Railroadfan Spring Meet 2017 - Rochelle IL 6/24-6/25

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Saturnalia
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Re: Spring 2017 RRFan Meet???

Unread post by Saturnalia »

I'd say a count of 40-50 is the minimum for a meet. Train count isn't the only variable, but we want to see some trains. I think Holly was meant to be a joke, but either way that'd be a terrible!
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AARR
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Re: Spring 2017 RRFan Meet???

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So maybe it's 30% social and 70% trains :wink:
SD80MAC wrote:Not true. While the social aspect may make up 70% of what constitutes a "good meet", and trains the other 30%, there is still a criteria. Traffic very much matters, the whole point of everyone traveling a long distance to meet up is to enjoy each other's company and watch a good number of trains. Durand and Port Huron, while good places to sit, do not meet that criteria.
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Saturnalia
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Re: Spring 2017 RRFan Meet???

Unread post by Saturnalia »

Social is the number one point by far.

But we're not going to have a railfan meet without trains!
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Re: Spring 2017 RRFan Meet???

Unread post by MMRR-24 »

Probably a little far fetched but maybe start a go find me or something and charter a trip to somewhere by rail? I find it odd that a Michigan railfan meet would happen in another state. I get the rail traffic aspect but let's have some loyalty to our home state. Nrhs does charters, so don't see why if we all donated enough we couldn't. Raise wnough we could get sri to let 1225 pull the charter. Or maybe it's just a pipe dream. Just my 2 cents

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Re: Spring 2017 RRFan Meet???

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

You guys are all missing the point. It's not just about meeting up to watch trains and catch up with friends. Anybody can do that at any time (almost), but it's not a railroadfan meet. A railroadfan meet happens when Railroadfan himself says he's going to go somewhere to railfan for a weekend, usually out of state, because if you're going to spend the weekend watching/photographing trains, it makes more sense to go where the trains are.

Nobody is saying you (we) can't get together somewhere else in the state and do something other than watch trains- a couple guys are even getting together to bike rail trails around the state now, and we've had several meet and greets in Durand in years past, but even though Railroadfan showed up, they weren't "official" meets, perhaps because the Durand meets were organized on a different message board, but also because most of us don't need or care to spend an entire weekend in Durand.

My advice would be to search out and read the meet threads for the past 10-15 years or so. There's a lot of crap in some of those threads, but they should also give you a better idea as to why these meets are held where they are and the rationale behind doing so.
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Re: Spring 2017 RRFan Meet???

Unread post by Schteinkuh »

MMRR-24 wrote:Probably a little far fetched but maybe start a go find me or something and charter a trip to somewhere by rail? I find it odd that a Michigan railfan meet would happen in another state. I get the rail traffic aspect but let's have some loyalty to our home state. Nrhs does charters, so don't see why if we all donated enough we couldn't. Raise wnough we could get sri to let 1225 pull the charter. Or maybe it's just a pipe dream. Just my 2 cents
Yeah, that's a pipe dream. Plus, most of us would rather chase it.
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Re: Spring 2017 RRFan Meet???

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BerkshireKid wrote:Brace yourselves for the "It's to far of a drive" posts.
I'll try to make it.
I live about 10 miles closer to Rochelle than I do to Deshler. :mrgreen:
Durand is too far because it's about 9 miles farther than Rochelle is to me. :lol:
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Re: Spring 2017 RRFan Meet???

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

Jochs wrote:
BerkshireKid wrote:Brace yourselves for the "It's to far of a drive" posts.
I'll try to make it.
I live about 10 miles closer to Rochelle than I do to Deshler. :mrgreen:
Durand is too far because it's about 9 miles farther than Rochelle is to me. :lol:
How are you calculating the distance to Rochelle, Jeff? The Skyway to I-290 to I-88 seems like it would be the shortest, but also the most expensive by far. I-94 to I-80 to I-39 would be the cheapest, but seemingly several miles longer...?

I don't want to dispute your numbers, I'm just curious as to what they're based on.
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Re: Spring 2017 RRFan Meet???

