Eastern Railroad Discussion > CSX parking trains destined for Chicago?

This morning I traveled north on the CSX Monon Line starting at Brookston, IN and saw a freight train stored in the siding there (with no locomotives), then another freight (with no locomotives) was stored in the next siding at Reynolds, IN, possibly part of the same train parked at Brookston. Later I heard a dispatcher conversation stating the trainmaster wanted to park a 7000'+ train in the Monticello Branch which heads SE of Monon so a train could be run northbound out of Monon on the branch which heads towards Medaryville, IN (fomer Michigan City line). I suspect there was another train parked on the branch to Medaryville. Funny thing during the conversation a track inspector in the area told the dispatcher the Monticello Branch was sold off 3 or so years ago which the Jacksonville team apparently did not realize. Is there a meltdown occurring in Chicago due to the winter weather that hit the Midwest during the past month causing CSX trains to be parked south of Chicago? 

Short answer is Yes,  The BRC is a mess and we have had cars parked on CSX since 2/9.  PSR at its finest!  Cut, cut, cut till you have no resource to run a railroad.

Shaking my head.

They don't know which branches are gone???

Posted from Android

Yes, trains have been parked on the B&O mainlines east of Chicago for at least seven days.  

So Garrett's small yard must be full?

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

MEKoch Wrote:
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> Yes, trains have been parked on the B&O mainlines
> east of Chicago for at least seven days.  

Transfer Yard in Indianapolis which has been unused for some time has had a ton of BRC traffic parked in it this past week.  I've got carload traffic out of Detroit that goes across BRC that has been sitting for several days in Plymouth MI, Grand Rapids, and Holland MI, and have seen traffic that normally moves across BRC go via St Louis recently. 

Anything parked at Barr Yard?  How about the usual parking spot on the GTW at White Oak Ave. in Munster?

Last time I drove by Barr, about a month ago, it was pretty full. That always amuses me given that they tried to close it under PSR a few years ago. And now this...

Looking like the days following the Conrail takeover by NS/CSX back in 1999. My guess is that PSR works only under fair weather conditions. :)

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> So Garrett's small yard must be full?
>
> Victor A. Baird
> http://www.erstwhilepublications.com
>
> MEKoch Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Yes, trains have been parked on the B&O
> mainlines
> > east of Chicago for at least seven days.  


Using the third main to store BRC traffic. So the yard can still function.

Posted from iPhone

Seventyfive Wrote:
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> Anything parked at Barr Yard?  How about the
> usual parking spot on the GTW at White Oak Ave. in
> Munster?

Nothing at White Oak Ave.  That usually seems to be reserved for empty auto rack trains that nobody wants.

Pork Wrote:
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> Short answer is Yes,  The BRC is a mess and we
> have had cars parked on CSX since 2/9.  PSR at
> its finest!  Cut, cut, cut till you have no
> resource to run a railroad.

Pathetically Stationary Railroad

TAW

I dispatched the Monon for about five years a decade ago and always enjoyed it.
Great crews and local management to work with.  Can't remember parking anything
very often anywhere along the line except for grain trains at Linden once in a while.

With freight held out even two states away, I have to wonder if all three mains are jam-packed
between 71st and 51st Streets on the Blue Island Sub.  Glad to read that Barr is hopping.

Thanks for starting this thread and for all the updates.

So let me get this right. Midwest experiences extended very cold temperatures with lots of snow, ice, wind,  frozen switches, crews having a tough time getting to their trains. Working in those conditions is hard. and PSR caused this weather?  Is that what folks are saying?  If PSR was not implemented, the winter would of been warm? That congested meltdowns in Chicago never happened prior to PSR?

Just curious to hear from all the professional railroaders with PSR experience who commented Thanks.

Bruce

TAW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Pork Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Short answer is Yes,  The BRC is a mess and we
> > have had cars parked on CSX since 2/9.  PSR at
> > its finest!  Cut, cut, cut till you have no
> > resource to run a railroad.
>
> Pathetically Stationary Railroad
>
> TAW

THIS.......I am first out and rested....but can't be called because there are three conductors available that can't be called and they are rested around 2330.......I am going to be an all nighter through no fault of my own....

Recent experience is showing that PSR isn't the only form of hard-core, profit-above-preparedness capitalism that depends on fair weather. Hello, Texas!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/21 14:07 by toledopatch.

toledopatch Wrote:
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> Recent experience is showing that PSR isn't the
> only form of hard-core, profit-above-preparedness
> capitalism that depends on fair weather. Hello,
> Texas!

The main reason for the recent congestion is the BRC.  When did the BRC adopt PSR?

While I hate to rain on this party with facts, this has been the best handled "meltdown" I have seen in awhile.  They have done a good job at keeping the mains clean, which has kept the intermodal and bulk on time.  In times past, there would have been three trains parked at Suman, three at Indo, and many more tied down through out the system.  Efforts have been made to bypass the BRC, UP has built solid Selkirk trains (X368s), CN has built solid Cincy trains (X351's).  CSX has built solid CN trains (X500's), and the IHB is taking a hump train a day that would normality go to the BRC (X350).  Traffic has also been diverted to other gateways.  All in all, a better hickup than in the past. 

Typhoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> toledopatch Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Recent experience is showing that PSR isn't the
> > only form of hard-core,
> profit-above-preparedness
> > capitalism that depends on fair weather. Hello,
> > Texas!
>
> The main reason for the recent congestion is the
> BRC.  When did the BRC adopt PSR?
>
> While I hate to rain on this party with facts,
> this has been the best handled "meltdown" I have
> seen in awhile.  They have done a good job at
> keeping the mains clean, which has kept the
> intermodal and bulk on time.  In times past,
> there would have been three trains parked at
> Suman, three at Indo, and many more tied down
> through out the system.  Efforts have been made
> to bypass the BRC, UP has built solid Selkirk
> trains (X368s), CN has built solid Cincy trains
> (X351's).  CSX has built solid CN trains
> (X500's), and the IHB is taking a hump train a day
> that would normality go to the BRC (X350).
>  Traffic has also been diverted to other
> gateways.  All in all, a better hickup than in
> the past. 

It's not that BRC has adopted PSR. It's that the railroads that did adopt PSR have cut so much flexibility out of their systems that two weeks later, they still haven't caught up with the mess that was basically caused by one snowstorm and two weeks of sub-freezing weather. It used to take a lot more than that to screw things up as badly as the last two weeks have been.


 

Tying down trains for a week 90 miles from Chicago is not dealing well with the hiccup. Trying to park a train on a branch line your company sold off 3 years ago and your dispatcher and trainmaster must be told by a track inspector that is not CSX property is a sad situation communicating the current condition of CSX. PSR is making the bottom line look good short term, but one wonders what the state of CSX and NS will be in 5 years. Depends on that knowledgeable management team in the field who does not know what trackage their company currently owns on their divisions. Time will tell.