Western Railroad Discussion > Midwestern Trip 2011 Day 1

Well my western trip for 2011 is in the books. I and 2 friends covered 3 different states, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, in 5 days. The weather started off pretty decent, then the last 3 days was cloudy to partly sunny. Basically a lot of cloud dodging.
Day 1 September 20, 2011 – After circling in the air above Chicago Midway Airport for 1 hour and 45 minutes due to heavy ground fog, we arrived about 8:00 am. Got our car and off to Blue Island and Dolton Junction for the day. A nice mix of trains, color and power. Here are some images on day 1.

1. Westbound CN train with 3 brand new UP SD70ACE’s heads through Blue Island, Illinois on Tuesday 9-20-11
2. CSX 8730 and CREX 9054, an ex UP C40-8C heads west through Dolton, Ill on 9-20-11.
3. CREX 9054, ex UP lease units. This is the first time I have seen a CREX. Anyone know what leasing company this is?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/11 20:18 by tchowee.

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4. A CSX westbound auto rack train with CSX 8503 and 5004 heads up the IHB line at Dolton, Ill 9-20-11.
5. Next up is an IHB transfer job splitting the signals at Dolton heading west, 9-20-11.
6. CSX empty ethanol with 8405 and 8057 at Dolton.

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7. A quartet of BNSF Heritage 2 GE’s heads west at Dolton with a monster CSX stack train.
8. The sun angle changes for just west bounds, so it is back to Blue Island to finish the day. A very clean CN SD70M-2, 8945 and a GEVO 2305 heads east through Blue Island on 9-20-11.
9. The gate keepers house at Blue Island

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10. East bound auto rack with BNSF 5463 and CN 2618 bang the diamonds at Blue Island 9-20-11.
11. Another eastbound hits the diamonds with UP 5793 and HLCX 6333.
12. BNSF 6180 is the DPU unit on this monster coal train heading east at Blue Island on 9-20-11



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/11 20:18 by tchowee.

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Great series from Chicago Junctions! I posted a thread from Blue Island in 1994 the other day, nice to see it is still a busy place with lots of variety.

tchowee Wrote:
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> Well my western trip for 2011 is in the books.
>

You mean your Midwestern tip.

Awesome shots. CREX is a part of Citi Group. They're using CREX for some GEs they've picked up.

Pump

...and you mean trip...