Transplanting this question from the Lounge:
A question for somebody who might know such things: why would I have caught sight of a NIPSCO (Northern Indiana Public Service Company) coal train, loaded, northbound, on UP’s former C&EI line south of Yard Center? Seems like a strange route for Powder River coal, so perhaps it wasn’t? I didn’t see the power, so it could have been a CSX train on that line–do they supply some coal for NIPSCO as well? These were ordinary aluminum NORX gondolas.
The earliest unit coal trains on South Shore delivered to on-line NIPSCO plants and were received at Burnham from C&EI by way of trackage rights over CWI (C&EI was a part-owner). The coal was from a southern Illinois or Indiana mine. This may be a continuation of that operation.
(First of two duplicate posts–why am I not allowed to delete one?)
Thanks, Paul! I guess it’s plausible that some non-PRB coal may be burned at the plants, too–Wisconsin Electric gets a train from the east every so often. Of course, the C&WI track around Burnham no longer exists, so this would have to be handled some other way now.
Is it possible this was PRB coal routed via Kansas City, St Louis and up the C&EI?
If not, then I dont have a clue.
ed
Given blizzards in the PRB that have called out rotary snowplows (!), and all the ripple effects on line capacity, crew rotations, etc., maybe.
RWM
I’ve just found out that NIPSCO also gets trainloads of coal from a mine in West Virginia. I suppose that could have been what I saw.
Carl
sometimes coal comes up the toledo sub and turns east at deshler.Could be with the traffic jam it decided to come that way.
stay safe
joe