Eastern Railroad Discussion > Busiest segments for each Class 1?

Here's another topic for friendly discussion. What are the busiest segments of track for each of the Class 1's. The nominees should meet the following criteria:

-Train counts, not by tonnage.

-Count trains ONLY from the host railroad. Don't include trackage right trains from other railroads, Amtrak, or any other commuter trains. If the line is jointly owned, choose one Class 1 or the other for the count.

-Include only segments, whether it's only a mile or 100+ miles. Do not include diamond traffic where 2 lines of the same Class 1 cross.

-Try to keep the count to road trains as local freights/switchers can pass the same location multiple times.

My nominees:

UP: North Platte, NE - Gibbon, NE

BNSF: Williams, AZ - Belen, NM

CSX: Fostoria, OH - Willard, OH

NS: Elkhart, IN - Goshen, IN

CN: York Sub (Toronto, ON area) between MacMillan Yard and Doncaster.

CP: La Crescent, MN - Winona, MN

KCS: Deramus Yard along Cross Lake to downtown Shreveport, LA.

Ferromex: Torreon - Irapuato

Andrew

Posted from iPhone

They all have High volume of traffic. A A R reports, traffic up 4.9% last week. There is a steady trend of increase traffic.

Mike, observer of railroads

Wouldn't you guess more trains on the SFe
near KC than west of Belen?

I would say Deshler to Fostoria would have a few more trains than Fostoria to Willard because of intermodal traffic going in both directions from North Baltimore, but that's just a guess, I don't know for sure.

how about CP 54/Greenwich to Deshler for CSX

The train count on CP through Winona, MN is down significantly since EHH took over. The busiest part of CP today is likely west of Golden, BC with 11 - 14 trains in each direction.
Dick Eisfeller

For the BNSF, I would surmise the busiest host-only section to be between NR Junction (Emporia, KS) and Ellinor, KS.

If we're including 'non-host' segments, the 30 mile stretch between CA & WB Jct in NW Missouri would take the cake - seeing close to 12 daily UP trackage rights train to/from Chicago, every NS train that originates/terminates at NS' Voltz/Avondale facilities in KC, AMTK 3/4, plus all the BNSF traffic between Kansas City & Galesburg.

-Dalton

Dick Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The train count on CP through Winona, MN is down
> significantly since EHH took over. The busiest
> part of CP today is likely west of Golden, BC with
> 11 - 14 trains in each direction.
> Dick Eisfeller

It was down at first, but then St. Paul became the only humpyard on the system.

Here are the manifest trains scheduled between LaCrescent and Winona -

280/281, 282/283, 286/287, 484/485 (all Bensenville - St.Paul)
288/289 (BRC - St.Paul)
298 Edmonton to Chicago(BRC)
480/481 St.Paul - LaCrosse
470/471 Huron(RCP&E) to Chicago (back from the Mason City route)
474/475 St.Paul to Kansas City
492/493 Winnipeg to Chicago
499 Chicago to Swift Current, SK

And that's just the true manifests

198/199 Deltaport, BC to Chicago - Intermodal
H19/H20 Long Distance local St. Paul to Lacrosse

Then you can add various 39x grain loads and empties, various 6xx Oil loads/empties to Chicago and KC, various 63x and 64x Ethanol loads/empties, 810/811 Coal loads/empties, 80x Coke trains, second sections of the manifests, Amtrak, and UP's tri-weekly MADWI/MWIAD.

Rumors are that the Columbia Coal trains(810/811) are moving to a UP routing via Clinton, IA, but it hasn't happened yet.

What surprises me is that there is no scheduled manifest train in or out of Vancouver, BC. So any manifest traffic must move on a Bulk or Intermodal train.

In the southeast it's NS Austell-Atlanta and CSX Folkston-Callahan. I don't think anything else in the Southeast comes close.

florida581 Wrote:

>
> My nominees:
>

>
> BNSF: Williams, AZ - Belen, NM
>

I'd surmise that BNSF is actually a little bit busier EAST of Belen as you'd add in PRB coal trains that originate/terminate on the Gallup Sub, and I suspect that of the traffic to/from El Paso, more of it comes to/from the east than the west.

So with that, I'd nominate Belen-Clovis/Texico.

And though I know it doesn't fit your criteria, no doubt the Chicago Sub between Aurora, IL and Chicago sees the highest number of trains period when adding in all the Metras. So for sheer number of trains, that is the busiest BNSF line segment (at least on week days).

-Tom

I would say for NS it would be the Harrisburg terminal area.

Tehachapi-TJ Over & Out.

So based on your criteria, you wouldn't count about 10-12 CP trains on NS btw Butler, Indiana and Chicago?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/14 11:40 by wabash2800.

wabash2800 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So based on your criteria, you wouldn't count
> about 10-12 CP trains on NS btw Butler, Indiana
> and Chicago?

Correct. Just the NS trains.

Andrew

Posted from iPhone

These are regular trains. So basically, you've underestimated the train count by about 15%?


florida581 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wabash2800 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > So based on your criteria, you wouldn't count
> > about 10-12 CP trains on NS btw Butler, Indiana
> > and Chicago?
>
> Correct. Just the NS trains.
>
> Andrew
>
> Posted from iPhone

Andrew,

Interesting post, something I've been thinking about posting for awhile but couldn't make up my mind on the line segments. One thing: most of your locations are great choices, but where's the train counts for each one? Let us know if you do, and we can debate whether or not they're the busiest!

Joel Gilmore
Fort Worth, home of the busiest at-grade freight rail crossing west of the Mississippi.