Members Hoot

Labels: canadian pacific, trains

On June 4-6, 2007, I attended industry standards committee meetings on behalf of my employer in Bloomington, MN. Since I had the time on the 3rd, I offered to drive the round trip for mileage rather than incur the cost of a plane ticket, and my bosses took me up. After a social outing on the 2nd, I left Belgium, WI about 10:45 of the 3rd.
After passing through some vigorous thundershowers in western Ozaukee county, I topped off the Magnum's fuel in Fond du Lac, and recorded the clouds' imposing presence while driving on Scott Street.

Waiting next to the mostly-vacant south yard office at Shops Yard, the south end switch set blocked Lakeshore Drive.


The class engine of a group of rebuilt first-generation EMDs, CN 4000, also was awaiting its next assignment there.
A typical assortment of road power laid over by the fuel rack that morning.
At Subway Road (Shops North CTC), a northbound manifest was preparing to depart when I passed at 12:06, led by a pair of ex-GCFX "SD45 killer" SD40-3s.

Up the road, after passing a southbound manifest at Winnebago whose power I didn't see, I found a meet between T119 (dropping off a block of auto racks for T357 to forward) and a yard engine, WC 3000.



After leaving 3000 at Cecil Street, whose overpass was well on its way to completion, I first found rain showers near the US10 CN overpass west of town. They would be my companion for much of the next few hours, including my visit to the roundhouse and yard in Stevens Point.




The Plover turn was approaching from the south, and waited as an eastbound manifest pulled through on the yard bypass.

Not much of note was seen after that, save for taking note of the full set of CTC signals at Junction City on the new connections, as I encountered rain coming down "axes and hammer handles" soon after I turned west at Abbottsford. CN RTC West broke the silence as I went west from Chippewa Falls, giving permission to someone to tie up on the siding at Colfax. Having not been there for a few years, I drove the few miles north from Elk Mound. Didn't see any trains, but I recorded the state of the museum there, and the pair of WC Railway-era passenger depots.




After dinner and fuel (24 mpg) in Woodbury, MN, I swung over to Pigs Eye to see what was around.



The switch/local power was also tied up at the UP Hoffman yard, just to the west.

Paired up still, the CP's ex-Kennecott Copper GP39-2s (4598-4599) were tied up near the fuel rack.

In fact, a notable amount of the SOO GP38s were collected at Pigs Eye, hopefully not for final disposition.
A second-order SD60 was staged next to a repainted MP15AC, as well.
Checking into my hotel near MSP airport, the departing showers provided a double full-arc rainbow, only portions of which I could catch with the camera as I went to Minneapolis.



I guess the pot o' gold was in the IDS center that evening. :>)



Finally, as the last day's light faded, I visited the Milwaukee Road depot in Minneapolis, which has been refurbished as a Courtyard by Marriott hotel, offices, and a skating rink in the trainshed.



Details of my return journey on the 6th to follow in part 2.

Labels: canadian national, canadian pacific, depots, soo line, UP, weather, wisconsin central

Three or four times a year, I make a pilgrimage to one of my favorite photo locations of the upper Midwest, Houlihan's Curve on the BNSF Chillicothe Sub. Historically part of the ATSF mainline from Chicago to Los Angeles, the combination of curvature and elevation was constructed to lift the mainline from the Illinois River valley up to the prairie dividing the watersheds of the Illinois and Rock Rivers.

On the way there, after a flogging of a stretch of state highway in Starved Rock state park with the MR2, I visited the Peoria area, hitting a few of the railroad high points there.

I started at the TP&W East Peoria yard and shop. A part of a larger shortline group, a switcher borrowed from sister road Indiana and Ohio was parked next to some home road power.

Nearby is the home of the Tazewell & Peoria, in Creve Coeur. Formerly the Peoria & Pekin Union, it is named after the counties in which it operates, and serves as a terminal road for much of the area's industry, much of which consists of traffic to/from the plants of Caterpillar (as seen below).


