Nostalgia & History > Chicago Trip 1982 Part 14 Roosevelt Road

This installment of photos from my June 1982 Chicago trip is the last. No railfan trip to Chicago is complete with out at least an hour or two on the Roosevelt road bridge photographing trains coming and going to Union Station.

Photo 1. Amtrak F-40PH # 255 departs Union Station.

Photo 2. Amtrak F-40PH # 295 pushing on the rear of a train.

Photo 3. I had no scanner or any other means of identifying the trains that day. Another photographer up on the bridge told me that the train Conrail SW-1 # 8438 was pulling backwards to the station was number 48, the BROADWAY LIMITED.

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Photo 4. If this was indeed #48, this train would be my ride home to New Jersey later that evening. Amtrak F-40PHs # 344 & 341 are on the head end while the train is pulled backwards into Union Station.

Photo 5. Amtrak GP-7 # 760 moves a string of baggage cars.

Photo 6. Amtrak F-40PHs # 364 & 306 are being pulled out of Union Station by Conrail SW-1 # 8433. Did Amtrak lease a few CR SW-1s at this time or were they recently purchased and not yet painted?

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Photo 7. BN E-9 # 9901 departs Union Station with an Aurora Line train.

Photo 8. BN E-9 # 9911.

Photo 9. BN E-9 # 9916.

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Photo 10. Burlington Northern Business car # BNA 6 the MISSOURI RIVER is on the rear of an Amtrak train, perhaps the EMPIRE BUILDER backing into Union Station. MISSOURI RIVER, ex-NP YAKIMA RIVER, was built in1955 by Pullman Standard.


Well that's THE END!

Hope everyone enjoyed the photos.

Ken Gear

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many SF baggage cars

Nice set, well done.
Thanks, Bob

I thought your entire series was great! I'm glad you took the time to share your photos with us!!

Enjoyed the whole series.
Thanks.
Gary

Picture No 2 was the Valpo Dummy.

Nice to see Harrison Tower in the background.

Pictures three and four.I doubt that is a through train.
Look at the mix of sleepers and coaches.

Uncle Joe
Seffner,Fl.

Just out of curiosity, what was the reason to have power on both ends of #48? If road power was already added, why didn't the yard crew use the road power to position the train? Did the yard power stay attached to train or cut away and moved to another track before #48 entered it's departure track?

I've seen several pictures of this same type of move and often wondered why?

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sig292 Wrote:
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> Photo 10. Burlington Northern Business car # BNA 6
> the MISSOURI RIVER is on the rear of an Amtrak
> train, perhaps the EMPIRE BUILDER backing into
> Union Station. MISSOURI RIVER, ex-NP YAKIMA RIVER,
> was built in1955 by Pullman Standard.
>
>
Thank you for posting these great pictures.

The Empire Builder would not normally back into CUS because it departs from the
north side of CUS.

sig292 Wrote:
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>
> Photo 3. I had no scanner or any other means of
> identifying the trains that day. Another
> photographer up on the bridge told me that the
> train Conrail SW-1 # 8438 was pulling backwards to
> the station was number 48, the BROADWAY LIMITED.

At that time No. 48 was the Lake Shore Ltd.
The Broadway Ltd was No. 40.

AmHog Wrote:
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> Picture No 2 was the Valpo Dummy.
>
> Nice to see Harrison Tower in the background.

I was perplexed by the bi-level train.
It is either coming off or headed onto BN MT 1.
That would seem to be going the wrong way to get to Valpo.

I was thinking it was one of the IC trains. I know they ran the bi-levels on those trains.
But it could also be a West Quincy train which I believe also had bi-levels at one time.
What is confusing is photo 9 which I assume shows the same train hiding behind a BN dinkie.
Both the marker lights and headlight are displayed so it is difficult of figure if coming or going.

Question for the photographer. Are these photos posted in the same sequence they were taken?

espeefan Wrote:
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> Just out of curiosity, what was the reason to have
> power on both ends of #48? If road power was
> already added, why didn't the yard crew use the
> road power to position the train? Did the yard
> power stay attached to train or cut away and moved
> to another track before #48 entered it's departure
> track?
>
> I've seen several pictures of this same type of
> move and often wondered why?
>
I didn't begin working down there until a year after the photos but let me make some educated guesses.

