My version of Penn Central

[heartlandguy]

Just to inform you, if CSX closes the bridge in Clinton, we will need to detour, in total, 10 trains off the Monon and onto the Louisville Branch. It sounds like they're gonna close it this evening, because the Wabash River is only a foot away from the record stage.

[conrailman75]

Afternoon Flood update 4/22:

Monon has requested permission, which was granted, to run detour movements on the Louisville Branch from Louisville to Indianapolis. All trains will be run as DET-300 series trains and qualified pilots have been rounded up to qualify Monon crews on the route. CSX has requested permission to run detour movements on the Petersburg Secondary out of Evansville to Indianapolis once the line is reopened and those movements will be in the DET-400 series, but CSX only plans to use this route if, and when, the ex C&EI line has to close.

Flood damage reports have come back in from Lafayette, PC's river bridge over the Wabash has made it through unscathed, mainly due to the rebuild work we did to it last year after an accident knocked it off kilter to strengthen and reinforce all the piers and abutments. Unfortunately we did suffer some washouts near the approach to the bridge on the north side to the mainline and those will have to be repaired before the line can reopen. A work train will be dispatched from Indianapolis tomorrow and a ballast train is expected to arrive from Chicago off the CN and be delivered to Kankakee, via the TSCR, which will run to the washout site from the other side. As long as no new flooding arises from the rainstorms predicted for this week, we should have this line reopened for business by Friday at the latest. Crews have made some progress on fixing the repairs to the washouts at Switz City and expect to have them repaired by the end of Wednesday, barring no new flooding. We have determined that the Petersburg Secondary can be reopened since the washouts are on the Vincennes Secondary so INEV/EVIN will resume operation starting tomorrow. Crews are waiting for the flooding to go down some more on the St. Louis mainline from Indy to Terre Haute before heading out to begin the costly process of repairing all the washouts.

Flooding continues to fall up in Michigan and the Flood warning for the GR&I Branch has been downgraded to a watch and is expected to be cancelled by Wednesday at the latest. This allows the line to upgraded to a 30 MPH speed restriction from Wayland to Grand Rapids and all through freights out of Grand Rapids is scheduled to resume tomorrow. The flood warning has been cancelled for the Grand Rapids Branch and the entire line from Grand Rapids to Charlotte declared out of service due to damage from the flooding. The rest of the line from Charlotte to Rives Jct is okay and will be served an extra local out of Jackson, MI until the rest of the line can be repaired. The flood warning for Kalamazoo Branch remains in effect until the Kalamazoo river drops down far enough that PC can pull the empty boxcars off the bridge over the river in Allegan, but that is expected to happen sometime tomorrow. Once that happens, a work train out of Kalamazoo, along with a ballast train, will then run up the line to repair the few washouts discovered during inspections today. Work on the washout near Grand Junction on the South Haven Branch is going well, the line is expected to reopen Wednesday afternoon.

The latest flood reports shows that flooding is starting to recede in the Kokomo and Elwood areas, so inspectors will try to get out there tomorrow to see what damage was caused to the Richmond Branch. The White River will continue to be watched closely along the Whitewater Running Track as more rain is expected this week.

A new flood update will be issued tomorrow morning with updates as warranted.

[heartlandguy]

Three northbounds are gonna run via the PC tonight (LC-2, LI-2, and LB-2, which is a CP train). CSX is gonna close the C&EI bridge down until the waters start to recede.

[conrailman75]

3 Monon detour trains are called out of Louisville tonight
DET-301
DET-303
DET-305

All northbounds which are running up the Louisville Branch.

[conrailman75]

Morning Flood update 4/23:

The Monon has started detouring freights up the Louisville Branch after CSX had to close its bridge over the Wabash River in Clinton, IN on its ex C&EI line. These trains will be running in the DET-300 series(odds for northbounds and evens for southbounds). Since CSX did close its ex C&EI line, they are planning to send several trains up the Petersburg Secondary to detour around the flooding since our line is back open again today(more on that in a moment). These will be in the DET-400 series(odd for northbounds and even for southbounds). Our daily Indianapolis to Evansville freights(EVIN/INEV) have resumed service today and they will leave at their normal scheduled times today(INEV leaves Indy at 3:00pm and EVIN leaves Evansville at 11:30am).

