160 cars? Sounds more like William Deramus than E Hunter Harrison.
seen ns trains terminate at N Fondu Lac WI last week
Really? Which ones? Last I was aware only the power carried over, and usually on M341. Unless NS somehow talked CN into running past Hawthorne or the BRC…which I doubt. I know lots of the traffic on M341 comes out of NS Elkhart but it’s CN crew and symbol from there.
Care to enlighten?
There is a difference between an NS train and CN train. The 17R/17W trains on NS are run thrus to and from CN in Chicago. On NS these trains originate/destination at Elkhart. Not sure about on the CN, but these trains might be M340/341. Looking at these trains on the NS, my guess is these are Western Canadian blocks plus former Wisconsin Central freight. In other words, freight out of Fond du Lac added to this train. There has always been lumber and quite a few WC hopper cars.
Is the interchange point Hawthorne in Chicago?
The Elkhart - Kirk Yard NS/CN trains (currently running on CN trackage rights) seems to handle other CN interchange, such as Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, etc. There are quite a few coil cars on this train, suggesting origination at USX in Gary.
It would be interesting to know how the traffic to and from NS flows. Obviously if Elkhart is classifying these trains, then the destination points would be Detroit, Conway, Bellevue, Allentown, possibly Ft Wayne, etc.
Ed