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GreatLakesRailfan wrote:
Jochs wrote:
BerkshireKid wrote:Brace yourselves for the "It's to far of a drive" posts.
I'll try to make it.
I live about 10 miles closer to Rochelle than I do to Deshler. :mrgreen:
Durand is too far because it's about 9 miles farther than Rochelle is to me. :lol:
How are you calculating the distance to Rochelle, Jeff? The Skyway to I-290 to I-88 seems like it would be the shortest, but also the most expensive by far. I-94 to I-80 to I-39 would be the cheapest, but seemingly several miles longer...?

I don't want to dispute your numbers, I'm just curious as to what they're based on.
Actually using Google, it's 176 miles to Rochelle for me, and only 159.6 to Durand...so Durand is closer.

The downsides of taking the most direct route to Rochelle are the tolls, and the downtown Chicago traffic.
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Re: Railroadfan Spring Meet 2017 - Rochelle IL 6/24-6/25

Unread post by rsinoms »

I hope I can make it, never done Rochelle. My only complaint with Rochelle is I have heard negative things about the petting zoo. That is overall a minor point. Reading the previous posts of people who have never been. We pick a place with decent traffic and a nice place to sit. Previous places have been Deshler/Fostoria, Butler, Elkhart, Chesterton. All of these places see 60-70+ trains per 24 hours, have a nice place to gather trackside, decent local restaurants (not chains), and are usually a drive for either eastsiders or westsiders. Rochelle fits all of these critera. I do get sick every year about the complaints of that these are too far to drive. If you cant go, then tough. I find that these meets are always worth the adventure and drive. Think about carpooling. This will make the trip more enjoyable and you get to know someone you may not know well. I have made solid friendships with many on this site via carpooling and these meets.

I'm sure we have all heard about Rochelle and what is there. For those who are unsure here is what Trains Magazine wrote in a hotspot feature about Rochelle.

Rochelle, Ill., is known as the Hub City for good reason. Main lines of both BNSF Railway and Union Pacific cross on the west side of town. Because of this, and the heavy rail traffic they bring, the city of Rochelle started the Rochelle Railroad Park in 1998. As many as 120 trains a day pass through the city of 9,500 residents every 24 hours.

The best train-watching spot is of course the Rochelle Railroad Park. The park is open 24 hours a day and provides a safe, elevated vantage point. Restrooms, grills, and free Wi-Fi are available to visitors. Train-watchers without a radio scanner can tune their car radios to 106.9 FM to pick up the park's scanner feed. For more information the park, visit http://www.rochellerailroadpark.org.

Note that Rochelle now has a quiet zone in effect for railroad horns. This means visitors, and webcam followers, will not regularly hear trains blow for crossings in town.

BNSF's traffic is largely intermodal and automotive to and from Minneapolis, Seattle, and Portland. The line, known as the Aurora Subdivision, was originally Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, which became Burlington Northern in 1970 and BNSF in 1995. BNSF has a local based in Rochelle; the locomotive, usually a GP38-2, is kept near Main Street downtown.

UP traffic is largely coal and intermodal on the former Chicago & North Western Geneva Subdivision, which UP acquired the line with its merger of the C&NW in 1995. Normal operations on the line are reversed from other lines with trains running on the lefthand track in a given direction.

Many UP trains originate or terminate at the Global III intermodal yard west of town. In fact, some westbound trains originating at the yard will not even been seen in town! A number of shuttle trains operate throughout the day, moving containers between Global III and other intermodal facilities in the Chicago area.
The city also has its own short line, known as the City of Rochelle Railroad, which runs on the east side of town along South Caron Road. It is municipally owned, and operated by the Burlington Junction Railway. Parked locomotives are not accessible from public property, but when operating, the railroad runs along the side of the road.

To listen in to the rail action, BNSF uses 161.160 on the main line and 160.875 in its yard. UP uses 161.040 on the main line and 161.175 in Global III. The City of Rochelle Railroad uses 160.950, but usually does not operate evenings or weekends.

Trains Magazine's Rochelle webcam is mounted on the roof of the park shelter with a westward view of the diamond crossing. Registered users watch the rail action at Rochelle for free any time from a computer by going to TrainsMag.com.

