Metra Locomotive Assignments And Maintenance

MetraRy wrote:not to get to far of the subject but the bn dosent seem to dispatch that well during afternoon rushhours either. For some reason there nolonger seems to be a frieght curfew. The 5:16 has been forced to follow the 5:08 local twice in the last two weeks because there is a frieght on the inbound main which forces the inbounds to run center track. Also trains after 5:30 always seem to be running 10 minutes late due to a late turn of equitment.

Sounds like BN as usual the only trains they never bolch up is the ZCHCSSE, ZSSECHC, Amtrak 3,4,5 and 6.

What F40PH's does UP have? Yesterday I noticed 125, which used to be assigned to MILW. Is that a permanent change or is it only because some UP F40's are being rebuilt?

As far as i know 125 and 126 has been on the up since last summer.And 180 has been on the up for sometime.So the up has 125 to 180 as far as i know.

401 is on BNSF.

On the way to the south suburbs yesterday afternoon I saw #407 shoving RI inbound train #420 at Gresham.

Hopefully 407 runs on Sunday. 412 ran #420 today, I also saw 408 and 410. Train #407 which runs on Sunday had an MP36 but I was not able to see the number, so it had to be either 407 or 409.

407 made a nice Sunday appearance on RI today. As soon as I left 80th Ave. Metra Police pulled in, must have been just a coincidence..

407 was also the first MP36 to run solo on RI back in 2003 when RI ran extra trains for the MED bridge fire.

Today's 407 Pic:
http://www.metxpix.com/mp36ph-3s/407.htm

metraRI wrote:When was the last time 181-184 were used on a 9-10 car train on BNSF?

183 ran train #1251 yesterday afternoon. It also ran trains #1204, #1205, and #1252 this morning. This is a 10-car Downers Grove/Naperville express.

In case anyone is keeping track of such things, I saw what appeared to be a very recently rebuilt 159 on UP-NW #612 this morning. Looked quite nice in fresh shiny paint.

Has 104 been in service on MILW? Here is a pic from a Yahoo Group that shows 104 pulling a private car in Spaulding.


Photo Copyright micor2135

My contact at Metra told me that when 411 moves to RI that 412 will move to MILW. Why, I don't know...This is only what I've heard.

That said, with 412 possibly moving back to MILW, might 100 or 101 move back to RI?

RI does not need 100, 101 or 102-104 for that matter. 407-411 were basicly placed on RI so F40's could move to another district for SWS/NCS expansion. When the derailment happened with 409 and 411, it was around the time another MP36 would be sent to RI, so it is still unclear weather 412 belongs on RI or not. If it is going back to MILW, I don't know why it didn't go back with 413. RI also picked up 202 from BNSF when BNSF got their MP36's.

Well, I remind you that BnSF got 205 so all in all it evens out. Maybe 412 didn't go back to MILW because, for a reason unknown to us, it needed to stay on RI? Besides, the MP36's don't need to go on the expanded service; that's why we have F40PH's. the MP36's are ment for running all day, where as the F40PH's can run a trip or two to Orland Park.

I'm throwing out a guess and saying 205, like 408..will most likely not be a permanent resident on BNSF....all though, I don't miss seeing an additional M on RI.

The only lines that have MP36's running full time every day are MILW's. BNSF and RI have most MP36's sitting at downtown yards waiting for rush hour. Don't forget SWS will technically be longer than BNSF in December, even if only 4 trains a day will go to Manhattan.

Have any F40's been retired yet? And, if so, where are they now?