New Start Project - UP-W

The only reason I can see that 57 is a seven car train is because it doesn't stop in Oak Park, and it doesn't need to, since 59 leaves OTC four minutes later as a local train to Elmhurst serving that station. For the sake of comparison, 61 runs with eight cars most of the time (unless 56 is late getting in, then it runs with six) and that includes many passengers detraining at Oak Park. Adding an extra car to 57 probably wouldn't hurt, but knowing Metra, don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen.

JW, when did it become the tredition to dubblehead 45? I've seen 45 run with 2 units 3 times since the new service starts; but just as often it seems as though it only runs with one. Before the new service, they tested stuff out on numbers 55 and 32...What with this new service it'll be interesting to see what the test train is now. Another trend was to dubblehead numbers 35, 54, and 53; that lasted for a bit but they dropped that. Another concern is the turn from 56 to 61; they've already had to use number 63's equipment for 61 at least twicee, once being on the 23rd. One idea is that they could shuffle equipment cycles around to put the 8-car set on number 35 instead of 37, as they don't use all 8 cars for number 37 (I think they use 5 cars, possibly 6); that train would turn to number 54, and would get downtown an hour earlier almost always insuring that 61 runs with the propper 8-car trainset. That would leave 35's 6-car train for number 37; it would get downtown with justt over 50 minutes to make the turn to 63. A great idea, but nobody that cares (defined as having took the time to logicly figure this out) is in a posission to do anything...Mannagers aren't out there in the field and authority figures likely don't even know that this is a problem.

The current doubleheading of trains 45 and 26 is indeed a recent phenomenon, I think it started happening last Monday (1/30). At first I thought it was just a random thing, but then after it started occurring several days in a row, I began to think this was going to be a regular deal... however long it lasts.

Before service to Elburn started, I recall the doubleheaders were regularly assigned to trains 55 and 32, although not every day. Why this was changed, I have no idea, perhaps Metra was bored with the current arrangement, perhaps they were testing out something else, maybe they were using a new dartboard... take your pick.

I had suspected that 56's turn to 61 was going to be a little tight at times, and at least a couple of days this week, 56 wound up downtown a little after 6pm, which caused UP commuter control to assign 54's equipment to 61, turning 61 into a six car train instead of its usual eight. The problem is that Proviso and Global 1 start churning out a fleet of westbound freight traffic between 1 and 4pm, trying to squeeze in as much traffic as possible before the rush hour curfew. Included among this daily westbound parade is a hot intermodal train called "The Bird", which usually has 3 SD70M's on the point, and on average, about 7 westbound freights travel the Geneva Sub during this three hour window.

Another frequent occurrence is that many eastbound freights that were being held at staging points like Elburn, LaFox, Wheaton, or Finley Rd. (Lombard) from earlier in the day due to capacity issues at Proviso usually get the green light to start moving again around this time of day (1-4pm) as well, so as you can see, the odds of delays to Metra traffic due to, you guessed it- "Freight train interference" increases exponentially.

And it just happened to be 37's (then 56's) misfortune to get nailed twice this week with delays due to the aforementioned "Freight train interference", causing that equipment to arrive OTC too late for its turn to 61. It is my opinion that 37/56 should be a six car set that always turns to 63, and change 35/54's equipment to an eight car set that always turns to 61. Plenty of recovery time available in both cases. But then again, we're just railfans, and AMTK84's comment about authority figures likely not knowing there's even a problem here probably isn't too far from the truth.

Monday 1/30/06 number 45 turned out with METX139 and (Is it "still" 8453?) Its been that way since June!

What I've noticed is for the last week or so they've been dubbleheading number 71, and just sticking the second unit on the point once that train gets downtown after its run as number 62...Not a bad idea if you think about it.

I usually ride # 18 in to the city mornings, and noticed that lately it's been double-headed. (Can you call it double-headed with the locomotives on the rear? Maybe double-tailed? That doesn't sound very good ).

