About the Author J. D. Santucci (a.k.a. "Tuch") began his railroading career in 1978 as a trainman on the Missouri Pacific. After a round of lay-offs in 1985, Tuch embarked on a railroad odyssey, working in many different situations for different roads. This column tries to explain some of the nuts and bolts of the job and also demonstrates what we have to deal with on a regular basis within and without the industry. Tuch currently works through freights out of Chicago for Canadian National/Illinois Central. ©1999, 2003-2007 JD Santucci. Logo ©2002 The Railroad Network. By J.D. Santucci

December 9 , 2002
The Chicago Terminal is a maze or better yet, a labyrinth of rail lines. This myriad of trackage threads its way here and there throughout the entire region. There are clearly hundreds of main line route miles within the entire Chicago Switching District. If you add up all the main, yard and industrial trackage, the total amount is in the tens of thousands of miles. In the late 1970’s alone, the Belt Railway of Chicago had some twenty-two thousand miles of yard, industrial and secondary trackage in addition to their twenty-six miles of double track main line.

To give you a perspective of the Chicago Switching District, it is basically the area encircled by the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway. The J reaches all around Chicago starting up at Waukegan on the north shore of Lake Michigan. The line runs to the west through communities Mundelein before turning to a southerly direction. Municipalities such as Lake Zurich and Barrington are traversed as the line heads to its namesake city of Joliet. It is just east of the East Joliet Yard where the line gradually makes an eastward turn and heads into Indiana. Upon reaching Griffith, IN a turn to the north is made and the J heads on into Gary where the principal route ends at the west end of Kirk Yard. The area inside of this perimeter is what is covered in the CORA guide (Chicago Operating Rules Association). The J crosses either at grade, overhead or underneath every railroad that enters the Chicago Switching District.

Mergers, consolidations, route rationalizations and the like have taken their toll on total Chicago area route miles in the past thirty-five years. Penn Central and their Conrail successor eliminated several entire routes through the Chicago Terminal. Included are portions of the old New York Central route between Whiting, IN and Chicago, most of the old Pennsylvania Railroad Panhandle Route and most of the South Chicago & Southern (SC&S) Route. The lion’s share of the old Michigan Central’s Joliet Branch has vanished as well. The Englewood Connecting Line that linked the Panhandle and their yard at 59th Street to the PRR’s Chicago to Pittsburgh line is also a memory now.

Other roads have also consolidated and eliminated routes as well. After the Chicago & Northwestern and Chicago Great Western merged, most the CGW line in the Chicago area was deemed duplicate and eliminated. The Indiana Harbor Belt acquired a small segment of this line that operated near and underneath their main line to access and service several industries. The Chicago Transit Authority acquired another segment on Chicago’s west side for part of the "El" rapid transit system. A portion of joint track with the Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal was taken over completely by the B&OCT. Soo Line and later Wisconsin Central had trackage rights over this portion for many years. And recently, CSX abandoned a portion of this line. Another column is already partially written about this line and will appear at some point in the future.

The IHB eliminated a major portion of their old Stockyard Branch in the late 80’s and early 90’s using portions of the parallel BRC West Yard Line and the Conrail 49th Street Industrial. A portion of this reroute was due to the construction of the CTA’s Orange Line between downtown Chicago and Midway Airport on the city’s southwest side.

I could easily go on and on about line reductions and eliminations but won’t at this time. Line reduction and elimination could very quickly become a massive series of its own. Instead, we will use this information as a foundation for a series of columns I intend to present over a period of time about the different routes I have operated upon to get across the Chicago Terminal. And even with the vast elimination of entire lines, I will demonstrate the difficulties we routinely encounter in getting across Chicago.

Having worked for so many railroads in the area, I have been given quite the opportunity to run trains over numerous lines within the Chicago Terminal. In a few cases, I have operated on the same line segments for several different railroads. The Canadian National Illinois Central and its predecessors would be one of those involved. Having worked for the Chicago Central, Wisconsin Central and later, Indiana Harbor Belt, I was given the opportunity to operate on portions of all of the Illinois Central Gulf, Illinois Central and then CNIC routes in the Chicago Terminal going back to 1986.