First off, the crews repairing the washouts near Switz City have put in yeoman work, working round the clock and have gotten them repaired as of 9:30am today. The Vincennes Secondary will reopen for service tomorrow with the resumption of the Indianapolis to Vincennes trains(INVI/VIIN). WOR-402 will be taking off at 10:00am and the now empty ballast train, BAL-402, will depart at 10:30am to head back to Indianapolis. These crews will be staged at Hawthorne to head to Greencastle to start work on repairing the St. Louis mainline sometime later this afternoon or evening unless this line of rain that's coming tonight causes more flooding again...

Another work train, WOR-403, departed Indianapolis at 8:00am this morning to head up north to Lafayette on the Cincy to Kankakee mainline to work on repairing the washouts north of our bridge over the Wabash in town. A ballast train, BAL-404, departed Kankakee, IL at 8:30am to head over to the washout site as well. This train came from the CN and has CN 5332 and 5345 for power(SD40-2W). Barring any setbacks from the incoming weather system tonight, this work should be completed tonight or tomorrow, allowing PC to reopen this mainline once by Thursday morning.

Track inspectors got out in Kokomo and Elwood this morning to inspect the damage to the Richmond Branch and the reports are not good. The bridge over Wildcat Creek in Kokomo has been weakened by the flooding and its abutments and piers need to be reinforced and strengthened before any train can cross it again. Also a couple of minor spots where the ballast got washed away in town, causing the tracks to sag into the mud, will need to be repaired as well. The approaches on both sides of the bridge over Turkey Creek near the town of Windfall, IN got washed away completely and will need to be rebuilt. Also the bridge over Big Duck Creek in Elwood collapsed after the flooding dislodged one of the abutments holding the bridge up, causing it to collapse into the water. There are also other minor washouts where the ballast got washed away and needs replaced as well. The Richmond Branch has been declared out service from Kokomo to Frankton until repairs can be made, which may be a while as other more important lines receive attention first.

Up in Michigan, the situation is improving by the day. The flood watch for the GR&I Branch has been cancelled, allowing trains to resume timetable speed on the line once more. The Kalamazoo River is falling and should be down enough by this afternoon that we can go out and pull the empty boxcars off the bridge in Allegan, allowing a work train and ballast train out of Kalamazoo to head up north of Allegan to repair the washouts on the Kalamazoo Branch. We have ordered some ballast trains from the MQT to assist with repairs to the Grand Rapids Branch and those should all be here by Friday, with work planned to begin repairing the GR Branch to start Thursday afternoon. The crew fixing the South Haven Branch washout near Grand Junction completed their work around 2am this morning and both the work and ballast trains are back in Kalamazoo, allowing the South Haven Branch to officially be reopened as of 8am today. The local train, WJSH, has been put back on the schedule and will resume its regular work times today. The coal trains to the power plant will resume tomorrow on their normal schedule. The Cincinnati to Grand Rapids(CIGR/GRCI) trains will continue running their detour routing via the GR&I Branch to GR until the Grand Rapids Branch can be repaired, but otherwise, all the other trains on PC up in Michigan are back on their normal routings and times again.

The only other thing we are watching closely in regards to flooding is St. Louis to see if the Mississippi River will flood into the city and affect PC operations there. Otherwise, unless this new system dumps a bunch of rain and causes new flooding, we have finally gotten a handle on the flooding issues across our system. A new flood update will be issued this afternoon if its needed.

[conrailman75]

CSX detour trains using the Petersburg Secondary today:
Evansville
DET-401(CSX Q024)
DET-403(CSX Q596)
DET-405(CSX Q592)

Indianapolis
DET-402(CSX Q025)
DET-404(CSX Q597)
DET-406(CSX Q593)

[Saturnalia]

Just remembered that we have an interlocking, and a SW connection at Grand Junction. Might be a good re-route option if need be. I wonder if there is a way to have a wye in Grand Rapids. Let me think about this...

[DT&I]

How much longer will your trains need detours in Illinois? Getting more rain there and since the IC isn't as high as the original TSCR main we are starting to reroute PC and TSCR train over the TSCR main. We have four ballast trains ready to go over the IC to even it out. No washouts yet and we are hoping to prevent them before they happen. Also on the Panhandle we are getting reports of malfunctioning crossing gates in several spots? Sent a MOW crew out that way with some flaggers to protect those crossings so a 10 MPH slow order has been issued in between the town Limits of Zanesville.

[conrailman75]

How much longer will your trains need detours in Illinois? Getting more rain there and since the IC isn't as high as the original TSCR main we are starting to reroute PC and TSCR train over the TSCR main. We have four ballast trains ready to go over the IC to even it out. No washouts yet and we are hoping to prevent them before they happen. Also on the Panhandle we are getting reports of malfunctioning crossing gates in several spots? Sent a MOW crew out that way with some flaggers to protect those crossings so a 10 MPH slow order has been issued in between the town Limits of Zanesville.

