Forgot the link:
There you go!
CE&D =Chicago to Evansville and Done!
LMAO! [:D] Good 'nuff… I’ll take it.
Mike
Ed,
We run both ways out of Danville, but most of our runs go north. Only the old heads with major seniority can hold the F1 pool that goes south to Evansville. It is the prized run because we only have to operate on one railroad. The F1 pool only handles four trains daily, two southbound and two northbound. Once in a blue moon when I actually catch an F1 job to Evansville I always enjoy the trip. It is very scenic as we run along the Wabash river for much of the way. There are also a lot of very tight curves further south and it is quite a rush running those curves at 50mph. Trains usually run farily smoothly southbound out of Danville, and If I’m on a piggy back the 165 mile run to Evansville averages about 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
I mostly work the Chicago end where we can end up in many different yards. There are three pigs that run daily as well as one solid autorack train, Q244, which we bring to Gibson yard on the IHB. Q596 and T938 go to Barr yard. Q592 goes to Clearing. Q588 goes to Blue Island. There are also numerous “K” trains that we can bring to any of the aforementioned yards as well as Proviso, BN Cicero, and Bensenville. The first time I saw Proviso I was awestruck. That yard, actually it is a collection of yards is so massive that it’s hard for me to put it into perspective. The main problem heading north into Chicago is the congestion of course. Dolton junction is super busy and we will sit and wait for hours just to get through. The volume of east/west traffic is many times what the north/south is. Usually going to Chicago meant we got a lot of overtime, but lately trains have been getting to yards much more quickly. I guess the “One Plan” that CSX implemented is working. Since we only run 130 miles to Chicago we rely on overtime to make money and now that is disappearing. Usually running southbound we move much faster unless we have to make a pickup at Momence or Coaler, which is just south of Watseka. But, this time of year brings more broken rail a
Nathan,
What about local ops between Danville and the Junction, as well as between the Jct and Chicago? We used to see one local per day in the early 1980’s switching the grain elevators and factories in Hoopeston. I remember hearing the dispatcher refer to this train as the “Watseka Local”… so I’m assuming it actually went all the way to Watseka?
Mike
Mike,
J714 is the current local that works between Danville and Woodland Jct. Ocassionally they will go as far north as Watseka to perform interchange work with the UP. Several of the factories are now shut down and the only thing besides grain that the north local serves now is Hoopeston foods. The canning factory is shut down. The UP has a local that I hear the dispatcher call as: “UP Local 50.” It works from Momence all the way south to Villa Grove I believe. From Momence north there is nothing to service for the exception of a lumber yard in Beecher. The Yard Center jobs handle everything from the 26th street yard north. The EJ&E interchanges with the UP at 26th street yard in the evening. When proceding north through Chicago Heights we must contact the EJ&E dispatcher to get a signal over the diamond.
Thanks for that info. How many operations per day run North out of Danville?
Do you think anyone you work with would have any old photos of the former depot in Hoopeston?
Mike
Mike:
I have shots of the Watseka depot, if interested. Not really good ones, I think I have a NB MPac, picking up orders, around 1979 or so.
Nate:
When you mention the F1 pool has four trains…2 each way to Evansville, surely there are more trains than that south of Danville. Does that mean that crew members with seniority can bid those 2 jobs? Are they regular jobs, such as out every day at 10am, or whatever? Do those crewmen make turns to and from Evansville on the same day? It seems like you could, at least on paper.
What are K trains?
When you deliver to say Proviso, is that a general freight ? Is it preblocked or does Proviso have to classify? Do you then layover at Proviso or have to come back down to the southside?
Dolton Jct…whew…been there once
When does OT begin?
gotta run.
ed
Ed,
Most of the trains south of Danville are handled by crews out of Evansville. There are about five or six permanent jobs on the F1 pool for our guys, but I’d have to work out here at least 25 more years to even hold it. There are many trains that run between Danville and Evansville. A lot never come this far north. There are a slew of grain trains and coal trains that just work Terre Haute south. Also some trains out of Evansville run on the old Conrail and go east to Indy and vice versa. The old tracks that run Vincennes west to St. Louis are also still in use by a few trains a day.
“K” trains are unit trains made up of various stuff like molten sulfur, potash, and other such materials. These “K” trains we bring to Proviso and such are just being rerouted north towards Canada where potash and molten sulfur are loaded.
Dolton Tower is still manned by an operator, but I believe the operator just presses buttons now that acutate the switch levers. There is talk of automating Dolton to improve traffic flow as well.
I don’t have any old photos and most of the guys I work with have no interest in railroading as a hobby, so it would be hard to come by.
Sort of like my career. Unlike myself, most of the people I work with have no interest in aviation and flight simulation as a hobby.
Mike
Armstrong levers? Way cool. Can you imagine a long retired operator coming back for a visit and pulling one?
Jay
One of the yard clerks and one of the yardmasters I currently work with used to operators at Hayley Tower in Terre Haute. I’ve heard some very interesting stories from them.
Nate–if you ever get into Proviso on the 1500-2300 shift, call 5140 and ask for…
Carl
Carl,
I’ll try to remember that. It may be a very long while before I’m back there as I’d only make it up there once every six months as all the right pieces would have to fall into place.