With this lesson which will be presented in two parts, we will focus upon the CNIC. We are going to take a little thirty-two mile run from Hawthorne Yard in Cicero on Chicago’s southwest side to Markham Yard in the south suburbs. Markham extends from Harvey on the north to Homewood on the south with Markham proper on the west side between Hazel Crest and Harvey.

Thirty-two miles doesn’t sound very far now does it? Actually, it really isn’t a particularly great distance but on some days it just seems like "You can’t get there from here." And with the journey will be a scenic tour and a bit of a history lesson as well.

Our journey begins on the morning of 22 November 2002, which happens to be the thirty-ninth anniversary of the assassination of President John Kennedy. This was not the reason I settled upon this date, I merely picked it at random.

Conductor Jerry Voss and I were ordered for 0600 hours at Hawthorne for the Hawthorne-Markham Transfer assignment, R954. This is our symbol for payroll purposes, but we operate using the train symbols of the trains we handle, or go by the name "Hawthorne Transfer." Our run has us taking train 338 from Hawthorne to Markham and returning with train 337. A crew from Hawthorne takes 337 to Freeport, IL turning there and bringing train 338 east back to Hawthorne.

Hawthorne Yard is located in a primarily east-west configuration between Cicero and Austin Avenues at 3300 south. The mailing address is actually 3300 S. Laramie Ave, which passes underneath the yard just west of the yard office. Sportsman’s Park/Chicago Motor Speedway and Hawthorne Park race tracks are immediately to the south of the yard. While designed and intended primarily for industrial support, Hawthorne has become a classification yard for the CNIC in Chicago. In its independent days, CCP used Hawthorne as its principal classification facility in Chicago for several years. In latter CCP days up to and then following the IC taking them back over, Hawthorne returned to its industrial support function only to be changed again after the CN and IC merger.

Back to our trip. We were given charge of IC engines 6009, 6251 and Grand Trunk 5942 (three SD40 series locomotives producing a total of 9000 horsepower) along with 85 loads, 55 empties, 13,061 tons and 8288 feet of train. Right off the bat I discovered a problem with the 5942. It was low on cooling water. I requested the opportunity to add water to the system which would not have taken but ten or fifteen minutes, but was denied. It was more important to get the train out. Of course that means we now had 3000 less working horsepower and about 200 tons of dead weight added to our train. Never mind the fact we would not come close to seeing track speed when we got onto the Chicago Sub.

Using track number two of the Freeport Subdivision, we departed Hawthorne at 0710. The Freeport Sub is a double track route between Broadview, milepost 14.5 and 16th Street, milepost 1.5. Track one is signaled for westbound moves and track for eastbound moves. The yard office is located at about milepost 9. Just east of the yard at milepost 8.3 is the crossing of the old Chicago & Illinois Western (The Wobbly) West Branch and the Belt Railway of Chicago double track main line. The Wobbly has long been part of the IC and exists in memory only these days. There are also four wyes here, one in each quadrant of the crossing connecting the Freeport Sub to the Belt. The northwest wye also connects to the Manufacturers Junction Railway, a small short line that was once owned by Western Electric. The MJ used to switch the sprawling Western Electric Hawthorne Works plant that was just north of here. The plant is long gone but the MJ survives as a unit of OmniTrax switching several other industries in the area.

The Belt crossing is called Hawthorne on the BRC. We frequently get murdered here for cross traffic. The Belt North Dispatcher controls this crossing. In an economy move in the late 80’s the tower that was located at this crossing called Belt Tower on the IC and staffed by an IC employee was eliminated. Control was given to the Belt Dispatcher and this has become an almost automatic delay to most every CNIC train that traverses the Freeport Sub. On occasion, this crossing has been the death of many a train crew running low on sand in the hours of service glass. Somehow today, we didn’t get the usual beating though. Hey, it happens.

