The Joliet Rocket! T-3 Days!

I am riding the Superdome on the Sunday afternoon trip. I am really looking forward to the event.

Rode it last time, loved it. This time I will be out just to watch. Cant wait.

I will be car hosting Silver Palace (California Zephyr).

Dan986 posted:

I am riding the Superdome on the Sunday afternoon trip. I am really looking forward to the event.

Excellent choice! Your car host will be WD Miller.

Maxrailroad posted:

Hey all, 

I'm wondering if any other forum members will be at the upcoming Joliet Rocket Excursion out of Joliet, Illinios, featuring the NKP 765. I'm really excited to ride this historic train! 

Which car are you in?

I’ll be going too...will be riding in the Superdome on the Saturday afternoon trip. Looks like the weather is going to be perfect!!! 

This is from the FWRHS members open house that I attended in August...

A number of us are going to the Hickory Creek METRA commuter station, near Mokena, to watch her pass, on Saturday morning. There is a nice parking lot, no grade crossings with much whistling and ringing bells, so the exhaust sounds are loud and clear. Plus, you can see he coming for almost 2 miles.

I will be riding in The Frank Thomson, my favorite private varnish, on Saturday morning. Then I will chase the afternoon train and I am hoping to stop by IRM on Sunday. I hope to meet some of you guys! Ive been counting down the days for months now, and can barely focus in school. 

Hot Water posted:

A number of us are going to the Hickory Creek METRA commuter station, near Mokena, to watch her pass, on Saturday morning. There is a nice parking lot, no grade crossings with much whistling and ringing bells, so the exhaust sounds are loud and clear. Plus, you can see he coming for almost 2 miles.

Hope someone will be videoing and sharing on the forum

superwarp1 posted:

Hot Water posted:

A number of us are going to the Hickory Creek METRA commuter station, near Mokena, to watch her pass, on Saturday morning. There is a nice parking lot, no grade crossings with much whistling and ringing bells, so the exhaust sounds are loud and clear. Plus, you can see he coming for almost 2 miles.

Hope someone will be videoing and sharing on the forum

I doubt it, as most of us actually want to see and hear 765 at track speed, instead of looking through a view-finder. Personally, I gave up photography quite some years ago, after realizing how much I had really missed just looking through the camera. Thus, I gave all my camera equipment (Nikon F5 system, plus Pentax 6X7 system) to our grandson.

superwarp1 posted:

Hot Water posted:

A number of us are going to the Hickory Creek METRA commuter station, near Mokena, to watch her pass, on Saturday morning. There is a nice parking lot, no grade crossings with much whistling and ringing bells, so the exhaust sounds are loud and clear. Plus, you can see he coming for almost 2 miles.

Hope someone will be videoing and sharing on the forum

Ill be taking lots of pictures and videos, including drone stuff. Ill be sure to share it here!

Maxrailroad posted:

superwarp1 posted:

Hot Water posted:

A number of us are going to the Hickory Creek METRA commuter station, near Mokena, to watch her pass, on Saturday morning. There is a nice parking lot, no grade crossings with much whistling and ringing bells, so the exhaust sounds are loud and clear. Plus, you can see he coming for almost 2 miles.

Hope someone will be videoing and sharing on the forum

Ill be taking lots of pictures and videos, including drone stuff. Ill be sure to share it here!

Please remember to use a tripod. Also, try to setup your video camera away from a grade crossing, so that we can clearly hear the nice exhaust from 765 at speed.

Hot Water posted:

Maxrailroad posted:

superwarp1 posted:

Hot Water posted:

A number of us are going to the Hickory Creek METRA commuter station, near Mokena, to watch her pass, on Saturday morning. There is a nice parking lot, no grade crossings with much whistling and ringing bells, so the exhaust sounds are loud and clear. Plus, you can see he coming for almost 2 miles.

Hope someone will be videoing and sharing on the forum

Ill be taking lots of pictures and videos, including drone stuff. Ill be sure to share it here!

Please remember to use a tripod. Also, try to setup your video camera away from a grade crossing, so that we can clearly hear the nice exhaust from 765 at speed.

My plan was to film vertically with my phone while vigorously shaking my phone and screaming at the engine, that sound good? 

Maxrailroad posted:

Hot Water posted:

Please remember to use a tripod. Also, try to setup your video camera away from a grade crossing, so that we can clearly hear the nice exhaust from 765 at speed.

My plan was to film vertically with my phone while vigorously shaking my phone and screaming at the engine, that sound good? 

Certainly wouldn't be the only, nor last, such video technique .

Hot Water posted:

Maxrailroad posted:

Hot Water posted:

Please remember to use a tripod. Also, try to setup your video camera away from a grade crossing, so that we can clearly hear the nice exhaust from 765 at speed.

My plan was to film vertically with my phone while vigorously shaking my phone and screaming at the engine, that sound good? 

Certainly wouldn't be the only, nor last, such video technique .

Sad but true. Ill be sure to take some quality video for you. Ill likely edit what I film on the flight home from Chicago, and Ill post a link to the video here on the forum. 

I'll be out on Saturday taking some pics although I'm not really sure where to go yet as chasing it will be out of the question. I'll be in the Superdome on Sunday. Enjoyed the trip very much last year!!

superwarp1 posted:

Hot Water posted:

A number of us are going to the Hickory Creek METRA commuter station, near Mokena, to watch her pass, on Saturday morning. There is a nice parking lot, no grade crossings with much whistling and ringing bells, so the exhaust sounds are loud and clear. Plus, you can see he coming for almost 2 miles.

Hope someone will be videoing and sharing on the forum

I'll try to get an on-train video from the deadhead move.