Crew is working today to fix the washouts and the Cincy to Kankakee mainline should be open tomorrow so today would be the last day of detours. There will be an empty CN ballast train you'll need to bring back to them waiting at Kankakee in the morning if all goes well.

Copy that on the joint main, due to confusion by some local county deputies calling in the wrong town, the location is actually Newark and not Zanesville(which is down on the CSX ex B&O line). My dispatchers have issued trainorders restricting train speed to 10 MPH due to malfunctioning crossing signals. I have a crew dispatched out of Columbus to investigate and make repairs as needed.

[conrailman75]

Just remembered that we have an interlocking, and a SW connection at Grand Junction. Might be a good re-route option if need be. I wonder if there is a way to have a wye in Grand Rapids. Let me think about this...

I didn't know if there was a connection track there or not, thanks for letting me know. That info will come in handy for in the future if more "acts of nature" disrupt our traffic patterns.

[conrailman75]

PC trains across the system at 1pm:

Trains annulled
WJGR-1
WJGR-2
INVI/VIIN
all UWC coal trains

Trains reinstated
WJSH
INEV/EVIN

Western Region
Ft. Wayne Division
Amtrak #7 is at Plymouth, IN(Cannonball Run)
Amtrak #3 is at Middlepoint, OH(Lake Cities)
UCH-481 is arriving at Piqua yard Ft. Wayne, IN for a crew change
PIIN-3 is at Wooster, OH
WAFW-440 is arriving at Steel Dynamics in Butler, IN
PIFW-3A is at Crestline, OH
FWCH-3 is at Clarke Junction, IN
FWBR-3 is working Piqua yard Ft. Wayne, IN
CSX Q113 is at Hamlet, IN(CSXT 5485 and 5271)
CSX Q524 is at Pierceton, IN(CSXT 7749 and 7856)
NS 421 is at Mohican, OH(NS 1058 and 1037)
CSX Q317 is at Junction Tower Ft. Wayne, IN(CSXT 8562 and 8664)
FWCP-44 is at North Lawrence, OH(PC 5019 and 5018)
TV8 is at Middlepoint, OH
CHPI-3 is at Van Wert, OH
CJPI-3 is at Sebring, OH
IHPI-3 is at Hamlet, OH
GRPI-3 is at Convoy, OH
FWCR-484 is at Upper Sandusky, OH
FWPI-3B is departing Piqua yard Ft. Wayne, IN
JAPI-3 is at Ada, OH
INTO-3 is at Lima, OH
CSX Q356 is at Kirby, OH(CSXT 8402 and 8291)
CHIN-3 is at Portland, IN
DRFW-4882 is departing the yard in Richmond, IN
JATO-3 is at Van Wert, OH waiting to pull onto the mainline
INJA-3 is at Cement City, MI
Jackson Division
FWJA-3X is departing Piqua yard Ft. Wayne, IN
No. 697 is at Quincy, MI(PC 1601)
No. 693 is arriving at Sturgis, MI(PC 1603)
No. 692 is coming up to RK in Sturgis, MI(PC 1000)
No. 690 is departing Hillsdale, MI(PC 1002)
WJSH is at South Haven, MI*
*first train on South Haven Branch since washouts repaired
FWGRI-464 is in the siding at Wayland, MI to meet GRTO-3
FWGR-3 is at Mike Tower Ft. Wayne, IN
CIGR-3 is at Lagrange, IN*
*reroute train
GRTO-3 is meeting FWGRI-464 at Wayland, MI

