Eastern Railroad Discussion > Everything Hunky Dory in Chicago?

Letter from Chicago Transportation Coordination Office to STB dated 10/28/14:

"...Dear Ms. Brown:
Pursuant to the Surface Transportation Board's (Board) decision served in this
proceeding on October 8, 2014, this letter serves as notice to the Board that the Chicago
Transportation Coordination Office lowered the Chicago operating alert level from Level 1 to No
Alert on October 27, 2014..."

Brief Google search didn't crisply define what CTCO alert levels are although I did find one link that said Levels are winter weather related (Did it snow in Chicago in the past few days?).

I guess the new Englewood Flyover solved everything! ;-)

I don't quite get the significance of this filing. But it appears Amtrak isn't on the same page: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,3561902

STB Filing: http://www.stb.dot.gov/filings/all.nsf/ba7f93537688b8e5852573210004b318/eab5faddbbf83c7285257d7f006c03cc/$FILE/236916.pdf



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/14 02:55 by JPB.

http://www.transportation.northwestern.edu/docs/2013/2013.02.21_CTCO_Presentation.pdf

Alert levels factor in not only weather conditions, but also operating and volume conditions.

Thanks. I saw that preso but it didn't crisply define the three Alert levels. I also saw this preso on-line titled "Improving the Chicago Rail Gateway" but it focuses on winter weather related criteria: http://www.transportation.northwestern.edu/docs/2013/2013.02.21_CTCO_Presentation.pdf

From slide 19:

Developed Chicago Region Winter Weather Alert Program

Level 1 Conditions: 2-6” of Snow in 24 Hours, Subfreezing Temp.
Action: No Transportation Plan Change;
Implement Local Winter Operating Plans

Level 2 Conditions: 7-10” of Snow in 24 Hours, Temp. 0 to -19, Winds 15-20 Mph
Action: Increased Communication Between Railroads;
Possible staging or alternate flow of trains

Level 3 Conditions: Over 10” Snow in 24 Hours, Temp. Under -20, Winds Over 20 mph
Action: 20% Quota Reduction of Traffic Through Chicago

Actually, given the CTCO Alert processing protocol described below from slides 6 & 7 of the Northwestern presentation, maybe the CTCO letter to the STB is simply saying the majority consensus of CTCO participating RRs thinks freight traffic through Chicago is as good as it get and are satisfied. And, by implication, there is no need for merger activity or new regs/legislation to improve freight traffic velocity around Chicago.

Decision Making & Dispute Resolution

The basis for making Alert Level decisions at all levels will be the
factual information gathered by the CTCO as defined in the Alert
Plan. To move from one Alert Level to another requires a consensus
of the group empowered with making the decision to move from one
Alert Level to another. Further defined, consensus will be 50% plus
one. Whenever a consensus cannot be achieved at the Plan Owners
Level, the CTCO will be empowered to make the Alert Level
determination. Should the CTCO be unable to achieve consensus the
question and/or issue will be elevated to the CPG where once again
consensus will govern. Failure to gain a consensus at the CPG level
will result in the problem/issue being elevated to SOMC.
Factual information gathered by the CTCO is reported on the daily
CTCO Scorecard and via the daily CRCA conference calls. Vital Signs
and Key Indicators are identified in the Alert Plan. Whenever the
Vital Signs and or Key Indicators suggest Alert Level action should be
taken and there is no initiative taken by the responsible group or, the
responsible group cannot achieve consensus the more senior group
can take action to ensure that there is no oversight or failure by the
organization to respond to the condition(s) as dictated by the Vital
Signs and Key Indicators.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/14 07:18 by JPB.

That mandatory "20% reduction of train traffic through Chicago" sounds like it could be a big stick.

Maybe that's what STB etc ought impose on the region until the Elkart situation clears up. I wonder how many NS, BNSF, Amtrak, etc trains would be cancelled or rerouted onto alternate lines?

A real life example of how all that works.
Last year during one of the early, heavy snow falls by the time I got
to work I could hardly get in the office door because of the piles of snow.
Once inside it was like a different world. All the high level conversations with the other
roads were going on like it was 70 degrees outside. Having been through this many times
before I knew it was time to quit calling crews and begin an orderly shutdown. The problem
is that no road wants to call "uncle" first because they will then be blamed for the whole
mess. So crews keep getting called to spend 4 hours trying to sweep their way out of the
roundhouse and then another 4 hours trying to get 20 cars (because that is all that could be
pulled down due to the storm) out of the yard, only to expire after going a few miles and
sitting at snowed in switches. Eventually some hours later one of the class one's had their
bluff called and admitted they were totally shut down.

To the extent the Amtrak trains continue to bear witness to NS's Chicago/Elkhart woes:

Amtrak #29 and #30 both lost about two hours between Toledo and Chicago on last night's originating trains.

Amtrak #48 actually departed Toledo and Cleveland on-time (although it has since lost 51 minutes on CSX east of Cleveland).

Amtrak #49 lost 86 minutes on CSX and another 76 minutes on NS.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/14 14:01 by toledopatch.

The CTCO is a joke and the conference calls that are held twice daily are called the "liars club". Each railroad has a representative who has an office in the Metra control center in the South Loop - 16th & Canal. Few if any have dispatching experience. Some have operational experience, but they really don't solve anything and really have no authority to do anything substantial. Each railroad does what they want and on the calls the railroads point fingers at each other...give statistics and almost always answer questions from each other with "I'll talk to you after the call...".

The problem with Chicago is too much business...I guess that's a good thing. Yards are congested - and start holding trains out. Between the big Chicago yards - BRC Clearing, UP Proviso, IHB Blue Island, CSX/BOCT Barr Yard - the tally can be way over 10000 cars a day and that doesn't include NS Ashland Av, CN/EJE Kirk Yard, and some smaller yards...nor does it include any of the intermodal yards.

Trains have to get out, but they need power, but the power is on the inbound trains that the yards are holding out...
Trackwork can wreak havoc on the operation - and congestion or problems on one railroad can spread quickly to other railroads since almost every railroad in Chicago runs on other railroads to get to various destinations or yards for interchange. For example, the UP will use either the IHB or the BOCT to get from the Proviso side of their railroad to the Yard Center/Villa Grove side. CSX uses the NS Chicago line or the UP @ Dolton for trains from the east to get into/out of Clearing. CSX intermodal trains from the east headed to Bedford Park use the IHB & BRC(IHB dispatchs, CSX owns and the BRC west sub) and they have to navigate Metra Southwest trains at Chicago Ridge....really it is complicated...! And there is no easy solution...

Early this month Chicago had it's third earliest recorded snowfall since the ice age. I am told it did not fall everywhere across the city and suburbs, but it was no secret on the news (I read about it from over 2000 miles away). So am wondering if the appropriate busy executives and other 'company leaders' have yet begun preparations for the surprises that will soon be falling from the skies. For example, do all the switch heaters work? Have parts been ordered for those needing them? Are the crew vans prepared for deep snow along the tracks and in the yards?

dispr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The CTCO is a joke and the conference calls that
> are held twice daily are called the "liars club".
> Each railroad has a representative who has an
> office in the Metra control center in the South
> Loop - 16th & Canal. Few if any have dispatching
> experience. Some have operational experience, but
> they really don't solve anything and really have
> no authority to do anything substantial. Each
> railroad does what they want and on the calls the
> railroads point fingers at each other...give
> statistics and almost always answer questions from
> each other with "I'll talk to you after the
> call...".
>
Well stated.