Snowflake Special Report

Frank writes...

The Snowflake Special traction fan trip is an IRM tradition dating back to the 1970s.  Most have been run on the CTA, starting with 4000s, then spam cans, and most recently Budd and Boeing cars.  A couple were run on the Illinois Central and maybe even on the South Shore, but none has ever been run on Metra since the agency was created 30 years ago.  None, that is, until now!

With retirement of the 1970s-vintage Highliners looming, IRM volunteers led by Richard Schauer lined up a unique fan trip with four cars covering the entire Metra Electric district.  The electrified district includes the main line, with Randolph Street at the north end and University Park at the south end, and two branches, the South Chicago branch east of the main line and the Blue Island branch to the west.

The trip began at Randolph Street and headed south with a photo stop at 53rd-55th-57th before proceeding down the South Chicago branch.  This is an interesting line; at one point it paralleled the B&O, had a now-abandoned (but still easily identified by the derelict catenary bridges) yard, and in the good old days was flanked for part of it length by a CSL car line.  See here for a CERA photo of a streetcar crossing the South Chicago branch at 79th.  The above photo was taken at the line's terminus at 93rd.

A number of friends from the Car Department were there including Ray Cook, who just retired in September after 49 years working with the Illinois Central and later Metra.  In recent years he had been running trains on the electric district and provided a lively commentary.  Above he is shown pointing out the most noticeable difference between Highliners built by St. Louis (left) and Bombardier (right): the collision posts, which were I-beams on the earlier St. Louis cars but following the 27th Street wreck were changed to solid steel columns on the Bombardier cars.

The train then retreated back up the South Chicago branch and proceeded at speed down the main line all the way to University Park, the southern end of the electric district.  Above can be seen a BNSF freight train sitting over on the freight tracks waiting for a delayed northbound Amtrak train to clear.

And just south of the platform in the storage track was one of the most recent Highliner II gallery cars, 1308.  At this point there are still about 80 of the old Highliners in service but they are being retired weekly.

And then it was north to Richton Park where the train stopped for lunch.  Our train headed north while we grabbed food; above is a quick video of it coming back into the platform.

And then we took the train down the Blue Island branch, which normally doesn't have any service on Sundays.  We couldn't go all the way to Blue Island, because they park trains at the platform there on Sundays, but we did go to Burr Oak.  And before that there was a photo run-by at Racine Avenue.

The Blue Island branch is not what you think of when you think of mainline electrification; the area is very residential for most of its length and the entire branch is single-track with just one passing siding.  Racine Avenue used to feature a Dutch Boy paint factory north of the branch but that site is now a solar panel field, visible in the background of the photo below.

And then it was on to Burr Oak, where I took the photo at the top of this post.  After that we headed back to Randolph Street, stopping for photos at 11th Street before calling it a day.  Overall the trip was wonderfully planned and very ably executed.  Missed the trip?  Well never fear, you can you can still help out with acquiring a pair of Highliners for IRM by sending in a donation to the Highliner fund.  Every little bit helps!

2200s Final Fling, or This Budd's (no longer) for You

Al writes...

Yesterday on relatively short notice the CTA announced a finale for the 1969 Budd 2200 series cars.  These cars were purchased to equip the new Dan Ryan Line and the extension of the Logan Square route to Jefferson Park. I do recall driving up from Champaign to be one of the first day riders on these routes. The first day buttons featured the brand new 2200s.

The 2200s were the first Budd cars for the CTA and the last cars with Blinker doors.  The blinker doors were somewhat of a Chicago standard dating back to the 1936 PCC "Blue Goose" streetcars.  But the Budd stainless steel construction has since become the CTA standard.

The 2200s are unique in that some of them spent their entire 44 year career on the West-Northwest routes, that now comprise the Blue and Pink lines.

The final fling consisted of a short turn from Rosemont  to just short of Jefferson Park and return, and then a final full trip from O'Hare to Forest Park and return in regular train service. An 8 car train of 2200s was used. (When was the last time a non ADA compliant -- due to the blinker doors -- train was operated on the CTA?)

Here's a few photos from along the Congress (er Ike) expressway in Oak Park.

After shooting here I was able to scurry over to Rosemont to catch the train on its last leg into O;Hare Terminal.

CTA did an excellent job on this trip.  Each car had a car host that passed out flyers explaining the history and significance of the cars.

Traditional car cards and signage were in evidence. And there were quite a few familiar (read IRM) faces about as well.  Announcements were made the old fashioned way, by a human being. I was very pleasantly surprised at how modern the cars appeared on the inside.  The ride was smooth and as quiet as a CTA L train can be, it was over all too quickly. Seems a shame to retire these cars but we all know mechanical parts age and at some point ongoing maintenance becomes a chore.

Good by old friends, now the only place to ride one of these Budd classics is at IRM.

One good thing about yesterday was that a new restaurant complex has been developed in Rosemont in the area where the stillborn casino was being constructed. One of those restaurants is modeled after the Hofbrauhaus in Munich.  So had to stop by and have a German Beer and Sausage, more in a restaurant review later.

Visit to Mendota

 On Sunday we went for a drive through the country and wound up in Mendota, site of the Union Depot Railroad Museum.  The prize of the static equipment collection is this O-1-A Mike, #4978, a 1923 Baldwin product.  It is nicely painted and looks great.
 

Behind it is this wooden waycar, also in excellent condition. The depot itself has a collection of artifacts, but it was closed by the time we got there.

 They evidently give rides on these speeders along a siding.  There's also a Milwaukee Road combine, a Pullman sleeper, and a pair of IC Electric Highliners.

We found a good restaurant across the street from the museum where we could have a romantic dinner by the window, watching freight trains roll by, until the Zephyr arrived.

