LeMoyne Junction: BRC vs CN/GM&O/Alton

(no CRJ, Satellite)

(Update: This GM&O crossing, along with the Santa Fe crossing, was considered just one junction, Leymone, by BRC. But I'm keeping this GM&O posting and the Santa Fe Nerska posting separate because most railfan photos are of one crossing or the other. Many people consider LeMoyne to be the GM&O crossing because GM&O evidently also used that name whereas Santa Fe used the name Nerska for their crossing.)

Arthur Gross Flickr photos: looking South from the Stevenson,     looking North from grade level (You can see the top of the bridge in the background under ther Stevenson overpass.)

Dan Quinlan posted
Chicago, Il looking north bridge is over sanitary shipping canal! Pre I55 @ Cicero ave Lemoyne/Nerska interlocker. BNSF (AT&SF) crosses e-w!

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

CreateProgram, GS9

John DeWit Woodlock II posted two photos with the comment: "CC 8033,1593,1788 @ LeMoyne Jct-Chicago,IL 13 FEB 96." Note the BRC Bridge over the Sanitary & Ship Canal in the background of the first photo.

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You may wonder what a photo at the Ash Street Crossing with the 8-track bridge in the background is doing in the Lemoyne Junction notes. The reason is because of the comment saying the GM&O train was coming from BRC. This train is northeast of Glenn Yard and BRC's Clearing Yard is south of Glenn Yard. The comments taught me that this train probably delivered a transfer cut to C&NW or Milwaukee Road and is headed south to Glenn Yard via Brighton Park. The comments also indicate that transfers from Glenn Yard to Clearing Yard require a backing (shoving) move. I noticed the caboose is an example of a transfer caboose, not a road caboose.

David Daruszka edited a photo posted by Bill Molony

Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Alco RS-1 #1107 returning empty handed to Glenn Yard after setting out a cut of cars on the Belt Railway of Chicago - August 10, 1971.

Dennis DeBrulerYou and 1 other manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Chicago Railroad Historians. That is on the CSX/B&OCT tracks of the 8-track bridge. I can't think of what BRC would have had north of there. https://www.google.com/.../@41.8370426,-87.../data=!3m1!1e3

David DaruszkaDavid and 1 other manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Chicago Railroad Historians. BOCT to Forest Hill then on to the BRC.

Dennis DeBrulerYou and 1 other manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Chicago Railroad Historians. Bob Lalich There is not a northwest connector at Lemoyne Junction, so maybe the Alton-BRC transfers did take a circle tour of Chicagoland using the B&OCT. A missing connection now doesn't mean there wasn't one in 1971. But there was no connection in 1938 because of the I&M Canal. Track not existing in 1938 generally means track did not exist in 1971. http://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/.../lemoyne...

Bob Lalich There was a connecting track between GM&O and BRC in the SE quadrant at Lemoyne. I think GM&O transfers would have set out at Lemoyne, but could have gone to Clearing via that connection. A GM&O light train SB at Ash St likely delivered to CNW or Milwaukee Road and was returning to home rails at Brighton Park.

Dennis DeBrulerYou and 1 other manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Chicago Railroad Historians. I see the caboose is an example of a transfer caboose instead of a road caboose.

Zaky Joseph posted four photos with the comment: "Older BRC action, around Lemoyne, and in the west yard."

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Ken Schmidt posted
While accidents are unpleasant, they are indeed part of the railroad story.
Here (and here being where the ICG crosses the BRC in Chicago) in 1990, an IC job was going east and did not see the signals due to the sun angle.
It was a GTW train they hit which was on it's way to the BN.
No injuries as I recall.
Dennis DeBruler Was the BRC crossing the former ICwest or former GM&O?
Ken Schmidt It was the former GM&O.

Bob Kalal posted three Howard Castellucio photos of trains on the bridge. Some more photos by Howard labelled as Lemoyne.

WSOR/Milw South Bridge over Rock River in Janesville, WI

(Bridge Hunter, 3D Satellite)

WSOR = Wisconsin & Southern

Steven J. Brown shared
Soo Line 1003 crossing the Rock River on her way into Janesville, Wisconsin - August 13, 2017.

It's nice to see a steam locomotive being run properly so that there is not a lot of black smoke pouring out of the smokestack.

The steam locomotive is returning from a charity event near Galewood for the Shriners Hospitals for Children - Chicago. Metra helped because the engine used the Western Avenue Yard for servicing. A couple of summers ago, Metra ran excursions on a former-Milwaukee route with the steam locomotive NKP 765.

I had to study the satellite image because there are two former-Milwaukee routes through Janesville, and they both cross the rock river. But only the southern bridge is surrounded by green. Base on the the bridge abutment in the photo, I concluded that Steve took the picture from the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.

Metra/Milwaukee Western Avenue Yard

(Satellite, Street View)

Roundhouse: (Satellite)

I had my daughter drive me around the Chicago area so that I could take pictures of bridges, etc. We went up Pulaski Road past UP/C&NW's 40th Street Yard, but it was elevated and my view was bad. We headed east again on Chicago Avenue. Because of cars on Grand Avenue waiting at the traffic light, this is the best shot I got of Metra's Western Avenue Yard.

