Yea, and I figured it had to be true and accurate bc he typed it TWICE. (Well, OK, maybe that’s posted it twice!!) [:P][swg][}:)]
Good morning, Sam!
Ha my buddy had to take a 8300 foot train from Portage to Chicago this morning, thats gonna be a fun trip…
UPDATE: Chicago is no longer accepting trains at the present time. My buddy was forced to tie up in Milwaukee after about 3 hours on the road.
Several Metra commuter lines have no service this morning (include IIRC the Heritage line, the UP Northwest line to McHenry, the North Central line and perhaps one other), the rest are on Sunday schedules and a number of CTA lines are shut down as well. We had on average 18-20 inches of snow last night and this morning and now we can deal with that AND four to six foot drifts (some higher) in some areas due to the winds last night that in some areas around Chicago topped 60 mph (Lake Shore Drive had a few gusts to 70 according to TV reports). Fun times in Big Windy!
Well! Good Morning! Everybody! I really did try and correct it. being quiet around here is like being in the Middle of a snowball fight! [swg][swg][:^)][:o)]
Carl: I really feel for YA! I cvould tell you about a night spent in the 76 Truck Stop at Joliet. The wind was blowing so hard and it was so cold that the water was freezing in the glass on the table.[:‘(][:’(]
On the other hand, if you get an impressive “snow train” picture, you might get piblished.
George
Well, here we are on Thursday, one day removed from the end of Blizzard 2011…and Metra is still having some trouble…our BNSF line is still having fits getting trains in and out of Chicago this morning for some reason…anybody have details as to why this is the case? I DO know it is -5F here in Aurora thir morning where Metra has their western terminus for the BNSF line. Thanks
Good Morning Everyone!
Thak You, Jim for your post. Wondered how things were there in Chicagoland! Pretty Cold out here still.
Temp this am is +1F and windshield is +1 F Light to no wind.
Saw a couple of EASTbounds yesterday afternoon about 330 Pm and about 4 PM moving pretty slow. Apparently none overnight, and another westbounf about 7 Am.
I kind of figured that the conditions for making trains up were pretty reduced yesterday due to the snow and wind.
Stay Safe!.
I was just looking at the Rochelle Web Cam and I see where maybe only the southern line of the BNSF double track has been used. The northern line still seems to be drifted over. So whatever problem BNSF is having must be west of Rochelle.
I don’t think the UP is doing much better, I think they only have one line open as well. From what I see on news sites I suspect this will change pretty quickly.
Bruce
Transcon is up I am seeing both East and Westbounds
Metra Southwest Service is up and running a full schedule today. The snow from the blizzard was light and powdery, causing it to drift easily and get into every little crevice, causing a fair amount of plugged switches and drifted-over yard leads.
Just got a Metra Service Alert bulletin that says nothing is operating past the Hinsdale station in either direction, due to an obstruction. Not inclined to go investigate yet.
Darn it, I had to go away and take a lengthy phone call and missed both the BNSF and UP go through Rochelle. I looked at the stills and the UP was a WB, but the BNSF photo hasn’t come up yet so it must have just happened in the last few minutes. What you see on that camera really reminds me of winter here. Not too nice out there.
Bruce
THursday PM .
ON way home from spending my volunteer day at the VA (Dole Hosp) Met two stackers and a solid TOFC, all long ones. The TOFC was going north between Mulvane and Derby .One stacker caught me in Mulvane at the crossing. Another between Mulvane and Wellington with 4 on the front and two units in DPU I’m guessing, that it looked to be possibly a 10,000 footer, give or take, at about track speed.
With any luck they (BNSF) are getting back to normal around here.
Glad you got to catch those, Sam. You’re right about back to normal; that’d be nice.
For the Hinsdale obstruction, a car got stuck on the tracks due to the snow on one of the crossings and it got hit by a Metra train. The driver of the car did abandon the vehicle and was ok. The only railroad that seems to be operating ok is the CN, which never shut down during any point of the blizzard. The CP, BNSF (Mendota, Aurora and Chillicothe Subs), UP and the NS are all either seeing reduced traffic or none at all. It’s going to be interesting to see what goes on once the lines start moving again, I’d guess this coming weekend and next week may be quite busy for the railroads around here as they try to get back on schedule.