New Cars II

8585 ran UP west train 47/62 and 71, and later 16 tomorrow morning. Link to audio:
http://www.ctrgroup.net/recordings/METX ... -13-05.mp3

8451 was still on RI today. It is now being used 2nd from the loco...in place of a 7400.

8589, 8512, 8230, and 8501 are cuppled together along with 3 other cars on MILW West. This morning they ran tran 2202 with 422 pushing.

Okay, I saw that train this afternoon as it winged it's way into Elgin. Didn't get much of a glimpse though.

What train was that set running on? That should give me some kind of an idea as to if I can get it today sometime.

How many Pullman cars on UP are still left running? After looking at this pic, I only see 5 Pullman cars out of 9 UP-W trains. What is the latest 6100?

8590 was a milw line train in was second car to the end of the train. Dont know what line it was on.

Why are the newest 8500's going to the MILW routes when they are just going to be assigned to the Union Pacific? To me it just seems like extra switching as the new cars are coming to Metra via Union Pacific.

My only guess is testing, as Metra may want to test the newest cars for defects before shipping them off to another railroad. But I question that because the new cabs are being used as trailors rather than leading.

As of Saturday 8587 to 8590 were running on the milw lines. My friend told me 8591 and 92 will be here in the next week. So ever one look out for them.

metra 613 wrote:As of Saturday 8587 to 8590 were running on the milw lines. My friend told me 8591 and 92 will be here in the next week. So ever one look out for them.

It appears now that 8500s are going to BNSF/HC/SWS. As of this afternoon, 8591 and 8592 were parked under Roosevelt Rd. at the 14th St. facility. In addition, a Metra switcher towed 7424, 7426, 704, and one or two other former CB&Q bilevels to Western Ave. Also, control cars 8447 and 8448 which were on BNSF trains and formerly on UP were not to be found. The K5LAs on these two 8400s had two chimes removed.

Are there any 8500's on the BNSF already? Someone reported to me a week or two ago that he thought he saw a 6000-series trailer on the BNSF, but since those are supposed to all be going to the UP, I assume he actually saw a cab. But he may have simply mistaken a 7400/8400.

MikeF wrote:Are there any 8500's on the BNSF already? Someone reported to me a week or two ago that he thought he saw a 6000-series trailer on the BNSF, but since those are supposed to all be going to the UP, I assume he actually saw a cab. But he may have simply mistaken a 7400/8400.

8591 and 8592 were appearantly delivered to 14th St. today. They were not there yesterday. I also thought I saw a 6000-series trailer on BNSF about a week ago. It was reported that 8500s are too tall for track 2 at CUS and 8400s also have clearance problems which explains why chimes were removed from the K5LAs. Which makes me think if the 8500s will be relegated to HC and SWS or if BNSF will use them as well.

I don't know what Metra plans to do for SWS's new trains starting in December, but SWS trains rarely if ever use track 2 in CUS so I guess 8500's would work for them. If BNSF does eventually get 8500's, what was the point of giving UP 8578-8587(?)? Its interesting to watch Metra's car and locomotives assignments because sometimes you see the unexpected.

metraRI wrote:I don't know what Metra plans to do for SWS's new trains starting in December, but SWS trains rarely if ever use track 2 in CUS. If BNSF does eventually get 8500's, what was the point of giving UP 8578-8587(?)? Its interesting to watch Metra's car and locomotives assignments because sometimes you see the unexpected.

Tracks 2-12 are all BNSF.

Right now, there's 185 running on HC, 205 running on BNSF, 181-184 all have run each of BNSF/HC/SWS over the past few weeks, BNSF moved the double headed engines to different trainsets, and now 8500s showing up. Lots going on.

Little off topic..but, what track does the 4:30 SWS train use. Track 14 all ready has the 7 car 4:57 SWS train on it, and track 16 has the 4:50 and 5:25 HC sets waiting to depart. Even though I don't like F40PHM-2's, I wish BNSF would put one on SWS, it would be nice to see something different once in a while.