Was going to post this in the "equipment shuffles thread", but somehow, it got deleted; not sure what happened. And since this covers a little more ground than the adjacent 1243 thread, I thought I'd just start a new topic. Apologies in advance for any redundancy...
The recent threads discussing various consist changes on BNSF inspired me to look back through my railfanning notes on this line that I documented back in April, when the last schedule change took place, and coincidentally, was also the last time I actually studied the Metra movements this route. This appeared to be the oppurtune time to reference my notes from six months ago, and compare them against the recent changes as reported by MetraBNSF. Jotting down engine numbers along with cab cars (where possible, unless another train blocked my view), I made note of the evening rush hour on 4/5, then returned on the morning of 4/6 to see how the equipment turned. These were among my findings:
--1243 was indeed a 10-car set; then did the following evening runs as a six-car set after 4 cars were cut at Hill: 1288/1289/1294/1295/1324/1325. As noted above by "cheerleader", my notes confirmed that this equipment returned to a 10-car set for 1240 in the morning...
--11-car set 1277 returned in the morning as 1228, then had six cars cut at 14th for 1229/1266, as noted by MetraBNSF. But now that 1277 is 10 cars, then I guess 1228 is also 10 cars now, unless it has a new morning assignment.
--Two eight-car sets ran as double-headers, cycles noted below:
Set 1: 1249/1282/1283 (evening), turning to 1226/1225/1262 next day.
Set 2: 1255/1284/1373 (evening), turning to 1210/1211/1370 next day.
It's possible that these two sets rotate every day, each assuming the other's schedule, have yet to confirm that...
Also, even though 1277 (and 1228, or whatever it's new morning assignment is) might be a new double-header, it would seem that 1255, plus the other five trains in its cycle has historically run with two locomotives, though this may or may not be a daily thing. And speaking of midday assignments, I wasn't quite able to discern the origin of midday trains 1231/1268; I think it's turned from 1227/1264; not sure. But in any case, at least now we know where 1243's extra car came from, and that six-car consists are now the norm for all off-peak service, including middays, which probably should've been the case long ago. Because as everyone knows, it's a fact of life on this busy route that there's no such thing as excess capacity...
The recent threads discussing various consist changes on BNSF inspired me to look back through my railfanning notes on this line that I documented back in April, when the last schedule change took place, and coincidentally, was also the last time I actually studied the Metra movements this route. This appeared to be the oppurtune time to reference my notes from six months ago, and compare them against the recent changes as reported by MetraBNSF. Jotting down engine numbers along with cab cars (where possible, unless another train blocked my view), I made note of the evening rush hour on 4/5, then returned on the morning of 4/6 to see how the equipment turned. These were among my findings:
--1243 was indeed a 10-car set; then did the following evening runs as a six-car set after 4 cars were cut at Hill: 1288/1289/1294/1295/1324/1325. As noted above by "cheerleader", my notes confirmed that this equipment returned to a 10-car set for 1240 in the morning...
--11-car set 1277 returned in the morning as 1228, then had six cars cut at 14th for 1229/1266, as noted by MetraBNSF. But now that 1277 is 10 cars, then I guess 1228 is also 10 cars now, unless it has a new morning assignment.
--Two eight-car sets ran as double-headers, cycles noted below:
Set 1: 1249/1282/1283 (evening), turning to 1226/1225/1262 next day.
Set 2: 1255/1284/1373 (evening), turning to 1210/1211/1370 next day.
It's possible that these two sets rotate every day, each assuming the other's schedule, have yet to confirm that...
Also, even though 1277 (and 1228, or whatever it's new morning assignment is) might be a new double-header, it would seem that 1255, plus the other five trains in its cycle has historically run with two locomotives, though this may or may not be a daily thing. And speaking of midday assignments, I wasn't quite able to discern the origin of midday trains 1231/1268; I think it's turned from 1227/1264; not sure. But in any case, at least now we know where 1243's extra car came from, and that six-car consists are now the norm for all off-peak service, including middays, which probably should've been the case long ago. Because as everyone knows, it's a fact of life on this busy route that there's no such thing as excess capacity...
--Dorian--
