Milwaukee West operations puzzle

After a month of being a regular Milwaukee West commuter, I have to say I am puzzled by some of the routing decisions. They seem to be designed to maximize the amount of time trains spend travesersing slow speed crossovers.

First, the east end (east of B-12/Franklin Park) has undergone major change since my last time on the line several years ago. Back then, it was a two-track passenger railroad with all the additional tracks to the south being strictly freight. But at some point in the last few years, track 3 was converted to be the inbound "local" track (with platforms relocated to the south of 3 rather than between 2 and 3) and track 2 became a non-platforming express track between Elmwood Park and Grand/Cicero. At B-12, there are a number of what appear to be medium or better speed crossovers (25 mph at least if not higher) while at the west end of A-5 all the crossovers are slow speed (10 mph?) squeezed in between bridges. From riding, it appears that the crossovers are considerably slower than the curve to join the North line.

So the puzzlement: in the morning I normally ride 2210. We stay on Track 2 to A-5 where we then slow to 10mph cross to Track 3 (and then accelerate once through the crossover since the curve is faster). Since we don't pass a local on 3, why not cross us to 3 at B-12 where the speed is faster which would let us keep the speed a little higher through A-5.

The outbound is even worse. I normally take 2231 (first stop Franklin Park). We normally come out 3 to A-5, then cross to 1. While the 3 to 2 crossover is right by the curve, the 2 to 1 crossover is another almost 1/4 mile west, all traversed at 10 mph. Since we don't stop until Franklin Park, why not put us on 2 (there's nothing using it that I've seen) and cross us over at B-12 on one of the higher speed crossovers (last Friday when 1 was blocked by the freight derailment, we actually did better since we only crossed to 2 at A-5 and were accelerating as soon at we were fully on 2).

It's almost as if they still run the railroad the way they did when it was a two-track line: outbounds on 1 and inbounds on 2 except that they "grudgingly" put the inbounds that stop Elmwood Park and east on 3 since that's where the platforms are.

I tried to come up with a good explanation for you, but the more I typed, the less and less sense it started to make. You're right, the Elgin line altogether is just pathetically slow. And tearing out those platforms between 2 and 3 at the local stops was a really boneheaded idea.

About the one merit of doing things the same way, every day, with the signals and switches more or less set on "auto-pilot", is that things are kept predictable for the passengers. Over time they learn to expect certain trains to be on certain tracks. If a fast express comes along at a time and on a track which some complacent fellow doesn't expect it, he might unfortunately find himself mounted on the business end of the drawbar.

lstone19 wrote:The outbound is even worse. I normally take 2231 (first stop Franklin Park). We normally come out 3 to A-5, then cross to 1. While the 3 to 2 crossover is right by the curve, the 2 to 1 crossover is another almost 1/4 mile west, all traversed at 10 mph. Since we don't stop until Franklin Park, why not put us on 2 (there's nothing using it that I've seen) and cross us over at B-12 on one of the higher speed crossovers (last Friday when 1 was blocked by the freight derailment, we actually did better since we only crossed to 2 at A-5 and were accelerating as soon at we were fully on 2).

From the radio chatter I've heard periodically, Metra dispatchers will keep the center track open for freight transfers between Bensenville and either Galewood yard or to the BRC junction at Cicero until about 5pm or so. There also could be a situation where a westbound freight is going into Bensenville from the center track, but might not have totally cleared B-12 by the time 2231 clears A-5. Even though the 10mph crossovers are a pain, 2231 will get green blocks all the way to Franklin Park with a 2-1 routing at A-5, but would likely get nothing better than yellow indications if the dispatcher kept it on 2 because you're still waiting for the freight to clear. And if by chance the freight stops before clearing B-12 (not uncommon), then 2231 would be spiked, and have to stop at one of the intermediates somewhere east of River Grove; although it still could be diverted to 1 at CP Cragin, or Galewood, though I'm not sure if the latter is a control point. A hypothetical scenario obviously, but again, not atypical. Otherwise, it could indeed just be a habitual move by the dispatcher, with no apparent rhyme or reason. That's probably a more likely explanation...

doepack wrote:Otherwise, it could indeed just be a habitual move by the dispatcher, with no apparent rhyme or reason. That's probably a more likely explanation...

