Chicago Sightings, part 1

I spent several days in the Chicago area last week, and I managed to do a bit of railfanning during my off time.

My hotel was near Metra's North Central Service (NCS) line, specifically the Prairie View station. On the morning of May 8, I got up early and shot a couple of southbound Metra trains.

06:24 Southbound Metra train 102: METX 105 (5 cars)


06:40 Southbound Metra train 104: METX 115, METX 418 (5 cars)

In both cases the cab car was leading and the locomotive(s) trailed.

I had a free evening Tuesday night, so I decided to take Bill Linley's advice and go to Lagrange to shoot at the intersection of the CSX/Indiana Harbour Belt line and the BNSF line. As I was crawling along the interstate, I noticed a yard to my right. It turns out this was the CP Bensenville Yard.

2007/05/08 17:45, Location: Chicago (Bensenville Yard)
-- Seen from highway: CSXT 8149, NS 9915, NS 2687, CSXT 8764, SOO 1537, SOO 1544, SOO 1547, UP 3236, UP 2864, UP 2370, CEFX 118

I arrived in Lagrange (map) just as an Amtrak train rolled by on the BNSF line, with two private cars on the tail end. No time for a picture - drat.

I parked at the local library and decided to watch the IHB line for a while. There were two CSX units in the little yard just west of the BNSF line. My first sighting was a Metra train on the BNSF line:
18:11 Metra: METX 187

Within a few minutes, a Canadian Pacific freight came crawling along.
18:13 Northbound general freight: CP 8620 (70 cars)

As I taped that, an Amtrak train crossed over it at 18:14.

The next train on the IHB line was a Norfolk Southern train. I'll have a video of that online shortly.
18:23 Northbound general freight: NS 7506, NS 9763

Just after that passed, the two CSX units ran light northward. Just after they went, a Metra train crossed overhead.
18:38 Northbound running light: CSXT 9023, CSXT 9032; Metra: METX 196


The rest of the action here was on the BNSF line. I stayed down on the IHB line for a while, then decided to go up to the Lagrange station to see the rest of the traffic.
18:44 METX 191
18:52 BNSF train: BNSF 5715, BNSF 5785

19:04 Metra 4xx: (7 cars)
19:11 METX 193

The nice thing about railfanning at the Lagrange station is that you can see signals in both directions. Although I'm not familiar with American signals, it's pretty obvious that when the signal is green, a train is coming. There are three tracks there, so the signals tell you what track to watch too. I waited quite a while for the next one, noticing a group of three guys looking down the line too. I assume they were railfans but they had no cameras nor did they seem to take any notes.
19:28 METX 200

19:45 General freight: BNSF 5093, BNSF 7072, BNSF 8060
19:50 Bare table train: BNSF 575

The light was really failing by this time, so I decided to head out. As I was walking to my car, I shot one more Metra train. The light was so bad that I shot at ISO 400 and ended up with shutter speed 1/20s and aperture F3.2.
20:06 METX 1x6


That was a great location - 14 trains in 2 hours.

See part 2 for more Chicago trains!

So when does the road industry go green?

Rail Industry to Go Green Under Government Plan

Basically following the EPA's emission reduction plan as far as I can tell.

All well and good... but when is the government going to stop building more roads and instead encourage people to use public transit? THAT is where the real emissions savings are. We need more public transit and the government needs to fund it in a big way.

Photos of CN 305 on detour

Jim Babcock shot CN 305 in the fading light last night as it was detouring through NBEC/CFMG territory.

Here it is in Tide Head just inside the New Brunswick border:


Here it is on the flatlands approaching Matapedia, Quebec:


Finally, this one needs no introduction:


Great shots, Jim, and thanks for sharing them!

