July 3, 2007 Schedules

Although not posted online as of yet, July 3 schedules were released for all lines that feed into Union Station. I have a copy of the BNSF schedule and there are no significant changes compared to years past, but some small observations:

All extra trains, including the afternoon deadheads that are converted into revenue trains are numbered in the 9400's.

Trains 1373, 1285-1289 have had their schedules adjusted by a few minutes and have been renumbered into the 9500's. This is to prevent delays due to late turns (ex. last year train 1284, now 9420 arrived CUS 3 minutes before its 6:16pm departure).

They're not listed on the paper schedule, but there will also be lunchtime express trains leaving CUS and serving D.G.-Aurora.

June 29 also has 3 extra trains for early quits.

I counted a total of 26 extra trains to run on BNSF this year on July 3, up from 24 last year.

What's going on for SWS this year??

On the SWS side I saw one extra inbound, leaving Manhattan at 7:10pm and one extra outbound leaving CUS at 10:40pm and arriving Manhattan at 12:07am. The extra inbound appears that it turns from #829, which gets into Manhattan at 7:07pm.

The Milwaukee West line schedule is totally different. The trains are numbered in the 2400 series instead of the 2200s.

The modified schedule is geared for those going to the fireworks display and the Waste of Chicago at the expense of rush hour service which is reduced.

I guess the genius' who do the schedules forgot that some people have to work on that day.

In addition to the July 3 schedule, extra trains will be running on various dates on both the BNSF and RI.

New to BNSF this year is a late night express train that will run on July 4 and 6. It leaves two minutes ahead of the 10:40pm local.

The Rock's schedule for the weekend days are interesting, that is something new. The July 3rd schedule also has no cancellations.. last year one morning and one afternoon express were canceled for some reason... other than that.. the schedule looks duplicated from last year. MD-W's is also pretty much the same as last year's July 3rd...

On the UP-W I noticed that 4302 is a revenue train on July 3, but only stops at Oak Park after its origin in Elmhurst.

One thing I don't understand about UP is that after the fireworks, there is no schedule and "extra trains will leave OTC after the fireworks". Does this mean they employ a load and go and trains will make all stops? And how many extra trains would leave OTC serving all 3 UP lines (not counting regularly scheduled trains)?

F40CFan wrote:I guess the genius' who do the schedules forgot that some people have to work on that day.

True, and it's easy to forget that there are plenty of people who want to head back home fast to the suburbs after work on 7/3 and avoid the massive crowds coming into downtown. But because UP decided to cancel three morning rush hour inbounds on both the W and NW lines, they have no equipment available to run "early quit" expresses in the afternoon for those leaving work early on 7/3, even though this service is plentiful on the Burlington and Milwaukee lines. Besides, on those routes, they're running the trains back downtown as revenue moves anyway (in most cases), but again, the current service agreement with UP doesn't allow such flexibility. Oh well, it is what it is...

MetraBNSF wrote:On the UP-W I noticed that 4302 is a revenue train on July 3, but only stops at Oak Park after its origin in Elmhurst.

One thing I don't understand about UP is that after the fireworks, there is no schedule and "extra trains will leave OTC after the fireworks". Does this mean they employ a load and go and trains will make all stops? And how many extra trains would leave OTC serving all 3 UP lines (not counting regularly scheduled trains)?

On UP/W and UP/NW, there are three extra sets available to handle the crowds coming from the fireworks show, and each set is at least 9 cars long. And no, there really isn't a set schedule for the supplemental service out of downtown that evening after the fireworks; it's pretty much "load and go" after the regular 2130 (NW) and 2140 (W) OTC departures, with the first extra trains leaving sometime after 2200. All extra trains make all stops to Elburn on the West line; and I think the extras are locals all the way to Harvard on the NW line, but a set or two may deadhead back to Crystal Lake.

The only thing different this year with UP is that 664's schedule is moved up 45 min; leaving Crystal Lake for OTC at 1am! That's got to be the latest inbound revenue train I've ever seen; I don't think even the Burlington has ever operated a revenue inbound train that late before (MetraBNSF correct me if I'm wrong about that...) Otherwise, while there aren't any other significant differences on UP this year as compared to last, it's still pretty strange that there are no extra outbound trains on 7/3 for the North line, the only difference is that 357's departure is moved back a half-hour; but I would hope the regular departures operate with extra cars. But with UP, you never know...

doepack wrote:True, and it's easy to forget that there are plenty of people who want to head back home fast to the suburbs after work on 7/3 and avoid the massive crowds coming into downtown.

