Was looking to do a little KB&S railfanning in the comming weeks can anyone tell me much about the railroad and when they run and some good places to maybe catch them.Thanks for any help anyone can provide.
Iriquois Junction
Their Engine Terminal in the mornings is always good .
Your best bet is to stop by the shop/engine house at Iroquois Junction right along highway in the morning (7-8 am) when they are going onduty. They usually only work Monday through Friday, so don’t expect to see them out and running on the weekend unless it is something unusual. The railroad has always been pretty friendly and it is likely that they will let you know what the crew(s) are going to do that day. They seem to be running on the line down toward Lafayette, IND frequently (maybe just to the large grain elevator at Swanington), but daily operations do vary. Each crew will likely take 2 or 3 of the GP40 rebuilds and head out to do their work. They will do some things that might seem odd–like placing a unit on each end of a train, but this allows them to work the spur tracks from either direction.
The railroad also stores a number of cars, so be prepared to see sidings and other spur tracks crammed with covered hoppers–especially when things are a bit slow with the economy.
The crews return to Iroquois Junction at the end of the day–rarely do the locos sit anywhere other than the enginehouse area. One of the old KB&S RS11s is kept at an on-line grain elevator–I think it sits at Darrow, IL–on the old MILW line to Danville, IL just south of the TP&W diamond by a couple of miles.
Not a whole lot of outstanding scenery–it’s eastern Illinois and things are pretty flat. The grain elevator at Sheldon, IL has a couple of old 80-ton GE center cabs that you might find working. The TP&W runs a local from Remington, IND over to Gilman, IL and back during the day–you might find him roaming around.
Lance
http://www.illinirail.com/kbsr/
I’ve had a personal experience with the friendly folks a KB&S. A friend of a friend type thing.
Great bunch of folks top to bottom.[tup]
KB&S is one of my favorites.
One of my favorite things to do is to follow the line from Sheldon to Danville. There is a country road that more or less keeps you in site of the line for the entire way. Things are also pretty interesting around Danville.
Gabe
The KB&s operates sectoins of the old NKP and NYC. I live on the farthest eastern portion ( the CSX interchange point) of the ex- NYC line at Lafayette IN. I do see, when I get up toward Earl Park and that way, A LOT!!! Of stored BC Rail boxcars. Also topping the unused roster is centerbeams, hoppers, and BC rail flatcars. I never really see muhch of anything on the KB&S. I hope you have better luck![:)]