was riding mine cars from the tipple down to the mine entrance. This mine was operated with 1 horsepower pulling the cars out of the mine to the tipple where they were dumped into trucks for local delivery (most homes were heated by coal then) or to a truck dump for forwarding by rail. The miner(s) did what they could to secure the empties at or near the tipple on Friday but our "thing" was freeing the cars, hopefully in a way that would not be obvious to the miners on Monday. We handicapped ourselves by being careful not to damage anything.
Some kids rode the cars INTO the mine through the wooden gate at the mine mouth. Others rode the horse(s) that were pastured for the weekend. My friend and I never did any of that (not angels --- just not that brave).
ChuckAllen, TX
Bunch of kids there now, basically using the historic track and wall as a jungle gym. The parents are around somewhere.
cefinkjr Because of the camera location and angles, it's difficult to be certain how high the upper viewing area is above the terrain on the sides toward the two railroads. They could be very close to grade with the ground descending toward the RoW but that's not very likely so I'll take your word for it. Even if there is not a safety issue on those sides, there IS a very dangerous drop from the upper to the lower viewing area to the right of the stairs. Then there's the historical exhibit (?) to the left of the stairs; kids, just being kids, walk on that thing all the time. I've seen them all the way out to the end several times and find myself yelling at the parents to watch their kids. Maybe the city of Rochelle can't be held liable under Illinois law. Otherwise, if anyone from the city watches this forum, I won't be surprised to see a crew fencing the viewing areas very soon.
Because of the camera location and angles, it's difficult to be certain how high the upper viewing area is above the terrain on the sides toward the two railroads. They could be very close to grade with the ground descending toward the RoW but that's not very likely so I'll take your word for it.
Even if there is not a safety issue on those sides, there IS a very dangerous drop from the upper to the lower viewing area to the right of the stairs. Then there's the historical exhibit (?) to the left of the stairs; kids, just being kids, walk on that thing all the time. I've seen them all the way out to the end several times and find myself yelling at the parents to watch their kids.
Maybe the city of Rochelle can't be held liable under Illinois law. Otherwise, if anyone from the city watches this forum, I won't be surprised to see a crew fencing the viewing areas very soon.
The platform is 8-10 feet above the lower area. I don't recall ever seeing a warning or liability sign ever. I've almost stepped off it myself. When you are taking photos, you need to be aware of where you are.
The elevated platform is high on every side except the east side. So, yes, one could fall off on the north or south side too. And there is nothing soft down below.
xjqcfLast year I observed an older gentleman, standing on the concrete block to the right of the stairs leading down to the patio and facing the UP tracks absent-minded step backwards , lose his balance, and fall at the bottom of the steps. Several people rushed to his aid, and after a few minutes to recover, escorted him back up the stairs toward the pavilion.
About 2:30 PM or so on August 9, 2014. Indeed a scary moment, for sure.
cefinkjr Semper Vaporo ... I was wondering how the park administration gets away with an elevated platform that has a sheer dropoff of at least 6-ft above the surrounding land WITHOUT a FENCE! Because of the camera location and angles, it's difficult to be certain how high the upper viewing area is above the terrain on the sides toward the two railroads. They could be very close to grade with the ground descending toward the RoW but that's not very likely so I'll take your word for it. Even if there is not a safety issue on those sides, there IS a very dangerous drop from the upper to the lower viewing area to the right of the stairs. Then there's the historical exhibit (?) to the left of the stairs; kids, just being kids, walk on that thing all the time. I've seen them all the way out to the end several times and find myself yelling at the parents to watch their kids. Maybe the city of Rochelle can't be held liable under Illinois law. Otherwise, if anyone from the city watches this forum, I won't be surprised to see a crew fencing the viewing areas very soon.
Semper Vaporo ... I was wondering how the park administration gets away with an elevated platform that has a sheer dropoff of at least 6-ft above the surrounding land WITHOUT a FENCE!
... I was wondering how the park administration gets away with an elevated platform that has a sheer dropoff of at least 6-ft above the surrounding land WITHOUT a FENCE!
After watching some railfans taking photos at Rochelle (and they seemingly not being fully aware of just where they are walking while the camera is obscuring their view of the lay of the land) I was wondering how the park administration gets away with an elevated platform that has a sheer dropoff of at least 6-ft above the surrounding land WITHOUT a FENCE!
I am not allowed to build a deck on my private property that is over 18 inches above the surrounding land without a railing to prevent someone from falling off, how's come this public park has no obstructions to keep people from taking a possibly fatal misstep?