20150502 0583

I see I did catch a sand tower, something I've recently started labeling after someone asked why do engines need sand. We can also see the western bridge in this yard that provides power hook ups to the commuter cars when they are parked in the coach yard. I discussed these bridges in detail in BNSF/CB&Q Aurora Commuter Train Yard.

Mark Llanuza posted
Milwaukee Rd coach yard in Dec 1972 along Grand Ave Chicago IL.
[This has a good view of the wash rack.]
James Wagner: The building where all the supplies for the passenger trains where kept.
William Lloyd: It had a walk in freezer the size of my first house.
Gerald Valinske: I still remember my 1st back up movement from there to the bumper in union station.

 

Steven J. Brown posted
From the lens of Roger Koscik:
Milwaukee Road/Nortran F40Cs 42, 47 and 53 (built 1974, became Metra 602, 607 and 613) at at the Western Avenue Coach Yard in Chicago, Illinois - June 1975. Collection of Bob Koscik.
Steven J. Brown shared

Rob C Dargan posted

This was the first view I got that made me realize that we were passing the Milwaukee yard that Metra got when it bought the Milwaukee tracks in the Chicagoland area when Milwaukee went bankrupt. The big Metra sign on the relatively new engine service building was a big clue that I was passing their yard. Below are some street views from Grand Avenue.

Street View

Street View, zoomed
[So this is where they keep their cute little switching engines.]

Looking at a satellite image, I wondered if that big parking lot south of the Metra yard used to be part of the Milwaukee yard. This 1938 aerial photo shows that the parking lot land was indeed part of the Milwaukee yard. (The rail yard just south of the parking lot is the UP/C&NW California Yard, and it also stores and services commuter trains.)

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Mike Breski posted
Milwaukee Rd E-9’s Western Ave round house & turntable 1979, by Mark LLanuza on Flickr.
Milwaukee Road roundhouse, Western Avenue, Chicago.
May 1979
Photo by Mark L Lanuza
Dennis DeBruler Thanks for including the Flickr link.
I didn't remember where this roundhouse was, so I looked it up. It was by Chicago Avenue and Sacramento Blvd. It still shows in a 1984 aerial. But it is gone in a 1988 aerial.
[I included the above 1938 aerial in this comment.]

Michael Riha shared the Grève des trains - USA - 1946. album. The caption shows the photo number in that album.

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David Daruszka Milwaukee Road Western Ave.Coach Yard and roundhouse.
Jeff Delhaye image is reversed.
Bob Lalich Here is the correct orientation.
Dennis DeBruler C&NW California Yard in the upper-right corner of the corrected version.
Dennis DeBruler The three smokestacks around the roundhouse caught my eye. Then the more I looked, the more smokestacks I found. The smokestacks are a reminder that the coaches were steam heated back then and that there was a coach yard.
Dennis DeBruler The coach side is still a coach yard, now owned by Metra. The freight side is now a parking lot for the Chicago Auto Pond.
Dennis DeBruler The overpasses for nine tracks over Sacramento Blvd. still exist. But the pair on the south side now support just vegetation.

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David Daruszka View east towards downtown Chicago along the C&NW's Illinois Division tracks. The yard in the center is the California Ave. Coach Yard. The Milwaukee Road tracks branch off to the left of center.Harvey Kahler Downtown skyline changes; and so have the trains!
Timothy Pitzen David Daruszka, if I remember correctly, the yard to the right, or south, of the C&NW main was the Pennsy coach yard. Also, the haze may be exaggerated by the old style film which was more sensitive to blue wavelengths which tends to accentuate haze.
Dennis DeBruler I always wondered where the Panhandle yards were.
David Daruszka The Sanborn maps show Panhandle freight yards as being in the area between the Rockwell Jct. wye. There were also yards closer to downtown adjacent to the Milwaukee Road tracks. The Panhandle had a freight house at Sangamon Street.
Doug Smith Tower A-2 is just about dead center.

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David Daruszka C&NW California Ave. Coach Yard. Milwaukee Road tracks and yard to the left. C&NW's Rockwell Branch is above the Coach Yard.
Harvey Kahler Both Rockwell and Panhandle (PCCC&StL) head off top right (south).
David Daruszka This was also the route, for a brief time, for the B&O passenger trains when they left Grand Central and moved to the C&NW's Madison Street Terminal.

Jeff Lewis shared

Metra's Western Avenue yard on the Milwaukee District. Shot from above during the evening rush on May 7, 2019.