Southern Region
Chicago Division
CHNS-3 is at Ade, IN
NSCH-3 is in the siding at Sheff to meet CHNS-3
Columbus Division
COCH-3 is at Hagenbaugh, OH
COSL-3 is departing Buckeye yard Columbus, OH
Mail-44 is at Bricker, OH
TV13 is at Morgan Crossing, OH
CODA-3 is departing Buckeye yard Columbus, OH
INCO-3 is at New Carlisle, OH
WLDY-1 is departing the yard in Dayton, OH
St. Louis Division
INSL-3 is at Reno, IN on CSX ex Big Four mainline*
*reroute train around flooding on PC
SLIN-3 is at Alma, IN on CSX ex Big Four mainline*
*reroute train around flooding on PC
SLCO-3 is at Witt, IL
EVIN-3 is at Plain, IN*
*first run of train since flooding began
DET-401 is at Martinsville, IN(CSXT 5295 and 5227)*
*CSX detour train - Q024
DET-402 is at Petersburg, IN(CSXT 889, 453, 239)*
*CSX detour train - Q025
DET-403 is at Buckskin, IN(CSXT 393, 7742, 2569, 2235)*
*CSX detour train - Q596
DET-404 is at Camby, IN(CSXT 8312 and 8454)*
*CSX detour train - Q597
DET-405 is at Evansville, IN waiting on a PC crew(CSXT 8588, 8703, 7878)*
*CSX detour train - Q592
DET-406 is at Kraft, IN waiting on a PC crew(CSXT 5401, 3043, 999)*
CSX detour train - Q593
Indianapolis Division
CHCO-3 is at Anoka, IN
DET-305 is at Columbus, IN(MON 3315 and 3332)*
*Monon detour train
FWIN-3 is at Philadelphia, IN
INFW-3X is at Germantown, IN
TOIN-3X is passing IU Tower in Indianapolis on CSX Big Four line
TOIN-3 is at Farmland, IN on CSX Big Four line
JAIN-3 is at Parker City, IN on CSX Big Four line
INTO-3X is at Yorktown, IN on CSX Big Four line
INEL-3 is departing Hawthorne yard Indianapolis, IN
XEH-23 is at Warsaw, IN(BNSF 6791 and 4997)*
*empty coal hoppers(KGLX) heading for Danville, IL via NS[as 67N]

NOTE: XEH symbol = X(extra unit train) EH(empty hoppers) plus date it originated

[heartlandguy]

All of our trains are now officially running via the PC Louisville Branch. The CSX bridge in Clinton is still closed. Trains that will now running over the Louisville Branch are (A= Autorack, I=Intermodal, 1=southbound, 2=northbound):

I-CL1
I-LC2
A-CL1
A-LC2
CL-1
LC-2 (aka: DET-301)
BL-1
LB-2 (aka: DET-303)
IL-1
LI-2 (aka: DET-305)

Will you be able to handle all of these?

[DT&I]

Newark! That's it couldn't think of it, but slow orders anulled, everything is taken care and working fine now. On another note, the ballast train can be handled. Also L-BUKAPX01-23 is tied down on main 3 with a crew on its way, died at Newark because of slow orders on other trains. Was waiting for 3 but they were going slow. Crew on duty for 16:00. Ten minutes.

[ES44AH]

Chessie CP-23 is on its way to the interchange.Its leaving Cumberland now so it will be there in a few hours, I'll let you know when they get there.

[conrailman75]

All of our trains are now officially running via the PC Louisville Branch. The CSX bridge in Clinton is still closed. Trains that will now running over the Louisville Branch are (A= Autorack, I=Intermodal, 1=southbound, 2=northbound):

I-CL1
I-LC2
A-CL1
A-LC2
CL-1
LC-2 (aka: DET-301)
BL-1
LB-2 (aka: DET-303)
IL-1
LI-2 (aka: DET-305)

Will you be able to handle all of these?

Definitely, considering that PC only runs 4 trains a day on this line(2 intermodals and 2 freights)! Your trains will continue to be in the DET-300 series:
I-CL1 = DET-302
I-LC2 = DET-301
A-CL1 = DET-304
A-LC2 = DET-303
CL-1 = DET-306
LC-2 = DET-305
BL-1 = DET-308
LB-2 = DET-307
IL-1 = DET-310
LI-2 = DET-309

[conrailman75]

Newark! That's it couldn't think of it, but slow orders anulled, everything is taken care and working fine now. On another note, the ballast train can be handled. Also L-BUKAPX01-23 is tied down on main 3 with a crew on its way, died at Newark because of slow orders on other trains. Was waiting for 3 but they were going slow. Crew on duty for 16:00. Ten minutes.

Thanks for the update, your train was recrewed and is on its way now.

[conrailman75]

Afternoon flood update 4/23:

The Monon is now detouring 10 trains on the Louisville Branch, while CSX is only detouring 6 via the Petersburg Secondary for now, with the option to increase it if necessary. These lines are not very busy with PC trains so we have the capacity to handle the extra business.

On the positive front, the crews working the washouts near Lafayette on the Cincy to Kankakee mainline are on course to finishing up the repairs to the line in the next 3 hours, allowing us to reopen this key main route once again. The ballast train from CN will be returned to Kankakee for forwarding back to its home rails by the TSCR and the work train will return to Indianapolis to be staged for the massive repair effort needed to rebuild the St. Louis mainline.

