I like this video. Great shots. Steady. The storm sets the scene. For those of you not familiar with the challenges of operating a shortline, this videographer did a nice job of capturing them.
@crazydriver1869 That's because it was just a really rough crossing. By the way, this crossing has been fixed and a second track is being added to it due to a new rail interchange with the CN being put in.
This is the ex CB&Q Rockford branch. At 4:50 is Davis Junction, where the former Milwaukee Road crosses east and west. Milwaukee also had rights over the Rockford branch from there to Rford proper. Davis Junction, and the branch itself was much busier back then then than it is today. There were decent-size yards on both the south and north sides of the diamond. You can google Davis Jct. and see many pictures way back when.
Rock solid camera work, great job on picking positions and that poor car at the end really drives home how rough some of that is. Thanks really enjoyed it.
No problem, glad that you enjoyed it. Yeah, I'm usually not a fan of slow movers either, but I guess when it is on a rickety old branchline, there is something different about it.
@MrGobare This track has been here for as long as shortly before World War I. Most of this rail is 90# jointed rail, much of it dating back to the 1910's and 1920's. (Rail way back from 1912 can be found on this track.) P.S. This track once carried soldiers to Camp Grant, which was where the Rockford Airport is now. (The airport is seen at 7:09.) The sign next to the tracks that says "Camp Grant" is still in place further down the line.
9 min. into video that red car looked as if it was going to pull out in front of the train then changed it's mind. Maybee not. There was a few times i thought the train was gonna derail! That was a nice, long, awesome video!
Yeah, it is still in, the UP goes up there. The go to the Chrysler Plant almost everyday I think, and then to Rockford every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
@GrafVonBecker Argentina hauls some amazing tonnage down there. I did some work out in Rosario a few years ago. Great food. Friendly people. Damn you guys do good beef. Good beer too.
@Boss302fan Light density means that it can't be used very frequently anytime. If the Illinois Railnet (Now Illinois Railway) ever needed more frequent use, (e.g. medium to heavy density use) they would have upgrade the line, more likely completely rebuild it.
Thats a great video!!...this is the theme I am going for on my HO layout..shortlines that get the job done and help the 1st class railroads reach all parts of the US!!
This video is just great i lived in rockford way back when,and when bn owned these tracks the nightly local had 2 sd9s and about 30 cars for down town rockford and the speed limit i beleave was 25 then again i am talking 30 years ago.times sure do change 3cars and 10mph what a shame those tracks have not seen any work in at least 20years.
This line is 10 mph trackage because of all the rocking and bouncing the train did. It is suitable for light density freight traffic only. No medium to heavy density freight or any passenger traffic. Any rail traffic more than light density freight or any passenger traffic would require the line to be completely rebuilt to FRA Class 3 standards.
full load? judging by the shaking from the hopper I would guess so... My grandpa could predict the weather just by listening to a trains horn echo off in the distance... on the clearest day he would tell us this, and then it would storm.
It's a matter of safety! German lines for example were mainly used for passenger transport (but that will change the next years). So another reason is comfort. Freight traffic by rail is not competitive to transport on road. State-owned German Railways had also an absolute monopoly for a long time, and it was no problem to maintain and repair the tracks with money from the taxpayers. BTW: European / German trains are much lighter and shorter (may not be longer than 700m) than American ones.
@Boss302fan Oh, I just remembered that on the Union Pacific KD spur, which is Class 1 trackage too, I've seen tank cars. (The KD spur is also bouncy, and composed of 90# jointed rail. I know this because I've ridden on that track on a trolley.) and we've never had a derailment here due to bouncy track. So, my bad about saying that bouncy track composed of 90# jointed rail can't handle shiftable or top heavy loads. Tank cars run on this track quite frequently. Search "KD spur" in UA-cam search.
Great video, thank's a lot. In Germany it would be forbidden still using tracks like these ones. Often you can't even see any damages, but the authorities close the railway nevertheless.
@royalflush5000 You may be absolutely right about that particular line. The reason you don't see that type of traffic there is that there are no ports or automobile facilities on it. In general railroads route that traffic over high speed lines. Want to see stack trains going over bad track...go so some of the smaller ports. Or go watch TTX Honda racks go over CIND at 10 miles per hour. And watch anyhdrous tanks go over some the the small shortlines. They're out there. Peace!
Is this line still in operation. I saw some of their engines sitting in a yard near Galt around Christmas. I would like to get out there and chase their train to Rockford. I love short line railroading!
@Boss302fan Okay okay, I take your word for it. I just have never seen tank cars, intermodal traffic, or autoracks on this line and I thought the reason for it was because the track was in such poor condition, but I must be wrong.
