CN interchanging with BRC and IHB plus autotrains.
Question: Does anybody remember when SP purchased the ex-GM&O line to Springfield from I believe the Chicago, Missouri & Western? If so, how did SP access Clearing?
Comments indicate the Rock Island commuter branch used to be along 95th instead of 89th.
C&WI Canal Street Yard in comments
Terminal and belt line operations
LS&BC and Midway junction (I contributed)
Hussey Termina Railroad Company in North Chicago
C&WI looking east at 86th even with the comments I still can't figure out where this is at
Area south of Corwith
Article about Wabash installing CTC
An example of coal bunkers for residential and small business service before compressors where developed to pump natural gas long distances. (Manufactured gas was used for lighting, not heating.)
From http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/109761.aspx:
Posted by bn13814 on Thursday, November 15, 2007 11:34 AM
No eastern road, except Conrail, actually "gave up" their route to Peoria over the years.
The Pennsylvania RR let TP&W handle most east-west traffic for them between East Peoria and Effner. The Penn Central merger in 1968 led to the diversion of the small amount of through traffic still handled by the PRR Terre Haute - Farmdale Jct. line to the Peoria & Eastern. A portion of the line between Atlanta and Waynesville was embargoed after a 1973 washout. The Maroa - Farmdale Jct. portion was then sold to Illinois Terminal on April 1, 1976. IT was a north-south oriented Regional.
Conrail closed the Olin (IN) to Crawfordsville (IN) segment of the former Peoria & Eastern (operated by New York Central and predecessor Big Four since 1890) Indianapolis - Pekin mainline in 1981 after it was discovered the Wabash River was undercutting the railroad bridge spanning it. The daily pair of manifests - INPE and PEIN - were diverted via Terre Haute. Flooding caused washouts near Mackinaw in the fall of 1983, which led to a permanent diversion of INPE and PEIN to the Norfolk & Western west of Bloomington sometime in 1984. Conrail put the "Pekin Secondary" up for sale in 1991, but took it off the block after talks with Pioneer Railcorp fell through in 1992. The lines were for sale again in 1995 and after sale to Norfolk Southern of the Bloomington - Urbana segment the following year, Conrail replaced direct service to Peoria with a haulage deal (NS handled there traffic between Lafayette and East Peoria) lasting to the breakup in 1999.
Norfolk & Western decided to close the Lafayette - Gibson City section of its old NKP line to through traffic in late 1986, rerouting everything via Decatur (not Chicago) instead. classification of Peoria and Bloomington-Normal traffic at Decatur made sense because both north-south traffic inherited from ITC in 1982 and east-west former NKP traffic could be handled there.
The TP&W served as a major east-west bridge route from 1927 to 1981. It's eastern connection with Conrail at Logansport (shifted from Penn Central at Effner in 1976, after acquiring the former PRR Effner Branch that year) was cut off after Conrail canceled joint rates that made Logansport an interchange point. Most rates included the Santa Fe as well, but TP&W interchanged much traffic generated in the Peoria area with Conrail as well. Ironically, the Conrail Transaction has somewhat restored TP&W's eastern outlet, though rather than being NS at Logansport, the shortline's major eastern interchange is with CSXT at Lafayette.
Railroads began de-emphasizing Peoria as a major Gateway following the C&NW's takeover of the M&StL in 1960. That diverted a large chunk of business away from the NKP, NYC, TP&W and even PRR. Improved connections at Chicago betwen eastern and western roads caused the CB&Q and NYC to reduce their Peoria interchange by the late 1960's. The N&W+NKP+WAB merger led to N&W trying to bypass the TP&W and interchange directly with the AT&SF at Kansas City. Reduced traffic and deferred maintenance led to fewer trains on the N&W Peoria District from 1965. A decline in perishable and meat traffic (diversion to COFC and trucks) cut out a lot of CB&Q-N&W interchange by 1970.
By 1970, TP&W was the only carrier here handling a significant amount of east-west overhead traffic. P&E and N&W were mainly (though not entirely) dependent on traffic moving to and from the Peoria-Pekin Switching District. N&W did, however, have a small, but steady amout of interchange with BN through the decade (forest products, sand, frozen foods, aluminum ingots, etc.).
With deregulation, railroads canceled joint tariffs and transit rates and closed many interchange points. Conrail expected to increase its line-haul by cutting TP&W from the eastbound routing of Caterpillar machinery and parts after after canceling rates favoring the Logansport Gateway in 1981, but instead lost that business to Norfolk & Western. CR never recovered and shortly would reduce its service to alternate days and eliminate through train service altogether c. 1992. Locals out of Danville (Hillery) made runs to East Peoria thereafter.
