Climbing East In The Street
Just another frame of this amazing scene, because truly this is what I came for!
Those who follow my photography know that two favorite rail subjects I seek out all over are 'Freight Under Wire' and 'Trains Where Trains Shouldn't Be' (aka street running). Well in Michigan City, Indiana you can do both at once.. I was fortunate to make this happen for the first time last year but alas then it was only light power and a freight against the light.
This time I got the holy grail of an eastbound freight in the morning!
So I'm gonna post a few of these just because before returning to the rest of the shots of this chase.
Having dropped most of their train at Bailey Yard in Burns Harbor, original CSSB GP38-2s 2003 and 2000 from the ten unit order delivered by EMD during the Chessie System ownership era have a dozen or so in two headed east toward the Carroll Ave. shops. A half mile east of the prior shot but still in middle of 11th Street, we see them again swinging through the famous s-curve between Lafayette and Cedar streets and starting up the great as they come through the York Street intersection near MP 33.6 on the South Shore mainline.
In the background can be seen the gothic steeple of St. Mary the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic church. Built in 1868, the central steeple was heightened to its present form in 1927 and is a prominent backdrop in many South Shore images.
Alas scenes like this are on borrowed time which was my impetus for returning so soon. If you want these iconic shots you better come quick because a massive nearly half billion dollar project to double track the line all the way to Michigan City in order to shave 30 or more minutes off transit times and allow greater train frequencies is supposed to start construction soon. This will lamentably lead to the end of street running and the removal of nearly all the homes and structures on the south side of 11th street and the straightening of this curve. In fact, many more than last year were already bought up and either already demolished or boarded up with big no trespassing project signs on them. And of course the downtown midstreet passenger stop on 11th street has already closed so the line already felt different than 11 months prior. To learn more check out the project web site and the detailed PPT presentation on the project: www.doubletrack-nwi.com/images/DT_PRS_DTVirtualOpenHouse_...
But change is the only constant in life, and the CSSB has been modernizing and rebuilding since the Insull era. In fact in 1956 the long section of street running in East Chicago was bypassed and in 1970 the street running into downtown South Bend was abandoned...so I suppose this is just a continuation of what has come before.
Michigan City, Indiana
Monday July 5, 2021
Climbing East In The Street
Just another frame of this amazing scene, because truly this is what I came for!
Those who follow my photography know that two favorite rail subjects I seek out all over are 'Freight Under Wire' and 'Trains Where Trains Shouldn't Be' (aka street running). Well in Michigan City, Indiana you can do both at once.. I was fortunate to make this happen for the first time last year but alas then it was only light power and a freight against the light.
This time I got the holy grail of an eastbound freight in the morning!
So I'm gonna post a few of these just because before returning to the rest of the shots of this chase.
Having dropped most of their train at Bailey Yard in Burns Harbor, original CSSB GP38-2s 2003 and 2000 from the ten unit order delivered by EMD during the Chessie System ownership era have a dozen or so in two headed east toward the Carroll Ave. shops. A half mile east of the prior shot but still in middle of 11th Street, we see them again swinging through the famous s-curve between Lafayette and Cedar streets and starting up the great as they come through the York Street intersection near MP 33.6 on the South Shore mainline.
In the background can be seen the gothic steeple of St. Mary the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic church. Built in 1868, the central steeple was heightened to its present form in 1927 and is a prominent backdrop in many South Shore images.
Alas scenes like this are on borrowed time which was my impetus for returning so soon. If you want these iconic shots you better come quick because a massive nearly half billion dollar project to double track the line all the way to Michigan City in order to shave 30 or more minutes off transit times and allow greater train frequencies is supposed to start construction soon. This will lamentably lead to the end of street running and the removal of nearly all the homes and structures on the south side of 11th street and the straightening of this curve. In fact, many more than last year were already bought up and either already demolished or boarded up with big no trespassing project signs on them. And of course the downtown midstreet passenger stop on 11th street has already closed so the line already felt different than 11 months prior. To learn more check out the project web site and the detailed PPT presentation on the project: www.doubletrack-nwi.com/images/DT_PRS_DTVirtualOpenHouse_...
But change is the only constant in life, and the CSSB has been modernizing and rebuilding since the Insull era. In fact in 1956 the long section of street running in East Chicago was bypassed and in 1970 the street running into downtown South Bend was abandoned...so I suppose this is just a continuation of what has come before.
Michigan City, Indiana
Monday July 5, 2021