South Shore Double Track

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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At Dune Acres (Mineral Springs Rd) the South Bailey sidings are out of service and are being removed. Waverly Rd is scheduled for a two week closure in March and Mineral Springs Rd will have a one day interruption in April. (Mineral Springs cannot be completely closed as it is the only access to Dune Acres.) The first picture looks west, the second looks east. Note the new power poles staged in the second picture.
20230226-MineralSpringsW.jpg
20230226-MineralSpringsE.jpg
The three shelters from Ogden Dunes have been relocated. Two are in the Ogden Dunes south parking lot (shown below) and the third is at the temporary bus station at Miller.
20230226-OgdenDunes.jpg

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Michigan City 11th St ... first two pictures from Lafayette St looking at the station then east toward the signal at Clay St. Third picture from Franlklin St. Crews are working on the track 2 platform room and shelters.
20230305-11thSt-Station1.jpg
20230305-11thSt-Station2.jpg
20230305-11thSt-Station3.jpg

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Off to the west in Burns Harbor. A couple of quick shots of the bridge abutments being constructed at Cleveland Cliffs (was Arcetor-Mital, was Bethlehem Steel).
20230305-BurnsHarbor1.jpg
20230305-BurnsHarbor2.jpg
And a look at the new Miller station building.
20230305-MillerStation.jpg

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Saturnalia
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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As of Monday, Walsh/Herzog now has the run of the railroad weekdays from Michigan Blvd to the existing end of double track in Gary. Already, they've been taking down wire in Miller and doing a TON of grading going west from Lake Street. At Bailly, the old South Bailly tracks have been removed and the old panels stacked like cordwood as seen from US-12.

Hopefully here soon when the asphalt plants reopen they can polish off the rest of the work in Michigan City on the crossings.
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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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This weekend at 11th St Station ...
Signals uncovered and steps in place at the shelters.
All but a small section of the platform roofs are in place.
A section of the wall between 11th St and the tracks was removed and replaced.
20230311-11thSt-Station1.jpg
20230311-11thSt-Station2.jpg
20230311-11thSt-Station3.jpg

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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At Lafayette St the "No Left Turn Train" sign has been moved to the crossing signal closest to approaching traffic on 11th St.
20230311-11thSt-Lafayette1.jpg
A similar sign was installed at Wabash St along with crossing lights facing 11th St traffic. The "No Left Turn Train" signs are blackout style and appear as a blank box unless the LEDs are lit.
20230311-11thSt-WabashSt.jpg
Back at Lafayette St ... this is the old curb line for the street before the track was realigned and raised.
20230311-11thSt-Lafayette2.jpg

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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At Mineral Springs Rd. Replacement of the power poles east of Mineral Springs Rd is nearly complete.
20230311-MineralSpringsE.jpg
New catenary poles are in place west of Mineral Springs Rd.
20230311-MineralSpringsW.jpg
The first segment of new track has been laid at the new Miller Station - the east gauntlet switch for main 1.
20230311-MillerStation.jpg

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Construction season is beginning to ramp up. NICTD has posted road closures starting Monday in Michigan City and Gary as the crews move forward.

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Updates from Saturday ...

Sidewalk installation on the north side of the tracks ... these photos from Oak St.
20230318-11thSt-OakWB.jpg
20230318-11thSt-OakEB.jpg
New sidewalks removed for adjustment in Beverly Shores.
20230318-BeverlyShores.jpg

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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The gauntlet track is in place at Dune Park.
20230318-DunePark.jpg
At the west end of Bailly the bridge abutments are nearing completion for the bridges over the NS Chicago line and the Cleveland Cliffs plant entrance.
20230318-BaillyBridges1.jpg
20230318-BaillyBridges2.jpg

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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More progress ... the new signaling arrangement is in place at CP 36.0 (Power - near US 12 on the west site of town). The eastbound switch from main 2 to the freight yard remains signaled and remote controlled. The westbound main 2 signal remains on the cantilever. The yard exit signal has been replaced by a new signal on the ground (the new signal is before the power derail on the siding).
20230402-CP36-Power.jpg
Sidewalks are under construction along 11th St. This segment is just east of Lafayette St (NICD 1000 is bringing two cars back from Gary).
20230402-11thSt-Lafayette.jpg
The new sidewalk crossing Oak St.
20230402-11thSt-Oak.jpg

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Out at Beverly Shores new signs have been placed at the platforms.
20230402-BeverlyShores1.jpg
20230402-BeverlyShores2.jpg
20230402-BeverlyShores3.jpg
Additional improvements are continuing along the line including at Miller where all the new platform bases are in place and Track 1 extends from the gauntlet east of the station around the curve west of the station to Clay St.

