JANUARY 5TH, 2013
On this day, I decided to pay a visit to the Melrose Park Station to film UP West Line Metra trains #509, 511, and 513 with my new aluminum tripod that I purchased from a Radio Shack store on North Avenue in Melrose Park exactly two weeks prior. I filmed four trains total, two of the outbounders, along with an inbounder, Train #512, and a westbound freight. I could have filmed UP-W T513, but I had to go home. The reason why? The battery inside my Samsung camcorder discharged much faster than I initially expected it to, and the only culprit I could immediately think of was the cold weather. There was a little snow on the ground, light snow showers fell during the latter half of my stay at MK, and throughout my stay, light, but cold, winds blew. I was bundled up, and I was warm, but the same couldn't be said about my camcorder.
On this day, I decided to pay a visit to the Melrose Park Station to film UP West Line Metra trains #509, 511, and 513 with my new aluminum tripod that I purchased from a Radio Shack store on North Avenue in Melrose Park exactly two weeks prior. I filmed four trains total, two of the outbounders, along with an inbounder, Train #512, and a westbound freight. I could have filmed UP-W T513, but I had to go home. The reason why? The battery inside my Samsung camcorder discharged much faster than I initially expected it to, and the only culprit I could immediately think of was the cold weather. There was a little snow on the ground, light snow showers fell during the latter half of my stay at MK, and throughout my stay, light, but cold, winds blew. I was bundled up, and I was warm, but the same couldn't be said about my camcorder.
The first train I filmed was UP West Line Train #509. This train does not stop at Melrose, so it blew right past the station at a pretty high rate of speed.
The second train to enter the vicinity of Melrose was, and what a great catch this turned out to be, UP West Line Train #512, which makes a stop at MPK. Instead of stopping at Platform 1, the usual platform, the train stopped at the opposite platform, Platform 2, which is where the Elburn-bound trains stop to pick up and drop off passengers. Moves like this are pretty uncommon, so it was worth filming No one got on or off the train. Shortly after the departure of T512, snow showers began to fall.
This catch turned out to be the first of two great back-to-back catches, because the third train I filmed would be the reason behind T512 stopping at the south platform instead of the north platform. The third train was, and this was the best moment, a westbound freight train consisting mainly of stacked trailers, pulled by, not one, but TWO BNSF locomotives! The lead locomotive is pictured below. Sorry for not being able to get a better picture.
This was only the second time that I've seen a BNSF locomotive on the UP Geneva Sub, the first time being over the summer of 2012 when I lived next to the railroad by the Kedzie station, at milepost 3.82. I think this train had a final destination of the UP Global Two Yard, a.k.a. Proviso Yard, because it traveled so slowly, eventually coming to a halt. I terminated filming of the train when that happened. It resumed the journey to Global Two about 10 minutes later, clearing the area, and allowing the crossing gates to return to the "Up" position, which in turn, allowed a long line of vehicles on either side of the tracks to go through the intersection.
The fourth and final train I filmed would be UP West Line Train #511. This train makes a stop at MPK on its way to Elburn. After T511 cleared the area, I took down my tripod and placed it, along with my camcorder, into my backpack , and then I cleared the area. The snow showers were heavier at this point.
To see the videos of my visit to MPK on 1/5/13 in their entirety, visit the links below
Fun With A Tripod 5:33
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvAk5-rVaEg
Rarity on the UP Geneva Sub 8:35
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk6bZuRZw5w
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