Members Hoot

(For part 1, click here)

September 21 - 23nd, 2007 found us back in KC for a wedding. Still looking for some of the new KCS "Heritage" units, on the 21st I took a "shortcut" through Knoche Yard on the way to the airport. While headed past the east end, I found several flatcars of windmill parts. Unfortunately, there was no good place to get any pictures.





On the West end, by the service area, I managed to find a TFM SD40-2 sunning itself.












Finally, on this day, there were about 8 of the new KCS "Heritage" units floating throughout the yard. I was glad I stopped and took pictures, because on subsequent trips over the next couple days, I never saw another.









Trying to kill some time on the 22nd, I headed out one last time. Knoche Yard was cleared of all the Heritage units from the previous day, however I did find a pair Gateway Western locos awaiting their next assignment.

Heading down to Santa Fe Jct, I expected to find a lot of trains moving on a Saturday morning. After all the activity I'd seen on earlier trips, there was noticeably less traffic on this day.










One interesting find was a train containing several airplane fuselages on the head end. I assume they were on their way to the Seattle area for final assembly.












They rode a setup of flatcars and spacers. There were also a couple of container type boxes that I assume included other sub-assemblies.

My final surprise of the morning was an ex-GBW boxcar, now making the rounds for "AERC" - Albany and Eastern Railroad in Oregon.

Labels: airplane, bnsf, Kansas City, UP

(For part 1, click here)

Part 2 finds us a couple of days later, August 6th, 2007 to be exact. Again, the search was for some of the new KCS units. Again, I came up empty but did find a few interesting things along the way.

I found this KCS (transfer?) waiting to get in the west end of Knoche Yard. Front Street follows the railroad most of the way from Knoche Yard to downtown KC.


As I got in the area of Old Union Station, I caught a UP train led by a pair of Ferromex Dash 9's.

Continuing south to Santa Fe Jct (which was a PITA due to bridge construction in the area), I found a BNSF freight making the turn to the North.











From the same spot, a UP Eastbound comes across the upper level of the Kansas River bridge and passes the KCS DPU of a westbound empty coal train. The bridge was double decked when the new Union Station was built up on the hill to prevent flooding.






Following up on some research, I got on the south end of Santa Fe Junction, behind the old roundhouse. It provided a little different view, and got me on the right side of the sun. The downside was that I missed a couple trains coming from Argentine and heading north. The road and bridge are public property until the gate at the far end of the bridge. This was a BNSF empty coal coming up from the South. Another mile or so south (behind the train) is the old Katy yard.








Here is a BNSF eastbound on the flyover with a UP coal train on the upper level.











Another shot from the south end, that gives a better view of the overall junction. It is easy to see why building the 3rd level was such a good idea. Before, the Santa Fe used to cross at grade on the bottom level. The uppermost level is primarily used by BNSF. The mid level is primarily used by UP. The lower level can see almost anything. On the lower level, the left (west) goes to Argentine. The right goes up and all 3 levels come together near Union Station. To the north is where all the coal trains head back to the Powder River as well as the connections to the various yards.

Click here to go to part 3.

Labels: bnsf, Kansas City, UP

August 3rd - 6th found me sweltering in the Kansas City area. Although Railroading wasn't the primary focus of the trip, I managed to sneak out a couple hours on two days and get some in anyway.

On August 4th, my initial target was KCS/ICE Knoche Yard looking for some of the new KCS "Heritage" Locomotives, but I came up empty.



While I didn't find any new KCS locomotives, I did happen upon an ex-CNW Dash 9 on the back end of a loaded coal train sitting in Knoche Yard.














Taking the long way between Knoche Yard and UP's (ex-MP) Neff Yard (the bridge over the middle of the yard was closed) I caught a Kansas City Terminal Railway (KCT) transfer run heading into the west end of Knoche Yard.








Heading around to Neff Yard, I found an ex-DRGW Tunnel motor apparently on it's way to the razor blade factory.

With no other easy shots at Neff, I proceeded the back way to Sheffield Crossing & Flyover. As I was driving around trying to find a good spot to watch stuff, a UP Train lead by a Ferromex locomotive snuck up on me. While I didn't get any good shots off near Sheffield, he had a red signal trying to get onto the KCT which allowed me to get in front of him on the west end of the Sheffield Flyover.







At the west end of Sheffield, the two tracks from the flyover and the two tracks that come up from below shrink to three tracks for the run to Union Station.

As the Ferromex train clears, another UP Westbound comes up on other track and stops to wait.










While the UP Westbound waits, a BNSF stack train heads East over the flyover.















As the UP waits on, the BSNF eastbound stack train also grinds to a halt.












Finally, we learn why the UP train is waiting -- an Amtrak Eastbound appears. Once Amtrak clears, the UP Westbound is back on his way. Since this train went down the UP, I believe it to be one of the KC - St. Louis - Chicago trains.








As things clear out, the KCT locomotives spotted earlier headed into Knoche Yard return light, heading west











Another BNSF Eastbound Stack Train

Just as it's almost time to go, a westbound NS Stack train comes off the flyover and stops for a signal

Click here to go to part 2.

Labels: amtrak, bnsf, CNW, DRGW, Kansas City, KCT, norfolk southern, UP

After my final day of meetings in Colorado Springs, and with an early next-day departure for home, I headed back to Palmer Lake for some evening observations. On the way north, I passed the Air Force Academy, which is just west of I-25.
Another patch-painted DRGW sign awaited me, as I set up in the midst of the curve just south of the junction.
Another look at the eclectic 'depot,' which was doing good business that night.
As the rains approached, the first loads of the evening did, as well. Loads slowed to walking speed as they passed, allowing gravity to handle the acceleration, with dynamic brake fans screaming.








They stopped just past me, and cut off one of the DPU helpers. A crew in a 4x4 was waiting to pilot it into the BNSF house track.
That having been accomplished, the loads went on their way south.




About 20 minutes later, another loaded train was next.







A bit of oxymoronic freight car art was in the manifest.





As the DPU engines rolled past at walking speed, the train came to a stop, and the trailing unit which they'd cut off approached.


After what must have been an interesting radio conversation, the loose unit backed north, coupling onto the engine the previous load had dropped, and both proceeded north, with the loads going south.

With dinner plans at another brewpub in the 'Springs, I left with the freshening rain about 20 minutes later. As I got to the south side of town, a northbound manifest surprised me.
I doubled back to the Junction one last time.




A good experience railfanning both days, and some good progress in the meetings that week, as well.

Labels: bnsf, Colorado, UP

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

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