My Sweet Home: Chicago!

Trains.com General Discussion (Trains.com)
1

Sure, I haven’t lived there in 5 years, (in the south suburbs, that is) but I still consider myself a Chicagoan. After all I spent almost 30 years of my life near (what I refer to as) the greatest city in the world! My parents, whom are paying me a visit tonight, live in the south suburb of Midlothian, not far from the old Rock Island Line! I witness the last days of this once ‘mighty fine road!’ My father, a model railroader himself, helped develop my interest in railroading.

Chicago: Hog Butcher to the World; Crossroads of the Mid-West; Railroad Capital to the World; Culture Capital of the Mid-West![:I]

Need I say more?

I would like to know what’s been going on in the city since my 2002 departure.

2

Thanks for the Windy City boost! I can think of a few things, just to get the ball rolling:

  1. Metra continues to grow in popularity.

  2. The CTA rail lines continue to disappoint, particularly the Blue Line, which runs 20 minutes longer Loop to O’Hare because of slow orders; also because of heavy delays on the North and Brown lines due to ongoing Fullerton and Belmont station rebuilds.

  3. On the other hand, CTA has been running a new “Pink Line”, which takes part of what was Douglas Branch Blue Line service and routes it all-elevated from Rush Pres. Hospital to the North, where it turns and goes into the Loop.

  4. Not once but twice, this fall, CTA funding (also Metra and Pace’s, I think) has come within a few days of running out all together. The Governor and other bigwigs have twice brokered what everyone knows is a “patch”: temp. loans that will run out at the end of the year. So whether the CTA is forc

3

I am also a Chicagoan. Joliet (about 35-40 miles southwest of Chicago) to be exact. Also, CP is going to be taking over the IC&E, UP has become a neat railroad putting together trios of specially painted engines, BNSF opened up a new intermodal facility called Logistics Park in Elwood and is going to be building another intermodal called Ridgeport near Wilmington/Coal City. The new railroad park at Homewood is a great place to go. You can see power from CN and any of its predecessors (IC, GTW, WC, DM&IR and all the others) along with plenty of foreign power, as well as Metra electric trains and Amtrak. There is also a IC GP10 and caboose now on display on the west side of the tracks by the depot. The park is on the east side of the tracks.

4

It seems that the EJ&E has become a hot, yet contraversial, piece of property.

5

I figured that CP would do something like that, if they wish to connect with the Kansas City Southern. Are they also going after the DM&E? That railroad will be red hot real estate when they complete their Powder River Basin access.

6

Yes they are going to get the DM&E also in the same deal as the IC&E. The IC&E is owned by the DM&E so it is included in the deal. If CP does get into the PRB, it could change the face of Chicagoland railroading big time and maybe steal some of the business away from BNSF and UP. The EJ&E is a big time piece of property but CN is only paying 300 million for it. Getting it for that price is a steal if you ask me, and since I am a EJ&E fan, and am sooooo not looking forward to CN coming in after what they did to the WC SD45s and DM&IR’s power.

7

As you probably know the EJ&E was single tracked through the south suburbs years ago and CN has informed the communities they plan to run up to 28 trains from the current 6 per day across the line. Frankfort in particular is fighting the increased traffic. It will destroy the bucolic nature of the village is the press coverage I saw last week. A real NIMBY reaction. Don’t think so but 28 trains a day may justify rebuilding the removed track. At least I’d like to think so any way.

8

It said in the CN application to the STB that they do plan to double track the EJ&E east of Joliet, and possibly westward from Joliet to Eola, plus they would build a new connection at Griffith to allow westbounds on the GTW to head up to Kirk Yard. Also, more new connections would go in at Matteson for trains off the IC from either direction to head either way on the EJ&E, and at Joliet to allow trains off the ex-GM&O to access the EJ&E. On the CN side, they plan on quitting trackage rights on the IHB, downgrading Glenn and Hawthorne Yards, and turning the remaining main yard at Homewood into a intermodal facility to accomodate the traffic from CN’s new Prince Ruport terminal. This new Prince Ruport intermodal terminal could increase the amound of trains on the EJ&E through Frankfort to even more than 28. The city of Barrington is also aggresively apposing the deal and is working with Frankfort to get other communities to oppose the deal. The line from Eola Yard to Joliet could see 40-50 trains a day including BNSF and UP trains, and this has BNSF opposing the deal due to concerns about getting on and off the line at Eola and Joliet due to the increased traffic. Another note to mention, the STB has requested a environmental impact study, which could take 18 months or more to complete, so chances are the deal will not occur during 2008.

9

Slightly off topic, but most everyone who knows “Sweet Home Chicago” knows the verse as…

"C’mon c’mon, baby don’t you want to go??

C’mon c’mon, baby don’t you want to go??

To that same old place, Sweet Home Chicago"

But Robert Johnson’s original third line in the song was…

“To the land of California, and my Sweet Home Chicago”

[%-)][oops]

10

Well here is the latest from the highly offended up scale towns the EJ&E passes through (including mine which is in near hysteria). This is from the Chicago Tribune.

Freight train traffic on a rail line that cuts through Chicago’s outlying suburbs for nearly 200 miles could more than triple because of a proposed acquisition by the Canadian National Railway Corp., but a coalition of town officials has managed to slow the deal.

The $300 million purchase of the Elgin, Joliet &Eastern Railway Co. would allow Canadian National to route its trains around Chicago and avoid the city’s rail congestion.

But a group of Barrington-area officials were successful this week in winning at least a delay in the deal with their request to federal regulators for a comprehensive environmental impact study.

Such studies often take more than 18 months to complete, according to officials of the federal Surface Transportation Board, which regulates railroad mergers.

Barrington officials say Canadian National’s numbers show the acquisition would more than quadruple freight traffic through the community’s downtown within three years, from five trains a day to more than 20.

The environmental study would look at safety issues, as well as congestion, noise and other potential effects, said Karen Darch, Barrington village president and the spokeswoman for a coalition that includes Barrington Hills, Deer Park, Lake Barrington, North Barrington, South Barrington and Tower Lakes, and Cuba and Barrington Townships.

The environmental study, Darch said, “gives us the road map to find the solutions to the problems that CN will create by this additional freight traffic.”

The proposed acquisition of the EJ&E by Montreal-based Canadian National, Canada’s largest freight railroad, was announced Sept. 26.

The EJ&E, now owned by a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, has been chugging under the radar f

11

The Canadian National is the best operating railroad in North America today. It runs soo well that they have money to spend! I’m pretty sure that if the SBT approves of the purchase, the CN will funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade the EJ&E to everyone satisfaction: i.e. grade seperations, new track, new signaling system, even sound barrers. (Why not? The tri-state tollway has them![;)])