Ed KyleWeird day on the KPKC main in Iowa on Monday, August 7, 2023. *Five* southbound manifests during the day through Washington, all sizable, with one typical northbound manifest also appearing along with a northbound 181 with 67 platforms/127 containers and 16 autoracks. Usually only one or two manifests each way per day. Not sure what to make of the southbound manifests, which must have hauled more than 700 cars toward Kansas City during a 16 or so hour span. Could some have been detours? (One had BNSF units on point and DPU.) - Ed Kyle
- Ed Kyle
That is the one thing about the interline operation of power. Unless you know what the railroad is actually doing, you don't really know whose train you are actually seeing.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
CSX today ran a X166, which is an extra CP intermodal train.
I166 runs from Chicago to Buffalo area where it is handed off to CP. It is their daily eastbound.
Today's X166 made a left hand turn at Fostoria and headed to Detroit with 1 KCS unit with 180 containers which featured 22 domestics and the balance internationals.
The X166 is an infrequent train, turning to Detroit is a new operation. Unsure if this is a result of good marketing by CP to increase their Detroit market or a once in a while occurance.
If CPKC can make a market for Detroit, both out of Mexico and imports from Vancouver it could be a good chunk of business. Not sure how their Detroits have been moving up to this point.
Ed
Recent days have seen an average of 1.13 intermodal trains per day through Savanna and Iowa. Often it is 180 westbound one day and 181 eastbound the next. Manifests have averaged 1.63 per day through Savanna, with Train 253 (Chicago - Nahant) showing up every day while Train 252 (Nahant - Chicago) only appears about two out of every three days. Those plus unit trains make an average of only a bit more than 3 trains per day across most of the Chicago Division east of Savanna. (Chicago suburb concerns seem unwarranted to date.)
Savanna west is busier, at about 5.5 trains per day, thanks to K38/K39 (Savanna-Mason City), K67 (turn to Clinton) and other locals. K38 and K39 do not run daily, as suggested by some symbol lists. Tri-weekly seems more likely.
More to see at Clinton, Iowa, where 260/261 (Kansas City-Twin Cities) add an average of 2.38 trains per day, unit trains total 2.75 per day, and several locals add an additional 2.75. These add to the 1.63 per day 252/253 manifests and 1.13 per day 180/181 intermodals for a total of about 10.5 CPKC trains per day. (Union Pacific also runs about 25-30 trains per day through town and across the Mississippi River at Clinton.)
MP173 CSX today ran a X166, which is an extra CP intermodal train. I166 runs from Chicago to Buffalo area where it is handed off to CP. It is their daily eastbound. Today's X166 made a left hand turn at Fostoria and headed to Detroit with 1 KCS unit with 180 containers which featured 22 domestics and the balance internationals. The X166 is an infrequent train, turning to Detroit is a new operation. Unsure if this is a result of good marketing by CP to increase their Detroit market or a once in a while occurance. If CPKC can make a market for Detroit, both out of Mexico and imports from Vancouver it could be a good chunk of business. Not sure how their Detroits have been moving up to this point. Ed
CPKC has a very limited footprint in Detroit. Their DIT ramp on the westside of town is small and constricted with no room for growth. Perhaps they could reconfigure the facility to increase lift capacity, but that's about it.
The more and more I look at CPKC's network. I don't believe the STB made the right decision. One they're always going to be restricted by UP rights through Rosenberg-Houston-Beaumont, the recent scuffle about the South End Agreement, and hodge podge eastern network with a clearance restricted tunnel at Det-Win...
So much for "single line" service..
Maybe a slight increase in traffic on the Chicago Subdivision during the past week or so, primarily on the manifest side. There were 2.4 252/253 (Chicago-Nahant) manifests per day average during the first week or so of October, 2023, up from 1.8 during September. A 253 was 11,300 feet long leaving Savanna during the early hours of October 8, a day that saw two manifests each way. Savanna has had trouble finding places to park blocks of traffic that these trains set out and pick up.
The line from St. Paul to Kansas City now sees an additional train in each direction. Train pair 250/251 between Superior, WI and St.Paul has now been extended to Kansas City. I can't tell of it just runs tri-weekly, but it doesn't seem to be daily. This has reduced the number of extra sections of 260/261 running, although I still have heard a 3rd 261 run since then.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.