Lots of action! Windy City railfanning and more! 08/07/09 - 08/08/09

This video starts off with my trip to the Windy City. I took the Metra from Joliet to La Salle Street. I ventured off to the Nature Museum, ate lunch in the city and pretty much explored. Rain was a factor for most of the day, but it didn't stop me from catching a few trains.

Train 1: CTA train at the intersection of Congress and Wabash. Get some CUBS logos on the side and then we'd be rolling! 10:19 A.M. on 08/07/09.

Train 2: CTA train at the intersection of Clark and Congress. Those Sox logos...yuck! 3:17 P.M. on 08/07/09.

Train 3: CTA train at the intersection of Clark and Congress. 3:21 P.M. on 08/07/09.

Train 4: CTA train at the intersection of Clark and Congress. Again with the Sox logos. You can hear a CTA Agent telling us to be careful taking videos in the area. I decided to stop filming after that. 3:23 P.M. on 08/07/09.

Train 5: On my way home, we crossed the diamonds at U.D. Tower in Joliet and I saw the CHI102 local waiting to cross. Knowing that I wouldn't have very much time to get to a good location to film it, I got off the train and quickly made my way to the diamonds. The local had an interesting lash-up today. It was powered by four BNSF B40-8W's and a BNSF GP38-2. This was my last train on 08/07/09. 4:54 P.M.

The next day, I got off work at Noon. That left the rest of the day open for railfanning. I headed to Lockport, IL. Matt T. was also there when I arrived.

Train 1: An eastbound intermodal makes its way towards Willow Springs, powered by four BNSF Dash 9-44CW's. 2:05 P.M. on 08/08/09.

Train 2: An eastbound stack train makes its way towards Corwith Yard, powered by a BNSF ES44DC and a BNSF Dash 9-44CW. 3:16 P.M. on 08/08/09.

Train 3: After a while, I heard a very nice horn approaching from the distance. I knew right away that it was coming from the CN Joliet Subdivision and that it was the Oil Local. At 3:53 P.M., the Oil Local was the last train that I was expecting. I quickly ran to my car and made it just in time to get this neat view of the train passing through town. It's powered by the usual pair of GTW GP38-2's. 08/08/09.

After the Oil Local, I headed back down to the BNSF.

Train 4: Finally, a westbound train train makes an appearance. It's a stack train, powered by four BNSF Dash 9-44CW's. 4:50 P.M. on 08/08/09.

Train 5: A short time later, another westbound stack train passes through, powered by a BNSF ES44DC and a pair of BNSF Dash 9-44CW's. 5:04 P.M. on 08/08/09.

Train 6: The CHI102 local makes its way west, bound for Joliet, where it will perform its switching duties. It's powered by a BNSF GP38-2, a BN GP38-2 and a BNSF B40-8W. 5:50 P.M. on 08/08/09.

Train 7: This is probably the slowest Amtrak I have ever seen in Lockport, in the history of me watching trains here. Lincoln Service 305 very slowly makes its way south, not far from its stop at Joliet. The M CNIKCK was stopped and blocking part of the crossover in Joliet. Metra U.D. Tower got the KCK moving right away, allowing Amtrak to proceed into the station. Power for the Amtrak is Amtrak P42DC 128 and Amtrak P42DC 127 pushing at the rear. 6:08 P.M. on 08/08/09.

Train 8: Less than an hour later, the M GALGYI went north through town. The power is a BNSF Dash 9-44CW and a Santa Fe Dash 9-44CW. With the days getting shorter, seeing the GYI in daylight will be gone for a while. 7:02 P.M. on 08/08/09.

Train 9: After GYI cleared, I heard the CN RTC Desk 11 making note that there would be a State Line empty crossing the Rock Diamond at 7:20 P.M. I headed to Crest Hill after I heard that on the scanner. When I got to my location, it wasn't long of a wait as a headlight appeared in the distance. State Line empties made their way north at a quick pace. Power for this train was a pair of CN SD40u's and a CN SD40-2W. Can't complain about three SD40 types in 2009! The cars on this train were rocking violently as the train flew by. You really can't tell in the video, but if you were there, you'd know that I mean. I fear that the day of a derailment here is looming.

All in all, it was a fun couple of days. Expect more videos very soon. Thank you for watching!

Note: Ignore the gap between 5:03 and 5:36. I'm not too sure what happened there, but it was probably an error with Windows Movie Maker.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Windy
• City
• railfanning
• and
• more!
• 08/07/09
• 08/08/09

[aaron13133]

um, why does the BNSF ac4400cw #522 have only 4-wheel trucks?

[NicTrain35]

B40-8W's have four wheel trucks, unlike the Dash 9's and AC4400's.

[lordbemylight]

By the way, that warbonnet is as it is when it had the large BNSF lettering...it's fine as long as they keep them warbonnets and their classic horns. They don't make them like they used to.

[lordbemylight]

The suburban areas are quiet zones, but Chicago is not a quiet zone?  I don't get it.

[kobratanion]

@Mattmp36, if ur looking for some rail action , u need to head down to FOLKSTON, GA that's the rail capitol of the SOUTH ur guaranteed to see anywhere from 50-70 trains a day pass through this small town.

[IsaiahWEJackson]

Freight capital of the world. Thanks from Ohio for at least SOME of that rail traffic. Instant classic video.

[flamingpouchkangaroo]

My home town. I miss that place and the GTW

[angelopach99]

windy city

[Mattmp36]

Me too. I grew up in Chicago but now I live in Atlanta. :( There are barely any trains here.

[Higgieman68]

chjicago is always hot spot