Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS mile posts

Is there some type of map to show where each mile post is, mainly for the NS Chicago line, that they'd call out at?

I hear various things on the scanner, like now, dispatch is telling a train to watch for trespassers at MP 117, near the diamond, in a red SUV, parked on an access road, but unclear where each MP is.

What diamond would she be referring to?

I know 122 is near downtown, 113 is near Garfield Heights Park, I believe, so the only thing I can think of is near East 78th St and Union, as I see on a map the line crosses something at grade.

Also, how or who handles when they call signals on the former NKP? Since I live between both the NS NKP & NS CHI line, you can hear them calling signal at MP 194, Berea, then 195, which should be Olmsted Falls, but could also be Bay Village/Westlake border.

I'm just full of questions today..

- Denny, Lakewood OH



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/14 15:12 by RAILWATCH.

Go here and download a "Dearborn Division Track Chart."

http://www.multimodalways.org/archives/rrs/NS/NS%20Track%20Charts/NS%20Track%20Charts.html

Curl up with a cup of coffee and a browser opened to Google Maps, and study it for a couple hours. There will be a quiz later.

As for what you heard on the radio about the SUV, when the dispatcher said 117, he or she was referring to CP 117, which is old Erie Crossing and near the Bessemer Avenue grade crossing:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4650909,-81.6283988,628m/data=!3m1!1e3

This was where the Erie main line from Youngstown (that also went through North Randall) crossed the former PRR on its way to Literary Street Yard in the Flats and eventually their ore dock on the old Cuyahoga Riverbed. What's left of the Erie today is operated by the CCR.

One way to tell the difference between the Cleveland District (NKP) and the Chicago Line (NYC) west of town is that the Cleveland District drops to single track west of Cloggsville, so if a train is including a track number in its signal calls, it's on the Chicago Line. East of Cloggsville, there's next to no milepost-numbering overlap among place names that get called on the radio for the two lines -- if a train has come off the ex-PRR, those mileposts are (as you have observed) much lower-numbered than those on the ex-NKP.

Of course, another key is that very few trains use the Cleveland District west of Cloggsville. If you're around the line long enough and pay attention, you'll quickly learn which trains are candidates to go that way (like #287 and #554/555) and focus on those when they come into town if you're interested in getting a shot of them on that line.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/14 15:31 by toledopatch.

Thanks again, Jerry!

Posted from iPhone

Thanks ToledoPatch.. I got who (which symbol) uses which line, but wondered who (dispatch) nowadays, hears or pays attention to who is calling signal.. on the CHI line, if 15N calls at MP 187, who is he telling it to, Cleveland dispatch?

Then you'd hear Toledo East chime in for some, to go into siding at Fairlane.

Who picks up signal calls on the former NKP, Dearborn?

Posted from iPhone

RAILWATCH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks ToledoPatch.. I got who (which symbol) uses
> which line, but wondered who (dispatch) nowadays,
> hears or pays attention to who is calling signal..
> on the CHI line, if 15N calls at MP 187, who is he
> telling it to, Cleveland dispatch?
>
> Then you'd hear Toledo East chime in for some, to
> go into siding at Fairlane.
>
> Who picks up signal calls on the former NKP,
> Dearborn?
>

I noticed, somewhat to my surprise, in those track charts that the NKP between Bay Village and Euclid is now part of the Dearborn Division. Since that's new to me, I don't know which dispatching desk handles it or if that has changed the radio channel in use. And simply put, during the time since the Conrail split-up that I have railfanned in Cleveland, I have photographed a train on the Cleveland District west of Cloggsville exactly twice: #287s that went that way last summer with the "CR" and "CNJ" Heritage units, respectively, on them -- I got the former at Vermilion and the latter at Clague Siding. Probably the only way I would worry myself with that line these days would be if I knew ahead of time that a train were going that way. Except for the bridges over the Rocky, Black, and Vermilion rivers and the area around the auto plant in Avon Lake, I'm not aware of much to see location-wise anyway.

The signal calls aren't really "told" to anyone in particular, but rather to everyone who might be listening as an alertness and safety feature. Sure, the practice is also there as a way to track operating employees' compliance with and awareness of signal indications, but it ostensibly works to alert other employees to trains' presence or even unexpected movements. The dispatchers certainly don't have time to listen to that stuff with any regularity, but occasionally they might hear something that doesn't quite check out with what they expected to hear and respond accordingly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/14 15:41 by toledopatch.

RAILWATCH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is there some type of map to show where each mile
> post is, mainly for the NS Chicago line, that
> they'd call out at?
>
> I hear various things on the scanner, like now,
> dispatch is telling a train to watch for
> trespassers at MP 117, near the diamond, in a red
> SUV, parked on an access road, but unclear where
> each MP is.
>
> What diamond would she be referring to?
>
> I know 122 is near downtown, 113 is near Garfield
> Heights Park, I believe, so the only thing I can
> think of is near East 78th St and Union, as I see
> on a map the line crosses something at grade.
>
> Also, how or who handles when they call signals on
> the former NKP? Since I live between both the NS
> NKP & NS CHI line, you can hear them calling
> signal at MP 194, Berea, then 195, which should be
> Olmsted Falls, but could also be Bay
> Village/Westlake border.
>
> I'm just full of questions today..
>
> - Denny, Lakewood OH


MP122 is right off of Lakeside Ave in downtown. Right by the homeless shelter, towards the crossing. As was said before, 117 is right at 79th and Bessemer. Nice signal bridge there, the diamond used by the CCR is visible. Neighborhood is sketchy, watch yourself over there. Your NKP line however, is alot busier then some think. I'd say plus or minus 5-10 trains just in daylight. They use 161.250 instead of 161.070. Clear indicator. If you hear chatter on .250 then fly over to the Cloggsville. Anything else man, just ask...

Posted from Android

160.980 is the channel NS uses for the Toledo Division for trains west of Berea on the NYC Water Level Route Denny. Of course the other Channels are 161.070, 161.250 (Former NKP line I believe) and out towards Bellevue 160.440 and the Sandusky District uses 161.190...corrections welcomed.

Posted from Android

East of Cloggsville, I'd say the 5-10 in daylight is accurate for the NKP. But unless something has changed radically, there's nowhere near that traffic between Cloggsville and Vermilion.

East of Cloggsville, I'd say the 5-10 in daylight is accurate for the ex-NKP. But unless something has changed radically, there's nowhere near that traffic between Cloggsville and Vermilion -- and that's the part where the similar milepost numbers could be a factor, since both that line and the ex-NYC through Cleveland both are mileposted from Buffalo.