Trains of Chesterton, Indiana; A Busy Day of Railfanning on the Norfolk Southern Chicago Line! скачать в хорошем качестве

Trains of Chesterton, Indiana; A Busy Day of Railfanning on the Norfolk Southern Chicago Line!

Hello everyone, and welcome to a full day of railfanning action here in Chesterton, Indiana. Today's action is my second day of my three-day Labor Day Weekend vacation here in Chesterton, and it was a rather decent day of railfanning here on the Chicago Line. From Dawn to Dusk, the Chicago Line had a respectable amount of trains considering this was Labor Day. In a span of about 13 hours, I caught a total of 37 trains with a great mixture of Amtrak, Norfolk Southern, and plenty of foreign power. This day of railfanning started off with a CPKC westbound manifest with two KCS Southern Belle units. CPKC runs about 8-10 trains per day on the Chicago Line as part of its trackage rights route over Norfolk Southern between Chicago and Detroit. I filmed this train from the balcony of the Riley's Railhouse, the trackside Bed and Breakfast right here in Chesterton. Not long after, the two morning Amtrak westbounds came through, the Capitol Limited and the Lake Shore Limited. Following this was a cavalcade of the many freight trains one can expect on the Chicago Line; NS intermodal and unit trains, BNSF and Union Pacific manifest trains to and from Elkhart, and the steel coil shuttle between Gary and Elkhart. Notable catches of this busy morning were the Dash 9 duo on the steel shuttle, a covered hopper on a flatcar, and a plethora of 86-foot boxcars. Best of all, one of these 86-foot boxcars was an ancient Southern Boxcar similar to one I saw in March. Southern Boxcars are rare, and an 86-foot Southern Boxcar is indeed a relic. As the day went along, the action continued heavy as usual. The second good catch of the day was a Norfolk and Western Bay Hopper on a westbound manifest train. These little covered hoppers are also becoming more uncommon by the day, just like the Southern boxcars. One interesting point about this morning of railfanning was the amount of BNSF trains, almost like this was a BNSF mainline and not an NS mainline. A little while later, I ventured on down to Porter Junction, where the magic happens. Located less than a mile west of downtown Chesterton, Porter Junction is where the Amtrak Michigan Line meets the Norfolk Southern Chicago Line. Here at the junction, eight daily Amtrak trains turn off the Chicago Line as they head to their destinations in Michigan. The main Michigan Amtrak train is the Wolverine to Detroit, and the secondary Amtrak trains are the Pere Marquette to Grand Rapids and Blue Water to Lansing. For over the last decade, the state of Michigan has invested a great deal of money into their Amtrak services, and it shows with the new engines and passenger cars. While at Porter Junction, I saw both the Blue Water trains (eastbound and westbound), three of the Wolverine trains, and the eastbound Pere Marquette to Grand Rapids. Pretty incredible to catch so many Amtrak trains in one day. Aside from Amtrak action, there were a good handful of NS trains at Porter Junction. As the morning rolled into afternoon, I made a couple of trips back and forth from Porter Junction to Downtown Chesterton. Some of the notable catches on this afternoon were a Dash 9 trailing third on a westbound NS manifest, a Union Pacific SD70ACe duo on the eastbound UP manifest train, and a Montana Rail Link covered hopper on an eastbound manifest train. Very rare to see Montana Rail Link rolling stock east of Chicago, almost as rare as the MRL locomotives. As evening descended onto Chesterton, I took one last trip back to Porter Junction to catch the eastbound Capitol Limited. The final Amtrak train of the day was one of my favorite catches of the day catching the Capitol Limited in the twilight of this day of railfanning. Shortly after two more westbound trains came through before I finally returned to Riley's Railhouse after an eventful day of railfanning here in Chesterton. Overall, this day of railfanning was a fun one on the Chicago Line. The action was terrific, though my one wish for today was seeing a heritage unit which unfortunately did not show up, but there is always next time. I will be uploading my third and final video of my trip here to Chesterton in the coming week, so be on the lookout for that video when it drops. One final note; be sure to check out Riley's Railhouse if you are ever visiting Chesterton, as it is one of the best railfan-themed Bed and Breakfast places to be at. Thanks for watching, and I hope you enjoy the video! -N&W475.