Connecting on Amtrak Long Distance through Chicago in the westbound direction is actually a pretty nice affair. Eastern LD trains tend to not miss that is a good 5 or so hour connection, the new sleeper lounge in Union Station is a wonderful place to hang out and the station is just a few short blocks from an iconic rail photography location, the southerner approach to Chicago Union Station itself. Typically these photos are taken from the Roosevelt Avenue overpass located south of the four scissors ladder tracks and north of the Amtrak and METRA layover yards. However this time I noticed that the old stub of Taylor street that only serves as a pull-in for the large postal facility, was still a public right of way over the tracks and seeing as how nine (pause) eleven was 20 years ago I probably wouldn't get hassled by security.
Of course I later walked over to Roosevelt Ave and then to the nearby Binny's to pick up some potent potables for the Texas Eagle leg of my journey, but I'm sticking with the Taylor Street angle. You can see the complete set of photos here.
Here we see the view from the Taylor Street overpass. The METRA coach yard is on the right, accessed by the 0 track and Amtrak's trainset storage facility is on the left. Photographers typically prefer Roosevelt due to the excellent morning lighting, but they are also pretty much the same angles people have been capturing for decades.
CP-TAYLOR, serving tracks 5 through 8, governs Amtrak trains moving in
and out of the higher numbered tracks on the south side of Chicago Union
Station.
Here is a close up shot of METRA F40PH-3 #114 as it pushed a deadhead commuter trainset in from the yard.
Amtrak Pere Marquette trainset being pushed by SC44 #4613 towards the
Lumber Street wye for turning after its arrival from Grand Rapids, MI.
The outbound Amtrak wye move meets an inbound METRA Aurora Line train
led by gallery cab car #8537 under the southbound CP-ROOSEVELT signal
bridge. Power was provided by METRA F40PH-3 #181 in the new lightning
stripe paint scheme.
Another METRA train, either Heritage or Southwest service, soon arrived led by cab car #8479 and powered by F40PH-3 #187.
Once again it is time for a special video post. Typically when my efforts at still photography are being hampered by backlighting or inclement weather, I break out the old GoPro and stick it up on the back window to salvage something from an otherwise sub-optimal situation. In this case I was presented with an opportunity to document the Chicago Line approach into Chicago on Amtrak's Train 29, the Capitol Limited. Later in the day I got some better lighting conditions outbound on the Metra Heritage Corridor onboard Amtrak's Train 21, the Texas Eagle.
The first video covers the segment between CP-479 and CP-500, which covers the famous Porter Junction where the Amtrak Michigan Line diverges at CP-482. Over the past 10 years NS has invested heavily in this stretch to increase capacity for the Wolverine Service passenger trains that use the Chicago Line between 21ST ST and CP-482. This includes a new CP-485, a relocated CP-490 connected to a new CP-492 with a new controlled siding, a new CP-494 and a new CP-500. For this one the NS dispatchers did a pretty good job of routing my train around numerous westbound freights.
The next video covers the segment between CP-501 and CP-ENGLEWOOD. Notable parts include the now closed HICK tower, a fully signaled third track between HICK and CP-509, a westbound NS freight crossing into yard tracks at CP-506, a new full crossover equipped CP-507, two NS freights waiting for a CSX train to pass through the second track on the CP-509 lift bridge and the new METRA flyover at CP-ENGLEWOOD that eliminated a 3x2 set of diamonds.
The last Capitol Limited video covers the final segment between CP-ENGLEWOOD and the South Branch Bridge at 21ST ST crossing. Note the partly green painted GP33ECOs in the NS 47th St Yard, which were rebuilt as lower emissions locomotives with money from a Federal grant. Most NS traffic turns off at CP-518 and then travels to various yards via the old PRR Panhandle/B&OCT route through the Brighton Park and Ash St crossings. The 21ST ST crossing involves the former Alton railroad, later a part of the GM&O, Illinois Central Gulf and ultimately Canadian National.
It is to the former Alton route that my last video takes us, with the video starting right before BRIDGEPORT interlocking with a CTA train running parallel on the Orange Line. Amtrak Train 21, the Texas Eagle, crosses at grade the 5 tracks at BRIGHTON PARK, then 3 more Santa Fe tracks at CORWITH, two Belt Railway of Chicago tracks at BELT JCT and finally another two Indiana Harbor Belt tracks at ARGO. Along the way Train 21 passes a CN local with a Grand Truck painted Geep and some MoW work around Lockport before finally ending up at the rebuilt Joliet Union Station.
