Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS Congestion

Is the former NKP mainline between Cleveland and Chicago as congested with freight trains as the former NYC mainline between the same two cities as has been reported here on TO?

Tom

From a couple of short trips to Bellevue over the last month I'd say no.

Problems with adding traffic to that line are many. Lots of single track. After leaving Bellevue,OH there are two routes to Cleveland. One connects with the x-NYC Lakeshore line at Vermilion adding to that line's congestion. The other line is the NKP into Cleveland- lots of single track and IIRC there is an agreement with the city of Lakewood to severely limit the number of trains through the city. This is an agreement from the CR split.

From what I've seen over the years Bellevue is an area of constant congestion on a lot smaller scale. Perhaps the yard expansion project will help.

Baltimore

Over the past three to four days I have seen multiple trains setting on the NS main between Cleveland and Amherst, Oh to the west. I travel for work and am near this line all the time between these cities.

There are always stopped trains near Rockport yard, Elyria, and Amherst, and many times one behind the other. When the trains are moving I rarely see them going track speed.

Is the NS northwest Indiana meltdown migrating into northeast Ohio? Hopefully another TO'er with more precise info than I can provide will shed some light on the situation.

Shawn

Bellevue yesterday afternoon was dead, but all the usual trains I'd see or hear (such as 303) were nowhere to be found. 217 was running several hours later than usual for a Sunday also.

From what I understand, the issue is a lack of crews and too much traffic. Add to that 5-10 (educated guess) trains a day needing cab signal add on units at Cleveland, and it melts down. Maybe when Bellevue opens up, they can shift this power rearranging issue to Elkhart, since they stand to lose some train originations.

UP3806 Wrote:
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> Is the former NKP mainline between Cleveland and
> Chicago as congested with freight trains
>
> Tom

Not quite as bad but considering what little traffic uses the NKP between Cleveland and Bellevue trains do outlaw and are put into sidings. My son works one of the locals that use the NKP line, he told me occasionally congestion slows down their work.

Would directional running using the ex-NYC and ex-NKP lines be of any advantage to lessening the congestion or would there be a real problem with having crews available?

Tom

Lack of qualified crews would be a issue in addition to the yards that both lines terminate at aren't the same. Plus a host of other issues