Rockford Area operations

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CSXIndyLine
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Rockford Area operations

Unread post by CSXIndyLine »

May be going up to visit some family around Rockford some time in the near future. I see there are a whole bunch of lines coming into and out of the city. Would anyone be willing to provide a list of operations in the area? Thanks!

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Re: Rockford Area operations

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CSXIndyLine wrote:May be going up to visit some family around Rockford some time in the near future. I see there are a whole bunch of lines coming into and out of the city. Would anyone be willing to provide a list of operations in the area? Thanks!
AFAIK Rockford is on the end of the CNW/UP Belvedere line, and I think gets 'as needed' service. This was the original Chicago and Galena Union route for the CNW.

The IC has their through route to Iowa that skirts the southern edge of town. Not sure what all they do in Rockford proper, but you would get through traffic.

Not sure who owns the former MILW between Beloit, Rockford, and Davis Junction now, or how much service it gets. IlliniRails might be a better spot to post your question.

I grew up in Roscoe halfway between Rockford and the Wisconsin State line. Nice bike path on the CNW route through town, the highlight is the dual stone arch bridge over the south branch of Kinnikinnick Creek. USed to go sledding off the ROW just north of the bridge.

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Re: Rockford Area operations

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The MILW trackage south to Davis Junction should be the Illinois RailNet. I know for sure they operate south of Davis Junction to interchange with BNSF in Flag Center (just outside of Rochelle). I've only witnessed a train coming down to Flag Center once to interchange, but other times I have only seen cars left on their "main" in various cuts. I'm not sure how they make their interchange movements with their cars blocking access to the interchange, but it doesn't look like a "regular" operation judging by the interchange cars left on the main, the condition of the ROW, and the fact I only saw them operate once during the 3-4 times I was in Rochelle in 24-hour periods. Perhaps they are busier up in Rockford than they are down there. I know their operations in Oregon were busier.
Last edited by Racer on Wed Dec 19, 2012 11:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Rockford Area operations

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CN is good for a road train each direction, usually overnight, a local three days a week, and extra ethanol and grain trains.
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Re: Rockford Area operations

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railohio wrote:CN is good for a road train each direction, usually overnight, a local three days a week, and extra ethanol and grain trains.
Isn't that the Freeport Sub?
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Re: Rockford Area operations

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If you know where to look, there's quite a bit around Rockford to keep you busy. I'd check the IlliniRail (sp?) group on Yahoo- it's predominantly a Chicago-area list, but there are members from the Rockford area, and occasionally there will be heads up posted regarding trains out that way.

The UP has their yard out in Belvidere that serves (among other customers) the Chrysler factory. The yard is semi-accessible, but there are areas to catch the UP switching without having to get into the yard. I believe the train that runs to/from Belvidere runs after dark this time of year. For a while it had the last two unpatched CNW Dash9s for power, but IIRC that was a couple years ago. Might be "common" GP15s or whatever other power UP has lying around West Chicago. I know that the UP line goes west from the yard toward Rockford, and I believe that they have several customers in town.

The CN/IC (ex-CC&P) is good for a couple trains a day each way. CN has a yard out in Freeport that has, in the past, had a locomotive assigned to it (power for the local train).

IIRC, the IC&E/DM&E/CP Rail runs north from Rockford to Beloit and up to Janesville. I'm not sure how they get from Davis Jct. to Rockford as I thought that Illinois Railnet had control of the line from Flagg Center all the way to Rockford.

