76
General Discussion / Re: rail bridge vs. trucks
« on: February 25, 2013, 03:04:33 AM »
Yep, you were totally right Ray: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/18425182-418/barge-delivers-section-of-wells-street-bridge.html
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77
General Discussion / Re: rail bridge vs. trucks
« on: February 23, 2013, 06:48:33 PM »the two pieces match the center-most halves of both sides, not the mechanical business ends, and correspond to the primer/non-primer portions on the existing bridge
Ok, that might make sense. The reason why I was so skeptical was because I've seen structural work and primer already done on the bridge, and I was wondering why they'd put all that work in if they were just going to replace the whole thing. I guess this explains why the Brown Line will be shut down for 9 days. That'd be a lot of days if it was just for more minor structural exchanges. Replacing the whole structure is definitely a multi-day thing.
78
General Discussion / Re: rail bridge vs. trucks
« on: February 14, 2013, 01:29:54 AM »
Hi Ray,
Do you happen to have any photos? I was under the impression that Wells was being rebuilt by replacing parts of the bridge structure, not the whole bridge. I haven't heard any details though and no renderings, so maybe you are right. Pics are always fun though. :-)
Do you happen to have any photos? I was under the impression that Wells was being rebuilt by replacing parts of the bridge structure, not the whole bridge. I haven't heard any details though and no renderings, so maybe you are right. Pics are always fun though. :-)
79
General Discussion / Re: Finkl Steel Closes North Side Plant, Starts Operations on South Side
« on: January 22, 2013, 12:17:46 PM »
Does anyone have a photo of the finished products leaving Finkl on a railcar? I've seen a lot of General Iron hoppers and Big Bay box cars/lumber cars, I even saw a plastic lined hopper at Sipi, but nothing ever from Finkl. Are we sure they even are still a rail customer? The article on the Tribune does mention that their new location is so close to the Norfolk Southern line, that they could call for a pickup, and within an hour it's getting picked up. They do seem like a good fit for their new plant being a former steel mill and all, and with the area still being industrial as opposed to Lincoln Park with river access that they don't use.
80
General Discussion / Re: New Engine Spotted at North Ave. Yard
« on: December 22, 2012, 12:45:12 PM »
When does the North Ave. yard usually work? Is it always the same time and same days, or is it really all up in the air and is based on just need? What about the Tribune yard and Bloomer?
81
General Discussion / Re: Busy engine today
« on: December 10, 2012, 10:05:39 PM »
Bob, which viaduct are you referring to? I take the Metra downtown most day, and I haven't seen any viaducts on this line under reconstruction, but I may have missed something.
82
General Discussion / Re: Finkl Steel Sold, Leaving North Side Location
« on: September 12, 2012, 06:09:46 PM »
I feel like this thread could use an update. So yes, Finkl will be moving to the south side, but 6 years after this news originally broke, they 1. still haven't moved but 2. Peerless has left. General Iron and Big Bay are still there, but who else does CTR serve? Is Finkl still on that list?
83
General Discussion / Re: Tracks exposed at 2615 N. Elston
« on: September 10, 2012, 06:48:43 PM »
I never guess that there was any rail-served industry north of Elston and west of Damen. I knew about the line that ended at the river just east of Damen, but Historic Ariels reveals that there were a TON of lines emanating off the C&NW in that area.
84
General Discussion / Re: C&NW Navy Pier Line Under Trump Building
« on: September 07, 2012, 03:00:36 PM »
HI all,
I've been going through all the old threads, and came across this one about Trump. A couple weeks ago, I walked most of Carroll avenue and took photos along the way. There is in fact a maintained ROW under Trump where trains or busses could travel, but the curious thing is that right now it's blockaded. There's concrete barricades on each side of the approximately 200' gap.
Other notes of interest is the old sign that says "No clearance for man on top of car", rails just east of Wells Street have been cutout for sewer work, while some other utility work appears to have been run in between the rails east of LaSalle, the terrible roadway condition of Carroll as it approaches Dearborn and State, and the coolest was an old train signal still underneath the Hotel Sax/10 Pin/the House of Blues.
