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YPR60B // Chicago Tribune
UP's downtown industry switcher YPR60B shoves one load of paper into the Chicago Tribune after pulling one empty, in the final months of service for the Tribune and its surrounding trackage.
Don't be fooled, this is not a drone photo! In what was one of my most impulsive moves as a railfan to date (at the time), I found myself atop a highway entrance ramp directly above the old Grand Avenue Yard, fulfilling a vision I had set out to achieve only a couple months prior. At the start of 2024, I had came across some shots of the Tribune right here on Flickr. Railfans were heavily documenting this job, and with good reason, as many captions I was reading cited the impending closure of the Tribune, sold to make way for a new casino in what I still consider to be an odd location for one. Said closure and shutdown was slated for May or June, leaving not much time to make the trip. Having been captivated by the shots I saw, I just knew I had to have it. Loosely, the plan was to go some time in April at the start of spring. Maybe make a three day trip out of it and see some CN action, with any of the fallen flag engines the Chicago area is famous for. Fast forward to March 22nd: Blommer Chocolate announced its immediate closure of their historic Chicago factory, directly behind the point of view seen here. Blommer was the only other rail customer on this branch, though they had two spots to recieve by rail. The lower portion took tank cars to ship chocolate syrup/cocoa butter, while the upper used covered hoppers of confectionary sugar I believe. Well, playing in the pit band for a high school musical that weekend, I did not learn of this news until the following Monday, March 25th. Talks of a final pull from Blommer were abounding in one of my railfan groupchats, filled with people from the midwest who were more in the know than I. Spending a couple hours researching the line, spots, possible shot angles, and other things to do while in Chicago, I booked my round trip tickets for Amtrak 49/48 as I'd only be able to spend a day on such short notice.
The midnight ride from Buffalo to the windy city was nothing short of a pain in the rear with regards to sleep. Having never ridden Amtrak before, little did I know how hard it would be to sleep in a coach seat. I recall waking up at most of the station stops during the night, though a couple I wanted to actually get a look at the surroundings for anyhow. A bit over a ten hour ride, falling back one hour into Central Time, arrival at Union Station was a little before 10:00 a.m. A brief walk for a few blocks got me to the closest Enterprise Rent-A-Car office, where it turns out they did not have my requested vehicle on site. So a ride with a very friendly Chicago native was in order to the next site, where again the car was nowhere to be found. Thus, they upgraded me free of a charge to a massive and brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee, which was the equivalent of driving a boat for me. Coupled with the tight spaces of the inner city, it wasn't ideal, but it sure was luxurious. The fact I even managed to parallel park the behemoth near the Tribune still astounds me.
Managing to meet up with a couple railfans from the aforementioned group chat, we killed time shooting some other trains of interest in the morning hours, waiting for the UP local to make their way downtown. The range was anywhere from 10:00-2:00, and much like any cable company service call, it was closer to the end of that time window. By the time the engineer was sounding off at the crossings a few blocks away, a gaggle of railfans had amassed, with at least 50 out for the occasion. Word spreads quickly on potentially historic days like this. The classic EMD sounds steadily grew closer and closer at a snail's pace, but at last the prized job of the day was finally in sight. From atop a nearby AAA service truck parking structure, a handful of us stood along the edge of the rail getting our first shots of the job. They would cut away from their two hoppers for Alpha Baking later that day, and bring just the caboose and one box car down to the switch. While the rest of the fellas perched up there were content with that side angle, I wasn't satisfied. Having seen the view in this photo on Google street view, I just knew this had to be the angle to try. It wasn't until I got to Chicago though that I realized it was a highway on-ramp. Initially I thought I could throw the "park anywhere" lights on and drive right up, but that line of thinking was sunk fast with how thin the shoulder was. I'd have to walk out. But how?
The minute the crew got down to the switch into the Tribune and tied the loaded box car down, I started into a sprint down the ramp to street level. The AAA complex was on a dead end street, so there wasn't any traffic to contend with thankfully. Full throttle in my legs, it was one block west, followed by one block south to a small opening in a steel fence blocking off a little grassy area. The grass was on a hill which sloped down towards the on-ramp. Making sure I'd have a way to climb back up, I mounted the concrete barrier separating the patch of greenery and finished the sprint another block or so east up the shoulder. Garnering some funny looks from drivers, I paid them no mind as I was on a mission. By the time I'd gotten up over the tracks trying to catch my breath, the crew was only just inside the building still grabbing the empty car. I must have fired off a couple hundred frames over the course of the next few minutes as they meticulously carried out the switch. Pulling out and tying into the inbound car, the image here at last depicts the crew shoving back into the building, from what I consider the perfect vantage point otherwise only achieved via drone. Cameras were staged everywhere you could think of, including directly below at track level, and one guy even walking around inside the Tribune parking lot getting close-ups galore. I've still not found those shots, whoever he was, but I'd be interested to see his composition. Once the crew was done with the switch and tied the outbound car down with the caboose, it was over to Blommer Chocolate light power where they would next attempt to pull the remaining cars, and I carefully made my way back to the rental SUV, where all the other railfans had already vacated their spots upon my return in favor of a new spot at Blommer. I, too, followed suit. We'll leave that part for another post though. Worth mentioning to end off this one, I did make a couple new friends that day because of this endeavor!