Work trains and crews are being sent up to Grand Rapids and down to Indianapolis to get ready for the massive rebuild efforts on the Grand Rapids Branch and St. Louis mainline respectively and hopefully we can get started on them by Friday this week. The Richmond Branch has been declared out of service and its rebuild will be done once work on the other two lines is completed.

As it starts to rain tonight across PC's territory, officials in headquarters are holding their breath in hopes that it does not cause any new flooding or make any current flooding worse than it already is.

[heartlandguy]

Definitely, considering that PC only runs 4 trains a day on this line(2 intermodals and 2 freights)! Your trains will continue to be in the DET-300 series:
I-CL1 = DET-302
I-LC2 = DET-301
A-CL1 = DET-304
A-LC2 = DET-303
CL-1 = DET-306
LC-2 = DET-305
BL-1 = DET-308
LB-2 = DET-307
IL-1 = DET-310
LI-2 = DET-309

Awesome, thanks for your help! We should have our line back open by the end of this week, at latest.

[conrailman75]

Flood update 4/24:

The good news is that the rain from last night did not cause any new flooding or make any existing flooding worse, so PC dodged another bullet there for sure. The Monon is detouring 10 trains a day via the Louisville Branch(we are running them in the DET-300 series) and CSX is detouring 6 trains a day via the Petersburg Secondary with a few extra trains thrown in as necessary(we are running them in the DET-400 series). We are still open to accepting new detour trains as necessary to help our connections get around flooding.

The Cincinnati to Kankakee mainline was reopened last night at 10:30pm and trains are back running on their regular routes once more. The CN ballast train was dropped off at the interchange for the TSCR to pickup in Kankakee around 1am this morning.

Work crews have descended upon the St. Louis mainline to start repairing all the washouts from Greencastle to Terre Haute today. A temporary block operator is working the tower at Limedale until the line reopens to assist in getting work and ballast trains across the Monon line there. Today work trains WOR-407 and WOR-409 departed Indianapolis at 7am to head to the work sites. WOR-409 has all the camp cars for the men and WOR-407 has the crane, boom tender, gondolas of ties, hoppers of ballast and so forth. The WOR-409 will be based at the siding at East Marion and crews will be shuttled to and from the work site from there by train. The first of two ballast trains departed right behind them, BAL-409, at 7:30am. This train has the rock fill to help with filling in the washed out roadbed where needed. The second ballast train will be waiting at Hawthorne yard, BAL-411, until the first train comes back empty as this is all single track territory and the work train has to get into the clear at West Marion siding to allow the ballast trains to get in front of it to dump their loads. A third work train, WOR-411, is sitting in Hawthorne yard with the new bridge pieces for the washed out bridges on the line. We have on the way to Indianapolis 4 more ballast trains, 1 from NS, 1 from CSX, and 2 from PC out of Columbus to assist in the effort. Once the flood threat in St. Louis subsides, we will then mobilize those forces there and send them to attack the washouts from the west end as well. We are hoping to possibly get this mainline reopened by the weekend barring any setbacks.

Up in Michigan, track crews are out attacking the washouts on our branchlines out of Grand Rapids. One crew is working the scene of the washout on the Kalamazoo Branch north of Allegan after the Kalamazoo River dropped enough to allow us to reopen the bridge over the river in Allegan. Work train WOR-501 and ballast train BAL-501 are both on the site of that washout and they hope to have it repaired and the line reopened by tomorrow at the latest. Two of our ballast trains have arrived from the MQT this morning, so crews from both the Jackson Division and Ft. Wayne division are out tackling all the washouts on the Grand Rapids Branch this morning. Work trains WOR-502 and WOR-504 left Hughart this morning at 8:00am, followed by ballast train BAL-502. The second ballast train is at Hughart, BAL-504, ready to head out when the first train comes back empty. A third ballast train is on its way and should be here tomorrow at the latest. A third work train, WOR-506, is sitting in Hughart with bridge parts to replaced some of the washed away bridges on the line. We hope to have this line reopened by no later than Monday depending on how the work progresses. Otherwise all PC Michigan operations are back to normal again with all trains except the two locals out of GR reinstated.

The Richmond Branch is still out of service between Frankton and Anoka and won't begin to be repaired until sometime next week, after the mainline thru Greencastle gets repaired first. Trains CILO/LOCI are detouring via the mainline to Indianapolis and up the I&F Branch to Logansport to get around the washouts.

And to show how crazy the weather is, it is snowing/sleeting outside PC headquarters in Fort Wayne, IN today. Welcome to spring in Indiana!

[DT&I]

W-KANCCN5-24 called for 16:00 CST.