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Also, the ТЭМ2 series was directly based on the Alco RSD-1, examples of which had been sent to the Soviet Union during World War II. It's ironic indeed that designs that vanished from the American rail scene persisted in the USSR and its successors. Then again, the Hungarian State Railways, at the h...

The north-south tracks carry Amtrak and Metra Heritage Corridor trains (along with BNSF, CN, and UP freight). The east-west track is for Metra's Rock Island service, with CSX and IAIS freight traffic. The fenced-off platform was formerly used for Metra/Rock Island trains, until the new platform was ...

I was hoping they'd drop 402 off in Bensenville and take it to Victory Auto Wreckers, but no such luck.

I saw it roll past my office, both outbound and return. I was wondering where it was going.

Now we just need IDOT to do the needed rebuilding of the Irving Park Rd. / York Rd. intersection and we can actually drive under the new bridge (currently closed under the bridge after several trucks ignored low clearance signs and hit it all in the first few hours after the bridge was put in it's ...

Ah, that would make sense, then. That was a string of empties on its way to Blue Island.

Earlier this afternoon, I saw what would normally be a typical IAIS ethanol train roll past on the Metra/Rock Island tracks - except that it had a pair of Norfolk Southern GEVOs instead of IAIS power. I'm wondering if these are borrowed units, or some sort of run-through operation?

This is Illinois we're talking about, so I wouldn't be surprised if some well-placed cronies stand to make a mint if the new seats are approved.

I recall travelling from France to Spain a few years back. At the border crossing the wheels of the coaches changed gauge in just a few minutes without most of us on the train even noticing. I thought it was actually quite common to have this sort of automatic change of gauge on the axles, and that...

In Illinois they run a loco on the rear as a way to help a move. Daily the Q556 and Q 557 run with a unit on the rear. Not being used as power until it does its flip to come back. I've noticed that the CSX trains on the New Rock Subdivision (Joliet-Utica via Metra/RI) often have one of their GP15T ...

It could be the inverters that power the AC traction motors. Does the hum change in pitch and/or timbre?

The Monticello Railway Museum (Monticello, IL) has a GMD F7, painted as WAB 1189, which they use for excursions.

That would quite likely be the branch (now owned by Gazprom) from the RZD Kotlas-Labytnangi line beginning at Obskaya just west of Labytnangi, and serving the massive gas developments at Bovanenkovo in the Yamal Peninsula. Meanwhile, just to the east across the Ob River, is the city of Salekhard, wh...

CN/IC still controls the tracks from Chicago to Joliet Union Station. I don't recall that portion ever having CPLs. To the south, it is now UP (ex-SP, ex-Gateway Western, ex-Chicago, Missouri and Western). The CPLs began at Mazonia Junction just north of Gardner, and there were also some on the deto...

Note that in AC circuits, watts = volts * amps * power factor. A purely resistive load such as a heating element or an incandescent lamp has a power factor of 1.0, but inductance, capacitance, or semiconductor devices (triacs, IGBTs, etc.) will reduce the power factor. This is why you can sometimes ...