Rochelle IL
Rochelle has a number of restaurants and hotels to choose from, most are located on Illinois Route 38 near Interstate 39. Rochelle also has some locally owned restaurants located downtown that are worth visiting. Other nearby cities, including DeKalb, Sycamore, Rockford, and Dixon have additional options available.

The city also hosts Rochelle Railroad Days annually each June.


Track map of Rochelle
Image

And for you weather chasers, the town was just missed by a large f4 tornado in 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Roch ... is_tornado

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Videos of tornado:

https://youtu.be/grO8Px5J6TQ

https://youtu.be/4QT9n_4XK-E
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Re: Railroadfan Spring Meet 2017 - Rochelle IL 6/24-6/25

Unread post by penn central »

I have been to Rochelle to watch trains a ton of times, If you guys get bored what i do sometimes is go to Creston Ill, Its about 6 miles east of Rochelle there is a grade that east bounds have to climb and the top of the grade is at Creston, Sometimes i will get ahead of an eastbound there and watch him crest the grade, Heavy trains struggle up it sometimes. Just a suggestion, I should make it out to this meet if i do not have to work, The last meet i was to was the Polar Bear Meet in Durand in February of 2008, So its definitely been awhile. Creston is on Union Pacific's Geneva Sub.

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Re: Spring 2017 RRFan Meet???

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MQT1223 wrote:I know Rochelle has been brought up countless times, and this year will be my first meet.

What criteria does a location have to have to be a good meet location? Someone other then Saturnalia please...

Who says we have to go railfan freight trains? Why not ride a passenger train or chase an excursion?
Look, newb, just because you aren't allowed to drive to Rochelle, don't go trying to change the format of the meets. :P
MMRR-24 wrote:I find it odd that a Michigan railfan meet would happen in another state. I get the rail traffic aspect but let's have some loyalty to our home state.
Railroadfan meets aren't about "state of Michigan" loyalty. And if you hadn't noticed, there are a lot of railfans on this site who reside in other states. We've been doing meets for years in other states. Reason? Michigan sucks for meets.
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Re: Railroadfan Spring Meet 2017 - Rochelle IL 6/24-6/25

Unread post by w neal »

Galesburg?

RR days is that weekend.

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Re: Railroadfan Spring Meet 2017 - Rochelle IL 6/24-6/25

Unread post by ~Z~ »

w neal wrote:Galesburg?

RR days is that weekend.
Yes, appears Galesburg, a couple hour drive away, has RR days that weekend as well.
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Re: Railroadfan Spring Meet 2017 - Rochelle IL 6/24-6/25

Unread post by MQT1223 »

Not sure if I can attend the meet now due to some very large bills to pay.
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Re: Railroadfan Spring Meet 2017 - Rochelle IL 6/24-6/25

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

~Z~ wrote:
w neal wrote:Galesburg?

RR days is that weekend.
Yes, appears Galesburg, a couple hour drive away, has RR days that weekend as well.
Nothing wrong with that. If nothing else, it'll thin the crowd a bit on Saturday. It's ​hard to believe it's G'burg RR Days already though...
Last edited by GreatLakesRailfan on Mon Jun 26, 2017 1:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Railroadfan Spring Meet 2017 - Rochelle IL 6/24-6/25

Unread post by ~Z~ »

Just a reminder - meet is this weekend. Hope to see some of you all out in Rochelle!
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Re: Railroadfan Spring Meet 2017 - Rochelle IL 6/24-6/25

Unread post by Jetlink »

See you guys there. I'm planning to arrive in the Rochelle area tomorrow (Friday) around 5-6 pm. I'll be staying at the comfort Inn Rochelle. I'll send my cell # via PM by request if anyone that doesn't have it wants to co-ordinate anything.
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Re: Railroadfan Spring Meet 2017 - Rochelle IL 6/24-6/25

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Leaving now, staying in Aurora tonight. See you all Saturday mid-morning.
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Re: Railroadfan Spring Meet 2017 - Rochelle IL 6/24-6/25

Unread post by trnwatcher »

Im in Joliet. Stay off 80/94 until you get into IL at least. Slow down on 80 just east of Joliet too.
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