N&W/NS lost business when they diverted Peoria and Bloomington-Normal traffic via Decatur in 1986 but began building it back by the 1990's. Diversion of traffic via Decatur didn't stop them from shifting most BNSF interchange at Chicago to Peoria in 1995. That move doubled train service on both the NS and BNSF lines to Peoria. Unfortunately, the Conrail Transaction gave NS an alternative and the heavy BNSF traffic was diverted away from Peoria.
Norfolk Southern's service issues following the Conrail breakup led to the discontinuance of their local intermodal service, which TP&W and CN happily snatched up. The Conrail breakup led to the end of Conrail haulage service to Peoria but it increased TP&W-CSXT routings.
Currently, competitive single-line NS and joint TP&W-CSXT routings are available to Peoria area shippers. There's some limited CN traffic to and from the east, mostly Michigan and Canada. Also, joint TP&W-CN intermodal service routes Caterpillar parts to Europe via the Port of Halifax.
DPJ
Operation of Illinois' routes after the Rock shutdown. These comments are in a posting.
Markum to Schiller to "fondy" comments:
posting: in the bunch of replies at the end
posting: What is the eastern boundary of the GTW route that CN sold to CSX? the junction with Monon, GT Crossing.
posting of video: NS Local at Racine and Pershing headed back to the Ashland Avenue Yard. Once they got on CJ2, they pulled onto the yard lead and shoved quite a ways back to Ashland.
posting of video: reactivated IHB wolf lake branch, NS Bernice cutoff, NS river branch
posting: North Clark Road in Gary, IN (Pine Junction) includes a .jpg of where it is legal to park. And advice on where else to railfan.
Look at comments concerning Edward Kwiatkowski's comment in a Breski post concerning the BRC between their yard and Santa Fe and Chicago Junction. Of note:
Bob Lalich The line between Argo and the Stockyards has a complex history. It was built by the MC and became part of IHB. Part of the CR&I was either parallel to the IHB or used trackage rights from 49th and Oakley to Elsdon. The BRC line only went as far as Corwith. I believe BRC would have gone to USY via C&WI to 40th St, then the CJ.
Dennis DeBruler
Edward Kwiatkowski I doubt it because Corwith is now an intermodal yard. Eola Yard and GM Yard is where BNSF handles local freight trains for their industry customers. Galesburg blocks freight trains to run directly to BRC's Clearing Yard and IHB's Blue Island for freight going to other railroads. One of the Galesburg trains takes the former CB&Q and the other takes the former Santa Fe. But I have forgotten which is which. I have learned how to take notes about places (yards, junctions, bridges, etc.) I'm still trying to figure out how to organize notes concerning train operations. Thus my confidence in these comments is not high because I'm doing it from memory from Facebook comments that I have read. Of course most BNSF freight is handled by through unit trains, intermodal or autoracks to Gibson Yard. Clearing and Blue Island handle the few merchandise trains that they still run. |
| Mike Breski posted Bob Lalich When I first saw this John Barriger photo among his other IHB photos, I thought it may have been a WB at Francisco Ave in Blue Island. On second look, I wonder if it is an EB based on the sun and big block of reefers. I can't quite place the location. Mike Breski  Guessing could be by Pielet bros McCook Il with the 2 cranes and huge pile of what looks to be scrap in the backround. Blocked PFE came off CNW 246 train. East of Blue Island they would have been on their perspective NYC trains majority on NY2/Selkirk CG4/ Enola for daylight NY4 CG8 evenings.Dennis DeBruler  Thanks for explaining where the refers are probably coming from and going to. It makes this photo much more than just another train. |
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| Rod and Bob discuss this C&WI South Deering Tower photo that I added to a post |
Yesterday's CHC 156 (BNSF Cicero to NS Landers transfer) with a couple of FURX gp38s. This train was severely underpowered and crawled to a stop, stalling out by the Oak Lawn Metra Station at 95th st. Oak Lawn, Illinois - 2/2/19. (source) [I read somewhere that this transfer goes west to IHB, then south to Chicago Ridge where it gets on Metra's former Wabash line (SWS, Southwest Service) to NS/Wabash Landers yard.]
Dennis DeBruler Looks like the crossing gates would be down. What did they do next? Did they at least back up and release the gates? Blocking 95th Street would cause a lot of pain. Did NS send down a helper? I guess the good news is that the economy is strong enough that lots of cars would be in a transfer run.
Jon Roma commented on a Dennis DeBruler share in Clinton Street Tower
Jon Roma Dennis DeBruler, there is no part of Clinton Street Tower that remains above track level. When it was closed around the turn of the century, UP massively reconfigured the tracks in the area to eliminate some of the complex specialwork, and replaced the old interlocking with three separate plants.
Northwest Jct. controls the divide between the six-track station throat and the two four-track mains. Halsted Street interlocking controls crossovers on the Illinois Division side, and Erie Street controls crossovers on the Wisconsin Division side. The three interlocking plants are controlled by the train director at Lake Street using a CRT system.