Franklin St remains closed for reworking the curbs and installing designer asphalt. Lafayette St was scheduled to be closed tomorrow but I did not see any barricades staged for a closure.

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Saturnalia
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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justalurker66 wrote:
Sun Apr 02, 2023 9:37 pm
More progress ... the new signaling arrangement is in place at CP 36.0 (Power - near US 12 on the west site of town). The eastbound switch from main 2 to the freight yard remains signaled and remote controlled. The westbound main 2 signal remains on the cantilever. The yard exit signal has been replaced by a new signal on the ground (the new signal is before the power derail on the siding).
At least they got the signal there on Track 1 facing the right way. I'm pretty sure the intermediates west of Beverly were swapped by accident at some point, since right now EBs encounter single-head signals while WBs get two. But, it should be EBs getting two on approach to CP 37.9, the former EE Tamarack and new universal crossovers.

The east half is really starting to come together, starting to get excited about getting it in operation within the next few months. The west end is also coming along well, all of the prep work they did last year has them ahead of the game this year. They already have Track 1 installed from Lake St to Clay Street, including the new gauntlet!!
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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Saturnalia wrote:
Sun Apr 02, 2023 9:46 pm
justalurker66 wrote:
Sun Apr 02, 2023 9:37 pm
More progress ... the new signaling arrangement is in place at CP 36.0.
At least they got the signal there on Track 1 facing the right way.
Track 2 was wrong for two weeks when first installed. They fixed it before last Sunday (when they installed the Track 1 signal).
Not sure if the installers need a compass. :D

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Michigan City 11th St Station on Easter Weekend
Franklin St remains closed for repaving (through May 1st)
20230408-11thSt-FranklinSt.jpg
The railings have been installed on the ramps (not on the platforms yet)
20230408-11thSt-StationRamps.jpg
The shelter on the Track 2 platforms have ticket machines!
20230408-11thSt-StationShelter.jpg
Lafayette St is closed for repaving the section south of the tracks and 11th St.

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Miller Station
The station building is missing windows but the exterior is complete.
20230408-Miller-Station.jpg
The support beams are in place for both platforms and as noted in previous post, Track 1 has been built through the station.
Note the wider gap between platforms at Miller than at Michigan City. Shelters will be installed on the Track 2 platform to the right between Track 1 and Track 2.
20230408-Miller-StationPlatforms.jpg
The new rail currently ends at Clay St (scheduled for closure on April 17th)
20230408-Miller-ClaySt.jpg

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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This week in Michigan City:
20230415-11thSt-Lafayette.jpg
Lafayette St ready for asphalt ... hopefully the asphalt plants have reopened.
20230415-10thSt-Franklin.jpg
The corner of 10th and Franklin with the (11th St station in the background).
A new traffic light has been installed one block north of the railroad (on the north west corner of the station block).
20230415-Greene.jpg
Greene St between Chicago and Kentucky is getting improvements to compensate for the loss of 11th St as a two way street. The original plan had 11th St as two way from Kentucky west to Chicago but the city preferred upgrading Greene St.

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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In Beverly Shores: The platform edge is in place and the approach signals for the new version of Tamarack (a crossover instead of a passing siding).
20230415-BeverlyShores1.jpg
20230415-BeverlyShores2.jpg

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Out west -
20230415-Waverly.jpg
The road approaches to the crossing at Waverly Rd (just west of Dune Park station) are being replaced.
20230415-ClevelandCliffs.jpg
The four lane driveway entrance for trucks to Cleveland Cliffs is closed from Friday 5pm to Monday 4am (35 hours!) for reconstruction.

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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This week in Michigan City:
20230422-11thSt-Station2.jpg
Platform 2
20230422-11thSt-Station1.jpg
Platform 1
20230422-11thSt-Station3.jpg
The east end of the station with the sidewalk between the tracks under construction.

All of the railings on the platform itself are complete.

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