The Chicago Northwestern passed through the area to access St. Louis, with a route which diverges from their mainline at Nelson, IL and runs down toward Springfield. Its yard and engine facilities were located at South Pekin. Not much is left 12 years after the Union Pacific takeover at the location about 10 minutes south of Peoria, but my usual timing was good again, and I found the MPRPB (manifest from Proviso to Pine Bluff, Arkansas) awaiting a crew change at the south end of the yard.





After passing the ethanol plant in Pekin, the generating plants at Powerton and across the river from Pekin, and a visit to the curves of Kickapoo Creek Road in Bartonville, I made for my lunch stop in Chillicothe, following the west bank of the IL river. The Iowa Interstate's Peoria branch follows state highway 29 from its namesake city up to a junction with the IAIS (former Rock Island) main line at Bureau, and their daily train was notable by its absence.
Duly fortified with sustenance from Hardees and Kroger, I took up my position at the Curve just west of town. The weather has been better than that day on previous trips, but it was my challenge to make the figurative lemonade.
Operationally, the Curve is around milepost 134 of the Chillicothe Sub, with hotbox detectors on 160.650 MHz at MP 125 and MP 132.4 on both main 1 and main 2, allowing 6-10 minutes' warning for westbounds climbing the hill. The next hotbox detector west is over the crest of the hill, and (for at least my radio) is inaudible, meaning eastbounds are only announced by their screaming dynamic brake fans and the low rumble of their prime movers.
Settling in about the usual 13:45, three eastbound trains (two manifests and a NS-runthrough stacker) preceded the first westbound, which showed at 15:05 with a 308-axle high-priority train comprised of head=end domestic stacks, and the balance filled out with vans on flats.




Following a van train which included UPS traffic, the next westbound appeared in the freshening showers at 15:31, with 312 axles of auto racks led by a trio of BNSF-paint GEs (567-7710-7731).




Following close behind at 15:43, NS-interchange international stacks rolled by with a total of 216 axles.






After an eastbound stacker (China Shipping boxes, led by 3 BNSF GEs), the daily UP autorack run-through appeared at 15:58 (3 SD70s, 312 axles).




Next on the docket was another westbound stacker at 16:15, with 332 axles of international boxes led by 3 GEs and an SD40-2 (5396-4179-7609-6720).



Another hit the westbound detector shortly after, and as I waited in the rain, I grabbed a shot of my beast of burden for the day.

NS manifest interchange waappeared at 16:31, 272 axles in all.


As the line of thundershowers came through, I set one of the receive channels in the radio to the local weather spotter net, in case I had to contribute. Three more eastbounds came by (racks, Hanjin stacks, manifest) in the next almost two hours of heavy weather before I caught what I promised myself would be the last westbound before I moved up the hill to Edelstein.
At 18:14, a DPU stacker came through, with BNSF4631-BNSF799 on the head end, and NS 9828-BNSF7657 on the tail end, totalling 348 axles.




After 2 inches of rain, I moved up the hill. Details on the balance of the day in part 2.

Labels: bnsf, norfolk southern, trains, UP

On June 9, I set out on an 'overnighter' to Eau Claire, with a Board of Directors meeting for the SLHTS scheduled for the following morning there at our convention hotel for '07. On my way about 11:30, I went by the usual route, picking up the railroad at Shops. CN 4705-WC 1564 were at the south yard office, with CNWC 6903, at 14:45, and I saw a southbound manifest waiting to get into the yard at the CTH N crossing, led by an IC 60xx-ICCN 60xx.
I hit pay dirt again at Black Wolf North at 15:00, catching what looked like T357 there, led by CN 5715-WC 6002 (!).




