…Just a note to some on here that have been to Muncie to watch some trains. A little before 1 pm we stopped at Bruner’s restaurant for some lunch and we probably were in there just short of an hour.
3 east bound trains…One stopped right at the restaurant, probably to allow the diamond {just ahead}, to clear and 1 west bound. Not bad for a bit less than 1 hr.
That is the double track CSX east / west line through here.
Very nice.
I was a the same spot back in October for three hours and saw nothing.
…Thermeni: Yes, I understand there are periods of non activity. Believe morning and evening are better. Again, just this morning I was at a business just west of Bruner’s, {Cooper Tire}, and had some work done and was there for about 40 min. and witnessed 2 east bound container trains.
Ah Quentin - come for a Husker Football game (now that we are going to be on top again - and stay for the train watching! You won’t want to go home!
Jen
Or stop in Syracuse at the mall. The better half can go shopping while you sit in the parking lot watching the parade of trains on the CSX Chicago (NYS Water Level Route) line. If you like them at speed, a visit to Utica Union Station will provide that. A line of AutoMax cars whipping by at 60 per is a sight to behold.
Tree - busy scribbling down a future vacation site. We don’t see fast trains - just trains. So that would be a treat.
And my better half would love to shop! [:D]
…We do not see “fast” trains here thru Muncie either. But it is a location one can hear a train whistle…{horn}, almost anytime one is near downtown. Something moving somewhere. No passenger trains thru Muncie now hence, slower freight consists.
There was a time {pre Amtrak}, Muncie had quite a few passenger trains thru here…At that time, on NYC. Now: CSX.
Before that I understand some passed thru on Nickle Plate. Believe the last on that line was about 1949. That’s the route that is our Trail now…and the beautiful restored depot…Now Trail Head. See Thread: Abandoned railroads.
As most of you know we do have the Triple Crown passing thru here.
The two container trains I witnessed this morning were long ones and much of the one was double stacked 53’er’s…Much of the merchandise was of course…from China…Said so right on the containers. Headed east.
“Fast” trains usually surprise me the first time I go train chasing every trip back to Chicago. I like to railfan on the Aurora Sub a lot, and I have a tendency to forget just how fast the intermodals can move on that line.
Out here, if I’m shooting on the Moffat Sub, I can usually take a shot at a given location, and then beat the train to another photo location (well, at least until I run into the continental divide…the railroad has a little advantage there [;)]). I’ve tried that a couple times on the Aurora Sub and found out that unless I got a little help from the signals, there’s no chance of shooting the same train twice.
It frustrates the photographer side of me, but usually the railfan side of my personality gets a kick out of seeing an intermodal moving along at a really good clip.
Even the best spots (and I have two great lines that I’m between, within about six miles of each other) have their dry times. At least with commuter trains running, you’re assured of two trains per hour on weekdays (two trains every other hour on weekends).
Quentin, judging from the horns we heard in Muncie, we’re going to have to come back to Bruners’. How’s your wife doing, by the way?
Larry, I’ve been to the mall in Syracuse–it was dreadful weather, so I was in by the merry-go-round while everyone else was spending money. Good view, but not so much for my purposes (I need to see reporting marks and numbers). Back then, Pat had a brother living in Syracuse, but we’ve had little excuse to head back that way since he moved to real North Country (da UP).
Chris, you and MC took me to all kinds of exotic destinations in and around Denver this spring. Is there one spot where someone could land for most of the day and be happy?
And I’ll vouch for Camp Mookie–not only were there a lot of trains, but they were not like anything I’d see around here! And they were slow enough so that, by writing fastly and furiously, I could get most of the pertinent information I needed. Instead of Blue Coal, they actually have some Blue Coal Cars!
As for the fast ones, Chris is right about the Aurora Sub–and I’ll match it with the Geneva Sub on UP, when things are going smoothly. Mookie can vouch for how fast the trains blow through DeKalb. And every so often, there are days when you cannot keep up with a UP intermodal while driving along Illinois 38 between DeKalb and Rochelle.
Quentin:
What did you have at Bruners?
Next time down to see the son at BSU we will head there instead of his favorite Chinese Buffet up on McGalliard.
Just for your info…53’ containers are domestic as the steamships only handle 40’ containers. However, the 53’ could have been handling Asian manufactured goods which were shipped here and then reloaded for distribution.
ed
…Carl: In general, she has a lot of good days now…Still limited on the energy level but we’ve learned how much can be done and adjust our activity to it. But when I look back to the low point, we’re shoulders above those times. So guess we have to say at this point, she is doing much better. Thanks for asking.