Recently, there have been two sets of double headers running on UP-W trains as I saw both pairs laid over in Elburn last week. I just can't pick out which trains use the double headers, but it seems they're being rotated around even though the weekday schedule remains largely unchanged.

Last Saturday I went down to Chicago and used a $5 Metra day pass to ride UP-NW, UP-W, and the Electric down to University Park.

Anyway, at OTC in the platform area (as I'm sure many of you are already aware) there is a monitor listing the trains and their departure tracks, and there is an automated announcement giving this same information. However, instead of announcing the UP-W line to Elburn, the announcement was "12:40 UP-West train to DATA ERROR, track..."

Anyone else notice that?

I noticed that too... and I'm hoping that hasn't already caused problems for blind passengers who travel on UP-W, it could create unnecessary confusion. It shouldn't be that difficult to update the UP-W OTC audio track announcements, but Metra sure is taking their time doing so. No, the trains aren't going to "data error", they're going to Elburn

Unrelated tiny observation: ever since the schedule change, the onboard pre-departure for Milw-W train 2239 says the train goes to National St, even though it still only goes to Roselle.

metraRI wrote:Chicago TribuneWhile additional service is attracting more riders, officials said they are evaluating the schedule on the UP West line because some morning inbound trains have been running 3 to 7 minutes late. They are focusing on trains that are scheduled to arrive at the Ogilvie Transportation Center at 7:35, 7:49 and 7:55.

Actually, those trains (22, 24, and 26) are the ones most often subject to minor delays at A-2 due to cross traffic, and if the inbound UP-W trains don't have the light already upon approaching A-2, the interlocking machine there can be a bit slow at times giving a green light to standing inbound UP-W trains after the cross traffic clears, which can cause trains to sit there for as long as 3 minutes. Happens to a couple of inbound trains during the PM rush as well, though in both cases, it's not a daily occurrence, but if the train is already a few minutes down by the time it reaches A-2, this is likely the additional delay causing the tardy arrival at OTC. It's obviously happening enough for Metra to notice now, but this is nothing new...

I am in Lombard 3 days a week on the school bus - and we used to see 22, 13, and 24; now its 22 around 07:04 and 15...If 22 gets dubble-headed then it'll run on-time and 24 will be able to follow.

On another note, number 41 seems to be the new "test train"; Thursday, Friday, Monday and last night this train had engines just repaired at M19A in the consist along with other units.

Last night, 35 died at Bellwood. 54 was cancelled, and the passengers had to be transfered to a rescue train.

Well folks METX128 was the unit that crapped out on number 35 yesterday; they had dubbleheaded her for 3 days...Guess 1 more day would've payed off.

Metra updated the UP West Line schedule effective April 17. Adjustments minor, some rush hour trains moved 1-2 minutes. Biggest changes were #51 being 5 min later into LaFox, and #s 53, 55, 57, 59 and 60 being pushed back 2 min each (#60 is the return trip of #59 from Elmhurst).

One thing that baffles me - when I saw that they move 55 and 57 back 2 mins, I first thought it was because these trains always got stuck behind #53 and were generally 2-4 mins. late into Elmhurst. But they pushed #53 back also, so they're still subject to the same delay.

One possible solution could involve 53 being restored to its pre-extension state (5:17 departure, local to Elmhurst, express to Wheaton, then every other stop until Geneva), then make 55 a 5:35 express from Oak Park to, say, Lombard. It could then stop at Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, W.Chicago, and Geneva, before terminating at LaFox. Meanwhile, 57 moves back to its original 5:40 slot, and retains its current schedule (OTC-Elmhurst express, then local to Elburn). It would improve the traffic flow, and more or less mimic the stopping patterns of the earlier rush hour trains since they'd be spaced out a bit further, thus decreasing the possiblity of 53 delaying the two expresses behind it. But with the current physical plant limitations, there aren't a whole lot of additional options, and until the badly needed upgrades come online, these minor delays will continue to be a fact of life...