 These photos may not win any prizes, but I'm out of practice taking pictures of trains at high speed.  Watching it go by was worth it, though.  We then jumped in the car, but chasing the Zephyr is hopelessly impossible.  They had reached Chicago by the time we got back to Naperville.

This whole experience was so enjoyable, I've decided my next project will be to rebuild the 321 into a generator car.  Then we can take the CA&E wood cars out on the road.  We'll visit Elgin and West Chicago, then follow the route of the CA&E as closely as possible east through Wheaton, Lombard, Elmhurst, and on to Chicago.  Tickets will go on sale soon. What fun!

Ride Like the Wind

The West Wind, that is!  I was able to tag along for much of the Sunday Nebraska Zephyr excursion, and it was an experience I definitely won't forget.  Flying through the Illinois countryside with the speedometer pegged at 79mph is not something I had ever expected to do on our Zephyr, but the hardworking IRM volunteers and officials from BNSF and Amtrak made it happen.

I didn't take too many photos, and the ones I did take didn't turn out very well, but here you go anyway.  In the morning I arrived at Union Station early to help check in passengers for the trip.  The indefatigable Harold Krewer was running the check-in show with help from myself, Frank Nero, Mike Ramunno and Charlie Strong.  Following an authentic CB&Q announcement from Harold over the station's PA system we helped board the passengers and then clambered aboard the power car for our ride to Galesburg.  Though the trip through the western suburbs was slowed by track work that had removed two of the three tracks from service at Lisle, the train got up to track speed at Naperville and we never looked back!

At Galesburg I disembarked along with Frank and Mike so that we could check people in who were boarding for the eastbound leg to Chicago, and the Zephyr headed off for its trip to Quincy and back.  The train was on time until about half an hour before its scheduled return, when it started to get held up by traffic moving through Galesburg.  Some of it was pretty interesting, including the BNSF business train (below left) and a different Zephyr, Amtrak's California Zephyr, heading west to the Pacific (below right).












The Nebraska Zephyr finally pulled into the station at about 5pm and we got back on the train for the return trip to Chicago, which was every bit as fast and enjoyable as the outbound trip.  The customers and crew, made up almost entirely of IRM volunteers except for the Amtrak engineer and conductor, all seemed to be having a great time and it was nice to see how many people turned out trackside to watch the train pass through.  We returned to Chicago only slightly behind schedule; I headed home but the UP road switcher was already there at the station ready to couple up and tow the Zephyr back to West Chicago from whence it would return to IRM.  What an outstanding trip - and many thanks to all of the IRM people who made it happen!

The Ballast Scorcher

Yesterday's Zephyr Excursion was a great success and a very memorable experience.  There were a few unavoidable delays, but most of the rest of the time we were moving at track speed.  The train rides very smoothly at high speed, noticeably better than newer cars on this line, I'd say.

I started the day by taking the morning Amtrak train west at Naperville.  I met three other members on the train, and we proceeded to Galesburg to do early checkins for those passengers boarding the train there.

Here's our setup in the depot, with Colton Verzi, Kyle Merkel, and Dave Phillips ready to serve you.

We were there an hour ahead of the Zephyr, so I had a few minutes to take some quick pictures of the equipment displayed at the Galesburg Railroad Museum.  They were very helpful and cooperative, and our excursion probably brought in a number of extra visitors.  Sometime I will have to do an actual trip report.

 This museum is, of course, entirely Q-oriented.  And how could I possibly find fault with that?

A crowd of people gathered on the platform in anticipation of the Zephyr's arrival.  Many of these are freeloaders, there to take pictures, and maybe less than half are passengers. But the train was nearly full on all segments.

 Since I had work to do, I didn't take any exterior shots of the train, but there will be a million and one pictures posted in various places, I'm sure.  And watch for an article in Rail & Wire.

Here's part of the merchandise display set up in the power car Venus.  Bookstore manager Tom Blodgett (far left) handles sales, and we helped with selling and miscellaneous tasks as needed.

Here's the front of the passenger section.  This was originally a rounded bar, and you can see the curved part of the ceiling above it, sort of.  Rats, I should have taken a better picture.  Anyhow, it was later rebuilt into a baggage rack and conductor's desk, as seen here. Forward of this is access to the head end generator room, which is crowded, noisy, and almost scary when the train is running at full speed.

As I say, I didn't take many pictures.  Here we are crossing the Mississippi at Quincy, going over to West Quincy,. Mo. 

 The trip back was delayed, but once we got going, we hardly slowed down, except as required.  I think the trip back in on the racetrack was the fastest I've ever been on.  And we just managed to connect with the dinky I wanted to take home by a matter of minutes.  Overall, what a great experience!  I can't thank enough the many people, both IRM members and Amtrak personnel, who made this all possible.  Wow!

Note: As of Sunday at 11:30 AM, today's trip seems to be proceeding well.  Frank is aboard, and we'll get a complete update from him soon.

Postcard from Main Street

I am riding the Sunday Zephyr trip but this morning made it down to Main Street in Downers Grove to see the train come through.  What a beauty!  The train, the weather and the setting, with the old brick CB&Q depot and the historic Tivoli Theater in the background, combined for a memorable show.

Of course the Train of the Goddesses has a mixed history with this particular location, and I was reminded of another dubious source of infamy enjoyed by the Main Street crossing - the notorious video of a pedestrian getting struck by a Metra express in 1991 - when a woman ran across the tracks not 400' in front of the Zephyr speeding along at 50mph.  Yikes!

The Zephyr is Rolling!

Our man on the scene, Tim Peters, has sent in photos of the Zephyr leaving IRM.  As I write this I've just returned from seeing it pass through Wheaton on my lunch break.  Even a traction fan like me has got to admit that it's nice to see the Zephyr out from under wires once in a while!