Morning Railfanning at Melrose Park 1/30/13

Yesterday's weather was just a one-hit wonder. In the overnight hours, a cold front moved through the area, bringing with it snow showers and lower temps. Yes, it was a slap back into reality. I knew the cooler weather would hinder me from going out to railfan, so I decided to take advantage of the final hours of above-average temperatures by filming the morning rush on the UP West Line from the Melrose Park station.

I brought along my tripod and used it to better position my camcorder as I filmed the trains, and rightfully so, because snow showers fell throughout much of the morning, and I needed one hand to hold a green umbrella I carried with me to keep dry. The camcorder required two-hand operation, but use of the tripod narrowed it down to one, and practically zero on several occasions. I should've used the umbrella to shelter the camcorder from the snow showers because water drops got on the lens during the first two trains. I did not notice that until after the second train had passed. Luckily, I used my phone to tweet the train run numbers along with the number of the locomotive on each train, except for Train #24. I did not pay much attention to the number of the locomotive on the back of that one. T24's trip originates at West Chicago. T49, which leaves Ogilvie at 5:09 pm, terminates at West Chicago and doesn't come back for the night, so I'm guessing whichever locomotive was on T49 the day before was on T24 today. I was not at Melrose yesterday, so I'll never know which engine was on T24. I did film T49 the day before yesterday however.

When I filmed the PM rush at MPK two days earlier, I noticed that the crossing gates at MP 11.38 reactivated not long after a westbound train passed through. I called UP and notified them about this as soon as I got home, but today, it didn't seem like anything had been done to fix the problem. I filmed Train #17 with METX 131 just to get extra video footage of this happening, and I got it! Not long after 131's began to sound, the lights, bells, and gates reactivated. They stayed in the down position for about five seconds before going up again.

Here is a photo of METX 131 at Melrose after returning with now Train #34. This picture shows you how sloppy it was at the station on this day.

An interesting catch of the day happened to be a horn duel between the cabcar of Train #26, pushed by METX #146, and METX #143 as it approached MPK with Train #19. The cabcar won the horn duel because it eeked out a few blows after 143's final blow. The horn duel took place near the 9th Avenue grade crossing, approximately 5/8 of a mile east of where I was. It would've been so much better if it took place by me! I love it when the quiet zone is neglected for a few seconds. There may be the "Danger Another Train Coming" signs at the 9th Avenue crossing, but because I've never ventured over there, and neither do I plan to, I am not so sure of that. I mention this because there are two at MP 11.38, and when one train is present as another train is approaching, the signs go off and the approaching train sounds its horn. I have yet to hear a horn duel by two moving trains at the Melrose Park depot.

Here is the video of the morning rush at Melrose
RE-UPLOAD: UP West Line AM Rush @Melrose Park 1/30/13 22:54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0rpy2_JIiw

Morning Railfanning at Brookfield 1/29/13

I couldn't believe it! 60 degrees in January in Chicago! Normally, the temperatures aren't any higher than 30-something. January's a harsh month. It is the coldest, most brutal month of the 12-month calendar year in Chicago. Yes, today was a delicacy, and I took advantage of it by visiting the Brookfield Metra station for the first time in 2013 to film the morning rush. Brookfield is one of my most favorite railfanning spots for a reason, and the action encountered on this day served as an example of that. As soon as I got to the station, I was greeted with the high-energy splendor that makes it such a desirable place to railfan. I also got some cool catches!

Nearly halfway into my visit to Brookfield, an inbound express train led by METX #8601 raced eastbound along Main 2. At the back of the train was METX #214, the Operation Lifesaver unit. METX #8601 was one of two cabcars that were covered with adwrap promoting BMO Harris Bank. The second cabcar would be METX #8600. Speaking of 8600, less than 15 minutes after 8601 and 214 came through, 8600 and METX #117 proceeded past the Prairie Avenue crossing as they headed east with an inbound train.

The BMO Harris bank cars weren't the only catch of the day. About three-quarters into my Brookfield visit came a westbound Carl Sandburg Amtrak train with a heritage unit, AMTK #66, one of several 40th Anniversary locomotives. Here's a shocking piece of information. AMTK #66 was built in 1997, not 2011 or 2010! Brief research is showing that the locomotive received the Phase III paint scheme sometime between January-March 2011.

The next train to race through the Prairie Avenue crossing would be an inbound Metra train pushed by METX 210. When I saw Twotenny (my nickname for the locomotive), I was pretty shocked. I did not expect to see the locomotive today. An interesting thing to note is that 210, and most of the locomotives on inbound trains, were extremely quiet today for some odd reason. Maybe their engines weren't positioned in the 8th notch.

A post about the Brookfield AM rush wouldn't be complete without talking about the stoppers. Train #1230 was pushed by METX #196, which showed signs of a desperately-needed bath on the engineer's side. I can never understand why locomotives tend to get so dirty in that spot. Most of the locomotives were dirty, 210 included, despite earlier rainfall. Train #1244 was pushed by METX #190 today. I am not sure what the deal was, but 190's engine or whatever, made a very odd rattling noise. The sound concerned me somewhat, but I liked it for the most part. Train #1254 happened to be pushed by METX 214. You guessed it! At the front of the train was METX 8601, one of the BMO Harris Bank cabcars. As it approached Congress Park before reversing its train into the Brookfield station, METX 214's horn was blown as a warning to anyone standing near the crossing. 214's horn sounded pretty different when compared to that of the other F40PHMs.

Below is a nice photo of 214 as it sat at Brookfield with T1254.

I cannot finish this post without mentioning the two freights I caught. As expected, they came through at the very end of the Metra rush. The first train, an intermodal, happened to include an Executive Mac in the locomotive consist. Leading was a GE C44-9W, BNSF #4166. Approximately 10 minutes later, the second freight came through. BNSF #4810 and BNSF #5885 led the train eastbound along Main 3. BNSF #9313, an SD70ACe, brought up the rear as a DPU (Distributed Power Unit).

Here are the links to the videos from Brookfield on January 29th, 2013
Brookfield AM Rush 1/29/13 9:09
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=579-07egXmE

BNSF Line Train #1230 @Brookfield 1/29/13 2:31
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bok0NqKzg5U

BNSF Line Trains 1244/54 @Brookfield 1/29/13 14:34
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwfHiGvjRf0

Fast BNSF Freights in Brookfield 4:04
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZS4Gwrs-1g

Coming Soon, New Posts!

I know, I know. I haven't updated this blog in 1.5 years, but that's because I've been so tied up and couldn't find the time to write anything to submit to this blog. I've had many fun and exciting, and also sad, moments since I last posted to this blog. Starting August 27th, I will submit new posts, and let me tell you, I am really looking forward to it. It would be a good idea to start with my recent most significant railfanning episodes, but I would rather pick up from where I left off and submit anywhere between 2-4 posts each day I log in and decide to blog. The first post you will see will focus on my railfanning adventures at the Brookfield Metra Station on a very pleasant January 29th, 2013, and the one after that will focus on my railfanning adventures at the Melrose Park station a day after that. I have 59 stories that are queued for posting, and I hope to post anywhere between 4-8, or possibly even more, per week. My only major obstacle right now is time, and time only.