Just east of this crossing we encounter automatic block signal (ABS) W8.2. It is dark meaning there is no signal aspect being displayed. The operating rules instruct us to treat a dark signal (or no signal displayed where there would normally be a signal displayed) as the most restrictive signal it can give. Being that this is a block signal (also referred to as an intermediate signal) equipped with a number plate on it and not a controlled or interlocking signal, the most restrictive signal it displays is the color red which means restricted proceed. This aspect allows us to proceed past it without stopping at restricted speed.

As defined in the Canadian National U.S. Operating Rules, restricted speed reads as follows;

"When a train or engine is required to move at restricted speed, it must proceed prepared to stop within half the range of vision, short of train, engine, railroad car, Roadway Workers or equipment fouling the track, stop signal or derail or improperly line switch. The crew must keep a lookout for broken rail and not exceed 20 MPH.

Comply with these requirements until the leading wheels pass reach a point where the movement at restricted speed is no longer required or have reached the end of signalled territory."

In signalled territory like the Freeport Sub, once the leading wheels pass the next signal displaying a more favorable indication, we can resume normal speed.

Under restricted speed, the onus is placed entirely upon the Engineer and Conductor of train that is required to move under this rule. If something goes wrong, we are held responsible under most circumstances. Needless to say, I take this rule very seriously. And just because I can operate as fast as 20 MPH, it does not mean I will. All circumstances must be taken into consideration in determining just how fast I will move this train. These circumstances would include weather and visibility impairments caused by inclement weather, curves in the track restricting the total range of vision and the like.

There are several sets of hand operated crossover switches between signal W8.2 and the next signal which is at the IN (Illinois Northern) crossing at milepost 7.1. We must keep a lookout to make certain these switches are lined for our movement. Should one be improperly lined and we run through it, we would be held responsible.

On the south side of the mains just east of the Belt Crossing and extending up to Pulaski Avenue milepost 7.6 is Crawford Yard. This is an old Wobbly facility that featured a small yard office at one time. Several C&IW jobs were based out of this yard when the Wobbly was a subsidiary of the IC. They also had their own locomotives, several EMD switchers. As then, this yard is used as industrial support. Cars are stored here for nearby industries on the Freeport Sub and on the East and West Branches of the Wobbly. Two jobs normally switch out and gather up cars form the yard for industries and another delivers and pulls cars from here. No jobs are based out of Crawford today as they come in from Hawthorne with their engines to work here.

We arrived at the IN at 0718 encountering a stop signal (red with no number plate). The IN, which has been part of the Santa Fe and now BNSF for many years, is a branch line that comes out of Corwith Yard and serves several industries in Chicago. BNSF sold off much of this line awhile back, but maintains the connection to interchange cars with the short line that now operates the IN. Jerry has to get off and go operate the time release at the crossing in an attempt to obtain a proceed signal for us to cross here. Being that we have been having recurring trouble at this crossing, it is not likely we will get the signal this day either. After waiting the allotted time as prescribed by the instructions posted in the release box and then getting no favorable signal, we flag our way through the crossing. Jerry positively ascertains no approaching traffic on the cross route and places lighted fusees on the IN tracks to protect the move. We then proceed across and head towards Ash Street, again at restricted speed. This little effort caused a total of eleven minutes of delay.

"Little things mean a lot."

Just east of the IN on track number one is the connection to the Wobbly East Branch. There are several industries along this line but only one left that receives rail service. And from what I have been told, their days are numbered.

We wend our way towards milepost 5.6 and Ash Street, the crossing with CSX’s Blue Island Sub and Norfolk Southern’s Chicago River & Indiana Industrial Track. CSX is the western set of tracks and the NS the eastern set. Both of these lines are double track routes that see considerable traffic with both of them connecting to the BNSF’s former Burlington Northern and Union Pacific’s former CNW. Until CSX abandoned part of the Altenheim Sub earlier this year, Wisconsin Central trains also used both the CSX and NS lines to affect interchange to both railroads. And like so many other crossings in Chicago, we frequently get stopped here for cross traffic as well. At one time in the fairly recent past, the former Panhandle line also crossed here. The diamonds were removed last year as no traffic has moved across this portion of the line in over two years.

