The FWCH: A chase of CFE's daily road train to the Windy City -- Warsaw to Wanatah, IN

Filmed: 4/21/2021
With rumors circulating that the former position light signals that still remained on the western half of the Chicago Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad system were soon to fall, I knew that I had to make it a priority to go north and do a chase of the FWCH (Fort Wayne to Chicago) road train at some point in time. I found myself in Warsaw on a lovely April evening with hopes set that I was going to mark this chase down in the books. At the time, the common practice for the CFE was to use three different crews between Fort Wayne and Chicago. The Fort Wayne crew would bring the westbound train into Warsaw in the morning, tie the train down, then bring back the eastbound train during the mid afternoon hours. Then, around 4 PM, the Warsaw to Hammond crew would take the westbound train to Hammond, tie down, and bring back the next eastbound to Warsaw that night, while a Chicago qualified crew would take the westbound train brought in by the Warsaw crew into and out of Blue Island in the overnight as well. With the Warsaw crew coming OD around 4 PM, and daylight now extending well into the 8 o'clock hour, I was able to get quite a few well lit photos between Warsaw and Wanatah, marking off some shots I had been wanting to get for quite some time. CFE 2095 and CFE 5597 powered that evening's train, while the eastbound train, which I managed to catch before the westbound's departure, was powered by CFE 3023 and MQT 3413. Keith Burkey joined me on my chase around the Plymouth area, and we both chased to Wanatah before the light faded enough that photos could no longer be taken without flashes.
The PLs along the CFE remained standing for quite some time after this, but in Summer of 2023, both ends and distant signals at Hanna, and a few of the signals in Plymouth had been replaced with Mead Electronic signals, which are strikingly similar to the former PLs. While they might not be originals, I'll take round heads over vaders any day.
Enjoy!