Eastern Railroad Discussion > Decatur & Eastern Illinois RR (WATCO) First Revenue Run

Today (September 9, 2018) WATCO's Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad ran it's first revenue train over the ex-CSX Decatur Sub. 
Crew went on duty at 0600 this morning, and the train left the Decatur yard headed east around 1000. Power was FURX 5514 (gp38-2) and WAMX 4002 (gp40 widecab?), hauling 43 cars. In Decatur, we had clear skies with some wind this morning, but as I followed the train east, the clouds accumulated and the winds increased.

This video follows the train from Long Creek to Tuscola IL, where I ended my chase. The train continues on east from here to Chrisman, where it will cut south towards Terre Haute, IN (I think). The two geeps struggled to keep the train moving up the grade in Long Creek, but there were no problems on the way east. Train had to wait about 30 minutes at Tuscola for a Northbound UP train to clear, and a Southbound Saluki Amtrak to pass on the CN before crossing the diamond.

Scenes at: Long Creek, Casner, La Place, Hammond, Pierson, Ficklin, and Tuscola. 

Thanks for looking,
     -Caleb Luka
 (photos to follow)

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1. Train climbing the hill out of Long Creek IL

2. Rolling through Casner

3. Passing the TopFlight Grain elevator in La Place

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4. Passing through farmland just west of Hammond

5. Passing the elevator at Pierson

6. Crossing the CN tracks at Tuscola after waiting about 30 minutes

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7. Roster shot of FURX 5514

8. Roster shot of WAMX 4002

9. Going away shot as the train heads east through Tuscola

    -Caleb

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Nice chase video and photos.  Great to see the enthusiasm of a new operator.  Especially with added flag. . .and watching the NFL all day=16px -:)

     WAMX probably used to be a '40' but not anymore with those four stacks. 

Great coveage on the Decatur and Eastern Illinois . Enjoyed your last 2 posts. Keep them coming.

Randy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/18 09:54 by bridgeportsub.

Does anyone know if it actually goes from Chrisman down to Paris and then Terre Haute? There is a huge Cargill/Mitsubishi grain elevator in Dana, Indiana, about 10 miles east of Chrisman that is serves also. When I lived there a few years ago and CSX ran it they didn't turn at Chrisman but went to Dana and then got on the Chicago/Terre Haute/Evansville main line at Montezuma, IN. There used to be a wye track there in B&O days but now you can only go north towards Chicago at that junction so I am just curious how the new railroad is interchanging with CSX and where.

Here are some pics from first inbound run to Decatur Il today. 2nd pic is crossing Lake Decatur
Joe

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