I had to shut the video feed off because I was fearful of watching an inattentive photog taking one more step forward to get a better photo of the ground rushing up to smash the lens between the earth and his head.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
Just saw something very interesting on the webcam. Three men in their late forties-early fifties were standing at the top of the stairs, watching an EB UP mixed consist train going over the diamonds. These guys watched that train like my Dad used to watch trains, that is, they knew EXACTLY what they were looking at. They weren't concerned with engine paint jobs, or car numbers and colours, they were watching EVERYTHING, from the dirt below the ballast, up through the ties and rails, to the trucks, up to the floor line of the cars.
Earlier there had been a couple of autos parked across the tracks, and when they left, about 5-10 minutes later these guys were on the viewing platform. I wonder if they were large and in charge of some engineering or operating department office (Omaha, maybe?).
After a couple of minutes, before the train had completed crossing the diamonds, and only after the three of them had sort of nodded to each other and agreed on what they had seen, two of them moved out of sight below the camera. Then, I think the inner hobbiest of the third one got out, as he took two pictures on his smartphone of two different refers, but only after they had crossed the diamonds.
I think there is more major work to come.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
cefinkjrOf course, there were the few exceptions like C&NW; built by British engineers with British money and therefore laid out for left-hand running.
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)
I can't find any of my track diagrams at the moment, but as I recall, the NYC numbered the tracks on the Water Level Route something like 3-4-1-2 (north to south), with 3 and 4 being the freight mains and 1 and 2 the passenger mains.
The track that serves the platform at the Syracuse passenger station is track 7 - and there are just three tracks there, the others being 1 and 2. I'm sure it goes back to a time when there were 7 tracks there, or something of the sort.
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...
They were just doing some work on the diamond this evening. Could not tell for sure but do they replace diamond sections as a unit because they had a crane truck there
Semper Vaporo Yes, every RR is different, but at Rochelle, I understand that the 'north most' track (physically on the ground) of both U.P. and BNSF are the #1 track. There is a station somewhere in California (can't remember which) where more than one person has gotten on the wrong train because the station is in the middle of what amounts to a huge "S" curve and thus "Northbound" trains face south while at the station and vice-versa for "Southbound".
Yes, every RR is different, but at Rochelle, I understand that the 'north most' track (physically on the ground) of both U.P. and BNSF are the #1 track.
There is a station somewhere in California (can't remember which) where more than one person has gotten on the wrong train because the station is in the middle of what amounts to a huge "S" curve and thus "Northbound" trains face south while at the station and vice-versa for "Southbound".
Both UP and BNSF subscribe to the General Code of Operating Rules, or GCOR. Under GCOR on an east/west subdivision, the northern most track is number one.
Out in the Omaha area there is a subdivision where the two main track portion is #3 and 4. It's less than 10 miles long and the last couple of miles it's next to another subdivision where the #1 and 2 main tracks are.
Jeff
BaltACD All railroads DO NOT have the SAME numbering scheme to their tracks.
Most definitely true, Balt. My Even:East Rule of Thumb is just that: a Rule of Thumb that has about a 50:50 chance of being correct with 50% of all cases. That's why I asked several weeks (months?) ago about the track numbering in this territory. (C&NW being a previous owner of the BNSF trackage being another reason to ask).
Track numbering really got confusing when there were four or more main tracks. I hired out on NYC in '67 and survived the PC merger (sympathy still being accepted). NYC and PRR naturally used two different track numbering schemes (they couldn't do anything the same way for 100 years!).
NYC started with the two tracks in the middle of the RoW being #1 (Westward) and #2 (Eastward), The first track added on the north side of the RoW was #3 (still Westward). The first track added on the south side was #4 (still Eastward) even if there was no #3!
PRR started the same way but then seemed to just number additional tracks in the order in which they were added (regardless of direction); thus messing up the Even:East Rule of Thumb.
Or do I have it backwards? Anybody wonder why PC didn't work very well?
The second hi-rail heavy truck is fairly recent at this point (about 7:05 PM) and Brian would have spotted a later EB coal train after the one I saw slow-roll by on track 1 about half hour ago or so.
Some serious stuff going on, it would seem, especially with the large number of other trucks still parked at the diamonds.
