South Shore Double Track

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Saturnalia
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Trains 6 and 11 had been bussing all the way to/from South Bend since the start of the track outage, due to concerns over their on time performance with the bus changeover at the typical non-stop of Carroll. They have not had any bussing-related timekeeping issues since their re-instatement as trains east of Michigan City and the schedule adjustment.
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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Interesting - I did not know they were busing all the way to/from South Bend. With the speed of the track from Grandview to the Airport a bus would get a head start on the schedule. I remember the day I watched a train as it pulled out of the Airport station, I drove to Birchim to take the photo in my avatar and then caught the train again in Michigan City as it crossed Michigan Ave (the pause at Carroll Ave helped me catch up the second time). South Bend to Dune Park by road would beat most trains.

I have tried to run the numbers based on maximum authorized speed including speed restrictions for curves. The faster track speeds post DTNWI will shave a few minutes off of each trip. High platforms will save almost as much time as the faster speeds. The second track itself with help with trains that have to wait for meets. (For example, train 20 waiting for eastbound trains 11 and 111.)

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Re: South Shore Double Track

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In the last couple of days, the contractors have erected the new catenary poles at the 10th Street interlocking along the new route, so one can really see where the new tracks will go. They pass just south of the existing eastward absolute signal for the Amtrak Michigan Line.

Meanwhile, it looks like culvert work near Dune Park is wrapping up, and new track is going down heading west from Beverly Shores. Aside from the cut-over west of US12, the new track is also laid from the old WE Powers to Central Ave, which will close next week for its two-week rebuild.
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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It will be interesting to see if the diamond that has been staged at 10th St since at least February gets installed as part of the new interlocking or not installed at all. I am also looking forward to seeing how the track shift west of power is done.

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Re: South Shore Double Track

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justalurker66 wrote:
Thu Jun 30, 2022 7:06 pm
It will be interesting to see if the diamond that has been staged at 10th St since at least February gets installed as part of the new interlocking or not installed at all. I am also looking forward to seeing how the track shift west of power is done.
That diamond is/was for the existing alignment, it is not the correct angle for the new crossing. Amtrak is the one that ordered and paid for it, not NICTD. It's basically useless, unless somebody somewhere else happens to have that exact angle of crossing.
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Drove the DTNWI Project Zone today and took a few pictures. Looks like most of the culvert work is wrapping up between Powers and Tremont, though I did not get any photos of those.

First set of photos is looking both ways from Oak St, first east and then west. The new catenary supports are going up, and on the south side they roughly delineate where the future concrete wall will go to separate the remaining EB lane of 11th Street and the new double-track right of way.
image0.jpg
image0 (1).jpg
Next, they finally began to pave Lafayette Street today, so it should be open soon I would think. This crossing had a significant raise and realignment, to convert the old Cedar Street "S" curve into a single, gentler curve.
image0 (2).jpg
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Next, the contractors went nuts this week installing the precast station platform supports at 11th Street. While it was definitely neat to see the old-time tradition of middle-of-the-street boarding, these new platforms will vastly improve the passenger experience, especially for those passengers with mobility limitations. Should the vast increase in ridership at this location pan out as expected, the long platforms will also allow crowds to be quickly swallowed up and whisked away, as all doors will be able to open, versus only those attended to by a conductor or collector.
image0 (3).jpg
Down at the 10th Street Interlocking, the new catenary support poles are up for the new alignment, which reduces a 14-degree curve down to a much, much more manageable 5 degrees. For the uninitiated, degrees of curvature is essentially how many degrees are turned every 100 feet of track (roughly, we use the chord definition instead of arc, but that's minutiae for this discussion). So now, the cars will only have one-third the swing, and the troublesome whiplash will be gone, as the new S-curve has a decent tangent in between the two curves, unlike the old setup.
image0 (4).jpg
Finally for today, this is looking west from Beverly Shores. They've really begun to build track now! Herzog has been using a grapple truck to lay out the pre-plated ties, and then speed swings to thread in the rail. With the culvert obstructions gone and most of the crossings done, tracklaying between Powers and Tremont should now progress quite rapidly.
image0 (5).jpg
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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That is a lot done for a week. Thanks for the update.

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Re: South Shore Double Track

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11thSt-20220702.jpg
11th St Station from Cedar St.

MC 220702 Lafayette St.jpg
Please mind the gap at Lafayette St. It should be a nice crossing with clear vision in both directions.

KemilRd-220702.jpg
Kemil Rd is open (Central Ave closing Tuesday) ... I noticed when I looked at the photo that it appears that a sidewalk or trail is planned east of Kemil Rd. There are rubber strips for a small crossing.


