Today, 1-31-09, is the final day of opreation for the EJ&E.At midnight tonight, CN will start moving in their motive power. Another fallen flag, RIP EJ&E.[:(]
Luke
Regardless of the name on the paperwork or even on the motive power, around here I suspect it will be “The J” for a very long time among fans and the general public, if not forever…just like many here still call the BNSF “racetrack” and many call the entire railroad “The Q” (the local model railroad club in Aurora is called “The Little Q”).
Anybody know any good books on the J"?
I caught the EB line train in Joliet, New Lenox and Frankfort yesterday and observed some yard switching with the SW1200s yesterday. The SW1200s will probably not last very long with CN so I figured why not shoot them.
Today I caught JSW1 at Plainfield, Shorewood and Minooka. While it might be a CN train now (even though I refuse to call it a CN line at this point), it had 657 and 660 on the point. I think the SD38-2s should remain on the roster for at least a couple years. There seems to be a high demand for the SD38-2 on class ones, many railways are rebuilding SD40-2s into SD38-2s. CN retired the DM&IR SD38s but they have not retired the DM&IR SD38-2s. They just repainted DM&IR 212 into CN paint quite recently.
Also, there was no CN power around the EJ&E today. I suspect that is not one of CN’s highest priorities at this time.
I’m sure that it will be a while before we see major changes in operations on the EJ&E. I would guess that the SD38-2’s will probably wind up as hump pushers and transfer power around the system and that most of the SW1200’s will be retained by the Gary Ry (the Lakefront line and other lines west of Kirk). However, I can’t see how Kirk will become the primary yard for CN in the Chicago area since it seems to be on the end of a branch north of Griffith and doesn’t directly connect with anything else.
I suspect that you’ll start seeing the big changes in March:
http://www.utu.org/worksite/detail_news.cfm?ArticleID=45650
I couldn’t warm up this link, for some reason.
Well the “J” is a little different from the IC but it took a little while for them to assimilate it. At first they used Woodcrest shops to prepare old CN enigines for scrapping. Now I can’t remember the last time I saw an SD60. I actually like the older stuff and there sure is a variety. I suspect the mill switchers will remain at USX for quite a while. I doubt we will see any more DM&IR SD9s during the winter. They will probably dump the SD38s IMHO.
Feb. 2, 2009 Chicago Tribune
Freight train traffic to shift in March in wake of rail merger## CN’s acquisition of EJ & E is completed after yearlong debateBy Richard Wronski | Tribune reporter- February 2, 2009
More freight trains will be rolling through suburbs lining the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway starting March 4 now that the line has been acquired by the Canadian National Railway, the Montreal-based railroad said Sunday.
After more than a year of regulatory review, public hearings and contentious debate, the CN closed its $300 million deal to purchase the EJ&E and took over the line Sunday morning.
Opponents vowed Sunday to continue their fight against CN’s plans to re-route freight traffic through their suburbs. They will urge a federal court in Washington this month to order regulators to reconsider approval of the acquisition.
CN plans to use the EJ&E line, which runs from Waukegan to Joliet and Gary, so its cross-continental freight trains can bypass Chicago’s congested rail corridor.
The federal Surface Transportation Board approved the acquisition Dec. 24, but the decision did not become effective until Jan. 23. The Tribune first reported the closing of the deal Friday.
CN says acquisition of the EJ&E will generate greater rail efficiencies and environmental benefits.
I had a chance to drive along U.S. 30 today for a while and every single “J” crossign had two sets of sawhorses (one for each direction) and a blue sign that read “Incresed Train Traffic” and nothing else. Time will tell when, where and how much impact this will have.
I thought the EJ&E closed a long time ago.
There is a book on the EJ&E, Rock Island and other things in Joiliet. Ironically the book is called Joilet. 
I know there’s an Arcade monograph on the EJ&E. There are probably some slicker publications as well, but I’m not aware of them.
This is the only book I know of all about the EJ&E. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0738550574/thenorthspin-20
I don’t have it myself yet so I really don’t know how good the book is.
On another note all the crossings in Joliet, Plainfield and Crest Hill also have the new signs that say “Caution: Increased Train Traffic” also.
What I am wondering is why a local community has ANY say in how a railroad right-of-way that does not share streets with road vehicles is used? Seems to me that this right-of-way is older than most of these communities, that railroads are properly a Federal domain, and you just can’t interfere with interstate commerce. These NIMBYs are like the people who built next to OHare Airport in the 50s and then had the temerity to complain about jet noise in the 60s. All of them moved there and bought their upper-class homes LONG after the railroad was there, and they care only about their convenience and resale value no matter what the needs of the Nation. Under what theory of law could such a community prevail?
I believe the communities in question are not using the NIMBY offense but rather using issues of safety (i.e. the blocking of grade crossings, thus slowing ambulances, police cars, fire trucks, etc.) and the pollution issue. Otherwise I think you are essentially correct. By the way, for the sake of full disclosure, I live in one of those communities (Aurora) but I am personally satisfied that the purchase by CN of the EJ&E is for the greater good of the Chicago metro are at large.
On a related note, I crossed the CN (formerly EJ&E) at Diehl Road in Naperville today and saw a large CN truck at the crossing…IT’S BEGUN FOLKS!
At leithton ill, Is there wye tracks in the southwest quadrent, And how many are there just wondering i have never been there before thanks.
The connecting track is in the Northwest quadrant. Which is where it needs to be. I’ve seen coal/hopper trains being interchanged there.
How much work will be required to upgrade it? I don’t know.
Oops i meant to say northwest quadrent thanks Greyhounds.
There is a southwest quadrent wye at Leithon too! It is mainly used as an interchange track between the “J” and the “WC” and as an industry lead for a lumber yard and a plastics company.
On another note, CN is already reassigning the EJ&E power! 671 and 673 are now the yard switchers at Homewood, which may very well doom the few SW14s still operating there. CN has been using the two SD38-2s at a very frequent rate. 670 and 672 are now based out of Waterloo, IA in local service, but they’ve been seen pulling trains of almost 50 cars.
Also, CN has already ran a few trains down the J. About a week ago I heard CN 8005 on the Western Sub hitting the hotbox detector in Plainfield with 4 defects. There has also been at least one BNSF coal train running between Eola and Griffith that normally would’ve used the St. Charles airline. There was also a CN train heading east out of Joliet two days ago down the Eastern Sub. None of these trains originated or terminated at Joliet, they all came to the J via Eola or Leighton. Overall, CN has only ran 4 trains down the J since the 1st. CN also noted that the increase in traffic March 4th will only be slight, 4-8 trains at the most, and not all of those may make it down the entire EJ&E line.
I saw a CN truck at Joliet Yard about a week ago, but that was the only sign of CN I’ve seen myself.
CN bought the DMIR several years ago now, and there’s still a couple of engines in DMIR paint around. So I don’t think it will change overnight.
BTW be interesting to see if they do any “sublettering” on the repaints…many (all?) of the ex-DMIR engines repainted into CN colors have “DMIR” stencilled on the cab, kinda like the old Chessie System engines had “C&O” or “B&O” etc. on them.