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A westbound commuter extra for those folks lucky enough to leave early on New Year's Eve
Downers Grove IL / Fairview Ave
METX w/b commuter extra
METX 183 F40PH-2
My first train of my visit, an eastbound merchandise that arrived on M1 and crossed all the way over to M3. Here it's just hit the points for the switch between M2 and M3.
Downers Grove IL / Fairview Ave
BNSF e/b merchandise
BNSF 6568 ES44C4
BNSF 8072 ES44C4
The next train up was just a regular commuter; I didn't notice the number and time significance until I got home!
Downers Grove IL / Fairview Ave
METX w/b commuter
METX 117 F40PH-3
Last shot before heading home to call it a year. Boy was I glad that the wind was blowing out of the south!
Downers Grove IL / Fairview Ave
BNSF w/b empty ore – Train U CXRALL
Last train of the day; I was hoping for something exotic and I got my wish! I was there with another fan and when this thing first popped up the dust cloud obscured the cars to the point and he thought that it might be light power! This is an empty ore train returning from the Magnetation processing plant down in Reynolds IN and apparently they are not doing the best of jobs of emptying the cars! Inbound loads are sprayed with a sealant, maybe they need to do the same with the empties!
Downers Grove IL / Fairview Ave
BNSF w/b empty ore – Train U CXRALL
BNSF 7523 ES44DC
BNSF 7353 ES44DC
The dispatcher must have been having a fun day, he was routing trains every which way!
Downers Grove IL / Fairview Ave
BNSF e/b unit coal
BNSF 9219 SD70ACe
BNSF 9422 SD70MAC (G-MAC), ex-BN 9422
The last few MAC's had flared radiators which in my mind makes them honorary SD45's! Definitely a personal favorite of mine.
Downers Grove IL / Fairview Ave
BNSF w/b empty unit oil
CSX 4708 SD70MAC
CSX 7796 Dash 8-40CW
A fairly alarming sight to the uninitiated; you can't help but wonder what would happen if it just kept on going. For some reason the words "jelly" and "paste" come to mind.
Downers Grove IL / Fairview Ave
BNSF e/b merchandise
BNSF 6568 ES44C4
BNSF 8072 ES44C4
The signal for this train went up just as soon as the previous eastbound had cleared M1. Definitely a nice cold day catch!
Downers Grove IL / Fairview Ave
BNSF w/b empty unit oil
CSX 4708 SD70MAC
CSX 7796 Dash 8-40CW
Take that Montana!!!
Downers Grove IL / Fairview Ave
BNSF e/b unit coal
BNSF 9219 SD70ACe
BNSF 9422 SD70MAC (G-MAC), ex-BN 9422
Normally I camp out along the platform rather then the station, after all you can't see signals or see headlights on the horizon from inside, but today I made an exception since it was so cold. Periodically I’d step out to check the signals and that paid off just after noon when a westbound green appeared on M2. I was planning on some dark side captures down by Washington St, but since the light for westbounds was still a bit dicey decided to catch it from the station area where I could back off a bit, plus keep warm while waiting! In and out I went, most in though until a headlight popped up to the east, my train was on the way! Apparently I wasn’t the only one out enjoying the weather, three fans appeared out of nowhere and set up down by Washington St while I made my stand just outside the depot doorway.
Downers Grove IL / Main St
BNSF w/b merchandise
BNSF 8101 ES44C4
BNSF 4528 Dash 9-44CW
The train cleared, the other fans retreated to wherever they had come from, and a westbound flashing red went up on the wake of the merchandise train. Time to brave the cold if I wanted a different angle on the action, so I hiked down to Washington St where I arrived just as a headlight appeared; perfect! Just as I set up for a low level telephoto sequence the other fans reappeared; I figured that we’d form a photo line, but for some reason they set up about 30 feet behind me, so I was probably in all their photos! No matter, I got here first and wasn’t moving, in fact I probably couldn’t since I was down on my knees! I had a coal train on the way with a well worn MAC in charge, something worth coming out for on its own. There was an interesting contrast between the two units; even though the 8934 was only three months older than the 8890 its Omaha orange was faded almost to yellow. Where they were built probably had something to do with it, at the time EMD was so swamped that they were farming out work with the 8934 assembled by Bombardier-Concarill at Sahagun Mexico, and the 8890 at Super Steel in Schenectady NY.
Downers Grove IL / Washington St
BNSF w/b empty unit coal
BNSF 8934 SD70MAC
BNSF 8890 SD70MAC
The blue on METX 114 came close to matching the sky today!
Downers Grove IL / Main St
METX e/b commuter running wrong main
METX 114 F40PH-3
Metra had announced that the next inbound commuter would be loading from the north platform, so I hung tight with the east end of the platform since it would be an interesting shot. I camped out in one of the shelters, not only to keep warm but out of sight of wannabe commuters who might think that I knew the best place to wait. Even so I had to shoo an elderly couple over to the other side, I guess that they missed the announcement. Finally a headlight appeared to the west so I stepped out to catch the action.
Downers Grove IL / Main St
METX e/b commuter running wrong main
METX 114 F40PH-3
I headed for the station to warm up, but my stay was brief, the agent was starting to close up for the day. Stepping out I found a westbound green on M1 for the next commuter and I decided to catch that and call it a day, after all I was out to just get some air and not on a Mission From God. After waiting about fifteen minutes in the cold Metra announced that the train was going to be another seven to fifteen minutes late! Oh come on, it’s just two minutes to train time and you just figured that out? Even better the wind picked up, oh wonderful! I did my best to find a sheltered spot until a headlight popped up to the east and then headed for the dark side to catch my shots.
OK, that's it, time to head home and warm up!
Downers Grove IL / Washington St
METX w/b commuter
METX 191 F40PHM-2
Personally I prefer the solid blue scheme, but it was nice to see a matched pair in the old scheme in decent paint
Westmont IL / Cass Ave
BNSF w/b empty ethanol
CSX 150 AC4400CW
CSX 185 AC4400CW
Same train rounding the curve. After this I moved over to the station area only to have the BNSF park a train on M3 that totally blocked me out! After waiting about 45 minutes I figured that it was here to stay and I moved to Westmont.
Lisle IL / Parking Lot E
BNSF w/b merchandise
BNSF 5264 Dash 9-44CW
BNSF 5088 Dash 9-44CW
The alternate title for this shot is "Redemption" because this was the angle I was after on my Christmas Day visit but missed when I got distracted by eastbound #6!
Westmont IL / Cass Ave
AMTK w/b California Zephyr – Train #5
AMTK 172 P42DC
AMTK 182 P42DC
This was a pleasant surprise, when a westbound green went up on M1 around 2 p.m. I figured that it was for the outbound Cal Zephyr but I got this instead!
Westmont IL / Cass Ave
BNSF w/b empty ethanol
CSX 150 AC4400CW
CSX 185 AC4400CW
My first stop of the afternoon was Parking Lot E at Lisle where even though it's on the dark side of the tracks provides a nice angle on the tracks to the east. Here a westbound merchandise passes under I355 and the signals at MP 23.8
Lisle IL / Parking Lot E
BNSF w/b merchandise
BNSF 5264 Dash 9-44CW
BNSF 5088 Dash 9-44CW