Passenger Trains > Roosevelt Road happenings - April 3

My son and I took advantage of a pretty nice April day to shoot some of the activity in the Amtrak yard south of Union Station in Chicago.  All shots are either from Roosevelt Road or the parking garage at the nearby Southgate market.

Photo 1 - Amtrak heritage unit #130 is resting while preparing to lead the Empire Builder later that day.  See sethamtrak's post from yesterday for more of this beautiful locomotive

Photo 2 - The new Siemens coach cars patiently wait their turn to enter revenue service.  Some of these cars have been in Chicago for over 7 months.  I really like this shot to show how the lines of the news cars really match the profile of the Charger locomotives.

Photo 3 - Side view of the same cars basking in the warm Chicago sun.  Anyone know how close these are to entering service?  I know they ran a test train a few weeks ago.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/21 20:26 by kbmiflyer.

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We were fortunate that three long distance trains arrived within minutes of each other

Photo 4 - The Lake Shore limited arrives with three engines pulling a long consist
Photo 5 - Less then 60 seconds later, the City of New Orleans backs in after a reverse move at 21st street since the Air Line bridge is still out of service.
Photo 6 - Minutes later, the Cardinal arrives.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/21 18:58 by kbmiflyer.

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Photo 7 - The cardinal has new bag dorm 69004 bringing up the tail
Photo 8 - The Illinois Zephyr with Charger 4613 nears the completion of its morning run from Quincy.
Photo 9 - The parking structure has some interesting cable work which makes taking pictures of the city skyline interesting.
 

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Great photos, thanks for sharing.  Why have the new coaches been sitting there for 7 months?  That seems like a long time.

And why is the bag dorm on the rear of the Cardinal instead of behind the power where I believe it belongs?

Great photos!  Thanks!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/21 17:58 by viatrainrider.

RFandPFan Wrote:
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> Great photos, thanks for sharing.  Why have the
> new coaches been sitting there for 7 months? 
> That seems like a long time.

It’s just plain ridiculous!

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

viatrainrider Wrote:
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> And why is the bag dorm on the rear of the Cardinal instead of behind the power where I believe it belongs?

Many people complain when the sleepers are too close to the head end (engine and horn noise).
I guess you can't please everyone.

viatrainrider Wrote:
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> And why is the bag dorm on the rear of the
> Cardinal instead of behind the power where I
> believe it belongs?

The don't want a sleeper to be the rear car since some say the rear car fishtails. So Let it happen to a coach. 

Any private (i.e. heritage) cars parked there? If so they are usually near the south ramp at the east side of the Roosevelt Road bridge.

Cumbresfan Wrote:
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> Any private (i.e. heritage) cars parked there? If
> so they are usually near the south ramp at the
> east side of the Roosevelt Road bridge.

The Private Cars are south of the car shop. The only cars left in Chicago anymore are the NXTrack Skykomish River and the Promontory Point. All the others have disappeared. Those tracks near the bridge are reserved for spare chargers and the string of venture coaches it seems. 

sethamtrak Wrote:
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> Cumbresfan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Any private (i.e. heritage) cars parked there?
> If
> > so they are usually near the south ramp at the
> > east side of the Roosevelt Road bridge.
>
> The Private Cars are south of the car shop. The
> only cars left in Chicago anymore are the NXTrack
> Skykomish River and the Promontory Point. All the
> others have disappeared. Those tracks near the
> bridge are reserved for spare chargers and the
> string of venture coaches it seems. 

Thanks. Looking closer at your pictures on a computer big-screen display also answers the question I had.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/21 12:21 by Cumbresfan.

Good set, thanks!

Andy