Western Railroad Discussion > EJ&E SD38-2 & GT GP38-2 duo working a CN local

Glenn Yard in Chicago is a neat hub of power, it usually has a whole bunch of CN 4-axles to work the locals that originate at the yard. Sometimes even in 2023 the pairings of two engines are lucky ones. In this case, an EJ&E SD38-2 was paired for a few days with a GT GP38-2.

That got me thinking - on what other class one could you see a duo of two different predecessor paint engines, where both schemes that are 15-25 years past the merger date? NS and CSX - nothing. UP - I think only SP is left, so nope. CP - maybe there are still SOO engines, and now there are CMQ and KCS engines, but those are very recent acquisitions. BNSF seems like the only comparison; there are some locals with ATSF/BN duos (I think.)

In this video, there are three locations. The first two clips show the same local on two seperate days. I think the symbol for this is R967. It runs out of Glenn to industries over on the Chicago Sub, and only summer offers a chance of seeing it in sunlight. I've always found it a bit curious as a route; the lumberyard and other spots it serves are a straight shot less than 10 miles north of Homewood. But instead, the cars on this local come in on L536/L537, which goes past Homewood, all the industries, 16th St., then down the ex-GM&O to Glenn. They get switched out, and this local doubles back on the same route out of Glenn, back to 16th, and down the Chicago Sub. In other local news, for some reason L536 out of Glenn Yard is, for the second day, not operating until night, when it had been a 7/day operation before noon.

The last clips show the same duo switching the west end of Glenn Yard over the weekend. I might be able to find a better location for this in the future... but for now it's interesting to hear the non-turbo'd 645's revving up to work cuts in the yard.

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This is why CN has become one of my favorite railroads to fan around Chicago. Plenty of IC black locomotives especially between Gary, IN and Matteson, IL.

Posted from iPhone

I.ve never really understood the purpose of Glenn Yard.

Is it only to support local industries on the ex-GM&O between Bridgeport and Joliet (and from the report above the ex-IC south of the St Charles Air Line)? That's maybe a fair amount of traffic, especially at Argo or SW of Glenn Yard in for example Romeoville. But that could in theory be served out of Joliet's ex-J yard too perhaps.

Or does it also serve a carload freight interchange role, for example the IHB and B&OCT at Argo and into BRC Clearing Yard?

In fact how does CN access Clearing these days since the ex-GTW coming in from the southeast (which might be the best route from Kirk Yard in Gary) now belongs to CSX?

Questions, questions.

pbouzide Wrote:
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> Is it only to support local industries on the
> ex-GM&O between Bridgeport and Joliet (and from
> the report above the ex-IC south of the St Charles
> Air Line)? That's maybe a fair amount of traffic,
> especially at Argo or SW of Glenn Yard in for
> example Romeoville. But that could in theory be
> served out of Joliet's ex-J yard too perhaps.

This is only what I know anecdotally; here are some of the jobs:
1. A local for the giant mill near Argo
2. Locals for all the chemical industry southwest of the yard down towards Joliet
3. A local that transfers traffic to Hawthorne Yard
4. The local in this video, but that is probably the smallest amount of traffic out of all of that.
5. Some local I've yet to identify serves Best Foods near Damen Ave. I'd love to know which one it is.

> Or does it also serve a carload freight
> interchange role, for example the IHB and B&OCT at
> Argo and into BRC Clearing Yard?

I know it takes UP transfers. Sometimes there are oddball cuts of cars that appear on the transfer from Glenn to Kirk. The other day it had 50-60 loaded KBSR grain cars, that something that I was guessing could come from the UP. Although... maybe KBSR also interchanges with CN, but I don't know why those would be loads coming out of Glenn.

There might be other transfers...
 

KBSR interchanges with the CN in Kankakee, IL. I’ve seen KBSR pull 40-50 grain cars out of the yard there.

Posted from iPhone

Cool video. Loved the sounds, particularly the last scene with the shove.