Train speeds. One thing enters into it here in or as they approach the city, is the speed limit of about 30 mph thru the city. All the lines go thru it so train speeds have to be down at these locations I generally talk about hence slow to moderate speeds is all we see. Go a bit father out and some of them will be running quite a bit faster. We’re in flat country and I’m sure, especially the container, T O F C units are moving right alone. Between here and Indianapolis out in the open country I suspect you might see them moving rather briskly.
…Ed: Chicken is rather a safe bet there. They have specials each day and in general, it is not bad at all. They serve regular plain foods, nothing complicated, etc…Fried Salmon cakes are avail. each day for anyone interested. I think that is a good order. Wednesday is Fish day. Believe Monday is Chicken day. Saturday, they have a good special of baked pork and stuffing…That’s good. Generally 2 or 3 specials each day plus all the regular listings in the menu. Open from around 6am to 8pm. Sunday close at 3pm. Forgot one: If you are ever present when they have {one of the specials}, pot roast…It’s excellent.
On the 53’ containers…It said China right on many of them in large letters. A large “cut” of them were all the same color and lettered China.
Quenten:
Perhaps they are now shipping 53 footers by boat.
A good pot roast is hard to beat. Snow is coming down here…should be in Muncie in a couple of hours. Drive safely.
ed
…Yes, that snow is hard to take. Went and had my winter tires installed on my little toy…S-10 Xtreme, today. Have two water proof sand bags {70 lbs ea.}, I add behind the wheel wells in the bed and that helps, plus the truck has positraction. Plus…I really don’t have to go anyplace…ha.
We should be seeing some snow in about an hour. It is a fast mover…and should be out of here by noon tomorrow, and then maybe some sunshine. Another system on the way for later in the week with 1 plus inches or so. Tonight, we’re to see 2 to 4" here.
Right now, watching the Pacer’s struggle with Phoenix…!
Model,
…don’t you mean C&O for the depot by the Cardinal Tailway? I think the C&O had more passenger trains through Muncie than NKP, but I could be wrong.
Speaking of trails, did you hear the state of Indiana is trying to buy up most of the abandoned PC lines for trails? I think the govenor is also pledging a $1Million to extend the Cardinal Trailway toward Richmond.
…Mike now you have me thinking…The depot is {was}, last on the C&O…and that is the route of our present trail.
Former Nickle Plate is now NS. Now I believe we’re back on track.
Yes, the the local {Indy}, TV news had that info on today of the Governor wanting to support more trails…{really a surprise to me}, said he would like to have everyone in Indiana no farther from a trail than 15 min away…As far as I’m concerned, I’m all for it. I think our’s here is a real asset.
Item: The last passenger train running thru Muncie was the {Amtrak}, Cardinal…Did so about 10 years or so back in the mid 70’s and probably into the early 80’s. On the present Cardinal Greenway Trail route…{C&O}.
IIRC, that is why it was dubbed the “Cardinal Greenway/Trailway” and why I thought of C&O not NKP.
If you want to read more try looking at this:
Sometime around 1958 is when the Nickel Plate ran the last passenger train through Muncie, 9 and 10. Amtrak ran over the C&O until sometime in the mid-eighties. I don’t know when the last New York Central or Penn Central train ran.
Re: Speed. There are no crossings around Utica Union Station, so everything that can be is at track speed - 60-65 for most. Amtrak stops there, so we don’t get to see them fly by.
Occasionally you’ll see a passenger or two gape at the CSX trains blowing by. They usually hit the horn a couple of times as they approach the station, or sometimes you wouldn’t know they were even coming.
That’s a hard question for me to answer, Carl. I’m usually bouncing around from place to place looking for new photo ops, so I rarely stay more than a couple hours at a given location. That being said, I don’t think that there’s really anyplace out here that compares to Chicagoland for railfanning, but one could probably find some spots around downtown and possibly out on the Joint Line that might serve well enough to entertain most railfans for a day (at least the ones that are less ADD than me! [:P]).
I’ll also vouch for the Geneva Sub running quickly, too. Of course, the nice thing about that line is that there’s enough traffic that I don’t have to chase any given train to get another shot. Generally speaking, I can just wait for a train at a location that I desire to get a shot from and Uncle Pete will deliver a train within an hour or so at tops. Coupling that kind of train frequency and speed is an impressive feat indeed!