Picture 3 is intriguing for a number of reasons. First, the normal procedure for placing a train in CUS from
the coach yard was to shove it out of the north end of the yard. This train is not coming out the north end
but is already on the main. Second, the yard engine should be on the other end of the train so it is not
trapped at the post waiting for the train to depart. Third, is the lack of head end cars.

An off the wall guess is perhaps it is a train that had arrived, had the head end cars set over,
was wyed and then could not get in the south end of the yard for some reason. That would account for the
yard engine being on the north end. After the train got north of Taylor St. it could then be lined in the north end of the yard.
Again just a wild guess from looking at a picture.

As for yard engines shoving the trains to the depot. 1982 was 4 years prior to Amtrak taking over the T&E crews.
It was probably a union agreement from the old days that yard crews were to shove trains to the depot and pull
inbound trains out to the yards. "Shovers" and "Chasers". From what I was told by the old timers, traditionally (meaning pre 1971)
the yard would shove the bags, coaches and sleepers to the depot without the road power. Road engine crews went
on duty at the pit and ran to the depot light. Either the yard engine or the road power (depending on railroad or train)
would set over the mail, baggage and express cars from the "mail terminal" (just north of Harrison St. tower - what
the 760 is pictured working) to the train.

One of the many promised economies of the T&E crew takeover a reduction in yard crews because the
road crews would back their own trains to and from the depot. Due to hours of service and other considerations the road
crews never did as much work as was originally assumed.

You could easily judge a yardmaster's competency or lack of it (Oscar) by watching if he sent a chaser lite out of the yard to the depot
after he had just told Harrison St. to send a shover back lite to the yard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/19/18 12:04 by Englewood.

> Question for the photographer. Are these photos
> posted in the same sequence they were taken?

No they are not, I grouped the photos by Railroad. All the Amtrak photos together and the same for the BN shots.
The photo of Amtrak GP-7 # 760 (photo 5)shows the locomotive moving toward me, the photographer. It is exposure 30 and the photo of it in the background with BN E-9 # 9901 (photo 7 ) is exposure 29 on the same roll of film.
Thanks to everyone for the additional information and corrections. I am not familiar with the operations in and out of Union Station. These photos are from my one and only railfanning of Roosevelt Road.
Ken Gear

One quick story about the road guys shoving trains to the depot after they became Amtrak crews.

Some of the Fort Wayne guys had problems with understanding the blue flag rule.
After the road power tied onto the south end of No. 40 the Car Dept. would put up flags and derails
at both ends of the yard track and put a blue flag on the engineer's window. After the air test was completed
the carmen would take the flag off the engine and off the NORTH end of the track. The YM would then give
No. 40 permission to shove NORTH when ready. The Fort Wayne crews did not want to move because they were looking
at the blue flag still up on the SOUTH end of the track. They insisted that the track was blue flagged and they
could not move. (The flags at the ends of the tracks apply to equipment entering the track, not to equipment
already on the track.) They went round and round on that for a couple weeks until someone in management called
the FRA to get their view on it. The FRA agreed that as long as the blue flag was off the engine it was OK to shove.

Since the FRA was on the phone, the inspector invited himself out to the yard to look things over. The Car Dept.
General Foreman was immediately notified that the FRA was coming and to make sure his people were up to snuff.
As the FRA inspector got out of his auto he saw a carman under the baggage car of No. 3 with NO blue flags up.
Amtrak get out your checkbook!!!!

Being A Hogger myself, I won't move a train until all blue flags are removed. If not, that would be a cause for an over zealous train master to pull you out of service!

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espeefan Wrote:
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> Being A Hogger myself, I won't move a train until
> all blue flags are removed. If not, that would
> be a cause for an over zealous train master to
> pull you out of service!
>
> Posted from Android

Now days that is probably true because the average TM knows nothing about the operating rules.
As an old BN trainmaster told me "in the old days we would put a supervisor with a train to make sure
it got over the road. Now if you put a supervisor with a train it will never get out of the yard".