conrailman75 wrote:I should warn you, one of my operators at Wanatah is a Michigan fan, so he might stab you for a while before allowing you to cross the PC mainline He's the second trick guy and our third trick operator there is a Notre Dame fan, so they both razz each other during football season about who's doing better
Note to self: Never run university units on the Lake Michigan Sub... (Indiana, Louisville, etc.)
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
Flooding is wrecking havoc on the central portion of the Monon. The Bear Run Branch is closed due to washouts at Cataract, just west of Wallace Junction. No more coal trains for a couple of days. The bridge over Big Walnut Creek at Greencastle is closed due to major flooding, though no washouts have been reported. Sugar Creek at Crawfordsville is also at major flood stage, 10mph over the bridge there. The Wabash River at Lafayette is currently at Moderate stage right now, but is expected to reach major stage this evening. The main area of concern is the area between old US 231 and South Street, around the Amtrak station, in Lafayette. Water is already approaching the Monon main along the river. The Wabash River bridge has a 15mph restriction. The Kankakee River at Shelby, near Hammond, also has a 15 mph restriction over the river, near the crossing of PC's Panhandle.
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
As a result of this flooding, most trains on the line to Louisville have been annulled. Both intermodal trains, autorack trains, and southbound CL-1 made it through before the flooding got too bad. LC-2 will be stopped at Bloomington tonight. Southbound BL-1 is annulled. IL-1 will be tying down in Monon. Northbound trains LI-2 and LB-2 have been annulled. Trains to Indianapolis and Michigan City are unaffected...
All coal trains out of Bear Run are halted until further notice due to the washouts (824, 833, etc)...
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
MQT3001 wrote:We will not run transfers today or tomorrow due to flooding in Grand Rapids. Be advised.
We'll just stop running our transfers, too. Traffic will be low due to a bridge OOS at Greencastle. Also (which you probably saw), no coal trains running this week due to washouts on the Bear Run. Probably won't be any until at least late next week.
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
Had a significant washout take place north of Greencastle. Big Walnut Creek washed away tracks on both ends of the bridge there. Therefore, the Monon north of Bloomington is practically shut down. We're working on a way to detour trains at the moment..
The Sugar Creek bridge at Crawfordsville is being monitored closely...
Water was seen lapping up against the Monon main from the Wabash River in Lafayette. This is of extreme concern to us, and the river is only expected to rise even more this evening into Major flood stage.
Waters are being monitored closely in the Indianapolis area, now. Have a 15mph restriction over the White River st Nora, north of Indy.
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
-The Wabash River is Lafayette is at Major stage. Got some water coming up over the Monon main near the Amtrak station. The bridge over the river is closed.
-Big washout at Greencastle, with damage to the Big Walnut Creek bridge. Also have several washouts on the Bear Run Branch near Cataract.
-Had some erosion near the Sugar Creek bridge in Crawfordsville, but no major washout.
-Also, had a tree fall yesterday evening on the mainline near Borden due to high winds. The tree has since been moved out of the way...
Trains are being rerouted down CSX's former C&EI to Terre Haute, then over on the INRD to Crane, then onto Monon's Crane Branch to Bedford (vise-versa for northbounds). Gonna be slow going, as the INRD has been having a few problems with the flooding too, but its better then no trains at all.
INRD R-LVGS (A-LC2) at Odon. CIL 3360 (C40-8W) and BNSF 4583 (C44-9W)
CSX Z401 (CL-1) is at Danville. CIL 3323 (SD40-2) and CIL 3351 (C40-8W)
CSX Z403 (BL-1) at Chicago Heights. CP 5972 (SD40-2) and CIL 3332 (SD45)
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
-The Wabash River is slowly starting to recede in Lafayette. The river is still pretty high, and damage has already been done. It left a large chunk of our mainline through Lafayette underwater, washing away some ballast in the process. The Amtrak station evaded the flood waters though.
-The waters are receding in the Cataract and Greencastle areas. Track inspectors were able to get in there at inspect the damages left by the washouts. There are multiple washouts (5 of them) in the Cataract area. Significant ones are near the Hickory Hills Campgrounds, and 2 near downtown Cataract. In Greencastle, Big Walnut Creek caused significant washouts near the river bridge, and may have damaged the bridge itself. "Something seems out-of-whack with it", mentioned one of our inspectors who works out of Bloomington. Management is praying it isn't bad, but it can't be confirmed right now.
Local service is back in place from Bloomington to just south of Greencastle. We are asking CSX to let us run a local from Indianapolis over their line to Crawfordsville, so we can get service back to customers between Greencastle and Lafayette...
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
CSX uses trackage rights on my line to reach the old P&E trackage to Crawfordsville, so if they give you the go ahead, you have my permission to use PC from Hunt to Clermont(where P&E veers off to Crawfordsville) on the I&F Branch.
conrailman75 wrote:CSX uses trackage rights on my line to reach the old P&E trackage to Crawfordsville, so if they give you the go ahead, you have my permission to use PC from Hunt to Clermont(where P&E veers off to Crawfordsville) on the I&F Branch.