I think the key to finding the action in Rockford will be taking your scanner (if you have one) and listening to it carefully. The bulk of the through freight traffic will be on the CN/IC. If you're able to travel around the area, Rochelle isn't that far away for lots of trains. What's left of the WSOR up in Janesville might also be worth a look. Although I lived about 45 minutes east of Rockford for a while, it's been too long since I've been out there to recall what channels the railroads there use, so I would highly recommend the IlliniRail group for better/more information about railfanning in the area.
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Re: Rockford Area operations

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Chrisracer8903 wrote:
railohio wrote:CN is good for a road train each direction, usually overnight, a local three days a week, and extra ethanol and grain trains.
Isn't that the Freeport Sub?
Yes.
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Re: Rockford Area operations

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MKT_fan11 wrote: IIRC, the IC&E/DM&E/CP Rail runs north from Rockford to Beloit and up to Janesville. I'm not sure how they get from Davis Jct. to Rockford as I thought that Illinois Railnet had control of the line from Flagg Center all the way to Rockford.
Maybe from Savanna?
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Re: Rockford Area operations

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The CP controls the line from Davis Jct up to Rockford, something that has been in place since the old IMRL days. The Illinois Railway(no longer Railnet) runs from Davis Jct south to Flagg Center. I think IRY has trackage rights north of Davis Jct to Rockford but not for certain. As others have suggested, try your questions on the IlliniRail yahoo list as they have some rather active posters who live up in Rockford and would know way more than we do about railroad operations up there.
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Re: Rockford Area operations

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Who owns all the industrial trackage on the south side of town? I used to have a few customers in that area and it's covered by industrial lines.

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Re: Rockford Area operations

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Chrisracer8903 wrote:
MKT_fan11 wrote: IIRC, the IC&E/DM&E/CP Rail runs north from Rockford to Beloit and up to Janesville. I'm not sure how they get from Davis Jct. to Rockford as I thought that Illinois Railnet had control of the line from Flagg Center all the way to Rockford.
Maybe from Savanna?
Good lord, the old MILW "Southwestern" has been gone for 20+ years. When I was a kid growing up in Rockton in the late 80's and early 90's the SW towards Savanna was long gone even then!

I thought they came down from Beloit to get to Rockford? To be honest, growing up around Roscoe and Rockton it was extremely difficult to see anything running. CNW abandoned their line in the late 80's, and the Soo through Rockton must have run at night because I never remember seeing a train in all the hours I spent over there playing baseball, etc.

Its amazing how much MILW track in Souther and SW Wisconsin has been abandoned over the years.

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Re: Rockford Area operations

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Illinois Railway owns between Flag Center and Davis Jct. Canadian Pacific owns between Davis Jct. and Janesville.

The "Southwestern" would've been part of the mass abandonment of 1980.
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Re: Rockford Area operations

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railohio wrote:Illinois Railway owns between Flag Center and Davis Jct. Canadian Pacific owns between Davis Jct. and Janesville.

The "Southwestern" would've been part of the mass abandonment of 1980.

Back about four years ago, there was some discussion on the IlliniRail list about a Railnet job that went to Rockford. Apparently they were picking up loaded log flatcars in Kings that were being interchanged to CN (ex-CC) in Rockford. Did Railnet/Illinois Railway lease the line from ICE/DME/CP Rail at one time?


EDIT:

I searched the IlliniRail list for Railnet posts. One of the things that came up was an unofficial website that doesn't seem to have been updated very recently, http://www.illinirail.com/railnet. The site does have a couple of copied STB documents, including one that says Illinois Railnet/Illinois Railway purchased the Rockford line (Flagg Center-Davis Jct.-Rockford) from BNSF in 1999. http://www.illinirail.com/railnet/29951.htm.

It's possible that CP acquired the line since Railnet/Omnitrax (Omnitrax owns Illinois Railway) purchased it from BNSF, but at this point I'm leaning toward ICE/CP's access to Rockford being either trackage rights or running south from Janesville/Beloit.
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Re: Rockford Area operations

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I thought that the line from Flagg Center to Rockford was originally CB&Q. CB&Q had access to Rockford, and that would have been about the only way. CB&Q didn't have any lines that came remotely close to Rockford other than that one, and it 'ended' at Rockford. MILW came in from the north, and I thought had a parallel line to Davis Jct from Rockford. I think early on, MILW abandoned their line from Rockford to Davis, and opted for trackage rights on the CB&Q line? So...I think Railnet still owns from Flagg Center to Rockford, but CP perhaps retains the trackage rights?

There are piers in the Kiswaukee River just east of the existing bridge that seem to back up this parallel route theory.

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