Western Railroad Discussion > West Chicago, IL (JB Tower) Action

Last month I had the opportunity to spend the day at West Chicago, IL and view trains at the still-manned JB Tower protecting the CN/UP crossing. I've long been a fan of UP's Geneva Sub and fanned it quite a bit when I used to live in the Chicago area, but I never spent time at West Chicago. Now, with the former EJE being quite busy, if you're going to camp out anywhere along the UP in the Chicagoland area, it may as well be West Chicago. I caught 10 movements on that line in about 9 hours or so of being there. This video clip features some of the trains I saw around mid-day.

Train 1: An eastbound UP manifest with a plethora of locomotives.

Train 2: A UP intermodal train which had left the Geneva Sub at Kress, travelled through the West Chicago Yard, and is now seen crossing the UP Geneva Sub as it heads southbound on the CN for Global 4.

Train 3: An eastbound UP intermodal with UP2002 in the consist.

Train 4: The surprising move of the day; a southbound loaded Canadian Pacific crude oil train on the CN. This train jumped onto the CN just north of here at Spaulding. I'm curious if this train was interchanged with the CN, or was using CN to get across Chicago.

Train 5: A westbound Metra.

Thanks for watching!

-Tom

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Nice video, thanks for posting. I noticed that even with UP coal traffic up, and it is up,
there were two AC4400CW's, now primary coal power, on the southbound intermodal train. I
assume it got recrewed at West Chicago, although with some of the agreements, you never
know.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

It did get re-crewed at West Chicago. I don't know if it was another UP crew, or a CN crew, however.

-Tom

Nice video!!! Thanks for sharing.

Great video, Tom. I have been enjoying the results of your trip so far, thanks for sharing.

~Ryan

Enjoyed the video very much. Thanks for posting it. Great spot; I need to visit it again.

I noticed that the crossing gate stayed up for the Metra train in the last sequence. Uh-oh. Good that nothing untoward happened as a result.

MC
Columbia, Missouri

The gate that stayed up was probably the CN's (my wi-fi is lousy so I can't watch the video right now). The two railroads' crossing systems, though adjacent, are not tied in with each other (not really a problem, as long as people don't stop on the tracks--there is no way both routes can be occupied simultaneously).

Carl Shaver
Lombard, IL

CShaveRR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The gate that stayed up was probably the CN's (my
> wi-fi is lousy so I can't watch the video right
> now). The two railroads' crossing systems, though
> adjacent, are not tied in with each other (not
> really a problem, as long as people don't stop on
> the tracks--there is no way both routes can be
> occupied simultaneously).


Yeah, Carl is correct with this. There are prominent signs placed around warning motorists to NOT stop on the tracks, and by and large the signs were obeyed. And also quite true, a train on one route will mean no train on the other even if a car were fouling the other Mainline.

zchcsse Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CShaveRR Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The gate that stayed up was probably the CN's
> > (my wi-fi is lousy so I can't watch the video right
> > now). The two railroads' crossing systems,
> > though adjacent, are not tied in with each other (not
> > really a problem, as long as people don't stop
> > on the tracks--there is no way both routes can be
> > occupied simultaneously).
>
>
> Yeah, Carl is correct with this. There are
> prominent signs placed around warning motorists to
> NOT stop on the tracks, and by and large the signs
> were obeyed. And also quite true, a train on one
> route will mean no train on the other even if a
> car were fouling the other Mainline.

Thanks for the responses. I looked at an aerial view and refreshed my understanding of how the tracks are arrayed relative to Washington St. I understood that both rail routes could not be occupied simultaneously. But having reviewed the map, I can see how the crossing signals could properly behave as you described.

I was thinking of other multiple-track grade crossings I'm familiar with where the outer crossing signals activate even through the only tracks occupied are inner ones, and there would be sufficient space between the tracks for a vehicle to safely stop between some of the tracks.

MC
Columbia, Missouri

Great video! West Chicago is one of my favorite places to railfan when I am in the area.

Thank you for sharing.
Regards
Frank San Severino

Frank San Severino
Attleboro, MA