Messages

31

General Discussion / Re: C&E / MILW track at 1230 W. School

« on: September 04, 2014, 12:35:48 AM »

That's a nice and unexpected tribute to the rail heritage of the area.  I wonder if they will keep a section after all of the actual track?  It would be nice if they had a plaque talking about the history of the Milwaukee Road's C&E line.

I was told by the foreman that a 4' segment was being saved per the Park District, but on the plan, I don't see where it is/would be located.

32

General Discussion / Re: North Ave Yard Rebuild

« on: August 24, 2014, 04:24:56 PM »

I went by there today, even looked at the area from the North Avenue exit ramp, and there's a LOT of concrete ties offloaded into the gap between tracks 6 and 7 from the highway.  There were still two center beams with a small amount of ties on them, but no longer 6-8.  The caboose is also down by McGrath Lexus on what looks like the track that ends next to People's Gas.  What I find interesting is that there's some MOW vehicles up by Clybourn on the eastern stub track with a brand new signal tower on it.  Could these ties be for the ongoing UP North bridge work, and they're using the North Yard simply because of the space requirements?  There's no spur north until Mryn Mawr, and then it's just a single track, so if a second track was needed for a crane or flatbed, the Bryn Mawr track wouldn't be usable.

You are right though about the Grand Avenue track being in horrible shape.  When do the newspaper trains leave and return to North Avenue usually?

33

General Discussion / Re: Gondola Parked on Sipi Metals Spur

« on: August 24, 2014, 04:10:40 PM »

Joe-

That would be great if you could.  Be careful of the security guard who sits in that box by the entrance.

Tom

You're absolutely correct.  I went there today, sunday, and within 5 seconds of pointing my camera at the car from the sidewalk across the street, I was getting yelled at "No photos please!"  He kept telling me that the car is on private property.  Even when I explained to him that I was on public property, he still kept yelling at me from the booth.  I left and came back 10 minutes later, got my shots, and left.  Rent a cops are such a joke.

34

General Discussion / Re: C&E / MILW track at 1230 W. School

« on: July 31, 2014, 02:02:33 AM »

I went there today and they were digging up the rails as I arrived.  I talked with the foreman for a little bit who was wondering why there were rails there at all.  He said the park district is having them save a four foot segment for the final park.  We also looked at the rails and saw 1913 stamped on them.  They lasted over 100 years in the ground before finally being removed.  They were cutting them into 8 or 10' segments, for recycling or disposal.  He did give me one of the tie plates with two spikes still in it.  I will see about posting some photos on Flickr since they're too large to attach here.  If you want any memories of this final remnant, now is your final opportunity.

35

General Discussion / Re: Southside Switching - Ashland & 36th Street

« on: March 20, 2014, 11:25:18 AM »

Chuck, I was down there last December right after demolition of the Wrigley factory began, since I wanted to capture the tracks leading to the factory.  The concrete wall you're referring to I think was a shield for the tanks that used to be there.  I looked on Historic Aerials and it shows some tanks, the remnants are still there (those concrete pads with the semi-circles on them where the tank would sit).  As for what they were used for, there's a sign there that's badly rusted but still tells some of the story.  You can see it in the middle of the frame of your second photo.  When I went, it had fallen, but I picked it up and took a picture.  It said "Stop, Chlorine car connector".  My guess is that since chlorine gas is quite hazardous, that was there to protect the tank from a vehicle coming from 36th street, while the railcars protected it on the northern side.  Here is a frame grab of my video showing the sign.

36

General Discussion / Re: Roundhouses, past and present?

« on: February 21, 2014, 05:46:02 PM »

Great photos, and nice to see that a number of roundhouses across the country have been turned into museums.  My favorite was the last photo since it was of a C&NW 'house.

37

General Discussion / Roundhouses, past and present?

« on: February 13, 2014, 07:27:42 PM »

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd start a discussion on roundhouses, past and present.  Past roundhouses that I know of include the Illinois Central ones down on the site of McCormick Place West, the Chicago Northwestern one on the site of the Tribune Freedom printing plant, and the old Briar Bottle 1/4 roundhouse that sat immediately adjacent to the tracks leading into Ogilvie Station where Left Bank at K Station now sits.  Current roundhouses are more limited, but there's a small locomotive facility left from the Hawthorne Works plant immediately south of the Menards.  There's also the Aurora roundhouse that was beautifully restored into a restaurant.  Random, I know, but I found another restored roundhouse in Kansas City.  A printing company called DST Output has restored almost a full roundhouse located at 2600 Southwest Boulevard, Kansas City, MO 64108.  There's articles discussing how it was a superfund site from the Kansas City Terminal railway, and how it was extensively restored.