@royalflush5000 So you are saying that this line can handle heavy tonnage cars? Just not frequently? Now I am aware of many railroads running daily grain trains over FRA Class I track. They just have to do it at 10 mph. I'm not aware of any FRA regulation that covers "frequency" of use.
@HernanKuku - Its called a car... Look at the speed the train is going, it wouldnt be hard to chase it. I chase DM&E trains through here going 15-20 miles per hour. It is way easy to overtake them.
@Boss302fan Too much weight, too fast of operation, and too frequent use will tear up these old rails (some of them nearly 100 years old) really quickly. It's the laws of physics that tells you this. This line is composed of mostly 90# jointed rail. Just think wat would happen if you were to put a well car and two containers, an autorack with 15-20 cars, or a tank car with heavy ethonal on this small, old rail.
@Boss302fan Read my comment I said to MrGobare. That and simple physics will tell you why frequency of use, rail car type, and speed are so restrictive on this line. Top heavy and cars with shifting loads (like tank cars) will almost certainly fall over due to all the rocking.
Yeah. Are you somehow aware of the financials available to this shortline holding company? Do the revenues support the level of track maintenance that in your expertise you deem sufficient? Or...would it be possible that for shortline operations this might be adequate for the tonnage moved and speeds operated
@royalflush5000 You missed my question. I can talk train dynamics with you all day long. My question was where did you get that a Class 1 rated track cannot take intermodal, autorack or tankcars? Did the rule change today? I missed it. I just sent a crew out with 10 tankcars on Class 1 rated track. Up until today I thought that was perfectly legal. I have about 200 autoracks stored here on Class 1 track.
@royalflush5000 A well car with two containers weights far less than a load of plastic. An autorack with 20 automobiles weighs far less than a load of potash. Tankcars of anhydrous, propane, chlorine and ethanol are handled safely on lines with 90 pound jointed rail all over the US, Mexico and Canada. Look at CIND handling new Hondas in Ohio for example. Or numerous shortlines moving LPG all over North America. It happens all the time. Not unusual at all.
Not at all. You're usually running slow and derailments (if they occur) are just not severe. I would rather derail on poor track at 10mph than fast track at 70. This is just normal branchline rail operations.
@BBT609 With the bell ringing like that, it should be replaced. That's an analog bell right now, it should be replaced with a digital bell because of how often the signals are on. This crossing is just north of the Canadian Pacific (former IC&E) interchange with the Illinois Railway, so it gets a lot of traffic.
I love that crossing where you see the distant signals, It rings 3 times, pause, then 3 times.
The horn is a Nathan "new-cast" P5. The bell arrangement may be different than most of them that are heard these days.
I like this video. Great shots. Steady. The storm sets the scene.
For those of you not familiar with the challenges of operating a shortline, this videographer did a nice job of capturing them.
@crazydriver1869 That's because it was just a really rough crossing. By the way, this crossing has been fixed and a second track is being added to it due to a new rail interchange with the CN being put in.
That must be the limit of bad tracks that a standard gauge train is able to master without derailing. Very interesting and well filmed. Thumbs up! :)
That crew's gonna need a neck brace after that trip! It *is* very interesting to see how much a train can really wobble, though. Thanks for posting.
@bnsf4 Yes. It does that at Flagg Center, which is a couple miles northwest of Rochelle. This track used to be owned by BNSF.
This is the ex CB&Q Rockford branch. At 4:50 is Davis Junction, where the former Milwaukee Road crosses east and west. Milwaukee also had rights over the Rockford branch from there to Rford proper. Davis Junction, and the branch itself was much busier back then then than it is today. There were decent-size yards on both the south and north sides of the diamond. You can google Davis Jct. and see many pictures way back when.
Rock solid camera work, great job on picking positions and that poor car at the end really drives home how rough some of that is. Thanks really enjoyed it.
I'm not usually a fan of such slow moving trains, but really enjoyed this vid. Thanks.
No problem, glad that you enjoyed it. Yeah, I'm usually not a fan of slow movers either, but I guess when it is on a rickety old branchline, there is something different about it.
Very interesting! There's just something about watching branchline railroads that has always fascinated me.
Classy shortline railroad work :) engines like these fit the shortline railroad scene PERFECTLY.
Maintenance, that's what that track needs.
Your video is great. Nice to see one engine pulling the train for a change.
Thanks a lot! Good to hear you liked it. Yeah, I'm a fan of the smaller roads to.
That's gotta be 60 to 85lb rail!! Love the old-style rock n' sway motion!
@MrGobare This track has been here for as long as shortly before World War I. Most of this rail is 90# jointed rail, much of it dating back to the 1910's and 1920's. (Rail way back from 1912 can be found on this track.)
