BNSF Traffic........

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

I must be bored. No check that, I AM bored.[:-^] So bored,that I decided to get an idea of the BNSF traffic pattern if you will, between Chicago and Aurora. Since the tracks are right outside the front window, it’s not so hard. So, here is what I have for this morning, starting about 9 am, (I was too busy getting kids out of the house prior to that) I did this to get an idea of how frequent the freight trains are. I am leaving out the METRA traffic, however, because it’s pretty frequent. (During each rush hour period, there are 48 METRA trains, and there are also 6 Amtrak trains during the day as well)

9:10 Eastbound Container train, 2 units

9:20 Eastbound manifest. (3 GE’s, 1 EMD)

9:35 Westbound manifest, (2 BNSF, 1 CN unit)

9:40 Westbound Amtrak.

9:52 Westbound container.

10:12 Eastbound coal

10:19 Westbound empty coal.

Approximately 10:22 to 11:20 no trains…

There was a couple of other trains, but I wasn’t looking at the clock to get the exact times, but there was an Eastbound Amtrak (Not sure which one, it’s 4 coaches with a locomotive at each end) as well as two other freight trains, both westbound. (Sorry if I didn’t get the locomotive numbers, or types, I’ll try to do that this afternoon.). I just may even try to keep track of this for an entire week. (I really do have too much time on my hands) [8][banghead]

2

Man, count your blessings. I don’t even have a window in my office

I can, however, hear the 3x weekly NS local roll by…that’s as close as I get here at work

3

Oh man, I admit, I am jealous. I used to live up by the Trans-Con in Flagstaff and that was cool. No shortage. Down here in Phoenix, its tough to find train action close, but it is getting better.

4

Tim:

Do you have a scanner to listen in on the activity?

Anymore, I do 90% of my railfanning by listening in on the scanner.

ed

5

You would think that I would remember something so simple… DOH!!! [D)]

I have a portable with the camera, and a desktop up in the bedroom…

I listen to the UP, BNSF, CSX, and I believe the BRC, and NS…

Mostly that’s how I do my fanning too…If I am wanting to go shoot pictures, I listen to the scanner, and if I hear alot of chatter, I am off to the tracks.

6

My endodontist’s office is right on Burlington Ave. in Berwyn, and believe me that’s the only thing that makes me enjoy the trip there! - a. s.

7

Okay, now that I have gotten the daughter from kindergarten. Here is the list for this afternoon.

11:22 until 11:53, no trains…

11:53 Westbound TOFC, lead unit a GE, with and SD40-2 trailing.

12:48 Eastbound coal, BNSF #5727 leading , with SD70 trailing (I don’t know one GE from the other)

1:24 Westbound TOFC, 3 BNSF units #7729, #5670, and, I believe #5629

1:31 Westbound Coal, BNSF “Dash 9” and SD70 #9537 trailing.

2:18 Westbound Amtrak, not sure which one it was.

2:29 Westbound TOFC, 4 Units. couldn’t get numbers.

2:35 Eastbound Amtrak

2:40 Westbound container, ex-Santa Fe #686, SD40-2’s: BNSF #8057, #8081, as well 1 ex-UP unit, did catch the number, may have been #4081

3:12 Eastbound container 2 SD40-2’s

3:16 Eastbound coal BNSF Dash-9 and SD70ACe #9333

3:32 Westbound Amtrak

3:41 Eastbound TOFC, unknown locomotives.

4:18 Westbound empty coal, 2 SD70’s

Well, as of 4:30, nothing but METRA activity. Sometimes there is some freight activity during the evening rush, but not a whole lot. I always got the impression that the BNSF tries not to interrupt METRA service too much, because it seemed that freight activity would surge prior to rush hour, taper off, and then surge again in the early evening, and then steady down over night. Although, today didn’t seem to be as busy as Mondays normally are. And, one day last week, there was a freight train about every 20 minutes or so. It varies, I know it does, but being the curious sort that I am, I am trying to determine how much it varies, and what day is the busiest. But, that’s it for today… if I am not too busy,maybe I’ll post this evening’s activity later.

8

MP 173 What kind of scanner do you have? Can you tell us more. I’d like to get one but not sure what kind or where to get one. Thanks.

9

Check out Radio Shack, or their website. Search Ebay for scanners as well. Desktop, or portable, they have all kinds to choose from, I am sure most of them pick up the AAR frequencies… 160-161 MHz range, or thereabouts. As far as a what kind to get, you want one that covers all the frequency ranges you wish to listen too, and they range anywhere from 200 to 1,000 channels.

10

Man, count YOUR blessings!!!

I have 3 windows… but the nearest tracks are 60 miles away!!

But I do get to cross them every morning and night at least once. This morning I saw a eastbound mixed freight lead by a trio of SD70ACEs.

11

After spending a few days paying close (or as close as possible) attention to the train traffic on the BNSF “East End” through here, it seems that there is an average of about 25 freight trains between 9am and 5pm, with Monday-Tuesday being the slowest, and a gradual up tick in traffic levels starting on Wednesday…

The day before Thanksgiving resulted in 27 trains between 9 am and 5pm and there was a total of 20 on Tuesday, and 23 on Friday.(Thursday I left mid afternoon, but there were 11 trains by 1pm or something like that)

Overnights depending on the day of the week are fairly busy, as is the evening. I haven’t had the time to track activity after 5pm, but at one point on Tuesday night, there was a freight train every 10-15 minutes for about 2 or 3 hours, with the regular METRA “scoots” interspersed between the freight trains.

Since the tracks are right across the street, the din can get pretty loud sometimes.

There is also a lull of sorts, usually between 11:00 am and about 1:00pm but it varies by the day of the week. I don’t think there has been a time period longer than about 3 hours between freight trains.