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Messages - TribuneFreightFanatic

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31
General Discussion / GMTX Engine parked in North Ave. Yard
« on: October 26, 2013, 08:34:49 PM »
Hello all,

A few days ago, I was driving past the North Ave. yard on the e-way. I glanced over and saw what looked like a blue engine behind a row of boxcars.  ??? I had to find out what was going on. So, I got off and stopped by the yard. Sure enough, a shiny, new GMTX "Rail Locomotive Group" EMD GP 38-2  engine was sitting there, with its motor idling. Any thoughts as to why such a foreign engine was parked there? Attached is a photo of the engine; it was coupled to the usual UPY GP-15.

-Trib.Fr8.Fan.

32
General Discussion / Bloomingdale Line Article in Today's Paper
« on: August 11, 2013, 08:46:38 AM »
Hello all,
I just received my Sunday Chicago Tribune paper and was leafing through the sections when something caught my eye. In today's "A&E" (Arts & Entertainment) section, there is a lengthy front page article on the abandoned Bloomingdale Line (Trail)! If you don't get the Tribune delivered, i'd definitely recommend picking up a copy of today's (8-11-2013) paper, or checking out the online version here:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-08-09/entertainment/ct-ae-0811-borrelli-20130809_1_bloomingdale-trail-chicagoans-share-art-installation

Enjoy! :)
--TribuneFreightFanatic

33
General Discussion / Re: Unknown Factory w/ Spur??
« on: July 29, 2013, 01:13:40 AM »
....and here is the photo of the site after demolition. (Original posting was too big to fit both images).

34
General Discussion / Unknown Factory w/ Spur??
« on: July 29, 2013, 01:12:12 AM »
Hello all,
I was recently doing some "Google Maps" panning over Goose Island and the surrounding area when I stumbled upon an interesting site. I was wondering if anyone knew of the former factory that is now a large abandoned lot used to park excess taxis. It is located between Elston & Division, and Elston & Chestnut, right by the Metra/ UPY overpass. What also caught my eye was that it appeared to have been served by rail at one point in time! At the other end of the abandoned lot is where the Prairie Cement plant is.. (In between the two factories is where Ogden av. terminates before the river). I have attached two photos--one before, and one after the demolition.  Using the Google Timeline, it was torn down between 2004-2005. Any ideas on what this industry used to be? Thanks.

35
General Discussion / Re: CNW Low Line questions
« on: June 20, 2013, 11:27:21 PM »
I just happened to come across these photos on rrpicturearchives.net.. I believe they may be of relevance to this subject. I never knew UP once used a SW1500 to switch Sun Times!!   :)
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=740794
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=740804

And this one is of the CNW switcher running the Navy Pier Line in the 70's
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2600034

                                                                                                        ~TribuneFreightFanatic

36
General Discussion / New Engine Spotted at North Ave. Yard
« on: October 15, 2012, 07:20:34 PM »
 Hello all,
I spent most of the morning following the North Ave. UP crew's usual actions. However, I noticed something was different. Was it the increase in CP Rail cars? No. That's been that way. The weather? Nah--usual Chi-town fall weather. Then it dawned on me: THE ENGINE! Yes, its the same good old GP-15 model we're all used to, but it wasn't the old rusty #547 engine. There is a new engine in the yard: UPY712 was seen doing the switch job today. Not sure if it is a permanent swap between the engines, or just a temporary usage. It was pretty nice to see the clean, new geep though-- a sign of progress in the seemingly dwindiling yard. I have attached a photo of UPY712 on this page.    8)

37
General Discussion / Re: Track removal on Google Maps
« on: September 06, 2012, 08:08:14 PM »
Joe,
Thanks for the fast reply-- that makes total sense. Glad to hear there's some action at the yard this week-- I was there a few weeks ago to watch their good-old morning switch as well. As far as your photos and videos, definitely post them when you can!! I would love to see some older photos of the yard from before they scrapped the CN's and tore up the extra tracks.   :D
                                                       

