View allAll Photos Tagged doubletracking
17 February 1989 - That evening, I was starting my 24-hour photography marathon. I had decided to take pictures of all southbound trains running on Track 1 in the small Lézinnes station, on the crowded Paris – Dijon itinerary, from 16:00 on day 1 to 16:00 on day 2, and to do that on the night of peak winter vacation traffic, when a huge number of overnight passenger trains was scheduled to carry vacationers to the Alps ski resorts, the Mediterranean Coast and other destinations. Before the flow of passenger trains started (and after it was over), there was room for some freights, as this one.
Paris – Dijon was – and remains – kind of a funnel, for all trains coming from Paris and other points north of France and west of Paris, to the south-east quadrant of France. The line is electrified, quadruple-track for more than half of the itinerary, or doubletrack reversible working (“voies banalisées”). The alternative itineraries, e.g. via Chalindrey, are longer and less well equipped. During such peak days, they were used to some extent however a huge number of trains took the direct Paris – Dijon line.
At Km 210 (counted from Paris Gare de Lyon), Lézinnes was a small, insignificant station, not far south from Tonnerre. However, during such peak traffic nights, several agents were present to assist in case of any incident.
Sometime after starting my marathon, by chance, the prototype BB 8001 showed up in Lézinnes as the night was falling, when I was transitioning my camera from daylight setting and slow shutter speed to flashes for night photography. This is why the front of the engine is half blurred and half sharp, making the road number readable.
The BB 8001 entered service in February 1947. It was the prototype for the 172-unit strong BB 8100 series, which was the heir of a long tradition of 4-axle electrics initiated in the 1920’s with the “BB Midi”. BB 8001 was withdrawn in August 1993.
More information about the BB-8100 here : fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB_8100
Photo © JM Frybourg – 890218 - 89-022-120
Built in 1988 by EMD for Amtrak, AMTK 406 was one of the last F40s on the roster. She is seen here on the turnabtable at the Bob Julian Roundhouse in Spencer, North Carolina. You know the other locomotives are talking about her behind her back. She was converted to an NPCU in 2011 to run with P40DC 822 on the special 40th anniversary special
One interesting trait of the Grand Trunk Western and it's predecessors was how it set up its right of ways. Single track lines were also laid with a 60/40 ft split from the center of the rails, just incase a second track would need to be added later. They did the same thing with many of their bridges, either building a doubletrack bridge from the start or pouring large piers capable of handling a second track. One of these bridges spans Monroe Ave in Grand Rapids, on what is now the Grand Rapids Eastern. To my knowledge, the left portion of the bridge has never held a second track, though it would certainly be able to. GR #2104 can be seen approaching with it's train.
A monster 213 car Roseville, California to North Platte mixed freight grinds up Archer Hill on its trip east over the Overland Route. While it may look like the train has plenty of power, only the lead unit, UP 2727 is online, with the trailing four units, UP 6756, KCS 4828, UP 2686, & 6231 all dead, bad-ordered. UP 2727 wasn't alone in its struggle to power the train though, with UP 5692 & 5741 helping out mid-train. Still, an impressive feat for just three engines.
MRVNP 14
Just another of these from last summer.
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. They are seen approaching the Wabash Street intersection as they roll down the middle of 11th Street near MP 34.1 on the South Shore mainline.
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 (though the one pictured here on the north side should survive). 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
The sun is just about to crest the horizon as UP's North Platte to Denver mixed freight enters the yard in Cheyenne. Waiting for it to clear is a Fountain, Colorado to North Antelope Mine coal empty.
MNPNY 16
CNXNA 16
Another edit on one of my favorite shots I have taken. I used the online processing web site called Be Funky.
Norfolk & Western #611 brings an excursion train past the former Southern Railway passenger station in April 2017. The 4-8-4 steam locomotive was built by N&W crews at their shop in Roanoke, Virginia in 1950. The old girl was brought out of retirement again by Norfolk Southern in 2015 after running passenger specials in the 80s and 90s.
With this post we end the line 201 saga.
SM31-025 with an oversize load from the Alstom factory in Wrocław to the harbour of Gdynia is leaving Żukowo Wschodnie at a steady pace of 5km/h. The train has to travel by night so as not to collide with the very dense passenger traffic which is present here throughout the day.
We talked about what was happening to the old Coal-Mainline in the past years and the last thing left to do is to discuss its future. There is a lot to talk about, as the line is to be one of the most important pieces of the pomeranian transport puzzle. So let's start!
