Joliet is not quite the primary yard for from all points west yet. There is still some track realignment and signal upgrades that are needed before that can happen. A lot of CN through trains do set out and pick up cars at Joliet. Joliet also serves as a interchange with BNSF and the Iowa Interstate, and is also where UP trains bound for Global 4 get on and off the J.
Glenn Yard also serves as a yard for transfers bound for the Belt Railway in addition to locals. Yes, the CN does go directly into Clearing, mainly with a local that runs from Glenn to Clearing and a couple trains coming off the former GTW that goes up through Blue Island.
The one yard you did forget is Schiller Park Yard, which is shared by CP and CN. CN’s part of the yard is mainly for local freights and is also a crew change point, while CP primarily uses their part for intermodal.
Markham and Kirk are about equivalent in terms of freight car traffic, but the plan is to shift all of that to Kirk and then greatly expand the intermodal terminal at Markham. Don’t forget Markham also serves as CN’s U.S Headquarters and is home of their main engine shop.
Even though Joliet is not as of now the yard for all westbound points, is that the plan?
Do Iowa Division trains back up at Munger to access the Iowa Division from the EJ&E? Is the direct connector ever going to get built?
I see road trains go through the Franklin Park Junction - but they always either go down the Harbor or via the Metra/CP tracks to the BRC. From there do those road trains terminate or do they keep going to Markham?
Here is what I know about CN in Chicago, primarily on the ex GTW lines:
Markham:
108 - Vancouver - Chicago
148/149 - Chicago - Montreal pair
194/195 - Chicago - New Orleans pair
392 - Chicago - Toronto seems to come out of Markham, but may originate at UP.
490 - Markham to Detroit
251 - auto racks Detroit to Gibson Yard in Hammond (IHB)
Kirk Yard:
332 - Kirk to Toronto - usually around 3pm
347 Kirk to Prince George
393 - Toronto to Kirk
491 - Kirk to Fond du Lac
in addition Kirk runs a daily steel coil train to swap with NS at Van Loon. This is from USX plant and NS arrives at Van Loon around 3pm.
Also, CSX runs two trains into Kirk:
Q395 from Williard arrives in Gary around noon, it may take several hours to get into Kirk.
Q588 from Nashville…also arrives in afternoon, usually handled by a yard job from Barr(?). CSX also runs K trains of coal, coke, etc WB into Kirk and EB empties. Probably one per day, perhaps more. Ditto NS at Van Loon.
There no doubt are locals out of Kirk, but am not sure about these.
I have no idea what CN will do. Their operations right now have dramatically changed since prior to the recession. While the other railroads cut back and then bounced back, CN seems to be holding with a stripped down operating plan.
The ex GTW line has gone from about 30 trains to about 18-20 and stayed there. It makes sense to use Kirk and Joliet.
Maximum speed on the old EJ&E is 45, nearly everywhere except in certain cities along the way and at the ends of the line. We saw a manifest moving at about that speed last week; he was west of Joliet, westbound under I-55.
Wait so does CN only have 2 western intermodal trains per day (1 going west from chicago and another going east to chicago?) I thought they would have more… plus don’t those trains originate at Markham? I’ve seen CN intermodals going through the Franklin Park junction, and of the Schiller Park yard I thought CN only uses the general freight portion of that yard, all the intermodal stuff at Schiller Park is strictly CP, isn’t it?
Yes, presently CN trains have to back up at Munger in order to head south on the J. Right now no Iowa Division trains do this, as M338 was re-routed back on its old route via Hawthorne Yard. They are proposing a new connection, but right now CN is trying to purchase the land from a forest preserve that owns the property. The preserve so far has refused selling the land so if they can’t get that, you may see the Iowa Line east of Munger continue to see trains. The connection at Griffith is done, the connection at Matteson is under construction, and the property for the connection to the GM&O in Joliet has been purchased. Joliet will most likely take over Glenn Yard’s functions, and serve as a major interchange point with the BNSF.
You mention land for the GM&O connection in Joliet has been purchase - now there is already a connection going south on the GM&O, I’m guessing that this will be a connection going northbound on the GM&O, correct? Where exactly is this connection supposed to be also? Will it be near the southbound connection or will it be in the northeast quadrant of where the J bridge goes over the GM&O line?
For trains backing up at Munger to go from the Iowa Division to south on the J, during the reversing move it would occupy the grade crossing at Rt. 59 on the Iowa Division which is a major north/south artery in the area, have you gotten a lot of grief for blocking that crossing while the trains have been backing up?
You mentioned interchanging with the BNSF at Joliet, is the plan just to use the connector track on the bridge to access CN joliet yard? Or will a new connector be built so that a backup move will not be required?
For the Matteson connection, I know that there actually was a connection there back in the day and the grade still stands, however the Metra Electric yard is right there in the way preventing a direct connection to the CN tracks - wh
CN is building a double wye at Matteson north of the J and west of the IC. It’s a very complicated project, but in the end, trains coming off the EJ&E from either direction will be able to access the CN/IC and head either direction, and vice versa. CN had to purchase a good amount of property to get all the land. The former EJ&E Yard at Matteson has been removed, and the J tracks will be realigned south and go right through where the yard used to exist.
The current connection between the J and the Freeport Sub allows trains going south down the J to get on the Iowa Line and head west, and also allows trains going west down the Freeport Sub to go north on the J. The back-up moves usually don’t make it as far east at Route 59, but like I said before, CN re-routed M338 back onto its old routing via Hawthorne.
For the new connection in Joliet, it will be built in the northwest quadrant of the junction between the J and the GM&O and will allow trains going north out of Joliet Yard to head north from Joliet towards Glenn Yard. The eastbound BNSF interchange train gets into Joliet Yard by switching over from the BNSF to the GM&O at Joliet UD, where it will then run down the already-existing H-Yard connection into the J yard. CN also operates a BNSF train north out of Joliet down the J that gets on the BNSF at Eola and heads west for Kansas City.
The CN is planning on upgrading the entire line to CTC. The EJ&E had already upgraded Joliet Yard-Turner(Crest Hill) to CTC, as well as Normantown-West Chicago, Rondout-Waukegan and Kirk Yard-Griffith to CTC. CN has added CTC between Turner and Normantown, through the siding at Frankfort and has added a CTC Island to a point called CTC Robin, which is just west of Matteson. Right now the main sections of CTC are between Joliet and West Chicago, Rondout to Waukegan, between CTC Frank and CTC Fort (Frankfort Siding), to CTC Robin, and then of course Griffith-Kirk Yard.
The DuPage Forest Preserve Commission almost never sells its land. But if all that much isn’t needed, and the price is right, they might, given that the land in question is in an undeveloped, almost unused portion of Pratt’s Wayne Woods (the Google map is inaccurate, as both the J and the CN/IC lines divide it).
Another creative solution to the Munger problem could be running trains up UP’s Belvidere Sub and building a connector where the Belvidere subs meets the Iowa Division. Perhaps the land acquisition for this situation would be easier. I wonder if CN has looked into it…
EJE, you said the double Y is north of EJE and west of IC…correct? So these tracks must cross over the Metra lines, correct? Also, the IC line is an overhead, so it must be constructed up to the line. How in the world did Metra allow the crossing to occur? And what about the overhead catenary, is that an issue or not?
What is the speed restriction to be on the Y? An concerns of derailments, particularly on the southwest portion?