Kićo Botić image, ©KB Digital

Marty Bernard posted
I took this next to the Western Ave. interlocking plant in Chicago where the Milwaukee Road tracks form Union Station cross the C&NW west line tracks and head north. This is all behind me too my right. The C&NW coach yard lead also enters here. My camera is pointed west and a little north. The evening commuter rush is in full swing. It's maybe 6:00 on August 21, 1989. The scoot to right is exiting the coach yard headed to the C&NW station. The scoot to the left whizzed by me a few seconds ago at track speed with commuters headed to the western suburbs. In between is a local freight job doing its thing. There are still a few commuter train sets in the yard. The interlocking is very busy this time of day. I bet it handled 40 trains an hour while I was there that perfect-weather late afternoon.
Marty Bernard shared

David Janin posted five photos with the comment: "More of western Ave.. Bob Janin photos."

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Tim Starr posted
MILW in Chicago

BNSF/GN Bridge over Columbia River near Rock Island, WA

(Bridge Hunter, Historic Bridges, Satellite)

Photo taken by Aaron Hockley, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)
From Flickr from Bridge Hunter

Harvey Henkelmann posted

BNSF crosses the mighty Columbia River at Rock Island, WA.

Bridge was built in 1892 for the Great Northern Railway, increased traffic and weight of trains necessitated reinforcing the main span with an outside truss in 1925 hence it's unique appearance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/…/Rock_Island_Railroad_Bridge_(Col…

Aaron Hockley photo

Chris Blankenship posted
The former Great Northern Railway
Bruce Grover: I was the track inspector for the area for 7 years. Beautiful area. All kinds of neat experiences. Including, boats loaded with people sunbathing! That was always eye opening! Funny thing, a couple of times I wouldn’t even have noticed except they were scrambling to cover up! Ha ha ha!
Christopher Clipper: Chris, there was a fire on that bridge back in August 1985. BN detoured their trains via Stampede Pass.

Andre Tardif shared

Steven J. Brown posted
Westbound Burlington Northern freight with stuff for Boeing crossing the Columbia River at Rock Island, Washington - June 23, 1991.
Steven J. Brown shared

 

Steven J. Brown posted
Southern Pacific 4449 and BNSF 4449 pull a BNSF Employee Appreciation Special across the Columbia River at Rock Island, Washington - July 17, 2000.

A 1925 construction photo showing how temporary trusses were used to anchor the two halves of the main span while each half was being constructed.

Jim Kleeman posted
In the early morning a partially dressed BNSF 4837 strides across the Columbia River at Rock Island, WA. The dispatcher referred to the Seattle - Chicago intermodal as the "Sea Chicken" when it left Wenatchee a few minutes earlier. Someone has a sense of humor early in the morning. 740 AM 9/13/1998

That appears to be a really massive pier in the middle of the river.

 

Motojw Photography posted
The Rock Island Railroad Bridge was built in 1892 for the Great Northern Railway. Bridging the Columbia River was an important component in completing Great Northern's transcontinental link the following year.
Jason Wiegand shared

Jon Bentz posted
BNSF C44-9W 5093on the point of an eastbound stack train crossing the Columbia River as Rock Island, WA. The bridge over the river is unusual in that it is a bridge within a bridge. The original 1898 structure is on the inside while a second truss built around the first is on the outside. Strengthened in the early 1920's to handle the increased loads of newer locomotives. 2012
George Werkema: Excellent photo, Jon . It looks like the north end of the bridge, with Malaga on the opposite side.
Larry Simon: I don’t see H1 painted ES44s much. The photo looks like a very well done model railroad. It’s perfect.
Allan Hackman: An interesting structure and an unusual cut (almost looks like a gravel esker running along the river). Does anyone know if they added piles at the time the bridge was strengthened or if they just welded the new beams onto the existing superstructure?

Marc Dufour shared a Flickr link. The Center for Railroad Photography has slapped a copyright on John F. Bjorklund's work. Bummer!

Scott Tanner commented on Marc's share
An early view .... (c1905 or so)

The above, cropped

Scott Tanner uploaded a six page Railway Review article about this page. In case the link is not permanent, it is stored as "Railway Review_May 1 1926" in the Files section of the RAILROAD BRIDGES, TRESTLES, TUNNELS AND CUTS group.

Motojw Photography posted
Rock Island Railroad Bridge
The bridge was originally built in 1892 for the Great Northern Railway and was the first bridge to span the Columbia River. The site was chosen at Rock Island, Washington for being the shortest distance between the banks of the Columbia River in Washington State. Description: https://en.wikipedia.org/…/Rock_Island_Railroad_Bridge_(Col…
Maggie Huggins Love this. You have once again captured water moving.

Jason Wiegand shared
Warren Caudle The story of the second bridge wrapping the first is interesting also.

Motojw Photography posted
Rock Island, WA

Jason Wiegand shared
John W Chamberlain: That is a most unusual bridge.....It is a railroad bridge built around another railroad bridge. The original bridge was getting old and could not be torn down and replaced so the railroad (GNRR) built a bridge around the first bridge. You can see the structure of both bridges if you look close. Also, see the island in the river? The BN and then the BNSF would like to use that island as a place to install footings for a new bridge to replace the one in the picture. It would streamline the track very nicely. The south bank of the river has an undulating and curvy and has very servier curves that require the train traffic to slow way down.

Jason Wiegand

Author

http://www.bigbendrailroadhistory.com/.../1926...