Neenah South had T119 dropping off its 357 block at 15:34, led by CNWC 6945-ICCN 6136. Heading west on 10, at 16:10 CN RTC East told T408 to pull into the siding at Weyauwega behind T340, to meet T119. At Hoover (16:49), I saw the tail half of an eastbound manifest, and another eastbound passed through Point yard (led by CN 2427-CN 5366) as I was examining the roundhouse and yard.
Heading west, I found a track crew's equipment in the siding at Rocky Run, and at 17:33, found an eastbound manifest parked at Auburndale, featuring CN 2636-CN 2674-CANAC 8734 on the head end.






Getting dinner at Hudson's in Marshfield after a fuel stop, the radio was quiet the rest of the way west. Playing a hunch, I swung by Altoona yard, and found the UP business train there, it having provided rides to the local residents as part of an Operation Lifesaver promotion that day.




After a few tall cool ones produced by the local brewery, I was ready for a good night's sleep. The Directors' meeting and hotel tour the next morning went well, and after lunch I was headed east again. After a pit stop at the folks' to change the oil in the MR2 (yes, it was due, as well), I saw a "City of New Lisbon" UP power set by Weston III generating plant, consisting of UP SD9043MAC-UP AC44-SP AC44. After fueling in Point, I swung by the roundhouse and yard.



At Hoover, a meet had been arranged, so I pulled in to see the show. First off, T357 showed up at 16:46, a monster (127 cars) led by CN 5328-CN 5366-CN-2410, and featuring 100 empty lumber centerbeams, which snaked by for a long time.


This was followed at 16:57 by the eastbound, featuring CN 5265-CN 5289-WC 2500.





Political commentary was scrawled in the dust on the second unit.
With 5 hours' drive in front of me, I took off when the train doubled back into the yard. Before taking the Winchester cutoff, I heard the Weyauwega detector (MP 216.4) sound off for 462 axles, with "CN 2412 South" involved in conversation on the radio shortly after. A northbound manifest was waiting at Cemetary Road at 18:23 for a crew, led by CN 5712-CN 5500-CN 9450-CN 9540, and the same power (CNWC 6903 and 15??) were at Shops North as the day before. Likewise for Shops South at 18:32:

A northbound was seen at the Quad Lomira plant at 19:02, and I took a grab shot through the windshield in the midst of the second half of my "Golden Earring" feature.

Expediting from there, I was home about 22:15 that night. It was a good trip, covering 847 miles in about 35 hours, counting down time.

Labels: canadian national, trains, UP, wisconsin central

After 2 fruitful days of meetings with customers, and listening to presentations at the standards meetings, I left for home on the morning of the 6th. Earlier, in fact, than I'd originally planned, as the radar showed a heavy line of thundershowers approaching from the west, I started out about 8:00.
Little of note was heard or seen on the way east to my folks', where I intended to take a conference call and change the oil in the Magnum, save for hearing CN L517 (with CNGTW 5954) getting a track warrant at CF Yard to proceed west. On my way again after the oil change and lunch in Wausau, I topped off the fuel in Point (24.5 mpg) and checked what was by the roundhouse and yard at 16:12.

With rain catching to me again in Point, I headed east, seeing T408 at the Lake Emily detector (MP 237.3) with 606 axles (a large block of ballast cars from Mathy were on the head end), led by CN 9591 and other engines I didn't see enough of to identify. Neenah had its usual assortment of second- and third-generation CN four-axle power, and I headed south, seeing the tail half of T357 at Van Dyne, and the tail half of T411 at Shops North. CN 4000 was still by Shops South yard office, with a NS power set (un-IDed), and another switch set further north (likely the same pair I'd seen on the 3rd).

After getting supper at Culvers in Fond du Lac, I went down to Marsh siding to dine, and found a set of meets arranged at 19:12. First, in the siding, was a southbound, led by CNWC 6904-IC 6058.

The first northbound then showed at 19:20, NS interchange led by NS 9920-NS 6619.

This was followed soon after (19:30) by T331, led by CN 2622-CN 5783.

After which, the southbound departed, followed by myself.



