I have a big customer who has their headquarters offices overlooking the BNSF mainline along Rt. 20 in East Dubuque, IL and their main conference room is in the corner of the building on the bluff overlooking the main. When I go there for a meeting I will always hear the whine of turbos during the meeting and will usually find a reason to “stretch my legs” and get up from the table to go to the window and see the BNSF or CN train come past on the main. I MUST be careful not to be too obvious about my hobby while there.
Speaking of the west portal, I’ve got a shot of that, too.
I was back over there a couple of weeks ago, and got a few shots of a short CN local crossing the bridge.
Brian (IA): I do not even have one good pic of Dubuque to share. I’m jealous.
Brian:
How safe or legal is it to get the shot of the west portal? Always wanted to do it, never did.
ed
I must admit that I was probably trespassing on BNSF property to get that shot. But I only walked back there on a Saturday after witnessing someone else walk in and out without getting hassled. The bridge operator saw me there, but didn’t yell at me… //shrugs shoulders
Where is the bridge operator?
ed
Nice pictures Brian.
I believe Amtrak should just get the service running, and worry about the speed later. If traffic develops, then the extra cash should be spent to remove the bottlenecks.
The 1974 Black Hawk covered the 182 miles in 4:30, 40.4 mph.
During 1975, the Quad City Rocket took 3:45 to run 181 miles to Rock Island, 48.3 mph, while the Peoria Rocket was 47.8 mph (3:25/161).
The Illinois Zephyr/Carl Sandberg average 60.4 mph (4:15/258).
When is Amtrak going to put the connection back in place at Grand Crossing, saving 20 minutes on the Illini, Saluki and the CONO ?
Does anyone in Rockford who wants part of a day in Chicxago drive to Harvard, park, and use the train from there to Chicago and back?
Hey wait! That’s my money you want to spend. My property taxes have gone up 55% in the past four years and the dingy Illinois governor proposed a huge tax increase on top of that.
What purpose would this passenger service serve? I can’t think of a good reason to run this train, other than having a train for the sake of having a train.
The Dubuque/Galena (both on the line) area is a great “get away” place from Chicago/Milwaukee. The area is beautiful, there are fun things to do, etc. But if you go on the train there’s no way to get around once you get there.
As to Peoria-Chicago service, I have fond memories of the Rock Island’s old “Peoria Rockets”. But they’re gone and they ain’t commin’ back. Amtrak tried a Peoria train. It ran east on the TP&W to the old C&A, then went into Chicago on the current Chicago-St. Louis route.
This sevice failed for the same reason. It couldn’t get people where they wanted to be. They were taken to Chicago Union Station, but they needed to be in Oak Brook, etc.
BTW, I plan to spend Memorial Day weekend out in Dubuque. I’ll drive.
I’ve done that Dave, though a long time ago. Actually, it was better to drive to Crystal Lake. Expresses ran from there. The scheduled trains from Harvard had many more stops. Don’t know the schedules now.
Another good way is to take I-90 east from Rockford to the HWY 31 exit at Elgin. It’s a short hop from there to the Elgin Metra station.
Out on the middle span of the bridge…
One wig-wag signal.
Shoot, I once sat there for a half-day waiting to see it in operation from ground level. No luck, though. Although I did see it once from a train I was riding.
The street south of the wig-wag crossing goes virtually nowhere, so there is almost no road traffic activity at this location.
Unfortunately, the signal faces north and is usually backlit, making photography and video tough.
If I was the railroad, I’d install a meter 30 feet away where a railfan could insert six quarters and the thing would operate for three minutes. THAT would be cool.
You asked for it:
Does anyone know what year the CB&Q line into Galena (on the east side of the Galena River) was abandoned? I remember the rails were there as late as 1972 and there also was a road on that side that went down toward the Mississippi River…
I have seen photos showing the area between the train depot and the Galena River (original, pre-silt boundary) was a rail yard and coal yard serving both the CB&Q and IC.