N1EY: I am N1EY. This is the webpage about the adventures through time and space of Bill O’Hara, N1EY. My email is n1ey@n1ey.com

Choose a Topic:

Sun
27
Sep '09

Indy 2009

Part of webmaster's adventure in Site News

I saw some neat stuff in Indy.  I managed to find a very cool Dunkin’ Donuts.  I also had a change to race around the streets of downtown Indy.  Indy is the site of one of the first velodromes to ever be constructed in the United States.  Eventually the impetus behind bicycling racing subsided.  It had been replaced by motorcar racing.  They also like their football.  The Colts have commanded a substantial fan base.  I was walking around the city prior to the commencement of a pre-season game.  There were tons of fans situated throughout the city.  A lot of code blue tailgate parties were under way.
The football fans walked all around the city.  Their vehicles were located in many of the different parking lots in the area.  It was hard to find any on-street parking.  There was capacity available in the vertical parking garages including the one by CSX dispatching.   Many fans had custom vehicle painting completed in order to show their devotion to the team.  I did not see many fans venture over to some of the coffee shops while waiting for the game to start.  I was wondering if a form of animosity had been demonstrated against the official coffee of the New England Patriots.  Yes.  I had spotted a very interesting Dunkin’ Donuts, which had very few Colts jerseys tricking through it.  This store features a revolving marquee sign above the roof.  This is something unique, which you do not happen to find installed at most DD franchies.
N1EY

Leave a passing comment »

Sat
19
Sep '09

Bicycling in Chicagoland

Part of webmaster's adventure in Cycling

Welcome to another fine post by me.  I am starting to write more.  It is very interesting to compare the bicycling scene between Chicago and Boston. I have a lot more pictures to display.  I guess this is the impetus for more recent postings.  Check out the new light fixtures on the Roosevelt street Bridge.  In the background is the Printer’s Row neighborhood.  Everything by this area of Chicagoland is deluxe.  I remember when people used to be fraught with horror upon finding out that I was loitering around this area while I waited for the trains to roll past me.  Behind me is a Whole Foods supermarket.  The area has changed immensely.

Now, the area is relatively safe.  It is not like Drexler Blvd to the south.  Lots of people feel confident to ride their bicycles.  There was a constant stream of bicycles coming from work in the area southeast of the Loop.  Plus, there was a constant stream headed towards the Lake Shore Drive and all of the residential places tucked away to the east.  I was amazed to see Racers, Fast bikers, very slow bikers, cross bikes, cruisers, etc pass by me.  Everything went by me!

There definitely was a higher volume of bicycle traffic here than in places like Commonwealth Ave or Beacon St in Boston.  It was constant and unrelenting.  One thing to note was the absence of helmuts by many of these riders.  You would not see this in Boston.  We need someone like CTPS to count all of these Chicago bicyclers for us.
There is a hugely positive attitude towards bicycling.  Boston needs to copy more of it.  We have a bicycling czar and one upcoming biking race.  However, we are looking at implementing bicycling lanes on the left side of busy roads and messing with traffic signals.  They would take parking spots away from neighborhoods. Chicago is busy promoting bicycling with things such as the Bicycling Ambassadors.
Riders need education in regards how to properly ride in the streets.  This program helps people learn how to ride and shows them how to transport themselves and things to work.  Boston’s approach is to create new road technology instead of simply getting everyone familiar with bicycling.  How is someone going to use a bicycle lane when they do not know how to use it?  The priorities are different in Chicago.
I was very impressed with some of the railfans in Chicago.  Two fellows rode with their bikes to the bridge to catch a photograph of rare diesel engine making its way to Union station.  One biker dismounted his cross bicycle and hoped onto the pavement like he was at a cross race.  A bike race is being promoted at Solder’s Field every two weeks to draw people to the waterfront and encourage bicycling.  There is a lot of bicycle activity and positive vibe in Chicago.
N1EY

Leave a passing comment »

'

Norfolk Southern trains on the IC

Part of webmaster's adventure in Railroading


There seems to be quite a bit of open access on the Illinois Central.  In the CN fashion other railroads are able to buy excess capacity on the IC.  Norfolk Southern has been running on the IC tracks prior to the CN purchase.  CN allows UP, shortlines, and others to run on the Iowa Division.  You can see a lot of UP trains on the IC in Iowa when a detour is required.  Norfolk Southern has abandoned some of its’ Wabash trackage.  Much of the trackage south of Manhattan, IL is gone.  A small segment, which starts at Risk,IL belongs to the Bloomer shortline; I have pictures of this line to post, soon!
The Bloomer uses the short piece of track from Gibson City north to Risk, IL where the Bloomer connects to ex-IC track.  The track north of Risk is out of service.  This track would have continued to Manhattan.
You might know that the IC runs to Gibson City via the connection at Gilman, IL.  The line is a secondary with a fair amount of traffic.
You are guaranteed very reliable early-morning traffic from the Norfolk Southern on every day of the week. I have a picture of the TPW intermodal train in Manteno, which came through Gilman.  I consider myself lucky to catch it.  You can catch early morning pictures in the fall and spring very easily as the northbound auto parts train comes off the NS in Gilman.  Eventually, the northbound connects to the IC mainline in Gilman.  You might have an opportunity to catch the northbound IC manifest, the City of New Orleans, and extra, and the Gilman road-switcher.  You should definitely be able to catch a train passing the Gilman coal towers.
In the first picture you can see the northbound autorack train pass the Markham switcher job in Homewood, IL.  I took this shot from the parking lot.  Do not park you car here.  Park your car by the Homewood railfan platform.  Make sure to buy some coffee from the local establishments to establish your bona-fides.  The second shot is taken from the street north of the Gilman station and diamond.  The NS northbound is on the connecting track.  The third track features the same train heading pass the the Gilman coal towers.  I took this shot from the cemetery.
The above shot features the southbound Norfolk Southern train.  It took the connection shortly after the northbound left Gilman.  This is southwest of Gilman.  I followed the train on a nice paralleling road to Gibson City.
N1EY