Between the IN and Ash Street are two curves, one to the right and the other to the left. Remember that restricted speed rule and being able to stop within half the range of vision? The curves are a huge factor. As we swing out of the left handed curve we encounter the switch that leads into Bricks, Inc. This is a brickyard we do a pretty fair amount of business with. It is lined properly and we continue on. As we wind out of the curve and back onto tangent track, we join up with the parallel BNSF (former Santa Fe) line that once was a through route towards downtown Chicago. It is now a double track connection between the former ATSF mains at Corwith and the previously mentioned CSX and NS lines. The connection between the three roads occurs between Ash St. and Brighton Park which is about half a mile south of Ash. There are frequently intermodal trains to and from the eastern lines and BNSF parked here.

The Santa Fe used to cross Ash Street as it proceeded up to Bridgeport directly along side the Freeport Sub. It was truncated in the mid 90’s with the diamonds that used to cross Ash removed. The Santa Fe north main track east of the diamonds was taken over by the IC and used for a siding. Actually it is a storage track and was stub ended until just a couple of weeks ago when a switch was installed at the west end of it just east of Ash St. Until that time, the only way to get in and out was via the switch at Bridgeport. The south track between Ash and Bridgeport remains mostly intact, but with no way to get into it, as there are no switches for access from either end.

As we get straight out of the curve I can see ABS W5.8. It displays an approach (yellow) aspect. Being that the Freeport Sub between milepost 15 and 5.6 is under yard limits rules, we are still required to operate at restricted speed. Under yard limits rules, we must have a signal more favorable than approach to operate at normal timetable track speed.

In all honesty, I have no clue as to why we have signal W5.8 anyway. It is only about 800 feet from the home signal that protects the crossing at Ash Street. Based upon the maximum speed of 25 MPH, there is insufficient braking distance to reduce from 25 to a stop safely in this distance. We used to get an advance approach signal (flashing yellow) at the IN when signal W5.8 was approach and Ash Street was a stop signal. For whatever reasons, the IN no longer displays advance approach. The best signal I have ever observed here since 1996 is just approach. W5.8 was mounted on a signal bridge but changed to a ground mast signal in the late 90’s and the bridge removed. The current system requires us to operate at restricted speed for a longer distance now. We go slower instead of faster in the new millennium. Money was spent to change the signal mount, but none was spent to upgrade the signal system or resolve whatever problems seem to exist there.

There are times I have observed W5.8 displaying a restricted proceed (red with a number plate) while Ash was displaying an approach aspect. Normally, when Ash is displaying a stop signal, W5.8 is displaying a restricted proceed, but not always. Much of the time if Ash displays an approach or clear signal, W5.8 displays an approach. I’ve yet to see it display a clear (green) signal.

Now here is where you need to really know your railroad. If you are going to proceed from track two to track one at Bridgeport, the next signal and control point, and are already lined up to proceed there, you will get a clear at Ash Street. The way Bridgeport is configured now you are actually making a straight track move to cross between the tracks. More on that when we reach Bridgeport. If you are proceeding from track two to track two at Bridgeport, the best signal you get at Ash is an approach. Ash is not set up to display an approach diverging (yellow over green) signal aspect.

When weather conditions are favorable like no heavy snow, rain or fog and no bright sunshine, you can see the signal at Ash Street about the same time you can see W5.8. Being that it is somewhat overcast, I can see Ash also displays an approach signal. The signal as Ash is a dwarf or pot signal. Instead of being mounted up high on a ground mast, it is a short little signal mounted about a foot above the ground.

We proceed without stopping at Ash. However, there is a 10 MPH speed restriction across the diamonds here. This 10 has been in effect for what seems to be a million years. I recall this being in effect when I worked at the CCP back in 86 and 87. It is not a timetable restriction but rather one listed on as a General Bulletin Order on our Daily Operating Bulletins (DOB) and Tabular General Bulletin Orders (TGBO).

