IC 2720 on the point with a load of empty potash cars headed north through Des Plaines, IL yesterday. The white spots are the rain on my window. This is just north of where the Milwaukee Road, Soo and CNW lines intersect; also in Des Plaines. This used to be the Soo line, so I'm not sure how CN acquired it. It is definitely CN track though. On the other side of the train is 10 or so CN trucks, working on the signals for the route 12 and route 58 crossing signals. Sent from my SM-S901U1 using Tapatalk
In that neck of the woods, any ex-Soo tracks would have been spun off into the "new" Wisconsin Central, which CN acquired 14 years later. Only a few years after spinning off the WC trackage, Soo was completely taken over by what was then called CP, now CPKC. CN, CPKC, SOO, WC, IC... You need a program to keep up with the alphabet soup of mergers, spin-offs, re-mergers, acquisitions... Makes reality shows look like sitcoms...
Thanks Mike, that definitely answers some questions. However, now I'm a bit confused. Does Soo or CPKC or CN operate the old MILW line just east of this CN line? How about the line from Chi to Elgin? I thought Soo bought those lines out of bankruptcy. I remember seeing Soo locos on the Elgin line as a child in the late 80s. Sent from my SM-S901U1 using Tapatalk
The tracks that you're seeing are part of CN's Waukesha subdivision. In Des Plaines, just east of there I can see UP's Harvard sub, with Metra next to it. CN crosses the Harvard sub a little north of Des Plaines. The Elgin-Chicago line is CPKC Elgin sub. It leads through CPKC's big yard at Bensenville on the way to Chicago. There are a lot of Canuckians around Chicago...
