Trouble on the South Shore...

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GreatLakesRailfan
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Trouble on the South Shore...

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

Story link (includes video and photo): http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/35181669.html

By Reporter: Ryan Famuliner, WNDU

All South Shore train service was suspended for most of Thanksgiving Day.

The track was broken in 22 spots over a 10-mile stretch between Michigan City and Ogden Dunes due to a freight train's faulty wheel assembly.

The line was closed for most of the day, but by late afternoon the NICTD announced those tracks have been repaired, and trains would begin running again Thursday night. For the latest delay information, click on the link below.

Meanwhile, many in Michiana had to deal with the last-minute changes, at the last minute.

“Its bad the train is not going, that’s really bad. I’m going to give them a grade of “D.” Btu if they do this again, they’re going to get a grade “F.” This is not good,” said Lorenzo Kibler, who planned to ride the South Shore with a friend to see his family for Thanksgiving in East Chicago.

People who showed up to the South Bend Airport to catch a ride found out they'd have to find another way. For some that was a bus ride.

“It’s a little frustrating you know. Delayed a couple of hours, but not the end of the world,” said Aharon Saltzman, who was delayed on his trip to Milwaukee through Chicago. He caught a bus to meet a family member in Chicago later Thursday.

For Kibler, it meant having a friend give them a ride to Thanksgiving dinner, more than an hour away.

“Now he’s gonna miss his Thanksgiving dinner that he had planned with his friends,” Kibler said.

Meanwhile, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) had a lot of work to do.

“Everybody's chipping in to try to get this done as quickly as possible and get home and enjoy their turkey dinners as well,” said John Parsons, the NICTD spokesman.

The damage was pretty much unpredictable.

“It was a freight train that was traveling through this area about 1:40 am (Thursday) morning. It had a mechanical failure to a wheel assembly; it damaged literally 10 miles of track,” Parsons said.

But it couldn't have come at much of a worse time.

“We feel terrible about this. We certainly want to extend our apologies to the traveling public… Were' gonna do everything we can to get service restored yet today so we can run a full complement of trains tomorrow because it will be a busy day tomorrow,” Parsons said.

The NICTD estimates 3,200 people would have ridden the South Shore Thursday.
~ Charles W.

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SD80MAC
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Re: Trouble on the South Shore...

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Wow, the first guy they interviewed needs to get a life.
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AARR
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Re: Trouble on the South Shore...

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Some people depend on trains like most of us need cars. Of course, cars fail to sometimes. I'll bet back in the days of horse and buggies the horses got sick once in a while, too.
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

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Mark Rummel
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Re: Trouble on the South Shore...

Unread post by Mark Rummel »

As I mentioned elsewhere, four of us took the South Shore Nov. 14-16 from South Bend to Chi-town.

OUTSTANDING trip and I even saw a PH & D boxcar in storage on the way back, near Michigan City.

Trains were VERY full, both directions, but especially from Chi back to SB on Sunday. Almost every
seat was full. Do they add more cars for holidays, I wonder? Does anybody know?

I'm glad the cancellation wasn't my weekend... but hope it's fixed soon. GREAT way to travel (and railfan...)

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BB
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Re: Trouble on the South Shore...

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Mark Rummel wrote:but hope it's fixed soon. GREAT way to travel (and railfan...)
The line was back in service at 8pm the same day it happened, 11/27/08.
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Racer
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Re: Trouble on the South Shore...

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Atleast they care and feel bad about their customers unlike other railroads.
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CAT345C
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Re: Trouble on the South Shore...

Unread post by CAT345C »

Theres a difference between a passenger railroad and a freight railroad with customer service Chris. Obviously a passenger railroad has to care about its customers because they foot the bill for everything. Where as a frieght can pretty much pick who to care about, its sad they do that but thats life, pick the biggest and best customers to build revenue.
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