Let me know what you all think. I wanted to start at the River, but 1. I've heard that Sun Times security is pretty ruthless, and 2. I wasn't entirely sure how to get down there. Now that I know, maybe I'll put #1 to the test.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lyk57ygrrguvtz6/9YgAd7lDYc
-Brian
I've been going through all the old threads, and came across this one about Trump. A couple weeks ago, I walked most of Carroll avenue and took photos along the way. There is in fact a maintained ROW under Trump where trains or busses could travel, but the curious thing is that right now it's blockaded. There's concrete barricades on each side of the approximately 200' gap.
Other notes of interest is the old sign that says "No clearance for man on top of car", rails just east of Wells Street have been cutout for sewer work, while some other utility work appears to have been run in between the rails east of LaSalle, the terrible roadway condition of Carroll as it approaches Dearborn and State, and the coolest was an old train signal still underneath the Hotel Sax/10 Pin/the House of Blues.
Let me know what you all think. I wanted to start at the River, but 1. I've heard that Sun Times security is pretty ruthless, and 2. I wasn't entirely sure how to get down there. Now that I know, maybe I'll put #1 to the test.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lyk57ygrrguvtz6/9YgAd7lDYc
-Brian
85
General Discussion / Re: Introduce Yourself!
« on: August 28, 2012, 01:40:56 PM »
I joined back in June and never got around to introducing myself. My Name is Brian, and I'm here for two reasons. My brother has long been a rail fan, so I got interested in it partly from him. The other reason is research for a possible documentary about railroads in Chicago. There's a TON of information here, and going through it all is taking some time.
86
General Discussion / Re: Track removal on Google Maps
« on: August 20, 2012, 11:00:50 AM »
Another interesting thing to take note of are the tracks across Halsted & DIvision. The city removed about 1/3 of them during the repaving for the new Halsted Bridge, but not the remaining part. Now with the Kingsbury work, I woulda though the rest would go with that, but so far, they seem to be using the stretch of Kingsbury between Scott and Division as a staging area.
Speaking of Tribune, anyone have word on why the amount of trackage in the Tribune yard has been decreased over the years? I take it they probably don't need as many cars and thus tracks anymore, so my guess is that as maintenance was needed, tracks were just removed and simplified rather than being replaced.
Speaking of Tribune, anyone have word on why the amount of trackage in the Tribune yard has been decreased over the years? I take it they probably don't need as many cars and thus tracks anymore, so my guess is that as maintenance was needed, tracks were just removed and simplified rather than being replaced.
87
General Discussion / Re: Track removal on Google Maps
« on: August 15, 2012, 02:15:05 PM »
According to Google Earth, the current shots were taken March 12, 2012. The weird, and sad, thing to me, is that I didn't find out about this project until April 6th, which by then most of the main track had already been removed. I was able to go out and still get some good shots for a project I'm doing, but not of the main line itself. Why was there seemingly no advanced notice of the removal, especially by other users on this site? I snooze I lose, I guess.
88
General Discussion / Re: Is Sipi Metals No Longer Rail Served?
« on: July 18, 2012, 12:51:20 AM »
I think the answer is yes...sorta. I've been riding the Metra UPNW line for the past two years to and from work on a daily basis, and for several years before that on the occasionally basis, but this was the first time I can remember seeing a car at Sipi. This was back on December 17th 2011. It's not my best photo, but you should be able to see the single gondola, but in curious dressing. There was a white liner in it, and at least one worker in a white hazmat jumpsuit by it. My theory is that yes they are still served, but minimally to remove whatever hazardous materials they accumulate over time. I recently video recorded the tracks through their lot, and yes, the ones leading towards Elston are all paved over. I hope this photo helps some.
89
General Discussion / Re: Blommer upper level switching
« on: July 07, 2012, 10:06:41 AM »What are the approximate street coordinates for these photos?
1900 West, so yes, west of ADM. I forgot about them, but in 6 months of working there, this was the first time I had seen a freight move on those tracks.
90
General Discussion / Re: Blommer upper level switching
« on: July 02, 2012, 02:13:22 AM »
And here's the second photo: