An Afternoon on Norfolk Southern's Chicago Line at Whiting, Indiana, 01.08.12

Train 1:
Okay, so this isn't in Indiana quite yet, but very close by- it's CP 509 at River Branch Junction. An old Pennsy branch that comes up from the Burnham area joins the main here, as well as a South Chicago & Indiana Harbor (the former Chicago Short Line) connection track. Across the big bridges over the Calumet River is the southernmost end of the Belt Railway of Chicago. ANYWAY, Norfolk Southern C40-9W #9755 pulls way out of Colehour Yard (several city blocks to the southeast) for headroom with a cut of doublestacks.

Train 2:
Now we are at the Hammond-Whiting Amtrak station in Whiting, Indiana, proper. Amtrak's train #352, the eastbound 'Wolverine' Michigan Service train, makes its first eastbound station stop. With a nice horn, P42DC #34 leads the train. P42 #28 is on the rear. It departs under the PRR CPL signals, heading for Detroit and Pontiac.

Train 3:
I had to run to catch this one! Adjacent to the NS main is CSX's former B&O passenger main out of Chicago. Now just a short stretch remains in this area, used a few times a day mainly by CSX and SC&IH trains hauling coke and other steel-related products. South Chicago & Indiana Harbor (Chicago Short Line) SW1500 #31 and SW1001 #28 run west over the jointed rail with a coil steel load, transfer caboose #5, and various types of coke cars. At about 06:24, note the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie car and the sad-but-true graffiti!

Train 4:
NS high-short-hood GP38-2 #5112 leads empty oilcans east on the Chicago Line past the detector at CP 506. This is the so-called "Whiting Local" that runs from Colehour Yard to the refineries on a series of spurs off the main to the east in Hammond.

Train 5:
NS Dash-9s #9890 and 9594 pull away from a stop with a Chicago-bound stack train.

Train 6:
More Dash-9s, NS 9641 and 9670, lead a westbound empty coal drag.

Train 7:
NS C40-9W #9350, ES40DC #7541 and C40-9W #9669 (the latter unit was rebuilt after being involved in a head-on wreck with a UP train in Texas... see- http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4108/50...) lead an eastbound intermodal at CP 505.

Train 8:
Still more NS Dash-9s- 9579, 9930 and 9915- lead covered hoppers east.

Train 9:
Finally some variety! NS C40-9W #9487, together with Union Pacific SD70M #4596 and Canadian Pacific AC4400CW #9729, lead an intermodal east.

Train 10:
Meeting the intermodal, a westbound manifest proceeds through CP 505. NS SD60 #6643 (a former Conrail unit) and C40-8W #8375 lead. This train becomes Canadian National M341, Chicago - Winnipeg. The NS power is swapped for CN in Fond du Lac, WI.

Train 11:
Lone NS C40-9W #9739 leads a relatively short westbound freight with a lot of scrap steel gons.

Train 12:
Yet more Dash-9s lead another westbound freight through CP 506.

Train 13:
Hovering above the dune grass at the Whihala Park Beach just beyond the tracks, the Sears Tower in Chicago is visible about 16 miles away as the crow flies, as a westbound Amtrak train approaches. Train #353, a 'Wolverine' run, is led by a filthy P42DC #29 and trailed by a still-pretty-dirty #36.

Train 14:
The sad remnant of the joint VIA-Amtrak 'International', Amtrak's 'Blue Water', train #364, heads past the Hammond-Whiting station on its way to the Ontario border city of Port Huron, Michigan. P42s #26 and 126 bracket 7 coaches.

Train 15:
Sporting a pretty nasty horn, NS high-short-hood GP38-2 #5112 is back with loaded tankers on the "Whiting Local", heading into Colehour Yard.

~Thanks for watching!~