On returning from my Bi-weekly trip to Salt Lake City, I had to swing up through Carter to make a delivery, and I noticed that they had trains stacked up there, and then I had to stop up in Granger, They had trains stacked up headed east on both sides of the Wye. and Then all the way into Green River. And the past GR into Rock Springs, and I heard that they were stacked up all the way through the Black Butte Coal mine (Mainline goes right through the middle.) They had Eastbounds stacked up at least 60 miles to the west, and Westbounds stacked up at least 40 miles to the east. Guess they were having a rough day in the Green River yard.
Even though the Lee County Cutoff/Dixon bypass were seperate lines, old timetables showed four main tracks originally and then three main tracks between Nelson and Nachusa after one of the tracks on the cut-off was removed post WWII. There weren’t any trains that were designated to use the cutoff, it was the dispatchers choice.
As for other alternatives to alleviate some of the congestion in Illinois on the Overland Route (Geneva Sub), I wouldn’t be surprised to see a trackage rights aggreement with ICE & Metra to operate of couple of low priority freights between Clinton, IA and Proviso using the old Milwaukee main between Savanah, IL and Bensenville, IL. (I think that there was an agreement of some sort at one point, but I can’t remember.)
CC
Crew change points can become choke points for a variety of reasons. The bridge at Clinton just adds to the “fun.”
If there is congestion ahead, they start spacing call times for outbound crews. Nothing like being about 5 trains out from the terminal and hear they are hour spacing. (Of course 50 miles down the line, the trains called an hour apart are already one behind the other.)
Sometimes there aren’t any rested crews so you wait for one to become available. If your stopped where the outbound crew can come to get on without penalty, you might be able to tie down your train. If you are where the outbound can’t get you, you wait for the trains ahead to leave and move up. At Clinton, Iowa crews can go to Illinois Rte 84. The Illinois crews can go to Central Steel crossing. One time we loaded up in the van, went to 84 to relieve our train. They were short on time. They got half way thru the Frog Pond crossovers and died. Had both main lines tied up and were about a mile or so short of 84. We went back to the yard office to await a dog catch crew to go out and bring the train in.
Some crews take longer to get on and go, than others.
The bridge at Clinton can be royal pain at times. The river traffic has right of way. Many times you will hear the bridge tender say he has to open for river traffic. Or you’ll hear the dispatcher try to hury up a train out of or into town before the bridge has to open again.
There was talk awhile back that the UP approached some governmental agencies about building a new combined road/rail bridge that would be high enough to not have to open for traffic. The government types were said to not be interested in this. On the Iowa side, to get high enough, the approach would have to begin back about Camanche. It was said a new yard office would be built at Low Moor. I think it’s only a matter of time, but eventually there will be a new bridge of some kind. If only beca
Interesting info there Jeff. It sure adds to my understanding of what’s going on when I drive along US 30 between here and Clinton.
“Interesting info there Jeff. It sure adds to my understanding of what’s going on when I drive along US 30 between here and Clinton.”
Ditto!
Makes more sense out of what I’m seeing and hearing as well.
Thanks much, Jeff!!
Oh, by the way…WHERE is the “Frog Pond?” I’m guessing Illinois side somewhere around Rte. 84? I’m figuring out some of the other “landmarks” UP is (unofficially) using, such as “Windmill Crossing,” “Gun Club,” etc.
I remember one CNW dispatcher used to hold trains that couldn’t get the Cedar River Bridge, at “the dispatcher’s swimming hole” better known as the Cedar Rapids Waste Treatment Facility.
ROFLMAO!
There’s still opportunities to hold there, as there’s a new crossover just east of the facility. I can imagine the conversation- “They want us to hold WHERE? Oh God, close the windows and crank up the air…”
Where the UP has put in CTC across Iowa, they remove the old hand throw crossovers. Only exception I can think of is around yard areas, where yard engines might crossover. (Even then it’s often easier and quicker to take light power up to the power CTC crossover than use the hand throws. The hand throws are equipped with electric locks that sometimes have to time out before using.)
Even in directional (current of traffic) ATC territory, the hand throws that remain are often out of service. Unless a crossover is used regularly by local freights, often times the frog is removed and straight railed. They only put them back in service when needed for single tracking around track projects.
Jeff
Hey Jeff, does that long siding just east of Lowden have hand-throw switches, or are they remotely controlled?
Smell, nothing. Imagine yourself on 124 car, two engine 0.5 hp/ton coal train stopped there. You are at the bottom of Mount Vernon hill. A good dispatcher will tell you ahead of time so you can stop back around J street (looking for stranded box cars[:D]), unless he’s packing trains in to let the bird go by, so you can get a run for the hill.
Then, it starts raining. Let the fun begin.
Jeff
Keep in mind, there is a family that lives right across the street from that fine facility…and they hang their laundry out, regardless of which way the wind blows…
EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
That same dispatcher, shortly after moving from Boone to the new dispatch center in Chicago told a crew he was issued the following: a bottle of aspirin, a roll of Rolaids, a tube of Preperation H; and a jar of Vaseline…
He also would tell crews on Christmas Eve to “be on the lookout for low-flying reindeer.”
I know where you’re coming from, Jeff- I’ve spent some time train-watching at the Cornell College parking lot in Mount Vernon while my kids attended events there, and eastbounds are really working hard and slow by the time they get to the football field. What percent grade is that stretch?
Lowden has hand throws. I think they just cut in CTC out to West Lowden, west of town. When I was last that way I don’t remember seeing any work being done to install power switches. Most likely, they have equipped the siding with leaving signals or electric locks. The signals seem to be the preferred method.
In CTC, to be able to clear the main track you need either switches with electric locks or a leaving signal. The signal is not controlled, it just lets you know when the switch is opened, the block is clear of any conflicting main track movements. When you open the electric lock it establishes block signal protection on the main track. If the block is clear, it’ll let you open the switch right away. If for some reason, it detects a condition that the block may be occupied, it will have to time out before you can open the switch. Time is usually 7 to 11 minutes on the ones I’ve had to use in the past.
In both cases, you still need authority from the dispatcher to enter the main track.
Jeff
Sorry–nothing special about Frog Pond–it’s named after the nearest grade crossing, Frog Pond Road. Same with Kress and Peck, at our end of the line. “Park” in Elmhurst, however, is named for a street paralleling the tracks–“Poplar” would have worked just as well, and been familiar to the crews.
Thanks Carl,
I went to school in Morrison, IL back in '87-'88…thought I kinda knew that area. Frog Pond Road didn’t even come to mind.
What about the Tripple Track that is sappose to happen on the Boone sub? And what about the new Bridge over the Des Moines river just west of Boone?
Haven’t heard anything new or definite in a while. I guess on the UP’s to-do list. Along with a third main thru the terminal areas at Boone, Marshalltown, and Beverly and up Mount Vernon hill.
Jeff