Leave a passing comment »

Wed
9
Sep '09

IC 2009

Part of webmaster's adventure in Railroading

This is the Amtrak City of New Orleans traveling north through Kankakee, IL on the Illinois Central Mainline.
The Illinois Central Railroad seems to be fading into the distant past like a dream.  The days of CN have really arrived.  IC power is rapidly disappearing.  A whole number of units were found in the deadlines in Effingham. Pieces which ran past at one point are rapidly showing up as static display pieces. The village of Homewood has leased land from Metra in order to put on display, IC #8408.  This is a fabulous unit and indicative of the IC engine programs.  Some of the other units such as the 6000 series were actually ex-BN units.  Several IC units, when purchased new from the builder, still linger on the New England Central near me.
The Village of Homewood has also worked on improving railfan accessibility.  They have created a platform for railfans to sit and watch the trains.  This is definitely a good spot for some morning activity.  They also worked hard to have CN remove some of the bulky signaling line which obscured the mainline.  Here is #1002 pulling the morning intermodal train from New Orleans into Homewood.  Notice the safety green vest that the engineer is wearing.  This is definitely CN, now.  CN has the best safety record regardless of any notable accidents of late.  The intermodal train has started to obtain more international traffic and has a lot of double stacks. The train has set-outs and pick ups in Memphis.  I have fotos somewhere which show transfer of intermodal cars from KCS; I took those years, ago.  The #1002 was one of the first sets in the last two new engine orders that IC had made.  This is it.  CN has installed yellow striping around the sill plates, which really detract from the original paint scheme with the famous AT&T style logo.
I definitely spent more time shooting IC pictures during my trip then shooting BNSF or UP pictures.  The IC is were all of the fun can be had.  It is just my speed.  In the morning, if you start early, then you can the northern manifest, the intermodal, the City of New Orleans, and the Norfolk Southern northbound auto train. Plus, you can catch the switching of the yard as the locomotives pull past Homewood station.  In a little bit of time you might be able to catch the Homewood Road Switcher head south.  There are still road switchers stationed in Kanakakee and Gilman.  However, they often have different power than the nice IC units from the old days.  Effingham has an Elgin, Joliet & Eastern unit in the yard.  The Mattoon Champaign Turn has a EJE unit as well.  CN power abounds.  I try to take pictures in some of the more non-traditional spots.  It always seems that people like to shoot pictures of the old coaling towers in Gilman.
Yet, very few people show pictures downtown.  Don’t they like trees? CN 2575 leads a northbound manifest in this picture.  Radio traffic was heavy on one morning.  I could hear too much in my car.  I have noticed how easy it is to receive too much traffic on one main frequency.  Simulatenously, a MOW unit, Champaign yardmaster, Markham yard master, and the Dispatcher are trying to talk to trains.  With FM Quieting only the strongest survive.  It turns out that train crews were having as many issues as I.  I could hear the Amtrak crew and the MOW crew in Paxton with my handheld in Rantoul.  Try doing this somewhere on the CSX mainline in NY.
Here is a picture of the light engine movement often seen south of Champaign.
N1EY

Comments Off

Fri
4
Sep '09

Chicago Soldier’s Field Criterium Series

Part of webmaster's adventure in Cycling

I have competed in a number of races this year.  I have raced in a number of states, too.  It is a lot of fun.  I was talking with Bob, whom rides with me a lot on Sundays.  He is a retired racer.  He has raced in an equal number of states.  He had a lot of fun on the road.  It is a great way to see new places.

While in Chicagoland I decided that I had to try a race.  I had thought about the practice racing for the South Chicago Wheelmen as it was not far from Homewood.  However, I wanted to try this new series by Soldier’s Field.  It is also pretty cool to say how many stadiums for which you have raced past or within.  They have been running the races every two weeks.  They had two Cat 4/5 fields. I only wished that I could had started the earlier field.  I was not able to get many pictures of the 1-2-3 race as it was dark.  They have to race underneath the lighting.  This is way to tough for me.  Plus, when I was taking photographs I did not want to use any FLASH units.  I figure that might even pose a danger.  It was a fun race.  The back stretch had me easily accelerating to 35 to stay with the pack.  There were a number of turns in which some of the cat 5’s could not handle.  It was definitely better to be in the middle of the pack towards the front.
One fellow that I met while railfanning earlier in the day had already raced in the series.  It is very popular.  Bicycling also seems more popular in the loop area of Chicagoland than in downtown Boston.
I met one girl whose boyfriend was in the cat 3 race.  They were from Florida.  Some people are just like me.  If you are in town and a race is in proximity to you, then why not roll out the bicycle.
N1EY

Leave a passing comment »

Thu
3
Sep '09

Tolono, IL 2009

Part of webmaster's adventure in Railroading

Here are some truck frames heading east to an assembly plant.  They might have originated in the Ford plan in St. Louis.
I managed to stop at a few crossings along a trip following the Illinois Central mainline.  Tolono is south of Champaign.  It is not very far from Tuscola, either.  This can be a great spot to catch Norfolk Southern trains with autoparts on the move.  I have taken photos along this line in various spots to the west of Tolono including Bement.  Norfolk Southern crosses the IC on the old wabash Decatur mainline at Tolono.  There used to be a northeast connection track at the diamond, but it has been ripped.  The southeastern connection track is still there.  However, I do not believe any of the Geismar originated traffic still relies upon the NS wabash mainline.
N1EY

Leave a passing comment »