P.S. This track once carried soldiers to Camp Grant, which was where the Rockford Airport is now. (The airport is seen at 7:09.) The sign next to the tracks that says "Camp Grant" is still in place further down the line.
9 min. into video that red car looked as if it was going to pull out in front of the train then changed it's mind. Maybee not. There was a few times i thought the train was gonna derail! That was a nice, long, awesome video!
Yeah, it is still in, the UP goes up there. The go to the Chrysler Plant almost everyday I think, and then to Rockford every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
@GrafVonBecker Argentina hauls some amazing tonnage down there. I did some work out in Rosario a few years ago. Great food. Friendly people. Damn you guys do good beef. Good beer too.
Great work on this piece. I always enjoy watching the smaller lines do their thing! 5*****
@Boss302fan Light density means that it can't be used very frequently anytime. If the Illinois Railnet (Now Illinois Railway) ever needed more frequent use, (e.g. medium to heavy density use) they would have upgrade the line, more likely completely rebuild it.
Love the shot at 3:49, looks like an old steamer comin down the branch!
Thats a great video!!...this is the theme I am going for on my HO layout..shortlines that get the job done and help the 1st class railroads reach all parts of the US!!
Great video - thank you! My son enjoys it daily, and I learned a bit about video editing.
Thank you, appreciate the kind words. I'm glad that you liked it!
This video is just great i lived in rockford way back when,and when bn owned these tracks the nightly local had 2 sd9s and about 30 cars for down town rockford and the speed limit i beleave was 25 then again i am talking 30 years ago.times sure do change 3cars and 10mph what a shame those tracks have not seen any work in at least 20years.
Awesome Video!! I like those old Dash-7s!! Nice horn too!!
Thanks! Yeah, I'm not a real huge GE fan, but this was awesome to see.
Well, the crew said it usually runs Mon thru Fri, and they usually leave Hemstock Road at around 6 PM.
That was 08 is the line still in operation,its now 13 I hope they made so repair''''
lol the train driver must of been entertained by constantly seeing you
Thanks, glad you liked. Yeah, this is still the Illinois Railnet, but just a CSP engine.
Davis Jct. looks way different than the Milwaukee days, I haven't been there since 1979!
@gedebage The issue isn't motion sickness. It's being rocked to sleep that is often the problem.
This line is 10 mph trackage because of all the rocking and bouncing the train did. It is suitable for light density freight traffic only. No medium to heavy density freight or any passenger traffic. Any rail traffic more than light density freight or any passenger traffic would require the line to be completely rebuilt to FRA Class 3 standards.
full load? judging by the shaking from the hopper I would guess so...
My grandpa could predict the weather just by listening to a trains horn echo off in the distance... on the clearest day he would tell us this, and then it would storm.
awesome adam! is that by chance and ex, rock island, SF, or NP. sure looks like one of theose AWESOME VIDEO!
Hey How long was this train trip!!!!!
@thenewUSA The track isn't used enough to justify fixing it. Trains run on this track only 2-3 times a week or so.
It's a matter of safety!
German lines for example were mainly used for passenger transport (but that will change the next years). So another reason is comfort. Freight traffic by rail is not competitive to transport on road.
State-owned German Railways had also an absolute monopoly for a long time, and it was no problem to maintain and repair the tracks with money from the taxpayers.
BTW: European / German trains are much lighter and shorter (may not be longer than 700m) than American ones.
Nice love the power and exost. I saw two of those bu it was the Illinois Rail Net in Oragon.
It has been awhile since you filmed thi, hasn't it? Nice video! Awesome horn, I think!
@Boss302fan Oh, I just remembered that on the Union Pacific KD spur, which is Class 1 trackage too, I've seen tank cars. (The KD spur is also bouncy, and composed of 90# jointed rail. I know this because I've ridden on that track on a trolley.) and we've never had a derailment here due to bouncy track. So, my bad about saying that bouncy track composed of 90# jointed rail can't handle shiftable or top heavy loads. Tank cars run on this track quite frequently. Search "KD spur" in UA-cam search.
Is this track still in use and did they fix any of the line.?
Like the cool sounding horn!
that track has definitely seen better days.
Thanks! Yeah the IR has rough track, that for sure!
Great video, thank's a lot.
In Germany it would be forbidden still using tracks like these ones. Often you can't even see any damages, but the authorities close the railway nevertheless.
That's a bloody long train! :P
Great video! I prefer the shortlines, they seem more interesting!
Nice video, must have been a fairly easy chase. Is that railroad still operating ?
@royalflush5000 You may be absolutely right about that particular line. The reason you don't see that type of traffic there is that there are no ports or automobile facilities on it. In general railroads route that traffic over high speed lines. Want to see stack trains going over bad track...go so some of the smaller ports. Or go watch TTX Honda racks go over CIND at 10 miles per hour. And watch anyhdrous tanks go over some the the small shortlines. They're out there. Peace!