That was my guess too. "That's how we've always done it."

(Someone once asked me if I knew why at New York Penn Station, Amtrak and NJT do not announce track assignments until fairly close to departure. My somewhat serious answer was because that's how Penn Central did it. And when they asked why Penn Central did it that way, I said because that's how the Pennsylvania did it. While there are in many cases a legitimate reason for doing things a certain way, sometimes the inertia of "that's how we always do it" is the real reason and in that case, it does take someone to step in and ask why and ask if there might be a better way to do it now).

Now that I have some experience on other trains, I have to say I like how they route 2239, the 5:23 departure. The two times I rode it (last nght and tonight), we went out Track 3 all the way to B-12 and then crossed over on the higher-speed crossovers there. Much less tedious trip.

Today's strange Metra moment: Took 2210 in today. At A-5, we made the usual 10mph 2 to 3 move and found ourselves side-by-side with 2108 at Western. We both closed up together but only 2018 went while we waited for at least one UP-W move. Then we went but A-2 routed us back to 2. No idea why but always until then, once on 3, we've stayed on 3 until CUS.
That all said, I don't really mind the wait at A-2 as when 2108 and 2210 come in together, the wait to get off the platform and up the escalators becomes very long. Really bad was the day we had both of them unloading together as well as Heritage Corridor train 916 on 19.

lstone19 wrote:Today's strange Metra moment: Took 2210 in today. At A-5, we made the usual 10mph 2 to 3 move and found ourselves side-by-side with 2108 at Western. We both closed up together but only 2018 went while we waited for at least one UP-W move. Then we went but A-2 routed us back to 2. No idea why but always until then, once on 3, we've stayed on 3 until CUS.

When going 2-3 at A5, are you routed like that before the curve onto the C&M or at the 3-1 crossovers just east of the junction? Reason I ask is because last time I rode through there (about 5-6 weeks ago), the switches at the latter location looked pretty rusty, leading me to believe they aren't used very often...

lstone19 wrote:That all said, I don't really mind the wait at A-2 as when 2108 and 2210 come in together, the wait to get off the platform and up the escalators becomes very long. Really bad was the day we had both of them unloading together as well as Heritage Corridor train 916 on 19.

While HC trains will always use 19, since the equipment is run-through, sometimes they'll unload from the south end on 28; I guess it depends. But I didn't know capacity was that tight at CUS in the morning, where two long trains are unloaded like that side-by-side on the same platform even with HC and Amtrak thrown into the mix...

doepack wrote:

lstone19 wrote:Today's strange Metra moment: Took 2210 in today. At A-5, we made the usual 10mph 2 to 3 move and found ourselves side-by-side with 2108 at Western. We both closed up together but only 2108 went while we waited for at least one UP-W move. Then we went but A-2 routed us back to 2. No idea why but always until then, once on 3, we've stayed on 3 until CUS.

When going 2-3 at A5, are you routed like that before the curve onto the C&M or at the 3-1 crossovers just east of the junction? Reason I ask is because last time I rode through there (about 5-6 weeks ago), the switches at the latter location looked pretty rusty, leading me to believe they aren't used very often...

Before the curve (west of A-5).

doepack wrote:

lstone19 wrote:That all said, I don't really mind the wait at A-2 as when 2108 and 2210 come in together, the wait to get off the platform and up the escalators becomes very long. Really bad was the day we had both of them unloading together as well as Heritage Corridor train 916 on 19.

While HC trains will always use 19, since the equipment is run-through, sometimes they'll unload from the south end on 28; I guess it depends. But I didn't know capacity was that tight at CUS in the morning, where two long trains are unloaded like that side-by-side on the same platform even with HC and Amtrak thrown into the mix...

Not the same platform. 2210 comes in on 9 (but there is a train loading on 11, which shares the platform with 9; 2210 is due in at 7:36 (but typically 7:32) and the departure on 11 is at 7:40) and 2108 (scheduled 7:32) is on 13 or 15. But it's the lobby congestion getting to the escalators that causes the backup. The escalators and stairs are the limiting factor.

The train on 11 is a turn from an NCS train that should be ahead of us (frequently I can see an Advance Approach around the curves at B-12 and Galewood due to him being ahead of us) although once he was late and we came in side-by-side to 9 and 11. That was a platform mess.