The very important thing to mention here is that most of the pictures I post on this page taken on this line are thanks to the bureaucracy, which slows down the process of modernisation considerably. In the second half of 2017 a company was chosen to be tasked with the construction of a second track between Gdańsk Osowa and Kościerzyna, along with electrifying the route Gdynia - Kościerzyna. Later it was also established that a third track is to be built between Gdynia Główna and Gdańsk Osowa to help distribute the traffic of trains fighting the heavy inclines leading from Gdynia.
A year later another agreement was signed for modernisation of the part Maksymilianowo - Kościerzyna (basically connecting Kościerzyna from the other side). An electrification on this part of the line, costing a couple of milions of PLN to shroten trip time between Bydgoszcz and Kościerzyna by 15 minutes. A second track was also to be laid, though not on the entire line. This project was to be done by the year 2023. We however can empirically conclude, that not a single step was done to start the reconstruction of this line of over 200 kilometers.
So in 2022 an auction for electrifying and laying a second track between Somonino and Kościerzyna started It was organised with the intention of separating the construction works between Gdynia and Kościerzyna into two phases meeting at Somonino, to maybe somehow speed up this process. The auction for electrifying and doubletracking Gdynia - Somonino was started in 2023.
We will see what the future has in stock for us. Having modern signalling and two tracks would allow the line to carry more cargo traffic to the harbour of Gdynia to lift some weight off of the congested line number 9. It would also possibly allow for expanding the local and long distance passenger services, especially for Kościerzyna. For us, railfans, it would mean the end of local railway romantism with mechanical semaphore signals, diesel locomotives and tranquil scenes. However, the world needs to move on.
Thanks for reading through the story :)
Photo by Piotrek/Toprus
Whenever someone on the east side of the state reports Q329 has a CN leader, I always take interest. CN, arguably, has the most diverse roster of locomotives of any class 1 railroad anymore, in terms of models and paint schemes. Alas, on this day it was just a lowly ex Santa Fe C40-8W. Beats a CSX C40-8W, at least.
CN C40-8W #2139
CSXT ET44AH #3025
Interested in purchasing a high-quality digital download of this photo, suitable for printing and framing? Let me know and I will add it to my Etsy Shop, MittenRailandMarine! Follow this link to see what images are currently listed for sale: www.etsy.com/shop/MittenRailandMarine
If you are interested in specific locomotives, trains, or freighters, please contact me. I have been photographing trains and ships for over 15 years and have accumulated an extensive library!
During Covid, passengers with masks board their westbound South Shore train in 11th St. in Michigan City. Now streetrunning is gone and new doubletrack right of way and highlevel platforms have replaced this scene.
Here is one of those early 2000's shots that I didn't think too much about at the time but really jumps out now. Beside the ironically numbered GE, the whole consist is made up of four axle locomotives, on a Z train no less. Soon mainline freight would be essentially the exclusive domain of 6 axle power with the four motor units relegated to locals and switching. You don't always know when you're shooting the "last gasp". This shot ended up feeling like a real throwback to the '80s and early '90s when motive power philosophies lent themselves to running gaggles of B40s and GP60s on hi-speed long-distance intermodal runs.
A heavy eastbound twists through the curves on the grade through Secretown in the lower Sierras during a late spring snowfall. These springtime blusters are not likely to impede eastbound progress, unlike major winter storms that can dump feet of snow in short order, but the initial weather effects are pretty much the same. This train's three road units are assisted by a four-unit helper of SDs mid-train.
6B31 Inverness to Oxwellmains empty cement tanks. Class 70 in Colas Railfreight livery powers up the gradient on the HML towards Culloden viaduct with a rake of empty cement tanks.
The Florida East Coast Railway is for the most part a flat, straight, and decidedly boring railroad with the exception of a few notable water crossings. Elsewhere you have to work to find some visual interest. In this case the clouds were certainly a bonus adding beautiful texture without causing the dreaded shadows. Additionally the old combination passenger and freight station at right provides a bit of visible interest. Built around 1955 when the FEC was modernizing its facilities it sits directly on the line between the cities of Cocoa and Rockledge in Brevard County. Passenger service ended with the start of the 8 year long strike in 1963 though returned under court order in 1965 only to end for good in 1968. Since then it has continued to be used as a freight office and provides a direct historic link to the road's past. The small yard here remains busy as a transload terminal for customer Matco Industries but this train won't stop.
