Thanks to all that wished those working on Thanksgiving a "Happy Thanksgiving" It did mean more in the paycheck in 2 weeks. One of our bridge projects for NS involves construction of a new bridge for Ohio Route 576 located 3 miles west of Bryan, Ohio. The 75 foot steel truss bridge had been closed for 2 years due to concrete falling on passing trains. The project was started this summer and after final approval of the demolition plan the contractor started removing deck 2 weeks ago. They had planned to saw cut the deck in slabs and lift off the structure. After removing the asphalt they found the deck to be in worse condition than thought and decided to do a "test slab" away from the track. They drilled the lift holes, saw cut the deck and started to lift. The only steel in the deck ran parallel to the centerline, which had a joint, and the deck broke apart. This method would not work over the main line. I had a site meeting last week with the contractor and ODOT and we decided the only way to remove the deck was to "hoe ram" the deck into pieces. This causes 1-2 foot pieces to fall and the track had to be covered with crane mats. I spoke with the ADE for NS and we told the contractor that Thanksgiving Day would be the least amount of rail traffic and taking tracks out of service could occur on that day. Thus the Thursday work. I arrived at 7 am, just getting light, and the flagman had just completed setting his stop boards. Two trains went by as I arrived and did not get power notes. The contractor was set and ready to go and after ML441 at 8:05 they started breaking deck over the South track. We stopped, cleared the track, and at 8:35 TV10 passed with a westbound on the North track passing at the same time. When they cleared the flagman let them start again. The South track was out of service with timber mats and broken concrete. At 9:25 we had TV220 with PRR6705 and 5438 on the North track. 20T followed on his block with NS9315 and PRR6745. Then Amtrak #49 passed with #10 and #71 and 21 cars. At 10:14 we stopped for TV204 with 9295 and 8913. On his block was coal train 666 with BN7002, EMD6310 and another BN unit. BRPI followed on his block with PRR8485, NS6672 plus another NS unit. Behind him was Mail8M with PRR6789, CR2558. As soon as they cleared the crossovers at Bryan we had Mail9H with 6770, 9088 plus a CR unit. We got about 1/2 hour of work covering both tracks. Next came Mail 8. The flagman give him permission past the stop boards but to stop west of the bridge. He pulled to within 1/4 mile and waited about 2 minutes for us to clear, getting by at 11:30 with NS9238, PRR8302 (repaint) and NW8571. Next we had Amtrak #44. By this time we had the North track out of service and the dispatcher was running all trains on the South track. We were not clear of the South track and Amtrak pulled down and stopped for 5 minutes. He cleared at 12:27 with #80 and #17 with 3 head end cars, 4 coaches and 18 roadrailers behind 2 mail storage cars. Behind him was HEBU with 6570 and 3214. We had about 1 hours of free working time until Mail 44 showed up at 1:35 with PRR8395. He was delayed about 5 minutes. Next followed NPPI with 9175 and CR7478 in gray. The only unusual power of the day was on Q160, old TV8, with CSX 672 and 639 at 3 PM. The last train was ELST with PRR3377 and a UP unit at 3:50. We had just cleared the track and the contractor had cleaned up all debris and moved equipment back for the night. I talked to the flagman about train movement on the Chicago Line. He has been with CR for 26 years. He said that about 45 days ago NS decided to let the CR officials run trains. (Much quicker decision than the UP did). As a result he said all trains are moving on the line. There is still hold up at Elkhart and Toledo but nothing like a few months back. Except for ELST and the coal train, all power was NS/CR power. All in all 19 trains passed from 7 am to 4 pm on a day that traffic was light. As a side note on Wednesday as I arrived at Auburn, Indiana to spend the night I spotted a train sitting on CSX waiting to get into Garrett. The yardmaster was talking to a relief crew telling them the other relief crew would be on their train soon. On the way back Thursday the same thing was still happening, trains parked on the main at Auburn. Rick S. ------------------------------------------------------ This is the Illiana Railroad Discussion List. For more info visit http://www.railcenter.com/illiana ------------------------------------------------------