To be completely pedantic, it's inaccurate to refer to "C&NW Northwest Junction" since the modern plants did not replace Clinton Street Tower until about six years after C&NW was merged into UP.
There are just a handful of manned interlocking towers left in the Chicago area. On the former C&NW now operated by UP is Lake Street and CY (Clybourn). There's still A-2 and B-17 on the former Milwaukee Road.
16th Street Tower still holds firm, even though the building doesn't. The ex-Rock Island's Blue Island Tower is still in use. The former EJ&E JB Tower in West Chicago is still open. That's about it except for a few drawbridges where the operators still control signals.
This is one of several comments on a post (a worker got killed in a NS yard in Baltimore) about management and their rules.
Patrick McNamara Word from Proviso is that the Bosses don't like the current speed at which the operators are working - they have declared that 10 mph will be the speed or citations will be issued.
BNSF testing double-length grain trains I wonder how fast they roll across road crossings.
Jon Roma commented on a Dennis DeBruler share in Clinton Street Tower
Jon Roma Dennis DeBruler, there is no part of Clinton Street Tower that remains above track level. When it was closed around the turn of the century, UP massively reconfigured the tracks in the area to eliminate some of the complex specialwork, and replaced the old interlocking with three separate plants.
Northwest Jct. controls the divide between the six-track station throat and the two four-track mains. Halsted Street interlocking controls crossovers on the Illinois Division side, and Erie Street controls crossovers on the Wisconsin Division side. The three interlocking plants are controlled by the train director at Lake Street using a CRT system.
To be completely pedantic, it's inaccurate to refer to "C&NW Northwest Junction" since the modern plants did not replace Clinton Street Tower until about six years after C&NW was merged into UP.
There are just a handful of manned interlocking towers left in the Chicago area. On the former C&NW now operated by UP is Lake Street and CY (Clybourn). There's still A-2 and B-17 on the former Milwaukee Road.
16th Street Tower still holds firm, even though the building doesn't. The ex-Rock Island's Blue Island Tower is still in use. The former EJ&E JB Tower in West Chicago is still open. That's about it except for a few drawbridges where the operators still control signals.
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| Jon Roma commented on a post (the B&O bridge wreck) Attached is a signal aspect and indication chart showing color position light signals. I scanned this from a employee timetable of the Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal. Dennis DeBruler  A view of the west side that shows the massive counterweight and the bridge tower: https://www.flickr.com/.../in/album-72157655080811639/Jon Roma The Color Position Signal is a reminder that this was B&O's initial passenger train route into Chicago. This is the first time I have seen a "backslash" set of lights. What color was used for that configuration? The signal mast also has the lone light on the top that is common with B&O signals. I have yet to learn how that modifies the basic stop (horizontal red), approach (diagonal yellow) and go (vertical green).Rod Truszkowski With a red signal and white light stop and proceedDennis DeBruler So the white light changes an absolute stop into a permissive stop.Rod Truszkowski Jon Roma I worked on the chicago short line at the time and was the general chairman for the union. The B&O was going to sell the bridge to the CSL for $500,00.00. The only business they had on the line was interchangeing cars with the CSL.IThe deal was all but signed when the wreck occured. The paperwork was on the desk of the CSL president that night and he was hemming and hawing about signing it. AS the story goes the B&O bridge tenders were not happy about losing their jobs as I was hoping to get them for our men. Needless to say the ship hit the bridge and the deal was off. The kicker to the story is there was a $2,000,000.00 insurance policy on the bridge for the owners. If the CSL had owned it they wold have made $1,500,000.00 over night. Instead the B&O got the $ and the CSL had to find a new way to get to some of their customers and the BRC.This post also has info on Pere Marquette's Tracy and Rockwell yards because PM shared the B&O bridge. A comment has a map with the Tracy Yard. But I already have it. |
This is one of several comments on a post (a worker got killed in a NS yard in Baltimore) about management and their rules.
Patrick McNamara Word from Proviso is that the Bosses don't like the current speed at which the operators are working - they have declared that 10 mph will be the speed or citations will be issued.
BNSF testing double-length grain trains I wonder how fast they roll across road crossings.
To be quite honest, their original paint is starting to get a bit ratty. The good folks at IRM tried to touch up a couple of the very worst spots while they were in storage as a goodwill gesture, but that only goes so far.
Whether or not these two ever do wind up in preservation remains to be seen, but if they do, they'll need a fresh coat of C&NW green and yellow either way, so what's the difference?
Better they get a fresh coat of yellow-and-gray that will protect the carbody from further rust and decay that let them turn to rustbuckets still wearing what's left of a 30+year-old paint job.
Don't be sad it's over, be glad it happened in the first place!