Burnham, IL & Hammond, IN Trains 1986-1987

NS, CSS&SB, IHB, CSX, Amtrak, and Conrail. Several “bottle” (hot metal) trains are seen in these videos, as they were frequent users of the Conrail SC&S line - the Bernice Cutoff.
The Amtrak trains have appeared in some of my previous videos, but this will hopefully provide some additional context for them. Amtrak ran on the SC&S from Bernice to Colehour Jct.

Note that from April 27, 1986 to October 25, 1987 Amtrak referred to 317/318 (as well as 50/51) as “The Cardinal.” Here are the schedule references:

http://www.timetables.org/full.php?gr...
http://www.timetables.org/full.php?gr...
http://www.timetables.org/full.php?gr...
If you have the book "Amtrak in the Heartland" by Craig Sanders, this is discussed on page 215.

Burnham was the crossing of the Conrail (SC&S), C&WI, NS (NKP), CSS&SB, & B&OCT. At this time a C&WI single track was still in place, but was not used. The crossover that went over the NKP diamond once allowed the C&WI access to the B&OCT yard. The original Burnham tower (ex-PRR) had burned down about a decade earlier and at this time was a trailer, staffed by Conrail. The old tower was between the C&WI and the NKP, just west of the SC&S diamond. Also, at this time the South Shore Hegewisch station was a little further west than the current one. Burnham & State Line are just over a mile apart from each other. By this time State Line Tower was just a shell of its glory days. Despite this it was still in operation, armstrong levers and all.

You can skip to different sections using the links below. All videos are my own and were filmed with a Sony BetaMovie BMC-110 Camcorder. I use Shotcut for video editing. Thanks for watching!

~ Zeke

January 3, 1986
00:00 Burnham - WB NS (SOU 7003), EB NS local (NW 4128), EB CSS&SB# 107. The tower operator invited my dad and I inside. It was nice to get out of the cold for a while, too.
03:14 State Line - WB CSX (CO 4399), EB CSX local (BO 6925), WB CSX 231 (BO 4432).
05:06 Hohman Ave. - EB CSX 230 (BO 4300) awesome K5LA! - caboose CO 3171. You can see the crossing watchman tower still standing just west of the crossing.

March 28, 1986
06:36 Burnham - WB South Shore, Amtrak # 317 (AMTK 291, AMTK 364), NB CR bottle train (CR 8002).

March 30, 1986
11:13 Burnham - WB IHB 8739 on NS, Amtrak # 317 (AMTK 397).
15:23 State Line - EB CSX local (BO 6593), EB NS (NW 8523) - nice RS5T horn.

February 13, 1987
18:57 Burnham - WB NS (SOU 7071) - good acceleration, amazing P5 horn, too! C&WI crossover track has been removed, Amtrak # 317 (AMTK 281) near Calumet River bridge, WB CSS&SB, SB Conrail bottle train (CR 7955), EB CSS&SB # 107, NB IHB 8727 struggling grain train, WB NS 8602/8570 near Burnham Ave. - nice K5H horn.
26:50 State Line - WB NS (NW 2909) RS5T horn.
27:29 Hammond/Whiting Station - Conrail ELBN (CR 6842) and Conrail BNEL (CR 6840).

February 15, 1987
29:09 Hohman Ave. - EB CSX (CO 1517) great K5LA. The crossing watchman tower is gone.
30:12 Burnham - Amtrak # 317 (AMTK 368, AMTK 386).
31:44 Calumet Ave. - WB CSX (CO 1520).

March 22, 1987
32:39 Burnham - Amtrak # 317 (AMTK 295), SB Conrail bottle train (CR 8115), WB IHB 8787 on NS with pretty cool S2 horn, EB NS (SOU 3258).
38:50 Calumet Ave. - EB CSX (CO 4395, LN 4125).

March 29, 1987
39:29 Burnham - Amtrak # 317 (AMTK 243, AMTK 381) with Cardinal singing, the repairs on 243 are from a grade crossing accident 12/11/86 on the Coast Starlight in Washington, WB NS 3295 with good acceleration, SB Conrail bottle train (CR 8115).