The tower at Ash remains standing in the southeast quadrant though it was closed in 2001. The switching equipment used to operate the interlocking is located inside the tower. The CNIC Desk One Dispatcher now controls this crossing.

After passing over the crossing, we start up a slight ascending grade and begin past the west end of IMX (Intermodal Exchange). This is the former IC intermodal facility in Chicago that is now leased to Union Pacific. The IC leased this facility to the Southern Pacific in 1995 when they relocated their Chicago intermodal operations to Markham and the MIT facility. UP took over when they consumed the SP in 1996. We also start around a right hand curve and head towards Bridgeport.

As we close in on Bridgeport we wind around a left handed curve. If there is a train on number one track we cannot see the signal at Bridgeport until we come out of the curve and are about six or eight car lengths away from it. If there are cars sitting in either of the storage tracks at IMX, we also have restricted vision and cannot see the signal at Bridgeport until we are about twenty to twenty-five car lengths from the signal. Being that we normally get an approach at Ash, we are approaching the bridge prepared to stop.

Today we have no interference on track one and can see the stop signal fairly easily. I ease the train to a stop at 0749. While we are waiting I’ll explain how things are laid out here. In the past, in addition to the IC and Gulf, Mobile & Ohio converging at Bridgeport the Santa Fe operated through here as well. Until Amtrak was rerouted off the Santa Fe between Chicago and Galesburg in favor of a routing over the former BN in the mid 90’s, the Santa Fe had two tracks extending between Ash and Bridgeport. All three rail lines converged into two tracks across the bridge which at one time was movable. The Santa Fe than went to a single track between the bridge and 21st Street. This single track was removed from service in the mid-80’s and the ICG was used between the bridge and 21st for Amtrak trains to and from Union Station.

In 1972 the IC and GM&O merged making it all the ICG. Things remained status quo on the separate but parallel IC and GM&O lines through here until the mid-90’s.

As we are sitting facing roughly east at Bridgeport, the former Santa Fe would be to my immediate right. Off to the right of that coming in at an angle from the southwest would be the former GM&O, now the CNIC Joliet Sub. Along side of it is the CTA’s Orange Line "El" route. To my left is the very east end of IMX. The leads from IMX join number one main here using dual control power switches and are part of the entire Bridgeport interlocking. Until the mid-1990’s when the entire plant was reconfigured and simplified, there was a Control Operator at Bridgeport. His shanty was perched high above it all on top of the bridge itself. There were also two sets of signals on either side of the bridge, the signals mounted right at the bridge itself and then the signals on the outermost points of the interlocking.

The outer signals held trains outside the entire plant. The bridge signals directed you onto both either the tracks on the bridge itself and then the various tracks on either side. The signal at the bridge was a four aspect affair and had its aspects explained in the timetables of the respective railroads involved. There were puzzle switches placed on either side of the bridge to direct the movements anywhere through the plant. For those unfamiliar with the term puzzle switch, their name describes them to a T. They are highly complicated, mechanical or manual operated switches. There are numerous moving parts to them (such as numerous switch points) and they are very labor intensive to maintain and, of course, prone to failure. And it is also puzzling how such a complicated piece of hardware worked so well.

The aspects displayed on the bridge were as follows; the top aspect governed movements to the former GM&O tracks. The second aspect governed movements to the Santa Fe tracks. The third aspect governed movements to the IC tracks and the bottom signal governed movements against the current of traffic on the IC, into Bridgeport Yard and the east end of IMX.

Today, the Operator, signals on the bridge and puzzle switches are long gone. The only signals are ground mast signals at the outermost points of the plant. They are a little closer in to the works on the east side of the bridge, but about the same location west of the bridge. The Desk One Dispatcher controls all of this operation. The speed over the bridge was increased to 25 MPH with the removal of the puzzle switches.