CN Detour on NBEC/CFMG - Position Update

07:00 CN 308 left Riviere-du-Loup
10:30 CN 308 met CFMG 403 in Rimouski (2629 leading 308)
12:00 CN 305 departs Moncton
11:10 CN 308 through Mont-Joli
14:30 CN 305 through Rogersville
13:00 (approx) CN 308 in Campbellton
16:15 CN 305 through Bathurst
17:00 CN 308 by Tide Head approaching Campbellton from the west
308 split her train in two to wait for 305
17:20 CN 305 just outside Campbellton from the east
18:15 CN 305 left Campbellton
20:00 CN 308 left Campbellton, expected to meet VIA 15 near Charlo
22:50 CN 308 (3CN+1ICG locos) past Nepiguit Jct (Bathurst)
23:00 CN 305 near Mont-Joli
01:00 CN 308 near Rogersville, 142 cars, IC 6064 last unit

The track was opened by 06:00 Saturday morning.

I guess that's it! :)

Position Update

07:00 CN 308 left Riviere-du-Loup
10:30 CN 308 met CFMG 403 in Rimouski
12:00 CN 305 departs Moncton
11:10 CN 308 through Mont-Joli
14:30 CN 305 through Rogersville
13:00 (approx) CN 308 in Campbellton
16:15 CN 305 through Bathurst

Where did 305 and 308 meet? I would have guessed Bathurst.

At some point VIA 15 is going to overtake CN 305, likely somewhere in Quebec.

CN 308 meets CFMG 403

Today Patrick Sirois taped the meet of CFMG 403 with CN 308 near Rimouski as CN continues its detour over CFMG/NBEC lines. CFMG 403 (6907/6909/69xx/1856) took the siding, then CN 308 with three units rolled by on the main.



Thanks for posting that, Patrick!

CN 308 derailment update

As I mentioned, 54 cars of CN 308 derailed near St. Andre Thursday afternoon.

Location
Ron Pelletier reports "the accident occurred at Bellefleur station mile 189 on the Napadogan Sub, which is in the Municpality of St André." He reports the old highway 2, paralleling the track, was closed although the Trans-Canada Highway was not.

Mile 189 is almost midway between Grand Falls and St. Leonard (See June 8, 1980 CN timetable).

CBC
CBC news has an update on the derailment. About 100 people were evacuated briefly but are now back home. The news story has an aerial photo of the wreckage - it looks substantial. It looks like a number of boxcars and autoracks are on their sides or upside down.

The CBC also have a video interview with Sgt. Derek Strong of the RCMP on their web site. There are a few shots of the derailment from the ground in the video. The sergeant said CN would be spending all day today building temporary track.

CN
CN has a statement on their web site. They say 55 cars derailed near St. Leonard.

Detours
Wendell Lemon reports that CN 305 is leaving Moncton and detouring over NBEC/CFMG tracks with CN 2575 and three other engines, "with 9580 feet including 12 dangerous commodity cars." He also reports that CN 308 is or was in Campbellton en route east.

Derailment on CN

CN 308 derailed near St. Leonard, NB at 4:20 PM Thursday, putting about 55 cars on the ground. The train had 62 loads and 71 empty cars. The derailed cars include two LPG cars and two acid residue cars, but no leaks are reported.

There are rumours of detours over the CFMG/NBEC. Someone reported that the next CN 308 will detour.

CBC news story

Chicago videos

I am in Chicago for a few days, and last night I went to Lagrange, IL to see some trains. I saw quite a few and I hope to put a report together in the next day or two. In the meantime, I have put a few videos on YouTube. The quality is not great, as these were taken with my Canon S3 still camera and not with the Sony video camera. I accidentally left the video camera on and my battery was pretty much DOA when I got to Lagrange. I did take a few videos with that but I don't have the software to get the videos off the camera here. In the meantime, have a look at these.

Amtrak:


BNSF coal train:


I see a few people have rated these videos on YouTube, and that's great. I appreciate people taking the time to give me their feedback. On these two I have not received very good ratings, and that is fair - they are not great videos. I'm glad to get feedback on anything I put on the Net.

