North Central Service

Could someone give me a little primer on the North Central Service. Does it originate at Union Station? And if so what is the routing (how does it get from CUS onto the CN)? If not where does it originate?

Also does Metra supply the T&E crews or is it CN? Thanks!

NCS trains originate at CUS (north end), go via Tower A-2 and then Tower A-5, where they diverge onto the same line the MD-W (Elgin line) trains do. Then, at Tower B-12 (between River Grove and Franklin Park), the NCS trains make a right (north) turn to get onto the CN.

Same but opposite for inbound trains, except for one night run which connects to the MD-N (Fox Lake line) at Prairie Crossing and goes nonstop to Chicago via Rondout.

Metra crews operate the trains; however, they observe either CP (CUS-B12) or CN (B12-Antioch) rules and signals on the respective portions of the route, and are required to be qualified on both. As a side note - aside from a few minor differences, the two rule sets are almost exactly alike.

Metra North Central Service does operate with Metra crews, and they have a standard roster like any other line. Vacancies are filled with extra board employees.

CN uses it's own set of rules - the USOR - US Operating Rules. It's basically GCOR rewritten on a fourth grade level. CP uses the standard GCOR.

Train 120 is the one that goes down the Milwaukee line at Grayslake; with the February 1 Metra Employee timetable change, Metra 120 stops at Libertyville (7:33 PM) and Lake Forest (7:43) on the Milwaukee North Line.