YPR60B // Chicago Tribune
UP's downtown industry switcher YPR60B shoves one load of paper into the Chicago Tribune after pulling one empty, in the final months of service for the Tribune and its surrounding trackage.
Don't be fooled, this is not a drone photo! In what was one of my most impulsive moves as a railfan to date (at the time), I found myself atop a highway entrance ramp directly above the old Grand Avenue Yard, fulfilling a vision I had set out to achieve only a couple months prior. At the start of 2024, I had came across some shots of the Tribune right here on Flickr. Railfans were heavily documenting this job, and with good reason, as many captions I was reading cited the impending closure of the Tribune, sold to make way for a new casino in what I still consider to be an odd location for one. Said closure and shutdown was slated for May or June, leaving not much time to make the trip. Having been captivated by the shots I saw, I just knew I had to have it. Loosely, the plan was to go some time in April at the start of spring. Maybe make a three day trip out of it and see some CN action, with any of the fallen flag engines the Chicago area is famous for. Fast forward to March 22nd: Blommer Chocolate announced its immediate closure of their historic Chicago factory, directly behind the point of view seen here. Blommer was the only other rail customer on this branch, though they had two spots to recieve by rail. The lower portion took tank cars to ship chocolate syrup/cocoa butter, while the upper used covered hoppers of confectionary sugar I believe. Well, playing in the pit band for a high school musical that weekend, I did not learn of this news until the following Monday, March 25th. Talks of a final pull from Blommer were abounding in one of my railfan groupchats, filled with people from the midwest who were more in the know than I. Spending a couple hours researching the line, spots, possible shot angles, and other things to do while in Chicago, I booked my round trip tickets for Amtrak 49/48 as I'd only be able to spend a day on such short notice.
The midnight ride from Buffalo to the windy city was nothing short of a pain in the rear with regards to sleep. Having never ridden Amtrak before, little did I know how hard it would be to sleep in a coach seat. I recall waking up at most of the station stops during the night, though a couple I wanted to actually get a look at the surroundings for anyhow. A bit over a ten hour ride, falling back one hour into Central Time, arrival at Union Station was a little before 10:00 a.m. A brief walk for a few blocks got me to the closest Enterprise Rent-A-Car office, where it turns out they did not have my requested vehicle on site. So a ride with a very friendly Chicago native was in order to the next site, where again the car was nowhere to be found. Thus, they upgraded me free of a charge to a massive and brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee, which was the equivalent of driving a boat for me. Coupled with the tight spaces of the inner city, it wasn't ideal, but it sure was luxurious. The fact I even managed to parallel park the behemoth near the Tribune still astounds me.
Managing to meet up with a couple railfans from the aforementioned group chat, we killed time shooting some other trains of interest in the morning hours, waiting for the UP local to make their way downtown. The range was anywhere from 10:00-2:00, and much like any cable company service call, it was closer to the end of that time window. By the time the engineer was sounding off at the crossings a few blocks away, a gaggle of railfans had amassed, with at least 50 out for the occasion. Word spreads quickly on potentially historic days like this. The classic EMD sounds steadily grew closer and closer at a snail's pace, but at last the prized job of the day was finally in sight. From atop a nearby AAA service truck parking structure, a handful of us stood along the edge of the rail getting our first shots of the job. They would cut away from their two hoppers for Alpha Baking later that day, and bring just the caboose and one box car down to the switch. While the rest of the fellas perched up there were content with that side angle, I wasn't satisfied. Having seen the view in this photo on Google street view, I just knew this had to be the angle to try. It wasn't until I got to Chicago though that I realized it was a highway on-ramp. Initially I thought I could throw the "park anywhere" lights on and drive right up, but that line of thinking was sunk fast with how thin the shoulder was. I'd have to walk out. But how?
The minute the crew got down to the switch into the Tribune and tied the loaded box car down, I started into a sprint down the ramp to street level. The AAA complex was on a dead end street, so there wasn't any traffic to contend with thankfully. Full throttle in my legs, it was one block west, followed by one block south to a small opening in a steel fence blocking off a little grassy area. The grass was on a hill which sloped down towards the on-ramp. Making sure I'd have a way to climb back up, I mounted the concrete barrier separating the patch of greenery and finished the sprint another block or so east up the shoulder. Garnering some funny looks from drivers, I paid them no mind as I was on a mission. By the time I'd gotten up over the tracks trying to catch my breath, the crew was only just inside the building still grabbing the empty car. I must have fired off a couple hundred frames over the course of the next few minutes as they meticulously carried out the switch. Pulling out and tying into the inbound car, the image here at last depicts the crew shoving back into the building, from what I consider the perfect vantage point otherwise only achieved via drone. Cameras were staged everywhere you could think of, including directly below at track level, and one guy even walking around inside the Tribune parking lot getting close-ups galore. I've still not found those shots, whoever he was, but I'd be interested to see his composition. Once the crew was done with the switch and tied the outbound car down with the caboose, it was over to Blommer Chocolate light power where they would next attempt to pull the remaining cars, and I carefully made my way back to the rental SUV, where all the other railfans had already vacated their spots upon my return in favor of a new spot at Blommer. I, too, followed suit. We'll leave that part for another post though. Worth mentioning to end off this one, I did make a couple new friends that day because of this endeavor!