That is one thing they did positive on the Milwaukee West schedule, the 3:25 express to Bensenville is there (train 2427, instead of those funny extra designations they normally use). I plan to be on it.

Don't recall if this happened last year or not, but there are no special inbound trains for 7/3 on NC, even though Metra is holding over equipment for a special outbound run later that evening, according to the website. But what's really baffling is that no stops are added to 120, the last inbound NCS train which runs express Grayslake-CUS via the Fox Lake/C&M subs; even though this would seem to be the perfect oppurtunity to run this train as a local via its regular route. Odd...

In my opinion, July 3 when it falls on a weekday is the single best day to be a railfan in Chicago. Especially during the afternoon rush and after the fireworks. It'll be interesting along the BNSF with approx. 120 Metra trains in addition to the freights and Amtraks. I already know that equipment will be shuffled around significantly and there will be 3 trainsets that will run with 2 locomotives and will not be on their normal trains. The third double header will be on a 10 or 11 car set. Should be a great rail show.

Another cool thing about all the extra service on 7/3 is the way the trains are lined up ready to go at the downtown terminals late in the evening, waiting on the crowds. I would die to get a shot of the north end of OTC between 2100 and 2130, when just about all 16 tracks are occupied, and many locomotives have their headlights on. Also, watching all the action at Clinton St. curve between 2200 and 2300 is a real treat; it's like rush hour at night in the middle of summer...

MetraBNSF wrote:In my opinion, July 3 when it falls on a weekday is the single best day to be a railfan in Chicago. Especially during the afternoon rush and after the fireworks. It'll be interesting along the BNSF with approx. 120 Metra trains in addition to the freights and Amtraks. I already know that equipment will be shuffled around significantly and there will be 3 trainsets that will run with 2 locomotives and will not be on their normal trains. The third double header will be on a 10 or 11 car set. Should be a great rail show.

Man, I wish we had this kind of action on UP. The freight traffic on the Geneva sub rivals that of the Burlington, but the additional Amtrak and Metra traffic is what sets it apart. But you're right, if one were to pick a day to railfan the Burlington, 7/3 would be the best by far; it's a staggering amount of traffic to be seen. With good weather in the forecast, I'm gonna try to soak in some of it tomorrow...

History has shown me that the best location to observe the action is Downers Grove, especially between 3:30-5pm. During that time, 11 trains will be making stops at the Main St. station and many trains in both directions will be closely spaced. Delays in that area are inevitable.

I am told (I might be wrong though) that afternoon trains #1241 (usually 6 cars, will use an 8 car set), #1243, and #1251 will be the double header equipped trains.

I hope too that BNSF doesn't stage eastbound freights east of Aurora. Last week, freights were staged at 355 on several occasions during the afternoon rush. Historically, priority is given to Metra on July 3 and freight traffic is usually a little lighter.

Some notes on post-fireworks BNSF service on July 3:

Law enforcement vigerously checked bags at the bottom of the escalators leading to the south concourse and again at the gates.

During a typical afternoon rush, BNSF uses tracks 2-12. Post-fireworks, tracks 2-18 were in use. Expresses boarded on tracks 10-18, locals boarded on tracks 2-8.

Don't know if this happened to trains prior to the one I boarded, but in years past a train will be released before its scheduled departure time if it fills to capacity. I was on train #9411, an 11-car consist with METX189 and cab car 8583. Seats were available toward the front of the train, but this train was filled to capacity. The train left promptly at 10:50pm, complete with pre-recorded announcement announcing train info and stops two minutes before departure.

#9411 had an interesting routing. We used the middle track to Congress Park, then were routed 2-3 due to an eastbound freight on MT2. #9407 waited at Fairview for #9411 to clear and was routed 3-1 for its local run. #9407 was routed 1-3 at Fairview for its deadhead move to Hill, but may have crossed over at either Lisle or W. Naperville as to not interfere with eastbound #1324. I don't understand why #9407 wasn't given the clear to stay on MT1 and #9411 was given the diverging clear to go 3-1 at Fairview. The latter could have stayed on MT3 to at least Lisle, then routed to MT1.

An interesting night of railfanning post-fireworks. One thing I miss are the Fairview-Hill deadheads that existed during the afternoon rush many years ago.

One of the problems that I noticed on the Rock was the schedules not giving enough time for loading passengers on inbound trains. I rode 526 from 80th Ave, the train got there about 5 minutes late and by the time we were at Blue Island we were running on MX4's schedule... doubling the load going onto #526. We eventually got to LaSalle about 15-20 minutes late.