Western Railroad Discussion > CN Chicago Traffic Patterns

Hello,

I was just wondering how far along CN was on routing their traffic to/from the ex-WC onto the ex-EJE. Does most of it go the J-way now, or does a fair portion of it still head down the IHB? Thanks!

Tom

zchcsse Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello,
>
> I was just wondering how far along CN was on
> routing their traffic to/from the ex-WC onto the
> ex-EJE. Does most of it go the J-way now, or does
> a fair portion of it still head down the IHB?

The new connection at Griffith is finished, so WBs on GTW can now reach Kirk Yard. The projects at Leithton and Matteson, however, are barely underway, so it will be awhile before CN can achieve the reroutings they envisioned in their original plans.

CN traffic on the Harbor has diminished but they are still running trains on it. IHB provides the best route for trains from Wisconsin to reach Glenn Yard. Once Matteson and Leithton are completed (and East Joliet yard upgraded), Glenn will no longer be a major originating yard for CN, and their IHB traffic will disappear entirely--at least that's what they have been saying all along.

Thanks! Is any CN traffic still making its way down the IHB all the way to Blue Island, or is that the stuff going via the J?

Also, are they going to replace Glenn Yard, and if so with what,
or are they going to abandon it and rip it out?

Nick Tharalson,
Marion,IA

zchcsse Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks! Is any CN traffic still making its way
> down the IHB all the way to Blue Island, or is
> that the stuff going via the J?

Yes, some trains continue past Argo to Blue Island and access GTW there and head for Griffith. There, a backup move puts them on the EJE main and they head to Kirk. Once all trains are moved to the J at Leithton and Munger, this procedure will be unnecessary. Trains will go directly on the J to Kirk.

As to Glenn, CN has indicated that it will be downgraded to local service only. I would imagine many if not most of the tracks there will be taken up.

How many trains are now running over the J from the northend connection? How many trains make the turn on the old CCP at Munger??

richc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How many trains are now running over the J from
> the northend connection? How many trains make the
> turn on the old CCP at Munger??

I can't give you an exact figure, but traffic on the J south of Leithton has increased though not to the level CN projects when all of their improvements are in place.

The Munger connection has run into legal problems since the land CN wants to build on is part of a state-owned forest preserve. CN may end up building a balloon track to circumvent this. As of now, I'm told that no traffic has been diverted from the Iowa line.

I might be forgetting one or two, but this is what I know. Trains M342 and M390 come south of the WC , A491(pretty sure this replaced M391) goes north and M338 is supposed to shove up onto the J at North Iowa/East Jay to get to Kirk yard but has been getting rerouted lately due to heavy loading(10,000ft+). Also, M395 now gets on the J at Griffith, swaps power at Joliet and interchanges with the BNSF at Eola. Another change is M398 which originates on the UP out of N. Little Rock, gets on the J at Matteson and terminates at Kirk.

As to trains that still use the IHB, M336 still goes via IHB to Glenn and Q198/199 still go via the IHB(or BRC depending on whichever will take the train).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/10 18:06 by CN_Hogger.

According to the latest monthly filing with the STB:

http://www.stbfinancedocket35087.com/html/pdfs/monthly/OperationsReportAug2010.pdf

the average number of trains operating daily between Leithton and Schiller Park on the WC has declined from 19.1 in the base (pre-merger) period to 9.4 in July of 2010. However, much of this is due the overall decline in traffic, as the average number of trains from Leithton to Spaulding on the J has only increased from 5.3 to 8.1 trains per day in the same time frame.

The STB report includes average train counts not only for the CN-owned lines, but for trackage rights segments (such as the IHB) as well.

That's some really interesting stuff! It kind of depresses me the lack of traffic on some routes, but nearly 30 trains through Joliet...WOW! I realize many of those are BNSF and UP trains now, but that's becoming a rather busy line!


illini73 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> According to the latest monthly filing with the
> STB:
>
>
>
> the average number of trains operating daily
> between Leithton and Schiller Park on the WC has
> declined from 19.1 in the base (pre-merger) period
> to 9.4 in July of 2010. However, much of this is
> due the overall decline in traffic, as the average
> number of trains from Leithton to Spaulding on the
> J has only increased from 5.3 to 8.1 trains per
> day in the same time frame.
>
> The STB report includes average train counts not
> only for the CN-owned lines, but for trackage
> rights segments (such as the IHB) as well.