Eastern Railroad Discussion > Eclectic 2022 CN consists in Chicago

This post gathers a few interesting CN trains in Chicago since the new year. First up, from today: L536 (Glenn Yard-Kirk Yard) heads south past 47th St. with a KCSdeM GEVO covered in paint splatter. Usually L536's power is whatever L537 had the night before, but last night, it was just the two CN motors that are 3rd/4th. It seemed like maybe the KCS/BNSF power came from Hawthorne earlier in the day based on a mysterious late-morning train that took that routing. This was a big train, a little over 160 cars.

On another note, there are a lot of KCS engines roaming around Chicago right now considering they are the only major Class 1 that isn't in the region. I've seen them multiple times on CP, NS, and CN in the last week.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/22 19:17 by inCHI.

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On January 2nd, L536 had IC SD70 1003 leading, with a different KCS GEVO trailing.

The first two shots show it winding through the tight zigzag just east of 16th St. interlocking. The next few shots were taken from the 35th St. pedestrian bridge.

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Another shot of the power at 35th, and some cars that were interesting. Cuts of freshly patched NSSX gons have shown up recently.

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On January 4th, L536 had UP power, which is pretty common on this transfer for some reason. A Metra outbound races by at 41st St. The next morning, M337 (Kirk Yard to Iowa) had the same UP power set, but turned, with the SD70M leading again, as shown at 47th St.

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These aren't always daylight trains anymore, though. I had a post a month ago about CN having a harder time getting freights through downtown, made worse by their single tracking of the Cermak interlocking. https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,5380932,page=1

On 1/7, two freights were sitting into the evening at Cermak - a grain train in the foreground in the Bridgeport siding, and L536 in the background on Main 2. On Sunday, L536 sometimes gets through to the other side (the Chicago Sub) before 12 noon. Here, it is waiting until after 7-8pm to get across.

Around 8pm each night, the other train that is there is a local that runs from Glenn Yard to Hawthorne Yard, and uses Bridgeport Siding to run around its train. With the wrong camera in hand for night photos, here are two shots of IC GP40-2R 3138 and GT GP38-2 4917 on that job. The red pot light signal at Cermak is shining on the IC herald while they wait for the signal to reverse back.

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I really like what you did with image #5 at Kelly's kink with the tagger blue (artwork) on the masonry blocks from SCAL construction days in the foreground and the blue tinted windows on the boxed aquariums in the background with a deathstar in the middle. Great composition! I appreciate what you do with this territory. Always enjoy your downtown CHI action.

IC1038west Wrote:
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> I really like what you did with image #5 at
> Kelly's kink with the tagger blue (artwork) on the
> masonry blocks from SCAL construction days in the
> foreground and the blue tinted windows on the
> boxed aquariums in the background with a deathstar
> in the middle. Great composition! I appreciate
> what you do with this territory. Always enjoy
> your downtown CHI action.

Thanks! It's an odd spot I'll get some better shots of at some point.

Nice shots!

RC Lundgren
Elgin, TX

Does it  make  sense  to  extend  the  electric  to Kankakee?  

cutboy1958 Wrote:
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> Does it  make  sense  to  extend  the
>  electric  to Kankakee?  

Purely from a planning perspective, I'd say maybe - but not yet. Full-scale suburban development keeps extending southward through Monee, Peotone and Manteno. Monee and Manteno are getting pretty built-up, Peotone a little less so. Kankakee is more of an exurb of Chicago than ever, and the north end of town has built-up considerably in recent years. Traffic on I-57 (two lanes each way) now is heavy anywhere north of Kankakee, particularly in rush hours, and is approaching saturation at times.

But the development is all relatively close to the CN - I-57 corridor. Go a few miles to the east or west, and its still rural farmland. Ripe for development, to be sure, but not quite yet.

I lived in the southern Chicago suburbs (Olympia Fields area) for a number of years, and traveled this corridor many, many times and know it well. I used to ride the then-IC Electric into the Loop daily. And I get back there a few times a year now (although less during the pandemic). The level of growth, development and change has always impressed me.

If there was some need to acquire right-of-way before it was otherwise developed, this would be the time to move on that. But the ROW is there right next next to CN's current single track, much reduced as it is from IC's two or three (or more) tracks. It's unlikely to be encroached upon (although vigilance on that score would be wise for the planners). Developing it with new track and the not-inexpensive catenary perhaps can wait a while until there's more development to better provide the traffic base. And perhaps with a better financial footing for the state, regional and local governments, and Metra (pipe dream though such things may be......)  Just my three cents.

More excellent images, inChi. As always, I really enjoy the images along the lakefront. You do those very well. Thanks!

MC



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/22 09:37 by ironmtn.

Nice pics!!