Service Disruptions

doepack wrote:And if the substance had actually been dangerous, it would've been transported seperately in a sealed container car (sometimes referred to as "tank" cars), complete with a red and white "hazmat" number.

Sometimes? I don't think I've ever heard a tank car called a "sealed container car." Hazardous materials are frequently carried in other types of cars too, such as box cars and covered hoppers. You are correct, though, that they must be placarded with the UN hazmat ID number.

Heritage Corridor train #21 hit a truck in Lemont tonight.


Heritage Corridor

Tran 21 which departed Union Station at 6:12pm with a scheduled arrival in Joliet of 7:14pm was involved in a Grade Crossing Accident at Boyer st in Lemont. At the present time there has been no injuries reported.

Passengers have been escorted to Lemont Station by Lemont Fire & Police where they will await, Metra arranged pick-up via BUS to their final destination. Buses are enroute.

At Approximately 8:35pm, Passengers HAVE continued their journey to Lockport & Joliet via bus.

Metra anticipates this incident will not affect service tommorow, June 22nd. Metra anticipates normal service will be restored for Thursday morning, the 22nd of June.

Please check the Metra Website for updates.

Metra will update you as information is made available.


#119 was the unit involved.

What are they going to run in its place?

Good question... maybe they'll snatch the extra locomotive off of RI's doubleheader (normally used for 406's equipment?)

102 ran on HC this morning. It was not taken off RI's double header, as #406 had two F40PH's. RI was messed up this morning due to "debris on the track" at Tinley Park, involving the deadhead which turns into train #416. The unit pulling the train was #407, half of the fence was gone at Tinley Park, and 407 and train ended up half way between Tinley and 80th Ave. before coming to a stop. Don't know what exactly the "debris" was.

While at Joliet today from 2:00 - 5:00, every train was behind schedule. I was not real close to the station at the time of the announcements, but I'll bet it had something to do with what happened this morning. Not a very good past few days for Metra...

Here is more information on what happened on RI Thursday in Tinley Park.

Cars damaged by rocks kicked up by Metra train in Tinley Park

Saturday, June 24, 2006

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Metra commuters who returned from downtown Chicago on Thursday to find their cars damaged by rocks and other debris should bypass the Tinley Park Police Department.
It had nothing to do with local kids.

The damage was caused by a Joliet-bound Rock Island commuter train that officials said hit a portion of damaged fencing that was leaning into its path.

The incident happened about 6:50 a.m. There were no reports of injuries.

"The train grabbed the fencing and pulled it underneath its undercarriage," Metra spokeswoman Meg Reile said. "We don't know why the fencing was in the right-of-way, but by the time the engineer saw it, she couldn't stop."

Once the fencing became entangled under the train, it started shooting rocks into the parking lot just west of Oak Park Avenue at 174th Street.

More than 40 vehicles were damaged.

The train — which had no passengers and was not scheduled to make any stops until it arrived in Joliet — was going 70 mph.

Reile said anyone whose vehicle was damaged should file a claim with Metra's risk management department at (312) 322-7074 or (312) 322-6994.

I was at Tinley Park spoting the New Rock job and noticed the fence missing. Thats why.

You have got to be kidding.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sectio ... id=4315812

"Metra train hits garbage truck, dumps load

Union Pacific West Line affected

A Metra train struck a garbage truck near the Kedzie station around 4 p.m. No serious injuries were reported. Metra officials said trains on the Union Pacific West Line are now moving through the area again."

People have become stupid to a point where Metra greatly threatens their daily existance.

yup, coming back from downtown was not fun today. My train was suppose to get into Elmhurst at 5:39 but didnt reach Elmhurst till around 6:20.

The accident actually occurred at the Kilbourn Ave. grade crossing, about 1 1/2 miles west of Kedzie, not far from UP's M19A locomotive facility. A garbage truck heading south on Kilbourn was trying to make a right turn after crossing the tracks, but was struck by Metra train 39 (1540 dep from OTC) when it somehow got stuck on the tracks, why it couldn't clear the crossing in time is still unclear. The accident also involved electrical workers working nearby in a cherry-picker, who apparently were hit chain-reaction style by the truck once it was hit by the train. Minor injuries were sustained by a few passengers and to the electrical workers, meanwhile, train service was disrupted for a little over an hour.

Due to the delays caused by the accident, outbound trains 43 and 59 were anullled, and 39's schedule was cancelled west of the accident site. Once the decision was made to annul 39, its passengers were picked up by trains 41 and 45, both of which made additional stops, while the equipment was eventually towed back to California yard. As for the rest of the evening rush, all outbound rush hour trains from 41 onward were routed onto track 2 around the accident site between Kedzie and River Forest, and all trains from 47 onward ran their regular schedules, about 45-60 min. late on average. Meanwhile, 56 was held west of the accident site for over an hour, and was not allowed to proceed east until the fleet of westbounds went through, which translated into an arrival downtown of over 90 min. late. Inbound trains 58, 60, and 62 were also anulled, to round out the madness...

While waiting in the south concourse of CUS earlier shortly after 5pm this afternoon (7/12), I noticed that the equipment for BNSF train 1265 (1716 dep to DG) was late arriving into the station. Meanwhile. the crowds were really starting to build on track 6, but it wasn't until 1720 or so when it was finally announced that the train would be delayed due to "mechanical difficulties", and that the delay could stretch up to 30 minutes. No other information was given.

I don't understand why it took so long for the announcement to be made regarding the delay, but I immediately had questions. When exactly were the mechanical issues identified? At what point did it become apparent that the train would be delayed? Was the equipment in the yard, or still en route eastbound? Remember, you've got hundreds of people still on the platform, getting more and more crowded by the minute, and by the time the delay was announced, everybody began spilling back into the vestibule to find alternate trains, many of whom were blocking the path of a steady, unrelenting stream of other commuters trying to catch their trains as well. Quite chaotic. Perhaps there was a break in the communication chain somewhere, and since I don't ride BNSF often, it's possible this could've been an isloated incident, but I do hope Metra/BNSF's practice of informing passengers of delays 5 minutes AFTER a scheduled departure during rush hours isn't the norm...

I noticed when I got to CUS around 5:10pm that the equipment for train #1265 had not arrived on track 6. Eventually, the equipment arrived shortly before 5:20. I did notice that #1265 did have two F40PHM-2's on the point, although I don't remember the units on this particular train. This particular set is not double headed. So, it must have been a locomotive problem.

#1265's equipment does originate at 14th St. It does its run to D.G. Fairview, flips, then returns to CUS to become #1287, the final BNSF express of the evening at 6:50pm. Realizing that the equipment had not arrived, I was thinking that #1271 would make extra stops from LaGrange through Highlands, but that wasn't the case.

According to the Metra web site, the problem with #1265 was posted at 5:20pm. No other info was posted.

MetraBNSF wrote:I noticed when I got to CUS around 5:10pm that the equipment for train #1265 had not arrived on track 6. Eventually, the equipment arrived shortly before 5:20. I did notice that #1265 did have two F40PHM-2's on the point, although I don't remember the units on this particular train. This particular set is not double headed. So, it must have been a locomotive problem

I was hoping you'd weigh in on this, and provide the needed clarity. Thanks...

Here is an interesting pic of 178 which was involved in that grade crossing accident on UP.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=152202