Tune in next week as we head back to Chicago for some various Chicago Union Terminal photos.
On the first morning of my 2019 Amtrak trip from Washington, DC to Dallas, TX, my westbound Capitol Limited is surprisingly on time as it passes through Elkhart, IN. Unfortunately for eastward photography, the former Conrail Chicago Line aligns with the riding sun for most of its route resulting in what I will generiously describe as "sub-optimal" lighting conditions. Nevertheless, some twists and turns, combined with conditions changing over the course of the morning resulted in a halfway reasonable set of photos running from CP-435 near South Bend to Amtrak's 21ST ST crossing in Chicago.
I'll begin with an example of the severity of the backlighting as my Amtrak Train 29 passes through CP-425 at the west end of Elkhart Yard. The hour is so golden I was expecting a Transformers film to break out!
Near South Bend the right of way finally turned out of the path of the
rising sun. CP-435 sports some original Conrail signals along with a
Conrail style relay house with an NS high-rail pickup parked nearby.
Capitol Limited making a stop at the inconveniently located South Ben
passenger station located about 2 miles west of downtown. Shoved out of
the historic passenger station to eliminate platforms and other legacy
infrastructure gumming up the junction between the Chicago Line and the
Grand Trunk Western South Bend Subdivision, Amtrak located its new Amshack
at the South Shore's non-downtown South Bend terminal. Later the South
Bend relocated its terminal to the adjacent airport, stranding Amtrak
passengers in the middle of nowhere.
Evidence of a major derailment at the MP 460 intermediate signals.
Pair of NS C44-9W's heading east with a unit train of autoracks.
CP-483, aka Porter Jct, is where the lake Shore and Michigan Southern crossed the Michigan Central railway and joined with the Pere Marquette
(seen here heading off to the left, now owned by CSX). Today the
Michigan Central is Amtrak's M110mph ichigan Line and Porter marks the
beginning of the congested Chicago Terminal zone where morning Amtrak
Wolverine Service and Long Distance trains do battle with NS freights as
they try to get to Chicago on time.
Overtaking a westbound NS doublestack train led by NS ES44AC #8053.
Eastbound CSX train with run through BNSF power consisting of ES44AC
#6151, ES44DC #7581 and ES44C4 #8005 on the CSX Barr Sub at Curtis.
Rear end of NS C44-9W #9308 as it tows some uncovered steel coils near Gary.
Another pair of eastbound NS C44-9W's, #9362 and #9099, between CP-501 and CP-502 in the Indiana Harbor area.
I wrapped up my main series of Amtrak Cross Country LD trips in 2017 with a makeup run on the sunset Limited between San Francisco and Denver. Since 2011 I had gone on 8 western LD trips, some routes more than once, but I still had one omission from my collection and that would be the Texas Eagle. Now in theory I should have arranged another cross country run to take an Eagle through sleeper from LA to Chicago, but since I had already done the Sunset Limited twice and the Eagle portion of the trip was practically bankrupt in the scenery department, my travel buddies were not supportive of the plan. After taking the 2018 season off, I found an opportunity in the spring of 2019 to ride the Eagle westbound to Dallas, with an westbound Capitol Limited segment from Washington to Chicago. This would allow us to try out the new sleeper lounge in Chicago Union Station as well as have a few hours for Chicago things.
This trip will be documented in 6 or 7 photo posts, starting with the Capitol Limited heading out of Washington, DC. While I am not a stranger to this route, I often am stuck riding in the depths of winter when the rear car is closed and the sun sets before 5pm. While March is no June, it is certainly no December and I had usable light all the way through Cumberland, MD. Also included at some photos in an around Washington Union Station and the DC Metro. The full set can be found here (mirror).
My trip begins early on a Tuesday morning at the BWI Rail Station with an southbound Acela Express with power car #2017 running ahead of my MARC express train led by K-car #7847.
I had an activity in DC prior to my late afternoon Amtrak departure and
caught 7k car #7606 at Union Station and 3k car #3062 at Metro Center.
Power for my Train #29 that day was the single Amtrak P42DC #136. This
would leave only about 3600hp available for traction and reduce any
ability to make up time lost en-route.
