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| Satellite |
MJ = Manufacturers' Junction Railway
BRC = Belt Railway Company of Chicago
CB&Q = Chicago, Burlington and Quincy
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| Forgotten Railways, Roads & Places posted Immediately east of Cicero, IL, an abandoned transfer track from the #BNSF Racetrack. Image taken aboard a train. #abandonedrailway #urbex #history #chicago#illinois Dennis DeBruler Looking south. The tracks still exist. But I can believe they have not been used recently. https://www.google.com/.../@41.8451034,-87.../data=!3m1!1e3 Forgotten Railways, Roads, and Places That imagery is from 2017. I actually watched them tear up this track. It's not to say BNSF won't rebuild this section, but as of now the track is gone. Dennis DeBruler Forgotten Railways, Roads, and Places A "stale" satellite image. Thanks for the update. Dennis DeBruler That Unilever Best Foods building in the background used to be a very common architectural style in Chicago for industrial buildings. https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/.../continental... |
In this topo map it is clear that Manufaturers' Junction used to have a connection to the east end of CB&Q's Clyde (Cicero) Yard. Since MJ connected to BRC, there were connections between CB&Q and BRC in three of the four possible quadrants.
During a commuter trip into town on Oct 21, 2016, I took photos to the south as I went through this crossing.
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on a post There used to be (1929 Englewood Quadrant) a lot of industry and spurs in that area. The upper-left corner was Western Electrics Hawthorne Works. https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/.../western... |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on a post Some remnants of Manufacturers' Junction Railway, including the roundhouse, still exist in a satellite image. That railroad served the Hawthorne Works. https://www.google.com/.../@41.8461157,-87.../data=!3m1!1e3 |
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| 20161021 6513 |
Given the power lines in the photo below, this derailment happened on the far end of the outside curved connector in the above photo.
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| David Milior posted Oops! Looks like a severe run-in. Engineer slammed the jammer and the rear car weight popped the cars off the track. East hole, BNSF Cicero yard. This leads up to the Belt Railway of Chicago. Joseph Teixeira: How do you know it was the engineer’s fault? Keith Huff: Joseph Teixeira it was. He admitted to what he did. He had the signal to enter the main line but the switch operator did have the right line up. The engineer slammed the independent brakes on. These were mt cars are within 10 cars of the locomotives. The train was 9000 feet long. When they come off the Belt Railway of Chicago, there is a significant decline of about 2500 feet to the crossing. This has happened before. I work the Chicago division. The three covered hoppers were pulled over onto their trucks all at the same time. A Trainmaster had a video of it. [This is an example of the "Swiss cheese" model of accidents. In this case the holes lined up in two slices. The first slice is that a turnout and signal disagreed. The second slice is that the engineer used his independent (locomotive) brake rather than the train (air) brake. One could argue that a 9,000' long train, which is way over a mile, is a third slice. Most junctions have interlocks so that the signals and turnouts can't disagree. Even junctions built in the 19th Century had interlocks. So a fourth slice would be a brain-dead junction.] |
Here is a better view of the location of the above accident. The tower in the distant center background is the clock tower from the former Western Electric Hawthorne Works.
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| Street View, Oct 2024 |
Back to the commuter train ride through the junction.
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| Nick Hart posted BNSF train S LACNSA didn't quite meet the requirements of the height restriction at the BRC bridge in Cicero. 40 cars suffered significant damage and the bridge also suffered structural damage. Cargo is littered on and around the tracks, ranging from paper towels to boxes of cereal. A WSOR grain train is tied down on the BRC main above and likely won't be going anywhere until the bridge is inspected. 02-14-21 Stan Stanovich: ...got word of it this morning John, train destined for Ashland Avenue!!! [It is nice to see that at least BNSF and NS do a steel-wheel interchange of containers.] |
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| Matt Hovey commented on Nick's post Wasn't the first time, won't be the last. You see how much lower m4 m5 are at this angle |
The are more photos in the comments on Matthew Linhart's post.
Walt Del Calle: This was a through train that normally runs on the Santa Fe.
[I had seen a comment that the crew was unfamiliar with this route. This explains why. It doesn't explain why there wasn't a pilot. But some Facebook comments indicate that the crew had paper work that would explain which tracks to use for double stacks. You would think if they were on a new route they would have been more diligent about reading their paperwork, not less.]
In the comments on this post the opinion is that if a crew gets orders to do something stupid, the crew should push back using a medium (e.g. radio) that will be recorded and if they are still told to do something stupid, they do something stupid. But I doubt if the crew pushed back in this case. If they knew there was a problem, then they would not have pulled 3/4 of a mile of train under the bridge.
Twisted Truckers posted three photos.
Justin Hughes shared
Ridge Abbott: Good to know the pins work .
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| 1, cropped |
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| 2, cropped |
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| 3, cropped Keith Huff: It is in our subdivision general notices not to have high wides go under this bridge. We are to take them down main 4 or 5. This was main 3. I was going west bound yesterday with my train and saw this train waiting at an opposing signal about noon. This location is BNSF Chicago subdivision and the bridge is the Belt Railway of Chicago. This is just east of Cicero Blvd. 3/4 mile of train went under and 64 containers destroyed. Dylan Fadda: Keith Huff so, this would be a dispatching error? Keith Huff: Dylan Fadda yes, but also the crew's as it is in the written directives not to go under the bridge with high cars. There is also a huge sign 1/4 mike away above the tracks saying this. Kevin James Cox: Dylan Fadda whether you hit one or 25 the penalty is still the same. Keith Huff: Terrence Owen about an half mile ahead is a large sign on a pedestrian bridge warning that high car trains not to use main1,2,3. Also, it is in our directive paperwork. The dispatcher is supposed to know and line the train for either main 4 or 5. The crew, if they did their job correctly, would of not took the signal that directed them straight ahead on main 3. They should call the dispatcher to line them for the correct track. Pettigrew Arriel: I'm just glad the crew wasn't hurt. Not their fault, it's the dispatcher. Timothy Leppert: Pettigrew Arriel no, the crews fault. Timothy Leppert: The Belt owns the bridge. The BN lowered some of the tracks and put up warning signs, as well as put it in the Special Instructions. The Crew obviously missed those things. |
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| Keith Huff commented on the third photo, cropped |
