question about operations SOP

On Tuesday May 31 I boarded BNSF train 1216 at LaGrange Road station for the ride downtown. This train is scheduled to stop at Congress Park and then switch to the center track for a non-stop run to Union Station. Congress Park is approximately 1/2 mile east of LaGrange Road.

We left LaGrange Road on time at 6:47 and accelerated toward Congress Park. We kept accelerating and zoomed right past that station and switched onto the center track. The engineer either realized or was told by the train crew that he'd passed a scheduled stop at which point the brakes were applied and we came to a stop not far from Brookfield station. We stood there for a couple of minutes. Then, to our amazement, we began backing up. We returned to Congress Park about 5-6 minutes after passing it by. The (very pissed) passengers waiting there were loaded and we resumed our trip to Union Station, crossing back onto the middle "express" track.

My questions are these:

1. In a situation such as this, is it Metra SOP for a train to return to the missed station? The next train scheduled to stop at Congress Park is #1232 at 7:09.

2. This was the beginning of morning rush hour and there was another express (train 1218) scheduled to pass Congress Park at about the same time as we returned there. Yet no train passed us even though we no longer occupied the middle track. Apparently Metra stopped all following express trains. Is this normal? Why delay later trains because of a mistake made on our train? By the way, we pulled into Union Station a minute or so after #1218's scheduled time of arrival.

3. Relating to #3, would it have been safer to bring train 1218 onto the eastbound track (#3, I think) at Highlands (it would have been somewhere between Clarendon Hills and Hinsdale at the time of our misadventure) and have it stop to pick up the stranded passengers at Congress Park and then resume its express run? At that time there should not have been any other train occupying that track between Highlands and Congress Park. It would have arrived downtown about 3-4 minutes later than scheduled, which seems to be what happened anyway.

Any opinions or comments, especially from Metra personnel?

I ride train #1218 in the morning and I wondered on that morning why we slowed down through the LaGrange/Congress Park area, then resumed speed at about Hollywood.

#1218 goes center track at Highlands for the express run into downtown. The only eastbound that #1218 passes is #1222 at Harlem or Berwyn, which takes place at about 7a. It might have been possible for #1218 to remain on track 3 after Hinsdale, pick up #1216's passengers, then go center track east of Congress Park. #1218 arrived only a minute or two later than its published 7:12 arrival time and #1216 was unloading its passengers. Then #1220, a 10-car Naperville express also pulled in not too long after.

On an unrelated note, BNSF/Metra built new crossovers east of Congress Park last year and deactivated the old ones west of Congress Park. At the time the crossovers were activated, the schedule was revised and Congress Park was added as a scheduled stop to some morning trains that used to go center track after LaGrange.

Back in 2003 when the MP36's were new to RI, a similar incident occured. Train #419 is the train that 47th Street likes to "break in" all the new/re-built locomotives on. It was 402's third day of service and I guess the engineer did not know when to start breaking for Tinley Park - Oak Park Ave. The whole train ended up missing the platform. About 2 minutes later the engineer did back the train to its normal spot.

Don't forget that Metra does not do the dispatching on BNSF.

I know there's no backing on ME, because of a terrible accident in the 70's related to backing the train.

i happens from time to time on the BN and i guess on other lines too. Normally crews call the dispatcher and ask for clearence and back the train up. The conductor will get off and use hand signals and radio to direct the engineer. saw it happen at clyde, berwyn, and elmwood park

You can back up on the Electric.

i was always under the impression that if a engineer ran a platform on the electric they were required to switch ends and then pull back into the station. has this changed, bones?

Prior to the April 2007 schedule revision on the BNSF, inbound train #1280 made all stops between Aurora and Lisle, then express to CUS. When the schedule was revised, Belmont was added as a stop and the train would go express from there. I guess the engineer on #1280 today didn't know that Belmont is a scheduled station stop and completely passed the station. The train then backed up and picked up the passengers.

MetraBNSF wrote:Prior to the April 2007 schedule revision on the BNSF, inbound train #1280 made all stops between Aurora and Lisle, then express to CUS. When the schedule was revised, Belmont was added as a stop and the train would go express from there. I guess the engineer on #1280 today didn't know that Belmont is a scheduled station stop and completely passed the station. The train then backed up and picked up the passengers.

Obviously not paying attention, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was an engineer from the extra board...

IBy the time that I went into engine service, I had moved to Galesburg. Therefor, I never qualified on the passenger runs. I have worked that jobs in train service, and also run freights through there, in rush hour. The engineer is alone in the cab. He has to run the train, watch signals, and also watch his watch.
The Burlington runs so many schedules there. The last post may be right. The engineer could be a spare man, or on a new job. Like I said in the last paragraph, there are so many things to think about at once. I have seen engineers overshoot the platform before, and we had to back up. I don't ever recall totally blowing a station. Usually the head car went by the platform. This mostly happened in the rain, on in the fall, because of the leaves. The stopping ability was compromised.