Midday at CP 502, East Chicago, IN on 06.06.11: NS, CSX, IHB, CN, IC, BNSF, Amtrak & Mill Switchers

Lots of Class I action as well as plenty of activity from the Arcelor-Mittal steel mill switchers here at CP501 / CP 502 on Norfolk Southern's ex-Conrail, ex-NYC, Chicago Line, in East Chicago, Indiana. Norfolk Southern, CSX, Amtrak, Canadian National, BNSF and the Indiana Harbor Belt all make appearances in this typical slice of mid-day here, when there tend to be more mill-related moves, and fewer run-throughs on the main. Quite a bit of action today on the connecting line that crosses NS here, the IHB's old NYC Danville Secondary. Train 1: An Arcelor-Mittal SW1200 pulls a string of empty steel coil cars and coke hoppers out of the mill. Train 2: Simultaneously, an eastbound NS intermodal crosses IHB and passes maintenance crews and a weed-spraying hi-rail. NS C40-9W #9740 and straight-SD70 #2517 are on the point. Train 3: Arcelor-Mittal's leased, ex-Burlington Northern GP15, GMTX #417 and A-M SW1200 #301 take a string of coke hoppers out of the mill complex, then across the track they came in on, to a small yard further back into the mill. Train 4: Passing under CP502's old New York Central signal bridge, Amtrak P42DC #31 and ex-F40PH NPCU "cabbage" car #90215 sandwich 5 coaches on train #392, the eastbound Wolverine for Detroit and Pontiac, Michigan. Train 5: Straining hard at its heavy load, IHB SW1500 #1503 heads across NS and onto the old Danville Secondary with steel coils and steel scrap. Train 6: CSX AC4400CWs #408 and 376 bring a manifest west toward Chicago on trackage rights. Train 7: Illinois Central GP38-2 #9628 heads west on CN's Elgin Joliet & Eastern with empty gons and coil cars from the Gary Railway at Kirk Yard, just to the east. Train 8: NS C40-9Ws #9180 and 8934 curve from northbound to eastbound off of the IHB line, with coil steel. Train 9: At the same time, run-through BNSF power and an NS SD60M head for Chicago with a manifest. Train 10: IHB SW1500 #1503 (the same unit seen earlier) has returned from dropping off its steel coils and returns to the yard east of CP 502 with empties. Train 11: NS C40-9W #9369 and SD60M #6801, which had been waiting with their train for at least an hour, receive a better signal and head west. Train 12: Mostly blocked, at first, by the NS manifest, a Canadian National coal drag heads east, with Illinois Central SD70 #1028 and CN SD75I #5631 leading. The NS train snakes through the interlocking, then later, the CN train is seen from the pedestrian bridge above. Train 13: Still sublettered for the Southern, NS high-hood GP38-2 #5084 brings the day's eastbound hot-metal "bottle" train up IHB and across NS at 502, having come from Arcelor-Mittal's mill in Riverdale. ~Thanks for watching!~