Thanks, yeah, it was filmed on 6-12-08.
Is this line still in operation. I saw some of their engines sitting in a yard near Galt around Christmas. I would like to get out there and chase their train to Rockford. I love short line railroading!
Wow, for real? Thanks a million for that information ic6071!!!!!
Great video mate !
@Boss302fan Okay okay, I take your word for it. I just have never seen tank cars, intermodal traffic, or autoracks on this line and I thought the reason for it was because the track was in such poor condition, but I must be wrong.
I've always wanted to see that train.
Thanks! Yes actually, we hit one heck of a storm on the way home.
it is at the end of the film in a sparkling tree watch 09:45
must provide notice?
thank you
greetings from Germa
That should be called "The Seasickness Line."
Looks like a storm moving in!!!!!
@royalflush5000 So you are saying that this line can handle heavy tonnage cars? Just not frequently?
Now I am aware of many railroads running daily grain trains over FRA Class I track. They just have to do it at 10 mph.
I'm not aware of any FRA regulation that covers "frequency" of use.
@royalflush5000 no modern intermodal, autorack or tanks? Is that the local operating rule? (Certainly not a Class 1 FRA imposed rule)
good tracking
@HernanKuku - Its called a car... Look at the speed the train is going, it wouldnt be hard to chase it. I chase DM&E trains through here going 15-20 miles per hour. It is way easy to overtake them.
Great video!
5 rating!
Plus, *add favorite!!!!!
where did the coverd hopper and boxcar go at the end?..
I live in Rockford and have never seen this.
Love the shot at 3:32
wonder what they were thinking when they saw the same kid/young adult in different places lol
Thanks!
@Boss302fan Too much weight, too fast of operation, and too frequent use will tear up these old rails (some of them nearly 100 years old) really quickly. It's the laws of physics that tells you this. This line is composed of mostly 90# jointed rail. Just think wat would happen if you were to put a well car and two containers, an autorack with 15-20 cars, or a tank car with heavy ethonal on this small, old rail.
@Boss302fan Read my comment I said to MrGobare. That and simple physics will tell you why frequency of use, rail car type, and speed are so restrictive on this line. Top heavy and cars with shifting loads (like tank cars) will almost certainly fall over due to all the rocking.
Yeah.
Are you somehow aware of the financials available to this shortline holding company?
Do the revenues support the level of track maintenance that in your expertise you deem sufficient?
Or...would it be possible that for shortline operations this might be adequate for the tonnage moved and speeds operated
@royalflush5000 When you use the term "light density"....what do you mean?
@royalflush5000 You missed my question. I can talk train dynamics with you all day long. My question was where did you get that a Class 1 rated track cannot take intermodal, autorack or tankcars?
Did the rule change today? I missed it. I just sent a crew out with 10 tankcars on Class 1 rated track. Up until today I thought that was perfectly legal.
I have about 200 autoracks stored here on Class 1 track.
Nice work.
at the end you can see how bad the tracks are by the way the car dipped going over them.
No problem!
@royalflush5000 A well car with two containers weights far less than a load of plastic. An autorack with 20 automobiles weighs far less than a load of potash. Tankcars of anhydrous, propane, chlorine and ethanol are handled safely on lines with 90 pound jointed rail all over the US, Mexico and Canada. Look at CIND handling new Hondas in Ohio for example. Or numerous shortlines moving LPG all over North America. It happens all the time. Not unusual at all.
Not at all. You're usually running slow and derailments (if they occur) are just not severe.
I would rather derail on poor track at 10mph than fast track at 70.
This is just normal branchline rail operations.
Nice video. Sometimes the train tilting ..
what kinda horn does that have?
Yeah, weak track but old fashioned railroading.
Great vid on this shortline. 5*
Now theres a GOOD GE!!! Better than the trash 9s and Geevos on Class Is!!!
I seen that one in ottowa I'll
just one question.why ?
at 5:42, 3:38, 355, & 7:15, i thought the poor thing was going to derail!! thats some bad track!!
wheres the lighting?
Show
Sounds like a P5
Bad tracks! Why don't they fix them up?
they need to fix that track!
@BBT609 With the bell ringing like that, it should be replaced. That's an analog bell right now, it should be replaced with a digital bell because of how often the signals are on. This crossing is just north of the Canadian Pacific (former IC&E) interchange with the Illinois Railway, so it gets a lot of traffic.
@diecastcollector83 He probably dropped it if thats what your asking.
i meant the track not the movie
I love U-boats;)
Thunderstorm?