On the adjacent track was Amtrak ACS-86 #652, leased to MARC to
supplement its HHP-8 fleet for use on heavy peak period express trains.
Amtrak SW1000R end cab switcher #796 was still going strong in its job
towing lite power and trainsets out of the stub end terminal. Here the
little pup is posing in front of the Union switching substation.
As it was the start of the afternoon rush, VRE MP36PH-3C #V59 with an outbound VRE trainset.
MARC single level cab car #7759 rolls past K TOWER with a Camden or Brunswick line trainset and MARC MP36PH-3C #24.
The objective of my 2019 NEC trip to Boston was to test out my new mid-range digital camera after a number of runs with my DSLR. Although a class upgrade coupon was now required to get me into the rear car, vestibule access continues to be sporadic and I wanted to see how the new camera with its better electronics and crazy zoom would handle shooting through both rear windows. To get to Boston before noon I was once again on Train 190 with a plan to sleep through New Haven then be on call for photos to fill in a few remaining gaps on the Shore Line. In addition to the survey photos I also have a bunch of better photos from both South and Penn stations. The full set can be found here (mirror).
We begin with NJT ALP-46 #4624 at New York Penn Station along with Amtrak ACS-86 #639.
Skipping ahead a bit I next caught Amtrak Acela Express power car #2032 just east of the SS71 DEVON movable bridge.
View through the Connecticut River drawbridge.
New Haven tower SS119 GROTON near New London, CT.
More New Haven RR towers near Providence. SS154 LAWN and SS156 BOSTON SWITCH.
Although I already had completed my video documentation of the NEC I set up the camera again to capture the changes between the rebuilt Kingston Station and the new TF Greene Airport station as well as everything between Providence and Route 128.
Once again it is time for my annual ski trip to the New York Capitol Region. As in years past I managed to schedule in a railfan event, however the area has been so depleted by re-signaling efforts it was necessary for me to turn to the late Conrail era signals that remain up at CP-SK, the eastern gateway to Selkirk yard and the junction between the Conrail Boston and River lines. Also included in this set are Amtrak NEW and Hudson Line photos taken on the way to and from Albany. You can find the full set of photos here (mirror).
Like many of my recent Amtrak journeys this one began at the BWI Airport Station where Amtrak ACS-86 #652 was seen in MARC service at the rear of a heavy morning bi-level express commuter run.
At Penn Station my Regional wound up adjacent to Metroliner Cab Car #9638 on a waiting Westbound Keystone Service train.
Departing Penn Station on the Empire Line I got this video from the rear of the train as it crossed the Inwood movable bridge and then crossed over from Metro North Hudson Line track 6 to track 1 at DV interlocking.
At Albany my train pulled in across from Phase III heritage painted P32AC-DM #701.
Due to the bad weather and a general lack of rail stuff to see, my friend and I make a quick visit to the Schaghticoke hydro-electric plant, which was constructed in 1902 with a capacity of 16MW.
Moving on to CP-SK (Selkirk Junction?), I caught a light engine move consisting of CSX C40-10W's #5312 and #5496 splitting the eastbound Conrail style signals as they headed westbound towards the yard. Conrain rebuilt CP-SK in its last year or so of existance and so far CSX has not seen the need to substantially alter it as Conrail signal rules are still in effect on the former Boston and River lines.
Not much was going on in January 2019 so I patched together a couple of trips to DC area MARC stations and to the SRNJ short line base at Winslow Jct, NJ during the NJT Atlantic City Line hiatus. You can find the full set of photos here (mirror).
The Garrett Park Brunswick Line MARC station, located on the former B&O railroad Metropolitan Sub, is situated between the two prongs of the WMATA Red Line north of the city. It consists of a small inbound shelter and low level platforms for the peak direction weekday service.
Parking is highly limited and the station primarily serves walking distance neighborhoods on both sides of the tracks.
The old mill town of Kensington has been subsumed by
suburban housing developments, but the old town core still features a
vintage B&O railroad station.
Although largely converted into a coffee shoppe, the station still features a waiting room and ticket vending machines.
The falling snow would soon start to accumulate making condition a bit treacherous.
Moving to Winslow Jct, despite some recent scrappings, the SRNJ still has three MLW (Alco) M420 locomotives on the ready service tracks. These consisted of CNJ painted numbers 3578, 3519 and 3517 and NYO&W painted #800.