What other notable roundhouses do you know of in or out of Chicago?

38

General Discussion / Re: North Avenue Yard Relatively Dead...

« on: January 28, 2014, 10:24:49 AM »

Were at least all the newspaper cars there monday?  I drove by sunday and I too saw the emptiness of the yard.

39

General Discussion / Re: Central Manufacturing District

« on: January 03, 2014, 02:14:29 AM »

I know all about time and web sites!!  I think mine is going on 3 years now.

Looking forward to it, whenever it may happen.  Thanks for the info and update.
Chuck

I'm with you Chuck.  2 full years and counting on mine.  My favorite time was when I got an "estimate" that ranged from 3-75 grand.  What a specific range, and way high.

I know I haven't gotten around to posting photos yet.  Maybe I'll make my new year's resolution to be better/faster at that. 

-Brian

40

General Discussion / Re: rail activity next week

« on: January 02, 2014, 01:18:17 AM »

I thought Alpha Baking was served on mon, wed, and fridays?  Or is that still true, but UP runs those days, and CTR tuesday and thursdays?

41

General Discussion / Central Manufacturing District

« on: December 28, 2013, 02:11:35 PM »

The former Wrigley Gum factory at 35th and Ashland is being torn down right now, and I went to take photos of their rail aspect.  They had two tracks leading into the factory, that at some point were pared down to one track.  South of the factory the line split multiple times to feed all sorts of warehouses, factory, loading docks, a bakery, and even chlorine tanks.  I got a great picture of that sign, and of switches and missing rails, which I'll see about posting at some point.  There's still more rails around the CMD that I need to explore, but check it out if you're looking for something new.  Since most/all of them seem abandoned right now, trespassing wasn't an issue.  No one cared except for the demolition company at Wrigley so I wasn't able to actually get on their property.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Manufacturing_District

-Brian

42

General Discussion / Re: CTA L Car In Parking Lot At Canalport and Cermak! Parallel to BNSF Tail Track

« on: November 19, 2013, 02:32:10 AM »

I emailed the Chicago-L.org webmaster with several pictures I took a week ago, and this is what he said: "That car was sold to Joe Cacciatore - Catchmo Media. Don't know what their plan is for the car, or if it's location in that lot is permanent. The car left CTA clean, so the graffiti was applied later, whether as an act of intentional art or as vandalism."  My photos show the spray paint intact, and these more recent ones show it being removed, so my guess is vandalism.  The extension cord also wasn't there a week ago.  As for how it got there, I'm guessing truck, but it is interesting that I noticed and my photos show that there are grooves in the metal plates it's on that look like they acted as a shallow rail almost.  The wheels are chalked in place now.

43

General Discussion / Re: Brach's Candy has new tank cars?

« on: November 15, 2013, 05:15:58 PM »

I think those are just sitting on the UP main.  It runs right there and is elevated.  The spur into Brach's came from the north and curved to the west inside the complex.  It never exited into the parking lot.

Funny, looking at it more, I want to say you're right.  When I pulled up this site on my iPhone, Apple Maps shows that there was a freight train with tanker cars going down the main line.  If this was a new spur, it doesn't look like it would be that difficult for it to break through the rest of the building after the curve and into the lot, especially if that building was already coming down.  I'll head over monday morning at the latest and take a look.  On a related note, have any pictures from inside or outside during your exploration?

44

General Discussion / Brach's Candy has new tank cars?

« on: November 14, 2013, 06:11:27 PM »

Brach's candy on Cicero north of Lake Street is being demolished.  This photo posted in the Forgotten Chicago Facebook page:
appears to show two new tank cars in the parking lot.  At first I thought they were just sitting on the mainline, but the UP West Line is only 3 tracks there and I highly doubt that two tankers would just be sitting there.  I'm going to venture over there in a couple days, but if this photo appears correct, then they would've needed to reactivate a long disused spur and lengthen the tracks.  Probably using these to collect contaminated water or other chemicals as they tear down the buildings.  If those are there for the demolition, I wonder whether they came from the Milwaukee District West line or right off the UP West line.

45

General Discussion / Re: BNSF Cited in Lead Clean-up Along Lumber District Track in Tribune

« on: November 14, 2013, 02:53:09 AM »

Turning to Google Earth once again, it shows in 2010 and 2011 that Pure Asphalt has multiple tank cars, but at that time, the tracks were still connected to the mainlines.  Oddly enough, the current satellite view does show a tank car still parked on their track.  What will come of that?  Seems like scraping will be the only option, but can you cut apart a tanker filled with asphalt ingredients?  Also, there's a large shortage of tanker cars right now, so does it make sense to scrap one of them?  These answers will come in the future.