I had another try today at NS 1065, the Savannah & Atlanta heritage unit. It’s always a challenge to catch these units; they have a bad habit of passing thru town in the middle of the night or sitting all day at some inaccessible location, and even when they do show their faces, the weather’s been bad! This time it looked like I might be in luck, the 1065 was due in this morning and I had a nice sunny forecast, so maybe, just maybe, I’d finally catch my first fair weather heritage shots!

Despite my optimism, this was not a done deal. The 1065 was leading NS train 65R, an empty oil that was making excellent progress towards Chicago, too excellent in my opinion since it looked like it would arrive well before dawn on Monday morning. The BNSF has never been speedy about forwarding these trains, but since it was the day after a holiday weekend to me it seemed like there were good odds that they’d have a rested crew ready and the train of town before I got up! All I could do was play wait and see.

Monday morning arrived and the news was not good; the 1065 had arrived at Western Ave around 3:30 and spotted on M3, which I was pretty sure that they wouldn’t do that unless they were about to head west. Sigh, so much for my sunny day shots! I resigned myself to the fact that it was gone and started puttering, only to get a heads up from a friend that the train was still here! Reportedly a crew had been called and it was due out about 10 a.m., but I decided to play it safe and head for the tracks now. My goal was Clarendon Hills; where the morning light would be far better than around Downers.

I landed trackside just in time to miss a couple east and westbound commuters, not a great loss since I had bigger game in mind. Great light, but a lot of shadows, I could already tell that catching clear shots except on M1 was going to require some careful planning. There were lots of clouds, but mostly to the east and as long as they stayed there, they wouldn’t be a problem. I crossed Prospect Ave (the only crossing in town) to check out the view along the curve to the west, but ran into problems with line side trees and a hedge that I’d love to take a trimmer to! An eastbound express blasted past as I was investigating and I while tried for a shot, the area was such a mess that I ended up saving the electrons.

Usually there’s a burst of eastbound freight action just after the rush, but not today probably because yesterday was Easter, a real traffic killer in my experience. A couple eastbound greens popped up, one for the first regular commuter of the morning, the other most probably for a freight. I wanted to catch the freight rounding the curve to the west, so I set up by the station where a jog in the sidewalk gave me a clear shot. A guy walked up and said, “Oh hey Mike; how are you!”, leaving me totally mystified since I hadn’t a clue as to who he was! It turned out that we’d met on one of my previous visits, but enough of my grey cells had died since then and I’d forgotten him! We chatted until the sound of gates announced the arrival of my first freight of the day:

Rounding the curve

08:51 a.m. – Clarendon Hills IL / Prospect Ave
BNSF e/b grain/merchandise

BNSF 7720       ES44DC
BNSF 4945       Dash 9-44CW

The make up of this train was a surprise, it was supposed to be a unit grain, yet up front were a whole bunch of tankers and whatnot, the grain cars didn’t start until about a third of the way back! All I can assume is they picked up the merchandise cars along the way to fill out the train. Midway down the train was a cream colored grain hopper with BNSF markings, but with a Frisco herald and name! Apparently a number of cars like this are running around tagged for BNSF predecessors just so that the BNSF can hold onto the copyright for the heralds! Fast moving train; between that and a nice stiff wind I lost my hat! My railfan compatriot thoughtfully chased it down for me.

Bringing up the rear was a DPU:

Giving it a good heave-ho

08:53 a.m. – Clarendon Hills IL / Prospect Ave
BNSF e/b grain/merchandise – DPU

BNSF 5624       AC4400CW

I got the usual coming and going shots, and well as a nice people shot of a guy looking over the unit as he crossed the tracks.

Checking it out

My railfan friend’s train arrived and he departed leaving me to contemplate the now empty tracks. An eastbound green appeared on M2 so I moved to the east end of the platform to vary the view:

Great sky!

09:08 a.m. – Clarendon Hills IL / Prospect Ave
BNSF e/b priority intermodal

BNSF 6713       ES44C4
BNSF 4525       Dash 9-44CW

I fired off a telephoto series as the train crossed Prospect Ave and then caught a final wedgie as it went past me.

Time for a break in the action. A slow moving headlight popped up to the east that I was pretty sure was for the next westbound commuter. Since nothing else seemed to be happening, I hobbled down to the station kick back on one of the few benches in the area. Nice, it kept me out of the wind and I got to listen to a couple woodpeckers across the way hunting for bugs stirring in the day’s warmth.