Washington St is ready for track laying but no new track yet.
Last edited by justalurker66 on Sun Jul 03, 2022 12:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: South Shore Double Track

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One more shot ... not sure when this happened but it appears that a shuttle coach got a little too close to the building. Oops!
MC 220702 Shops.jpg

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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Lafayette St ready for traffic ... the new curve is superelevated and track two is higher than track one to provide a consistent grade up from the south side. I expect by next weekend traffic will be using the new crossing.
MC 220710 Lafayette St 1.jpg
MC 220710 Lafayette St 2.jpg
Beams have been placed on some of the platform supports at 11th St.
11thSt-20220710.jpg
Not a lot of other changes to note: Washington St still needs track before paving. Catenary supports are now in place as far west as Wabash St. Central Ave closed Tuesday. The road surface is gone but work has only just begun. Beverly Shores is still missing a sidewalk in front of the station (and the new platforms). The ramp at the west end of the Dune Park station (and walkway to the state park) is closed for the installation of catenary supports.


While I was looking at the rails a train came by ... UP taking coal empties west to Gary past Beverly Shores and Dune Park.
https://youtu.be/mHFW9ugqvH0

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justalurker66
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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"Starting July 25, 2022 for a period of 28 days, the Calumet Trail will be closed under the Highway 49 bridge. The estimated reopening date is August 22, 2022. This work is required to add the new second train track and reconstruct this segment of the Calumet Trail in a slightly modified location. Important: the closure will also close the trail connection across NICTD’s tracks just west of Dune Park Station platforms. People who want to access the Calumet Trail or get to the Indiana Dunes State Park on the northward trail should find alternate means to reach their destination."

https://www.doubletrack-nwi.com/construction/next-steps

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Re: South Shore Double Track

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From last weekend ... Lafayette St open for traffic
MC 220719 Lafayette St NB.jpg
Main two was built to just east of Cedar St near where the gauntlet will begin.
MC 220719 Lafayette St WB.jpg
This week main two was extended east toward Michigan Ave.
MC 220719 Lafayette St EB.jpg

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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Plenty of progress at the new Michigan City 11th St station this week. The south platform bases and beams are fully in place. There is a gap in the north platform where construction vehicles carried through parts for the platforms. Crews were busy Thursday covering the conduits placed north of the platforms. A NIPSCO crew was working along the south edge of 11th St.
11thSt-20220721-wramps.jpg
11thSt-20220721-platform1.jpg
11thSt-20220721-platform2.jpg
The new track has been extended west across Washington St but has not yet been leveled for paving (that should not take long). Once Washington is done Wabash closes for it's "30 day" rebuild.

Willard Ave closed Tuesday extending the Chicago Ave detour west to Sheridan. Willard's closure is reported to be through September 3rd.

The work at Central Ave west of Michigan City took a couple extra days.

The construction website is reporting that the platforms will be installed at the Beverly Shores station starting Monday and the rebuild of the Calumet trail WEST of Dune Park will also start on Monday. There are also announcements of road work in Gary next month and at Waverly Rd WEST of Dune Park in September. Most of the construction west of Dune Park this year has been "off track" (lot clearing, utility relocations, parking lots) but these three projects affect crossings.

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Re: South Shore Double Track

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One and a half high platforms at 11th St. (In one of the published plans.)

The Track 1 high platform is shorter than the Track 2 high platform at the new 11th St station. A five car train could open all doors except the engineer's cab on the high level. The Track 2 platform is full length (longer than an eight car train). Note the supports for the ramp down on the platform to the left (which is for Track 1) and the taller supports continuing on Track 2. The gap in the picture below is at Spring St which will be filled in by the platform.
11thSt-20220731-platform1.jpg
Track 2 construction is underway. Note the longer ties in the picture below that will support the gauntlet track. The gauntlet switch will replace the temporary track in the foreground.
11thSt-20220731-platform2.jpg
The "30 day closure" of Washington St will reach the 60 day mark this week. The date on the construction website keeps getting pushed back and is currently August 4th? (Picture below)
MC 220731 Washington.jpg
In other news ...
Work has begun on the barrier wall between the tracks and new eastbound only 11th St at the Michigan Avenue end of 11th St. Progress!

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Re: South Shore Double Track

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The gauntlet track is for stopping trains to put them next to the platform?
I assume that all the commuter trains stop.
How many freight trains are there?
Which makes me wonder why it's not the freights that get shifted.
But maybe what I had read/my memory is wrong.

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Re: South Shore Double Track

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DaveO wrote:
Mon Aug 01, 2022 6:20 am
The gauntlet track is for stopping trains to put them next to the platform?
I assume that all the commuter trains stop.
How many freight trains are there?
Which makes me wonder why it's not the freights that get shifted.
But maybe what I had read/my memory is wrong.
Originally, at East Chicago and Hegewisch Track 2, passenger trains were shifted towards the platform. At Hammond and Hegewisch Track 1, it is more of a split. In all cases, passenger trains for the platform took the “diverging” route which included a nasty speed restriction.

