Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
Of course the grand prize would be to catch an ex-GTW loco or item of rolling stock in the pre 2001 blue colour scheme 
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7mm US model dabblings
- Thread starter Jordan
- Start date
richard carr
Western Thunderer
So on Saturday I headed south along US route 45 to Tolono, this is about 8 miles south of Champaign. Route 45 parallels the railway all the way there.
At Tolono, the Illinois Central mainline is crossed by the Norfolk Southern Decatur (pronounced DeKayTor) to the west of Tolono to Danville line to the east. So in theory there should be quite few more trains than there is in Champaign.
I arrived at about 8:30 and parked up near the grain elevator by a level crossing over the NS line, unfortunately no train arrived on any lines until about 10am, when this coal train arrived on the ILC.
On the back was this
Looking east the 4 tracks from left to right are, the main siding (ie passing loop), the main line, a loop for the grain elevator and a spur with the buffer stop. If you look on google maps you will see that there appears to be an east to south connector, but this has been blocked off, it is the same with the west to north and the east to north has been removed completely.
The grain elevator would make a nice model.
I drove round the village looking for a better spot and found 3 other cars parked up by the crossing, that was where the local rail fans went, but local by american standards tend to mean anyone from less than 3 hours away !
The action started to pickup another north bound manifest arrived, I took a video of that, then this arrived and parked up in the ILC siding to the south of the crossing
And this arrived on the NS line
Both were clearly waiting for something else to pass, it turned out to be Amtrak
At Tolono, the Illinois Central mainline is crossed by the Norfolk Southern Decatur (pronounced DeKayTor) to the west of Tolono to Danville line to the east. So in theory there should be quite few more trains than there is in Champaign.
I arrived at about 8:30 and parked up near the grain elevator by a level crossing over the NS line, unfortunately no train arrived on any lines until about 10am, when this coal train arrived on the ILC.
On the back was this
Looking east the 4 tracks from left to right are, the main siding (ie passing loop), the main line, a loop for the grain elevator and a spur with the buffer stop. If you look on google maps you will see that there appears to be an east to south connector, but this has been blocked off, it is the same with the west to north and the east to north has been removed completely.
The grain elevator would make a nice model.
I drove round the village looking for a better spot and found 3 other cars parked up by the crossing, that was where the local rail fans went, but local by american standards tend to mean anyone from less than 3 hours away !
The action started to pickup another north bound manifest arrived, I took a video of that, then this arrived and parked up in the ILC siding to the south of the crossing
And this arrived on the NS line
Both were clearly waiting for something else to pass, it turned out to be Amtrak
richard carr
Western Thunderer
I have now put the video together for the day, here is the link to it.
I did manage to take a few more photos but taking both as a train passes is to say the least a bit tricky.
Once Amtrak passed the first to move off was the NS line
Then the CN train lead by the UP loco moved north.
The next train was a south bound manifest on the Illinois Central mainline
The second loco was in Kansas City Southern livery.
The final photo is from a couple of mile outside Tolono to the east, it turned out to be a road railer train
Richard
I did manage to take a few more photos but taking both as a train passes is to say the least a bit tricky.
Once Amtrak passed the first to move off was the NS line
Then the CN train lead by the UP loco moved north.
The next train was a south bound manifest on the Illinois Central mainline
The second loco was in Kansas City Southern livery.
The final photo is from a couple of mile outside Tolono to the east, it turned out to be a road railer train
Richard
Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
richard carr
Western Thunderer
Dave
The Amtrak services are part of the Mid West group of relatively short runs, this one is 3 trains a day in each direction between Chicago and Springfield IL, it was close to being on time
Richard
The Amtrak services are part of the Mid West group of relatively short runs, this one is 3 trains a day in each direction between Chicago and Springfield IL, it was close to being on time
Richard
Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
Three trains a day for a town 179 miles away - it's hard to comprehend when we take for granted around thirty to forty trains a day between London and Leeds for a similar distance.
Of course in Europe we are geared for passenger trains taking priority during the day with freight slotted in between and most freight running during the night. Added to which we have the line capacity.
Of course in Europe we are geared for passenger trains taking priority during the day with freight slotted in between and most freight running during the night. Added to which we have the line capacity.
JasonD
Western Thunderer
Hmmm, a RoadRailer train ... anybody interested in putting one of these together? I have a box of 2nd-hand Bowser trailers, a few NS Triple Crown like we'll have seen, but some 'other' non-RR names reminding me I don't know much about this traffic. Are some of these road-only?
richard carr
Western Thunderer
I drove back to Chicago early on the Sunday morning and parked up at Mannheim Metra Station, this took quite a bit of finding as the official address is on the other side of the tracks from where the station actually is on Front Street in Franklin Park, My sat nav had 10340 Franklin Avenue as the address.
When I got there this was parked updoing nothing and really spoiling the view, all the action was taking place on the other side of this train
There was plenty of shunting going on, but on the other side of this train.
This was parked up a bit further to the east.
And when I was checking WT on my phone I looked up and this freight was right on me and all I could do was sit there and watch it go by, so no photos or video
Then metra turned up but it wasn't stopping
Then a train arrived from the north west
It took over 20 minutes to get into the yard
Another train was shunting on the far side and pulling well out of the yard so I headed down to one of the level crossings
The steam you can see is from the switch heaters.
The second loco is a SD60
After this it was time to go and visit Des Plaines Hobbies and then head back to the airport for my flight home
Richard
When I got there this was parked updoing nothing and really spoiling the view, all the action was taking place on the other side of this train
There was plenty of shunting going on, but on the other side of this train.
This was parked up a bit further to the east.
And when I was checking WT on my phone I looked up and this freight was right on me and all I could do was sit there and watch it go by, so no photos or video
Then metra turned up but it wasn't stopping
Then a train arrived from the north west
It took over 20 minutes to get into the yard
Another train was shunting on the far side and pulling well out of the yard so I headed down to one of the level crossings
The steam you can see is from the switch heaters.
The second loco is a SD60
After this it was time to go and visit Des Plaines Hobbies and then head back to the airport for my flight home
Richard
Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
Then metra turned up but it wasn't stopping
I am surprised Metra still have the strange gallery cars unlike the true Dopplestockwagen seen in Europe.
Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
richard carr
Western Thunderer
Dave
Yes, there's no point wasting a duty free allowance.
Richard
Yes, there's no point wasting a duty free allowance.
Richard