NB Southern Tank Train, take 2

Bob Boudreau took some photos of the "real" NB Southern tank train Tuesday. He had sent a link to his photos from Sunday's test train, and they informed him the train was headed to Harvey. He found it near Westfield Beach and followed it to around Nerepis. They had a hi-rail truck ahead of the train to jackhammer a few rock outcroppings. The train itself had NBSR 2319 leading with eight bulkhead flats (7 with tanks and the last one empty) and caboose NBSR 422990 trailing. Ah, a train with a caboose.

Here it is at Westfield Beach:


Farther on down the line:


Thanks for posting your photos, Bob!

May 3

2006
Several Fredericton railfans and I chased the supposedly "last" Budd Ocean from Oxford Junction to Moncton. Read my blog entry.




The current "last" Budd Ocean left Halifax on April 30 2007. It may be back again in the fall... hopefully.

2004
In early May I was in Edmonton, Alberta. On the evening of the 3rd I went up to the CN mainline east of Calder Yard and watched some trains go by. These are what I saw:

17:36 CN 5306, 5391, 4784 came off the Vegreville Sub with 144 cars. It was quite an impressive sight. The train took nine minutes to pass by me.

18:47 CN 9670, 9672 eastbound, general freight
18:59 CN 5290, 4778 eastbound, running light
19:03 VIA #2 the Canadian with 6434, 6437 and 18 cars

19:12 CN 5281, 9455 eastbound, 22 cars

19:33 didn't catch the numbers, westbound freight with mostly grain cars

While I was in Edmonton, Phil Ross noted that OCR 4204 (soon to be SFEX 4204) was brought to IRSI in Moncton for some work.

Green 2319 on the road

Dave Dineen caught NBSR 2319 leading the westbound freight out of Saint John tonight. His photos are in his photo album. It looks like 2319, 9802, and 2610 were the power on that train.

NBSR 2612 was in McAdam last night but apparently had some mechanical troubles. NBSR 9801 is currently the South Job power that goes to St. Stephen three times a week.

Train Carrying Solid Rocket Booster Parts Derails

Note - nothing to do with New Brunswick. :)

CNN is reporting that a train carrying segments of the Space Shuttle's solid rocket boosters derailed. Talk about your giant fusees! Read more

Last Budd Ocean leaving Halifax

Ken Squires has posted a few more videos showing the last? Budd Ocean leaving Halifax on April 30.



Someone must have driven fairly fast to get ahead of the train for this shot!

Another Dave Dineen NB Southern chase

Dave Dineen chased the NBSR eastbound freight again on Saturday, April 28 from Fredericton Junction toward Saint John. He has added more photos to his NBSR gallery.

085, 088 and I think 089 show the train approaching the Welsford highway crossing.

The train had NBSR 9802 and 2610 leading with what looks like 2318 and 9801 trailing.

Budd VIA 14 April 22

drc35ca has posted a really good video of VIA 14 going through Nepisiguit Junction on April 22. The camera work is great and he chose a great angle.

NB Southern Excursion Train Schedule 2007

NB Southern has announced the dates for the Rally of Hope train rides in 2007. The departure dates and times are:

May 26 (Saturday): 10 AM
May 27 (Sunday): 10 AM, 2 PM
June 9 (Saturday): 10 AM, 2 PM
June 10 (Sunday): 1 PM

All trips depart from Harbour Station in Saint John and go to Welsford and back, and will take about 2.5 hours.

Tickets are $11 per adult and $6 per child (12 and under).

Call (506) 632-5823 to reserve your tickets.





Here is my blog entry for the May 13, 2006 train and the video:

Last? Budd VIA 14 into Halifax videos

Ken Squires has posted a series of five videos showing the Budd-equipped VIA 14 coming into Halifax. I'll show the last two of the series here.





Thanks for posting those, Ken!

NBSR 2319 update

I'm told 2319 was in full primer Friday, getting ready to have the black paint sprayed on.

Here it is in its yellow days at McAdam on March 11, 2006.

Two new videos

VIA 15 at Amherst with the railfan group from Nova Scotia, and NB Southern switching at McAdam. The VIA video was taken by Peter Gough - thanks, Peter!