Hot southbound 105 is about about halfway through their fast 350 mile run from Bowden Yard in Jacksonville to Hialaeah Yard in Miami. They are sailing across Rosa L. Jones Blvd. at 60 MPH passing the old depot at about MP 173.3 on the Flagler Subdivision. The new trackage here is for the Orlando extension of Brightline which has resulted in the re-doubletracking of the railroad. For the first time in 55 years passenger trains will soon be running through here on the extension north from Brightline'd current terminus at West Palm Beach. About 3 1/2 miles north of here they will peel off to the west on an entirely new right of way paralleling FL Hwy 528 to the Orlando International Airport.
The train is led by LNG powered GE ES44ACs 800 and 805 built in Nov. 2014 and spliced by their custom LNG fuel tank car. Originally diesel powered the entire GE fleet has been retrofitted to run on LNG as detailed in this article: files.chartindustries.com/FEC-LNG-FloridaEastCoastRailway...
Cocoa, Florida
Tuesday March 28, 2023
One of the best natural amphitheaters for railfanning I have ever encountered is Arizona's Crozier Canyon. On a September 1996 afternoon, a BNSF intermodal train rolls through the canyon, led by a quartet of GE locomotives.
Canadian National SD70ACe-P6 8871, still in its EMDX demonstrator paint with a CN noodle on the side, leads a manifest freight around a curve in 2014 with SD70 1008 trailing.
The Athearn locomotives and rolling stock belong to NAPM member Bill Greeter. Bill was running the equipment as part of the NAPM's 40th anniversary celebration at the club on September 30, 2017.
Photo by NAPM member Mark Mathu. This image is a composite of 4 photos shot at different focus distances, then combined into a single fully focused image using Helicon Focus software.
Visit the HO scale club on-line at www.napmltd.org.
UP 4420 & 6555 slide under the C&S bridge on the west side of Cheyenne with a Cheyenne to Denver intermodal train at 5:43am.
MCYDV 16
With all the recent flurry of photos of the final trains to run on this unaltered single track stretch if street running I figured I'd edit up a few more from last summer's pilgrimage since I couldn't make it for the last runs.
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. They are seen rolling through the Wabash Street intersection as they make their way down the middle of 11th Street near MP 34.1 on the South Shore mainline.
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 (though the one pictured here on the north side should survive). 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
Union Pacific's Roper-to-Helper train (it changes from manifest to local to manifest again almost monthly) exits the tunnels at Nolan, Utah on 14 May 2022.
A Basel - Paris near Langres (between Humes and Rolampont) in January 1984, with a powerful CC 72000.
Photo © JM Frybourg – 840118 – 84-001-04
LMS Crab No. 13065 + LNER B12 No. 8572 Class double head through a sunny Kinchley lane, at the Great Central railway. The pair were visiting for the railways winter steam gala, and were hauling a train to Leicester North.
Climbing along Price Creek a westbound D&RGW freight uses five units to ascend toward Soldier Summit. Four GP40-2s and a GP30 provide 20 driven axles to grind the railhead into a nice patina in the process of moving freight across the system.
The fall color has already peaked but still provides a pleasing setting for this westbound manifest zipping along the St. Croix Sub near Alma, WI. October 24, 2015.
34053 "Sir Keith Park" pictured shortly after departure from Eridge on the Spa Valley railway, with a service to Tunbridge Wells.
Back in 1996, the Cedar River bridge on UP's main line in Cedar Rapids was undergoing doubletracking, so UP detoured through Cedar Rapids on the old passenger main, which usually only saw a local every once in a while.
The sight of hotshot PDCSZ curving along behind 3 CNW motors was nice, but it was a cloudy day and the lousy K64 I had loaded in the camera did not like the lighting. The image is a muddy blot of crud, but I attempted a bit of lightening and it is somewhat presentable.
Racing ahead to one last spot I agained caught this bonus final South Shore Freight of the trip. This little 7 car AF1 freight crew is headed east for Carroll Ave. behind GP38-2s 2004 and 2007 both bought new by the South Shore in 1981 during the Chessie ownership era.
Take half mile east of this shot: flic.kr/p/2mc7abj but still in the middle of 11th Street, we see them swinging through the famous s-curve between Lafayette and Cedar streets and starting up the grade as they come through the York Street intersection near MP 33.6 on the South Shore mainline.
