Trains seen on NCD!

[joe22a994]

I saw a train crossing Hamilton rd.(MP 177 (I think)) crossing NCD at about 12:15, the whole thing was hoppers. I do not have a scanner and there is no scanner feed, so I do not know the train number. I was going up Bluffton rd. and saw it stopped at the airport. I was just wondering if any one caught the number.

[joe22a994]

Don't forget that the NCD is being named the honorary Ethanol Line,...

I'm going to start calling it Ethanol District. BTW How many ethanol plants are there on NCD?

[rrnut282]

The one in Bluffton.

There were plans for plants in Schiedler and Montpelier, and Hartford City, but those were never built.

[rrnut282]

I noticed twice last week a signal problem between the BLUFFTON HOLDOUT and EAST KINGSLAND that had the evening EB parade crawling through town. The dispatcher called out a maintainer who found nothing out of the ordinary each time. Some of the following trains were racking up delays in excess of an hour. After a WB train went through, the dropped circuit fixed itself, apparently.

Now for a question. How much delay will NS endure before they go over the line with a fine-tooth comb?

[rrnut282]

I have to wonder how much longer train 197 will stick around. Its car count has really dropped now that it doesn't come out of Detroit. One day this week, there were more locomotives than cars (2-1). And it was an empty bulkhead flat at that.
Does it pick up a block in Muncie? Is it worth running just to re-position crews and locomotives?

[joe22a994]

I think running two locomotives for one car is very wasteful. It takes fuel to run two locomotives. I don't see why they even ran it. Why couldn't they run it up to Chicago and wait for 177 to take it? I'm sure 177 had more cars than locomotives. I wonder if they did it to still have a 197? I am amazed at how NS would run(waste fuel on) 2 locomotives for one bulkhead flat. I'm sure it could have waited.

[Wayne Gest]

I'm sure that the trailing unit was shut down. This is like the last handful of 197's that ran before the train disappeared during the worst days of the recession. Is 197 still running through to Chattanooga? It may have left Cincinnati a much larger train.

[rrnut282]

I'm (reasonably) sure it left Cincy a much larger train, I mean it would be almost impossible not to.

My question is: why use a crew and run locomotives unless they were needed to "balance the system"

[rrnut282]

The last dozen times I've caught 197, it appears to be healthier, hauling between 24-60 cars. Maybe as the economy improves, so will 197.

I've noticed since the addition of the Marion Branch trains, traffic patterns have shifted again. The evening Westbound parade (288, 282, 216, 264) is a rare event. (maybe it was a John Marty thing) Lately Triple Crown 264 has been coming through in the early morning and 288 in the afternoon/early evening.

While I miss the evening parade, I am enjoying all the "new" morning activity. Now I see/hear 3 or 4 trains go by while I'm getting ready for work. One of them the aforementioned 264. Interestingly, 368 (half of the Muncie-FWA turn) is often not the last train. Many times there is another train waiting at the holdout while they do their switching in Bluffton. Before this latest change, mornings here were quiet until 25A and 251 dashed toward points South.

[rrnut282]

watch for unusual trains Making the turn at Muncie for the next two days. I heard the dispatcher say there was a derailment on the Illinois Division just West of Peru.

[joe22a994]

I'm sure that the trailing unit was shut down. This is like the last handful of 197's that ran before the train disappeared during the worst days of the recession. Is 197 still running through to Chattanooga? It may have left Cincinnati a much larger train.

The "leaving with one car and getting more in Cincinnati" is the kind of thing BNSF does in Chicago with the intermodals from Willow Springs, Willow Springs gets some from Corwith in Chicago. So I could see that, kind of.

[rrnut282]

I wonder if NS is "tweeking" L69/L68 again. The last few nights, L69 has run around its train at Montpelier siding after working Central States and turned back North instead of continuing on to Muncie. Not sure how far it gets, as twice it cleared up here in Bluffton. The other times the dispatcher said something about meeting L68.

So, is there a new player taking care of business from Muncie to Montpelier? Or is this just some unusual circumstance?

[Wayne Gest]

Home terminal was moved from Muncie to Fort Wayne.

[rrnut282]

I can see where eliminating the deadhead move on Monday mornings "might" get L69 out of East Wayne Yard sooner on the first day of the week.
So are L68/L69 still supposed to go all the way back and forth?

[rrnut282]

There are two road crossings closed around Poneto. One has fresh asphalt (steaming in the rain) already. Another road has signs stating the crossing will be closed April 22-24. The tie project preliminaries have started.