In order to remove the speed restrictions of the diverging route, East Chicago was reconfigured last year to make the platform track the straight route, with freights diverging. The switches were also made a longer size so freight sees less of a restriction now than the passengers used to. It also removed the turnouts from the curve on the east end which was a nightmare for maintenance.

Hegewisch will be reconfigured late next year to become the same as East Chicago, with the platform track becoming the new straight route. A new one way, low speed Diamond will also be installed there too, along with a higher-speed crossover at CP 70.0, in anticipation of West Lake trains, all of which will need to use Main 1 between 70.0 and 69.2.

Hammond will be left alone as it will be replaced by the new Hammond Gateway station as part of West Lake. The new platforms there, along with the new high levels at Miller, Track 1 at Ogden Dunes and both tracks at Michigan City will be configured for passenger/platform as the straight route.

Note that Ogden Dunes Track 2 will not be getting a high level platform just yet, but it’s designed for the future construction of one.

All West Lake platforms will be high level without gauntlet, as there will be no freight service. Freight locomotives and most cars can actually pass the high level platforms without issue, it’s just really close. The problems arise with permitted wide loads, along with any open plug door boxcars. In order to allow CSS to ship wide loads (which they do a lot of) and put our minds at ease about open boxcar doors and freight so close to passengers, a shift away is a very good idea, even though it requires the turnouts, control point, etc.

Long-winded answer but I suppose useful for the record.

Also in construction news, all of the crossings are done headed west out of City, and the culverts are wrapping up so the new Main 2 is starting to go in fairly quickly. They’re marching west from Beverly Shores, spacing out the new ties and once they get far enough, stringing in the new rail.

This week is an outage extended to encompass Dune Park and out to Mineral Springs Road for culvert work, so bussing is extended to Gary Metro/Clark Road. Beginning August 15th, the daily construction window will be extended to Mineral Springs through the rest of the year, with bussing again extended to Gary Metro/Clark Road. As with previous bussing iterations last year, the trains will be staged at Metro, with crews and any ADA passengers getting on/off the trains there and everybody else at Clark. This is because all things being equal, both are low level platforms but Gary has the nasty up and down trip via the bus station and less space for NICTD’s busses.

From an operations standpoint, it’s about to get worse but it’s gonna be so much worth it when done!
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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Thanks for the long-winded answer.
I never would have considered the extra clearance for a plug-door if it had been left open.

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Re: South Shore Double Track

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DaveO wrote:
Mon Aug 01, 2022 6:20 am
Which makes me wonder why it's not the freights that get shifted.
But maybe what I had read/my memory is wrong.
The picture above is misleading since the track in the foreground is not connected to the track in the back. As Saturnalia noted, the passenger trains get the straight route - the freight trains get the shift over 2.5ft and back. (I assume passenger trains not stopping take the wide route as well.)

I believe that foreground track is a used piece of track saved when they rebuilt the Lafayette St curve. It make sense since any track put there would be torn out when the gauntlet switches are installed.
Saturnalia wrote:
Mon Aug 01, 2022 7:07 am
This week is an outage extended to encompass Dune Park and out to Mineral Springs Road for culvert work, so bussing is extended to Gary Metro/Clark Road. Beginning August 15th, the daily construction window will be extended to Mineral Springs through the rest of the year, with bussing again extended to Gary Metro/Clark Road. As with previous bussing iterations last year, the trains will be staged at Metro, with crews and any ADA passengers getting on/off the trains there and everybody else at Clark. This is because all things being equal, both are low level platforms but Gary has the nasty up and down trip via the bus station and less space for NICTD’s busses.
How is that working with the elevator outage?

"General Message: . Update: The SSL Gary Metro Station main-floor elevator is expected to be out of service for an extended period of time. Recommended alternative accessible location is Hammond Station. Please visit https://www.mysouthshoreline.com/riders/ada for more information on alternative elevator locations "

I was hoping some work would be done west of Dune Park.

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Re: South Shore Double Track

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Express trains only use the “freight” track at stations when it’s the faster route. Presently, trains not stopping at Hammond and Hegewisch do take the “freight” (technically main) track because it is a faster route. However, trains are permitted to pass high-level platforms at 60 MPH, which is the speed restriction for express moves at Dune Park. Therefore, all passenger trains at these other new gauntlets will take the platform alignment, since it will be the straight route and the “freight” track will be subject to a speed restriction for diverging through a turnout.

The Gary Metro elevator should be repaired already, I think that message is out of date.

All the work this week between EE Tremont and Mineral Springs is Culverts. I personally don’t expect much track work around there for awhile since they’re still working points east - most of it will probably be demo of the existing catenary around CP 43.7, and preparation of the new alignment under IN-49, which is already ongoing. The Calumet Trail is being moved north to give Track 2 a means to pass under the bridge, which requires a retaining wall that is being installed now.

Like a herd of turtles - slow moving progress but definitely progress!
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