Working rail roads and their tracks.

[jjeff]

The only place it could have come from is Chesterton, IN. I've seen similar trains go through New Buffalo, MI, but there is no way for those tracks to connect to each other except Chesterton.

The only next town north where there's a split is Hartford, MI., but that dies to the east, and the other fork continues up to Holland, MI., then splits east to Grand Rapids, MI, and north towards Port Sheldon, MI and there's a large coal power plant there. So I'm guessing it's heading there.

Consumers power plant J.H. Campbell perhaps. Supposed to close in 2025.

 

[MossRoad]

Yep, that's the one in Port Sheldon.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

Yep. They lay down a PVC drainage pipe next to the train and plumb the toilets into that. Don't know about water and electric, as I'd be trespassing to go down there and look the next time it's here. It freezes here, so I'm not sure what they'd do about that.

When my Dad worked for the NP B&B crew in the Northwest, they were housed in old converted wooden boxcars, 4 men to a car. What they did for restrooms back then, I don't know, but I remember him mentioning that they had a shower car. Later, shortly before and after the GN, NP, CP&Q merger they switched to modular housing units mounted to flat cars, sort of like a 10'x40' mobile home. They housed one or two men per car. My Dad had enough seniority to have one to himself. These had a propane stove, a refrigerator, a shower and a chemical toilet. I don't remember what they did with the gray water, but this was back in the seventies, so it probably drained onto the tracks.

 

[Hay Dude]

why are you guys talking about where workers take a dump on the rr tracks? lol

 

[gstrom99]

why are you guys talking about where workers take a dump on the rr tracks? lol

As a kid, in the early 60's, we would ride the railroad between Chicago and Benson, Minnesota. Great Northern and/or Chicago North Western lines, I believe. I remember (more than once) after flushing, I could see the rail bed zooming past underneath. It just dumped straight onto the tracks???

 

[jjeff]

As a kid, in the early 60's, we would ride the railroad between Chicago and Benson, Minnesota. Great Northern and/or Chicago North Western lines, I believe. I remember (more than once) after flushing, I could see the rail bed zooming past underneath. It just dumped straight onto the tracks???

Is that one of the first legs of the route known as the empire builder?

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

As a kid, in the early 60's, we would ride the railroad between Chicago and Benson, Minnesota. Great Northern and/or Chicago North Western lines, I believe. I remember (more than once) after flushing, I could see the rail bed zooming past underneath. It just dumped straight onto the tracks???

There were signs in the restrooms in the passenger cars, "Please Do Not Flush While the Train is in The Station." That was about 1960.

 

[jjeff]

I guess that's a new meaning to the word straight shooter lol

 

[gstrom99]

Is that one of the first legs of the route known as the empire builder?

Yes. I was only like 6 - 8 years old... I think we had those "warning signs" too.

 

[MossRoad]

I posted this in another thread, but thought it would be interesting to some in this thread as well, so pardon the duplication.

We've got the South Shore Line over here that runs between South Bend, IN and Chicago. Its passenger service is all overhead wire. About 90-100 miles of track. Some more is being built currently.

Then there's the Chicago South Shore and South Bend RR. That's a freight RR. All diesel electric now, but when I was a kid, they had Little Joe's. It originally built the South Shore Line and operated it until 1990. Now they are two separate entities, but share some trackage.

South Shore Line - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Little Joe (electric locomotive) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

From the article: (bold by me).

"

South Shore Line[edit]​

A South Shore Line unit in 1966
The South Shore, while primarily a commuter railroad between Chicago, Illinois, and northwestern Indiana, used them in freight service.[5] They were modified to operate on 1500 V DC catenary, and were delivered with roller bearings on all axles as on the Milwaukee EP-4s. In service on the South Shore the "Little Joe" name was not generally used; they were called "800s". Two of the three lasted until 1983, making them the last electrics in regular mainline freight service on a US common-carrier railroad. Today, freight trains are pulled by diesel-electric locomotives.

Two 800s survive today, 802 at the Lake Shore Railroad Museum, and 803 in running condition at the Illinois Railway Museum.[6]"