Railfanning South Chicago: Rock Island Jct, River Branch Jct, & CP 509, 12.13.12

Train 1: Norfolk Southern high-hood GP38-2 #5101 comes off the BRC/CRL South Deering Line after having done some switching down there, probably at the 100th Street Yard. Train 2: Having arrived earlier from Blue Island, Chicago Rail Link's "road freight" transfer comes out of the former Rock Island's South Chicago Yard in order to shove back onto a different track and re-block some cars. Some of CRL's bigger power is in charge here: Kettle Falls International GP38-3 #2256, ex-C&NW GP50 #5100, GP7L #4438, and ex-Fort Worth & Western (now NREX) GP50 #3333. Train 3: As the CRL job moves up the connector, NS Dash-9 #9493 and Dash-8 #8355 lead an intermodal over the ex-EJ&E branch to the vacant site of the US Steel South Chicago Works. The abandoned bridge in the background was on the B&OCT's Lake Division. Train 4: As workers clean up derailment wreckage, (which apparently has been there for quite some time) the CRL job from before shoves back into South Chicago Yard. Train 5: On the other side of the Calumet River from South Chicago/Rock Island Junction is River Branch Junction. Here, the ex-PRR line through the Calumet Industrial District (coming from what remains of the Bernice Cutoff in Hegewisch) comes up a steep grade to join the NS Chicago Line. Out of sight on the north side of the NS main, the South Chicago & Indiana Harbor (former Chicago Short Line) joins NS and the remainder of the CSX-B&OCT Lake District. Seen at River Branch coming off NS's Calumet River bridge is eastbound Amtrak 'Wolverine' train #352. P42 #28 and 127 bracket the train. Train 6: NS C40-9W #9382, SD60 #6582 and SD70M-2 #2727 lead an eastbound TOFC train. Train 7: NS ES40DC #7561 leads a short train of eastbound stacks solo. This is probably a transfer to Colehour Yard, just across the state line from here. Train 8: NS SD70M-2 #2743 and SD70M #2646 have an eastbound manifest in tow. Train 9: A run-through Union Pacific coal train heads east on the Chicago Line. UP AC4400s #5894 and 6603 lead, while 6511 pushes as the DPU. Train 10: NS SD70 #2562 and C40-9W #9410 get going westbound with a manifest for the BRC. Train 11: Back at Rock Island Junction, NS SD70M #2586 and Dash-9s #9712, 9704, 9669 and 9282 growl eastward with an intermodal. Train 12: An NS manifest freight with a huge lashup decends from the Chicago Line onto the BRC main line. C40-9W #9969, SD70 #2529, C40-9Ws #9742 and 8993, GP38-2 #5343 and C40-9Ws #9288 and 9565 all lead this long, slow train. Train 13: Seen first from a distance over E 95th St, then up close at CP509, a South Chicago & Indiana Harbor (CSL) switch job returns from interchanging with NS at Colehour Yard. In order to access their South Chicago Yard, SC&IH trains from Colehour do a switchback move from NS, onto the CSX/B&OCT Lake Division, then back onto home rails, as this one is doing here. Transfer caboose #4, three cars, SW1001 #29 and SW1500 #30 make up this little train. Later, at the SC&IH yard, the cars are dropped off, and the power returns to the roundhouse. Train 14: Amtrak P42s #32 and 126 lead a Chicago-bound 'Wolverine' train up the Chicago Line, seen from a distance behind the SC&IH yard. Train 15: BNSF Dash-9 #5054, ES44AC #6132 and "Executive" SD70MAC #9748 lead a coal train east at CP509. Train 16: NS C40-9W #9237 leads a stack transfer Train 17: Meeting the end of the stack train, Amtrak P42DCs #27 and 38 power the 'Blue Water' east towards Lansing and Port Huron, Michigan. Train 18: The last train of the day, before I ran completely out of any hint of usable light, was another short stack transfer, eastbound and led by NS high-hood GP38-2 #5032. ~Thanks for watching!~