Uploaded August 2009 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
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So this was a fun day. It started with me sleeping in, which was a nice rarity for me, then being treated like a Mexican by my dad, doing really hard landscaping work for really low pay, then my bestest train spotting buddy in the world called me and said that there was a red for a Freeport bound train on the CN Freeport Sub. With this info I snatched the car and got to the tracks in record time. While driving Larry called me and said that a hi-rail truck came through, this made me angry, because that piece of info would solve the puzzle as to why the signal was red, but the signal remained red the truck passed. Larry was stationed at North and Addison in Villa Park, and I was coming up from Route 53. So I went to the signals right next to RT 53 in Addison on Swift road, and sure enough, it was green for a south/east Chicago bound train, and red for a north/west Freeport bound train. I called Larris, told him the exciting news, and got down to where he was at North and Addison. After waiting for about a half hour, we hear talk on the scanner, referring to "IC 1036 East." They were calling the new crew out, delivered by the hi-railer, and were told to depart at dispatcher command. About 15 minutes later, they were given permission to head east into Hawthorne. "IC 1036 depart east at your will into Hawthorne yard from MP Mile Post 30 3 dash 0." The crew replied, "Thank you dispatcher we're going to perform a break test and get on the move." I haven't the slightest clue why they would perform a break test, but I guess something must have happened before MP30. A few minutes after that, lights come from around the curve, and both Larris and myself freaked out. I started planning shots, and right when I got my first idea, the signals were triggered. I look down the tracks, and he was flying through the poorly maintained rails. So I got my grab shot, which I didn't want, but was still very happy to see an IC EMD SD70 lead two NS GE C40-9W's. It's not every day where the engines to your train only consist of black and white IN THIS AREA... matt...
~Villa Park, IL
8/9/09
=-=-=CLICK HERE FOR THE PICTURE ON FLICKR=-=-=
flickr.com/photos/chicagorailfan/3805897385/in/photostream
So this was a fun day. It started with me sleeping in, which was a nice rarity for me, then being treated like a Mexican by my dad, doing really hard landscaping work for really low pay, then my bestest train spotting buddy in the world called me and said that there was a red for a Freeport bound train on the CN Freeport Sub. With this info I snatched the car and got to the tracks in record time. While driving Larry called me and said that a hi-rail truck came through, this made me angry, because that piece of info would solve the puzzle as to why the signal was red, but the signal remained red the truck passed. Larry was stationed at North and Addison in Villa Park, and I was coming up from Route 53. So I went to the signals right next to RT 53 in Addison on Swift road, and sure enough, it was green for a south/east Chicago bound train, and red for a north/west Freeport bound train. I called Larris, told him the exciting news, and got down to where he was at North and Addison. After waiting for about a half hour, we hear talk on the scanner, referring to "IC 1036 East." They were calling the new crew out, delivered by the hi-railer, and were told to depart at dispatcher command. About 15 minutes later, they were given permission to head east into Hawthorne. "IC 1036 depart east at your will into Hawthorne yard from MP Mile Post 30 3 dash 0." The crew replied, "Thank you dispatcher we're going to perform a break test and get on the move." I haven't the slightest clue why they would perform a break test, but I guess something must have happened before MP30. A few minutes after that, lights come from around the curve, and both Larris and myself freaked out. I started planning shots, and right when I got my first idea, the signals were triggered. I look down the tracks, and he was flying through the poorly maintained rails. So I got my grab shot, which I didn't want, but was still very happy to see an IC EMD SD70 lead two NS GE C40-9W's. It's not every day where the engines to your train only consist of black and white IN THIS AREA... matt...
~Villa Park, IL
8/9/09