Didn't know that. Thanks!
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
Breaking back into reality for a moment, one of the weather reports I get on Facebook that covers central and southern Indiana is saying there's a good possibility of getting 2 more inches of rain out of the system coming on Tuesday/Tuesday night I hope he's wrong!
conrailman75 wrote:Breaking back into reality for a moment, one of the weather reports I get on Facebook that covers central and southern Indiana is saying there's a good possibility of getting 2 more inches of rain out of the system coming on Tuesday/Tuesday night I hope he's wrong!
Wow, that does not sound good.
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
CSX may be closing down the former C&EI bridge over the Wabash River. The river is only 1 foot from hitting record stage, and is still expected to rise. If this were to happen, we will be detouring our trains via PC's line from Louisville to Indianapolis, then over on the Monon from Indy to Chicago.
Waters have gone down near the washouts at Cataract and Greencastle. This will let crews get closer looks at the damage. Once the full scope of the damage is revealed, work will immediately begin trying to fix these major problems left behind by the flooding. The Wabash River in Lafayette has also gone down, though still in moderate flood stage, revealing the ballast erosion it left behind. Work will begin on that problem, as well.
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
Train PChF-1 will be dropping off 2 RS20s that the MQT is taking for the SAMM. They just left Pittsburg and probably wont be at the interchange until late tonight.
ES44AH wrote:Train PChF-1 will be dropping off 2 RS20s that the MQT is taking for the SAMM. They just left Pittsburg and probably wont be at the interchange until late tonight.
Ok, we'll pick them up tomorrow and have MQT take them the rest of the way.
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
As of right now, all trains to Louisville are detouring over PC's Louisville Branch...
Our crews have been doing an absolutely amazing job trying to get the Monon back in working order. There is work going on in Lafayette, Greencastle, and Cataract trying to fix the washouts and flood damage. Crews were in Lafayette working on the roadbed. There is also a ballast train in Lafayette, which will dump ballast tomorrow over the portion affected by flood. In Greencastle, W-LG1 was with crews dumping rip-rap stone in the washouts at the Big Walnut Creek bridge. The bridge in Greencastle turned out to not have damage, luckily...
A similar rip-rap stone train was in Cataract, delivering stone to fix the numerous washouts in the area.
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
The work has stopped at Greencastle, due to Big Walnut Creek going back into Moderate flood stage. Work is continuing at Cataract, however, on filling in the washouts. The crew has been making good progress, and the Bear Run Branch should be back open by next week.
Work on repairing flood damage in Lafayette is almost complete, with more ballast to be dumped tomorrow before opening up again. The good news with this, is that we can stop running our Louisville trains via the Indy Sub to Indianapolis to get on the PC. We instead plan on running down to Crawfordsville, where we will get onto CSX's former P&E line to Indianapolis, and get on PC's Louisville Branch to Louisville.
In other news, the first ethanol train from TSCR ran this afternoon. TSCR 9117 and TSCR 4028 for power. Symbol was #669...
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
Work on the flood damage is almost complete. Trains have been running via Lafayette and Crawfordsville to Indy for most of the end of last week. Work on the washout in Greencastle was delayed due to rising waters on Wednesday, but is should be fixed up completely on Monday. The washouts in Cataract were fixed this afternoon, although a 15mph is still in affect on that section.
An 866 ran to Louisville from Bear Run mine today...
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
The Lafayette Sub will be re-opening tomorrow. A 15mph slow order will be in affect for the area near the washout, but it will be lifted by Tuesday. Re-routes are still going via PC to Indy, then over on CSX to Crawfordsville. We would like to thank CSX, INRD, and Penn Central for their cooperation in helping us re-route trains during this flooding event.
TSCR power is plentiful tonight. A pair of ex-ICE SD40-2s came up from CSX on A-LC2. Also, TSCR power is running through on a new pair of ethanol trains, both of which are running tonight.
Trains on the Monon as of 6:30pm...
A-LC2 at Lafayette; TSCR 204 (SD40-2), TSCR 199 (SD40-2)
LC-2 at Monon; CIL 3312 (SD40-2), CIL 3357 (C40-8W)
IC-2 at Cedar Lake; CIL 3330 (SD45)
LB-2 at Reynolds; CIL 3367 (C40-8W), CP 8832 (ES44AC), CIL 2020 (GP40E)
MCM-1 at CP Hoosier; CIL 1068 (GP38AC)
668 at Crawfordsville; TSCR 6300 (SD40-2), TSCR 6071 (C40-8W)
669 at Battle Ground; TSCR 4430 (SD60), TSCR 9289 (C44-9W)
"Alright, uh, get to a stop here and we'll order you a party bus for Lima" -12/30/16
"He ain't one of them terrorists, is he?" "Nah, just some paparazzi. We never get them out here!" -03/12/19
He's the second trick guy and our third trick operator there is a Notre Dame fan, so they both razz each other during football season about who's doing better
(Indiana, Louisville, etc.)
I hope he's wrong!