Just brought up the webcam, and it looks like a crew is working on that BNSF #1/UP #2 diamond right now. Their hi-railers were parked on top of it, and everyone was standing south of them while a slow-rolling westbound coal empty exited on UP #1.
cefinkjr MrLynn OK, but which is #1 and which is #2? Assuming we're looking nominal north, I'd say the troublesome diamond is the northwest one (farthest left), though all the rock 'n' rollin' I've seen is on the UP trains; BNSF ones look pretty steady on my screen. /Mr Lynn Semper Vaporo The camera faces due WEST (could not be rotated in any direction and be more west). Track 1 for both RRs is the northern most of the two pairs. Or, to the right of the pairs as seen from the camera. Right, Semper, but I have always found it easiest to remember this by remembering "Even: East" or "Even numbered tracks (and trains) are Eastward". I know this begins to have less meaning with bidrectional signalling but fall back on imagining which track you would be on with right-hand running if you were eastbound. This applies to most railroads if you extend eastward to include northward. Of course, there were the few exceptions like C&NW; built by British engineers with British money and therefore laid out for left-hand running. Notice too that this refers to timetable direction. UP is running pretty much east-west by the compass at Rochelle but BNSF is running more northwest-southeast.
MrLynn OK, but which is #1 and which is #2? Assuming we're looking nominal north, I'd say the troublesome diamond is the northwest one (farthest left), though all the rock 'n' rollin' I've seen is on the UP trains; BNSF ones look pretty steady on my screen. /Mr Lynn
Semper Vaporo The camera faces due WEST (could not be rotated in any direction and be more west). Track 1 for both RRs is the northern most of the two pairs. Or, to the right of the pairs as seen from the camera. Right, Semper, but I have always found it easiest to remember this by remembering "Even: East" or "Even numbered tracks (and trains) are Eastward".
The camera faces due WEST (could not be rotated in any direction and be more west).
Track 1 for both RRs is the northern most of the two pairs. Or, to the right of the pairs as seen from the camera.
Right, Semper, but I have always found it easiest to remember this by remembering "Even: East" or "Even numbered tracks (and trains) are Eastward".
Each railroad that has multiple track territory specifies in their rules and/or TTSI how the tracks are to be numbered or named (in certain locations tracks may lose their MAIN track designation). All railroads DO NOT have the SAME numbering scheme to their tracks.
I have a territory where #2 and #3 are the MAIN tracks of a double track subdivision.
Geographical direction and Timetable direction are not necessarily the same. You have to know the specific territory before you can accurately apply the naming conventions for that territory.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Semper Vaporo The camera faces due WEST (could not be rotated in any direction and be more west). Track 1 for both RRs is the northern most of the two pairs. Or, to the right of the pairs as seen from the camera.
Mr. Lynn, if you had a more sophisticated tie-replacement gang with on-track machinery like you describe, it would be impossible for UP to run trains the way they're doing. I suspect that CSX uses such machinery only when they have a "window" for repairing the tracks, and can roll these machines to a usable spur when their window has expired.Though UP could probably roll the machines off Track 2 into Global 3, that would also be time-consuming. The way they did it, they just had to step off the tracks and back the machinery away. Takes a minute or two. If they leave an uspiked tie or a hole in the roadbed while a train goes over it, no big thing.It doesn't seem like that long ago that the diamonds here were replaced, but it certainly sounds like it needs to happen again, or at least the roadbed underneath them needs major work...a little less dirt, a little more rock, a little deeper down.Ten miles an hour for all trains sounds like we'll be having a greater percentage of time when the webcam is showing something going across.Re terminology: just ask! Anyone will do his/her best to explain what he's saying.
cefinkjr rdettmer trouble for the bn. just heard track innspector take track one out of service. dispatcher has3 west bounds waiting. ouch Any particular reason given for taking the track out of service? My money is on our favorite diamond (BNSF #1 X UP #2). We on this thread have been watching that thing for months and commenting on equipment doing a "rock and roll" or "cutseying" as they pass over it. BTW: I just made up the (BNSF #1 X UP #2) notation although I may not be the first to use it. In any case, I think it's pretty descriptive.
rdettmer trouble for the bn. just heard track innspector take track one out of service. dispatcher has3 west bounds waiting. ouch
trouble for the bn. just heard track innspector take track one out of service. dispatcher has3 west bounds waiting. ouch
All the other routes BNSF 2 and UP 1 & 2 have 10mph restictions.... UP Dispatcher asked the UP Track person on scene what's needed to "fix the tracks". Didn't hear a response. All this in the middle of wider Form B territory on UP; sounds like the tie gang is working to the east.
Very interesting post, Carl (though I didn't understand all the references, by a long shot).