In the background poking above the green tree tops, can be seen the gothic steeple of St. Mary the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic church that they were right beside in that prior image. 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
Tuesday July 6, 2021
Northshore Mining 1227 and 3 other classic SD18s start lifting an empty ore train out of Silver Bay surrounded by brilliant fall color and a blue backdrop of Lake Superior. This was one of those trips where the trains, the weather, the fall color all come together and that is fondly remembered for years to come. October 10, 1998.
South Shore 27 pauses at the Michigan City passenger station, 4-30-59. Although the automobiles changed, this classic traction scene endured long enough for me to see it many times in the late 70's / early 80s, complete with the same trains and even the classic neon sign on the station building.
Today NICTD still operates electrified passenger service here, and after many years of discussion about finding a new alignment to eliminate the street running, plans are moving ahead to create a segregated double track alignment within the existing street/sidewalk space. The famous "Church curve" just beyond the station here will also be eased, and a new downtown station with two high-level platforms created. The station facade is to be saved and incorporated into the new complex. It's all part of the project to double track the railroad between Gary and Michigan City. See the Winter 2017 issue of First & Fastest for more details, and also the project's website: www.doubletrack-nwi.com/
Purchased original slide, photographer unknown.
L303 is about to knock down the Medium Clear indication as it moves from the Grand Rapids Terminal to the Plymouth Sub at Seymour.
Two Favorites In One
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.
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
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
CN is a bit player now in the Twin Cities running one round trip a day over the old Wisconsin Central Minneapolis Sub but back in the '90s they ran a lot of tonnage through town on overhead trains from Chicago to Superior via the BN. One of those trains is seen on the St. Paul Sub cresting the rise west of Park Jct. approaching Talmage Ave. Minneapolis, MN, May 11, 1993.
There are plenty of milestones in life some bigger than others. August brought a big one. It was time to pack up my oldest child and help move her to college. It was a change nearly as dramatic as bringing a child home for the first time. Any trepidation we had as parents was tempered by her excitement to begin a new stage of life at Iowa.
After a long weekend of moving in and setting up the dorm room it was time to make the long drive home. Travelling back via one of my favorite places, the Upper Mississippi River Valley, brought comfort and familiarity. The sun was sinking fast but BNSF provided a train at the right time. What I believe to be a unit train of phosphate featured all CSX power and cars. And so this sunset shot holds a lot more meaning for me than the rest. It was not lost on me that the train and myself were in Wisconsin while the sun was setting over the hills of Iowa, where I left a bit of myself that day and likely for the better part of the next four years. August 18, 2024.
A pair of Geeps whisk a train of MOW equipment east near Winona Jct. Winter was in full force so I can only presume the track gang was enroute to warmer southern climes or perhaps to the shop for off season repairs & tune ups. December 15, 2005.
Ex BR Britannia class No. 70013 "Oliver Cromwell" heads through Rabbits bridge on the Great Central railway with a goods train. The Brit was working during a Timeline event photo charter.
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
There was quite the traffic jam at CP Frey Creek on Norfolk Southern's Charlotte District on the morning of May 12, 2023.
I had just missed SB intermodal NS 297 going by the control point. I arrived to see NS 153 on the North side of the control point with NS 1193 and NS 1851 up front (NS 1108 was the mid-DPU) and Amtrak 20 with AMTK 120 and AMTK 92 on the South side of the signal waiting for Amtrak 19.
Amtrak 19 would slowly round the curve with AMTK 129 and AMTK 815. The dispatcher would have 19 pull through Frey Creek and reverse past the stop signal onto Main 2 in front of 153 so Amtrak 20 could take Main 1 to make their station stop in Spartanburg. Amtrak 19 would continue South once 20 cleared.
The reason for this move was because 297 had lawed out at CP Lyman (which is the end of the doubletrack), and there are no crossovers between Lyman and Frey Creek. So this was the alternative the dispatcher chose instead of having 297 go into the port and having an already late Amtrak wait on 297 to clear the mainline. Either way would have been time-consuming.
So, all that being said, enjoy the shot, and thanks for watching/reading.
By this time most of the SD45s were running around as leasers with a small MKM on the cab or off the roster entirely. However 6411 was still a true blue BNSF unit on this day back in 2000. The LMX was not as exciting but now every bit as vanished. Winona Jct., WI, October 16, 2000.