After a wait of one hour and one minute for Metra trains 16 and 18 and Amtrak 303, we get the signal and are now on the move again at Bridgeport. The morning rush was screwed up owing to a suicide on the Joliet involving a Metra commuter train. Being there is only 8000 feet between Bridgeport and Cermak the next control point we encounter, the long trains CNIC insists on operating get harpooned in favor of the Metra and Amtrak trains that operate daily through Bridgeport. Of course, we are presently blocking Ash Street, so the NS and CSX are getting stabbed there while we sit and wait here. See how such situations seem to create a domino effect?

Bigger is better, right?

So as I mentioned, we are on the move. We get a diverging approach signal, red over yellow over red. With this signal we are going from track two to track two, but are actually crossing over to accomplish this task. Track two swings to the left past the signal and enters track one. There are two separate sets of crossover switches here and the Dispatcher had the option of crossing us over to two at the first or second set, depending upon what is going on here with regards to other moves. This offers greater flexibility. We then go from track one back to two at the western set of crossovers and head east.

The diverging approach signal tells me I can proceed on the diverging route not exceeding the maximum prescribed speed of the turnouts and prepared to stop before passing the next signal. Cermak is the next signal and it is a really dandy. More as we come up to it.

As we head across the bridge, we see the Bridgeport Yard lead to the far left. That is far left as we observe it physically not politically. To the right of the lead is the former GM&O southbound now downgraded to the status of storage or running track. The old GM&O northbound was removed between here and Cermak as part of the Bridgeport reconfiguration and the creation of Cermak as a control point. I’m certain there are many days they wish they had this track back too. To my right the Santa Fe single track is long gone. The track was rolled up in 1987 and the right of way graded and extended. Today this right of way plays host to the Chicago Transit Authority’s Orange Line that runs between downtown Chicago and Midway Airport on the city’s Southwest Side.

We wind around a right handed curve passing the west end of Bridgeport Yard itself. This yard is primarily used for industry support and for the transfer of cars between Hawthorne and Glenn Yards.

We swing back around to the left by the Halsted Street CTA station, under the Dan Ryan Expressway (I-94) up to Cermak. A cost effective pot signal system is in place at Cermak. These low mounted signals are literally squeezed in between the tracks which are in the curve. Including the angle of their positioning, the curve itself, the potential for another train to be on track one here and bright sun light, these signals can be extremely difficult to see. And being that we never get anything better than an approach or diverging approach signal at Bridgeport, we must approach Cermak prepared to stop before passing its signals.

We arrive at the Cermak interlocking. The road bearing the same name in honor of the late Chicago mayor Anton Cermak runs beneath the railroad here hence the name for this plant. Cermak is where the former GM&O was split. The east end of the storage track ties into the plant here. The remaining far eastern end of the double rack north and southbound mains connects to the Freeport Sub here as well. This short segment of these two tracks swings to the northeast and connect to Amtrak’s Chicago Terminal trackage to reach Union Station in downtown Chicago.

Upon our arrival at Cermak I observe a restricting (red over red over flashing red) displayed. This aspect means I can proceed up to the next signal, which in this case will be 21st Street and less than a quarter mile east of here. Restricting is best signal we normally get at Cermak. With this aspect displayed here, we can either go straight from track two to two or cross over from two to one. We can also cross all the way over the former GM&O from here, but with either a diverging approach (red over yellow over red) or diverging clear (red over green over red) aspect. The next signal for trains using the route towards Union Station is at 21st Street at the very north end of the former GM&O.

Our route keeps us on the IC side of things up to 21st Street which is only several hundred feet east of Cermak. We encounter a stop signal at 21st and I bring things to a halt at 0905 hours. And with this stop we will close today’s tour. I will continue the trip to Markham in the next episode so stay tuned.

For those of you in the Midwest, don’t forget the CNIC Santa Train this weekend, the 14th and 15th. I sent out the itinerary last week all across the Hot Times network and you should have all received it. Once again I’ll be working the Santa train this year and look forward to seeing many of you. Even if your kids are past Santa age or if you have no kids at all, come on out and say hello to Santa’s friendly helpers who staff the train and assist Santa in his journey through Central Illinois. There should be plenty of opportunities for pictures and a look around the cab of the engines.

And so it goes.

Tuch