I watched the tie-replacement work out of the corner of my eye while on my main computer (have the webcam on my MacBook Pro to the side). I was surprised to see them using what seemed like a fairly primitive technique of pulling out the ties with a long-arm machine, then scraping a channel with the point, then positioning and pushing in the new crosstie. It was a little hard to see details, but that's what it looked like, complete with a fair number of guys tidying up.
I've seen a track crew here in Framingham, MA (when the line was CSX's) using a rolling, on-track tie-replacement machine which looked a lot more efficient than the crowd of machines and men that UP was using today.
I took a quick trip out there early this afternoon (didn't want to stay out in the heat too long). There were three crane-type vehicles on the south side of UP 2: One to yank the marked old ties out from under the track (green markings on the rail showed which ones), one to lift the new ties from between the tracks and stick them in (from the south side), and the third, efficiently dressing up the ballast by using a tie to pull it down and push it back up. They were working toward the diamonds, and there weren't many ties left between the rails. Not the big double tie gangs I've seen on larger jobs, but they were actually moving about as fast! If the diamond on Track 2 had a slow-order on it, that would be understandable... coming from the west the track makes a noticeable drop by the diamonds themselves. Lots of wear going on.Lots of armchair supervisors of all ages under the shelter, and one old guy taking a nap in the shade of the Lincoln Highway kiosk. I'm sure he woke up and manned his tripod when a train came by.It is very impressive to see what has been done with the City of Rochelle's own railroad there. They now have two locomotives (Burlington Junction 1510 and 1515) assigned there, and it looks like plenty of work to keep them busy. Why, I remember when there was just Americold and a track to connect it to each of the two big railroads! Today we saw the two locomotives (not working on a Sunday), and some UP power under the Tollway at the head of one piece of what's presumably a unit train of frac-sand covered hoppers.That's the business that confuses me...there were at least 150 of these small covered hoppers in evidence, filling the yard on the south end, occupying space on the yard leading to the UP connection, and in every spare lead and spur that could hold them (including what I presume is the Nippon-Sharyo lead). There is a "silica coating" plant at the far southeast corner of the industrial park, with several tracks (also reasonably full of these cars), but it didn't appear to me that they could handle all of the cars I saw.The ethanol plant seems to be fairly inactive. There was a guard inside the gate with no workers' vehicles in evidence (probably normal for a Sunday). But there weren't any freight cars of any type in any of the plant's spurs...definitely not normal for an operating plant!Nippon-Sharyo had about a half-dozen cars or shells recognizable as Metra Electric cars on the premises. They should be busy for a while with these, the Amtrak Midwest cars, and possibly a few other jobs.You'll notice that I didn't mention trains...that's because I didn't see any while we were in the vicinity of the park. Going to Rochelle, we saw two eastbound manifests between DeKalb and Creston. An eastbound WEPX coal train cleared just a couple of minutes before we got there, then nothing. We didn't stay long, as I had another human in the (wide open) car, reading.
Going back east, we met a westbound manifest at Malta or thereabouts, then saw nothing until we caught up with the WEPX coal train east of Maple Park. I was going to check out his cars while he went through Elburn, but he stopped just to the west of town (I don't think scoot schedules should have bothered him). We did some grocery shopping at St. Charles, during which time the coal train must have passed us--we caught him again at the staging point in Wheaton, with his hind end out west of County Farm Road. I nailed the previous identity of the only FURX car I saw on the train without disrupting traffic too much. As we went through town, I noticed that the coal train was lined up through the University control point, so I expected him to get moving (and he would have been faster than we were, had he started). Unfortunately, he never did show up--at Finley Road we noticed that he was lined up through Grace (were he was going to cross over to another track), but that was as far as we went.
There's a bunch (looks like five) of MOW guys doing something with the switch on the BNSF track. Yesterday I saw the local switcher stop and a brakeman get off to open the switch for the siding, and close it on return, so apparently it is not yet remote-controlled. Must be some problem requiring a big crew in to work on it today. Lots of rockin' and rollin' as the locos and double-stack cars cross the diamonds on the near UP track. /Mr Lynn
There's a bunch (looks like five) of MOW guys doing something with the switch on the BNSF track. Yesterday I saw the local switcher stop and a brakeman get off to open the switch for the siding, and close it on return, so apparently it is not yet remote-controlled. Must be some problem requiring a big crew in to work on it today.
Lots of rockin' and rollin' as the locos and double-stack cars cross the diamonds on the near UP track.
Listening to the scanner feed it was apparently a track crew making a few adjustments to the switch and the banner (Displays Red when the switch is open)
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.