The weather, which I’d been so enthusiastic about, took a downhill turn; puffy clouds were popping up to the north and west, not many, but enough to raise concern. At the moment I was in the middle of a big hole, but I could see trouble on the way!

The westbound commuter drew closer and I decided that the morning light had improved enough to give it a go. Wanting as close to a broadside as I could, I set up at the west end of the station parking lot, the only spot that I could back off a decent distance.

Just pull up at the curb

09:32 a.m. – Clarendon Hills IL / Prospect Ave
METX w/b commuter

METX 187       F40PHM-2

I got a nice clean shot but at the expense of catching a lot of pavement too!

A pair of headlights popped up to the east, cool except that both of the were merchandise trains, so no 1065 yet! It would take a while for them to get here (at times I could swear that I can see all the way to Cicero) so I ambled down the platform to pick out some shots and watch the skies; those pesky clouds were becoming a problem. As the trains got closer I began to worry about an eastbound commuter that was due at any minute, I didn’t want to get blocked out! It didn’t help my nerves when just as the first freight passed Hinsdale the Metra announcer called out a four minute warning that the commuter was on the way! Luckily that was just enough.

The view from the hill

09:52 a.m. – Clarendon Hills IL / Prospect Ave
BNSF w/b merchandise

BNSF 5491       Dash 9-44CW
BNSF 5413       Dash 9-44CW

I sidled up the hillside along the platform to open of the angle a bit. Right behind the engines were a number of MRAP’s (Mine resistant ambush protected) vehicles on flats, all in desert tan, a definite sign of where our attention is focused at the moment. I got some odd looks from the people waiting on the commuter as I photographed the train; maybe they thought that I was passing intel on to al qaeda!

The merchandise train cleared and the eastbound commuter arrived; I grabbed a quick shot of it pulling past the passenger shelter.

Now arriving

09:56 a.m. – Clarendon Hills IL / Prospect Ave
METX e/b commuter

METX 184       F40PH-2

Fine except that they had some kind of issue with getting doors shut, the next car ahead seemed to be the culprit, apparent it was hanging up just long enough to set off an alarm. One of the trainmen cycled it a couple times to make sure that it was working while I stood there hopping from one to another because the second merchandise was closing in. Finally they got the door shut to their satisfaction and they headed on their way.

OK, time for the freight, except that an eastbound diverging green appeared on M2, throwing another potential monkey wrench in the works! What I really should have taken note of was that the freight was also on M2, and had stopped just east of Hinsdale for something a little more high priority, the Illinois Zephyr was on the way!

Illinois Zephyr

09:59 a.m. – Clarendon Hills IL / Prospect Ave
AMT e/b Illinois Zephyr

AMT 113       P42DC

Busy morning

It was only as the Zephyr blew by that I realized the error of my ways, what a maroon!  Maybe I need to check into a home.

Time for another problem, and this one wasn’t a product of my fevered imagination. Just as the Zephyr slalomed around the westbound, a big fat cloud began to edge over the sun, and it wasn’t going to clear any time soon. Great, all that useless heartache only to get skunked for real at the last moment! While I was completely shaded out, the area to the east wasn’t, so I grabbed some desperation shots as the train approached.

An act of desperation

Then to my great surprise it began to clear, slowly but surely, and by time it arrived I had full sun!

Let there be light!

10:06 a.m. – Clarendon Hills IL / Prospect Ave
BNSF w/b merchandise

BNSF 5461       Dash 9-44CW
BNSF 5528       Dash 9-44CW

Sheer luck on my part, plus the fact that the train was still getting up to track speed after their stop to the east.

In the mean time an eastbound yellow had appeared on M3, for what, I had no idea. I decided to stick with where I was at since this was one of the few spots along the platform where M3 wasn’t shadow struck. Good plan because just as the westbound cleared the eastbound’s headlight popped up to the west:

Heading back for more

10:12 a.m. – Clarendon Hills IL / Prospect Ave
BNSF e/b empty unit fertilizer

CSX 754       ES44AC
CSX 779       ES44AC

Cool train, pure CSX, and in the older variation of the current scheme that I prefer. It was really hauling, forcing me to do my “man walking into the wind” impression.

As the train rolled by I headed for the west end of the platform, the neighboring hill with all its trees and buildings was giving my cell phone fits; no bars! Good thing that I did, I got a message that the oil train was set to go around 11:30, perfect timing for me since time was running out on both my bladder and where I could park, so I pulled up stakes and headed for home to catch a quick lunch and then back to trackside for an appointment with the 1065!

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