38
General Discussion / Re: Track removal on Google Maps
« on: September 05, 2012, 10:58:00 PM »
@BrianBobcat...
You got it. Due to the decreasing supply of newspapers (all the new electronics and e-books takin over recently),
 The Tribune required less freight cars of the paper supply. So they removed several track segments in 2007 and stored the newsprint cars at the North Ave. Yard. Besides that, I'm guessing that the closing of the Sun times plant by Merchandise Mart in the early 2000's added to the decrease as well. It's sad to see this slow and gradual decrease in fright service. [Speaking of removal] The question I have for everybody is why did they get rid of most of the CN cars and replace them with CP and Ont. Northern cars suddenly? Back in the day, all you would see in the yard was CN and CV. ((any answers??)) Anyways, hope this helps.  8)

39
General Discussion / Re: Track removal on Google Maps
« on: August 20, 2012, 08:50:24 AM »
Take a scroll on over to the Tribune Yard while on this link to peep some good old Newsprint Switching!  ;)

40
General Discussion / "Carroll Ave." Featured in Recent Article in Skyline..
« on: June 29, 2012, 12:37:18 AM »
Picked up a copy of the Skyline newspaper today--and what should be on the front page but part of an article on Carroll Ave!! Thought of this website instantly. Here's a link to the online version of the artice: http://www.skylinenewspaper.com/News/06-27-2012/Beneath_the_surface
Enjoy!
                                                 -TribuneFreightFanatic

41
General Discussion / Re: Freight Traffic
« on: June 26, 2012, 12:47:56 PM »
 On June 15th, I spent most of my day chasing the switch jobs of both the UP crew and CTRR crew. I rode on my bike to the North Ave. yard around 8:00a. (I was even there earlier than most of the workers..). By 9:00, most of the workers and managers were there, and the UP crew started the task of splicing up the cars into different loads. Once they had a long string of newsprint boxcars, they headed out towards the tribune yard. I hightailed it over there, where i managed to catch some of the switchjob at the plant. (I took a short video of it but have yet to edit it. I will post it-or a link to it on youtube- soon) Anyways, they switched the lower level of Blommer, and proceeded to head back to the North Ave. yard with a string of empties. They dropped them off there, and took two hopper cars to switch down at Morton Salt. Meanwhile, the CTRR crew used their engine to pull the empty string of newsprint cars back into another area of the yard, and then attach the full gondolas to them that they must have brought back from Finkl. After the UP crew came back from switching Morton, they headed over to the far side of the yard and switched some other cars. The CTRR crew headed out and first switched a small area in Finkl with a single gondola, then headed across north ave. and went to Big Bay to pick up an empty Hi cube Boxcar. They took that back across the swing bridge and back to the North Ave. yard. It was a very busy day, but it was somewhat reasurring that both companies did every job that day (Morton, Trib, Finkl, etc). Anyways, I have uploaded some action shots of the trib and finkl jobs on my flickr
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/uspslabelfan/7448158204/in/photostream)<--theres one of em. Enjoy! and hopefully I'll be able to get some of the pics published to this website too. Thats all for now.  8)

42
General Discussion / Re: Freight Traffic
« on: June 02, 2012, 07:30:13 PM »
As of May 31st, there were about 10-15 boxcars lined up at the Trib Yard.. but as of today (June 2nd) there is only one car!  :-\ Guess they must have switched the plant 6/1. (Didnt have enough time to check out Finkl or Goose Island.  :P)

43
General Discussion / Re: Interesting Aerials..
« on: May 13, 2012, 06:39:14 PM »
Haha yes, my mistake.  :P

44
General Discussion / Interesting Aerials..
« on: May 12, 2012, 11:29:30 AM »
Hey Guys,
     I'm sure we've all tried to look at the satellite images of our favorite railroad routes through Google Maps. Well, next time,  click on over to Bing's Satelite maps! They have this cool "Bird's Eye" view of things that allows you to see the yards at an interesting angle. Also, their satellite maps havent been updated for a while, so some of the former switching lines are still intact! (ex: There is a parked hopper car at the Blommer Spur!)
Here is a screen-clipping I caught of the Trib-Yard switching in action! (It has to be pre-2007, because all of the spurs are still there in the yard)
                                                                          Hope this helps with your railfanning adventures.
                                                                                                                                          --TribuneFreightFanatic  8)

45
General Discussion / Re: Freight Update
« on: February 23, 2012, 09:54:35 PM »
True... But I'm guessing the rail service to Big Bay will go the same way as Peerless' service did, probably within the next decade. :(
((We must railfan while we can!))  ;)

Also, does anyone know why C.T.R.R doesnt use the available spur that leads into Big Bay to park the rail car(s), and instead just uses the middle of the street for them??

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