I left the radio on until my fuel stop in Mount Pleasant (22.6 mpg), hearing (at 20:03) the UP 5168 (ZCHEM, the RoadRailer train) get a track warrant from Butler to Rock, meeting a UP 2989 east at Rock, and some chatter on the CP C&M Sub. Home about 22:30, a 1200-mile round-trip complete. Couldn't cool my heels for long, after another 2-day week in the cube farm, I was on my way again....

Labels: canadian national, norfolk southern, trains, wisconsin central

Taking advantage of a full day of rest on Memorial Day before traveling for work, I made my way up to Duplainville to capture some images.

Leading off after I arrived at 11:15, the Canadian Pacific provided a westbound sulfur empty (611) led by 9650.

After some Sudoku time, the Canadian National obliged with a southbound manifest (336) through the "crossroads of Canada" at 11:53.



CP provided the high-priority 295 train next, at 12:48, featuring a SOO SD60 trailing.


CP took another turn at 13:27, with the 852 coal loads rolling by. Included in the 304-axle trainset were new hoppers with MILW reporting marks, notably.


The CN followed in short order at 13:34, with a 402-axle hopper train led by the mixed combo of a GE, a wide-nose SD40, and an Illinois Central 6000-series SD40 variant.

The 'Empire Builder' then dropped the CN signals to red, passing near the advertised at 13:51 with 64 axles led by motors 56-40.

CP took another turn then at 13:53, with a westbound led by GEs 8552-8574.

After impatiently waiting, the CN then took over, first running a southbound heavy at 14:00 with company motors 2237-5419-5555.



This, in turn, met a northbound 331 at Waukesha, which passed at 14:19 with a pair of GEs in the lead.

After a pause long enough to get more water from Kwik Trip, the parade resumed, with the CP starting the show at 15:29 with an eastbound.


Then, a southbound CN approached, with enough lead time for me to get to the curve south of the diamonds before its appearance at 15:38.



The closing acts of my afternoon there started with the appearance of the CN's Milwaukee turn (L510) at 16:09. Featuring the SD35R 2500, its diminished size foreshadows the imminent cancellation of this service, to be replaced by interchange with the WSOR at Ackerville.


However, before it could make its way onto the CP connection, the westbound 'Builder appeared at 16:17.


With Amtrak out of the way, CP Wisconsin Dispatcher cleared the signals and lined the connection, and the 2500 was on its way.







All in all, a good day. The week would see me traveling to Oakland and back, and returning to Milwaukee, but down time before that was much appreciated.

Labels: amtrak, canadian national, canadian pacific, soo line, trains, wisconsin central

As I went up to Edelstein, the last remnants of the storm moved east, and their dark clouds made a good backdrop for the aging signals at the namesake crossovers.



To allow for better operational flexibility, the UP has built a connection between its own Peoria sub and the BNSF main where they cross at West Edelstein. Going forward, the UP will be adding more sidings and CTC between there and Nelsons, but at the time, only an island of CTC exists on the connection. Here, we see the new connection signal from the north, looking down the UP right-of-way.

Most of the way around the northwest-quadrant connection, the track forces have made the division of ownership very apparent.


As I was waiting by the BNSF switch, a southbound UP DPU coal train destined for one of the Peoria-area power generating facilities passed at 18:47.


Not too long after, at 18:54, an eastbound manifest destined for CSX interchange passed on the BNSF.



With 138 miles in front of me on the way home, I waited another 20 minutes before departing, with nothing else in the pattern on either railroad. Passing through Mendota, I saw the westbound Amtrak 'Illinois Zephyr,' featuring bookend GEs, and a trainset of coal loads, including a pair of BNSF SD70MACs, was staged on the main just east of there.
As the last light faded, at a location I call "Culvert," I closed the day of photography by taking a time-exposure of the MR2, with the twinkling lights of the wind farm at Paw Paw in the background.

Labels: bnsf, TPW, trains, UP