Maxrailroad posted:

My plan was to film vertically with my phone while vigorously shaking my phone and screaming at the engine, that sound good? 

LOL!

Your video will look just like 90% of all the other on-line railfan videos. 

Could anyone offer advice for locations to see the 765 along the way?  Thanks in advance.

asmith1440 posted:

Could anyone offer advice for locations to see the 765 along the way?  Thanks in advance.

Per my post above, the Hickory Creek METRA commuter station, near Mokena, is a very nice place to watch and listen to 765 at track speed.  

I just left Chicago Union Station on a Metra train and guess what shining beauties are in the yard?!!! It’s so cool to see the California Zephyr cars! 

asmith1440 posted:

Could anyone offer advice for locations to see the 765 along the way?  Thanks in advance.

I can't disagree with Hotwaters recommendation. There are lots of places to catch it. I.E. New Lenox, Tinley Park, Oak Forest, Midlothian,  and Blue Island name a few. Each has a station as well as other good spots along the way.

I normally "Google map" the Metra Line and "scroll" along it and pick a location. It worked well when I caught The Varsity closer to your neck of the woods.

Heres a link to the Oak Forest Metra. Where I'm planning to go. You can scroll along the Metra Line for a location of your choice: Oak Forest Metra

Try to catch it somewhere AWAY from a grade crossing! If you set up at a grade crossing and shoot video, all you will record is the whistle.

If you set up away from a crossing, you'll get to hear that Baker-timed, rapid-fire, "shotgun" exhaust that the NKP Berks are famous for. At 60+ mph, that is a sound not often heard today.

I will be at 342 Alana in New Lenox. Lots of space for the kids to run around, You can hear the whistle blowing for the Gougar Rd. Crossing.

So happy to see 3 of the 4 trips are sold out. Very thankful to have this experience in Joliet 2 years in a row.

asmith1440 posted:

Could anyone offer advice for locations to see the 765 along the way?  Thanks in advance.

I am going to the Rock Island Public House in Blue Island to watch the Saturday afternoon run of the 765. The train will run right behind the building. The location has seven pinball machines to play after the train goes by. I get to enjoy two of my favorite interests on one day. The area near the bar features many historic buildings going back the 1850s.

bigtruckpete posted:

I just left Chicago Union Station on a Metra train and guess what shining beauties are in the yard?!!! It’s so cool to see the California Zephyr cars! 

I love looking for classic passenger cars when I ride the Metra into Union Station. Many awesome sightings over the years.

OGR Webmaster posted:

Try to catch it somewhere AWAY from a grade crossing! If you set up at a grade crossing and shoot video, all you will record is the whistle.

If you set up away from a crossing, you'll get to hear that Baker-timed, rapid-fire, "shotgun" exhaust that the NKP Berks are famous for. At 60+ mph, that is a sound not often heard today.

Well..... that Nathan 6 chime is a sound not heard often today either

Everyone have fun up there.  I had tickets for Sunday AM in the baggage car, but real life had other plans.  Treasure the moments like this—big steam at speed is hard to find!

She looks great this year without the stupid W flags on the front!

Followed the train this morning along Rt 30 - - - alas, construction jam-ups fouled my plan, but did get a brief side-by-side burst, and glossy 765 was magnificent!  Such a pleasure to see a machine functioning perfectly. Lima Super-Power delivered all the horsepower promised, as 765 roared up and out of the Desplaines River valley at track speed.

mark s posted:

 but did get a brief side-by-side burst, and glossy 765 was magnificent!  

The paint was phenomenal!  I understand the heat and cinders ruin the paint over time, but that was the best paint I've ever seen on 765. Its like a builders photo paint job.

I saw it this morning with Hot Water and and three other friends.  Saw it again this afternoon at the Tinley Park 80th Avenue station.  Saw it a third time about 8:30 this evening on its return trip to Joliet.  This time it was at the Oak Park Avenue station,also in Tinley Park.  I was there attending Tinley’s final outdoor concert of the season.  Most fitting that it passed just as the band was paying tribute to Veterans and First Responders by playing Lee Greenwood’s - Proud to Be An America..

To top it off the engineer on the 765 blasted the whistle the entire length of the platform, the crowed already standing, all cheered the whistle. I will discribe the moment as one filled with some tears and lots of cheers.  To say it was awesome, would be greatly under stated.

I plan to be at the 80th Avenue station tomorrow morning about 8:15 to  see it at speed once again.  I can walk there from my house in about 5 minutes.

We have dinner plans so I will miss the afternoon run.

I am lovin’ this.  

Photos at the Station from Saturday afternoon ride.  It was a very nice ride. 

Enjoyed watching the train pass through Blue Island and then playing pinball machines at the Rock Island Public House,which is a block away from the tracks. 

Had better luck on Rte 30 today/Sunday- - - the construction folks were off duty, so all lanes open.  I have been pursuing steam locomotives since a wee lad of 3 1/2 years, and never tire of the stirring display put on by a steam locomotive.  765  didn't disappoint. Not unlike the space shuttle taking off!

Of course, such events draw out the nuts. Was standing, observing 765 on the fill at the east end of Joliet Union Station, and a chap weaved and lurched his way up to me, and declared "that's not a steam locomotive, it's a fake". I replied, "whaduhya think, it's made of paper mache?" "Real steam locomotives burn coal; this one doesn't". I thought of directing his attention to the substantial pile of coal visible in the tender, but thought better of debating this "expert".  People, what makes life interesting!

mark s posted:

Of course, such events draw out the nuts. Was standing, observing 765 on the fill at the east end of Joliet Union Station, and a chap weaved and lurched his way up to me, and declared "that's not a steam locomotive, it's a fake". I replied, "whaduhya think, it's made of paper mache?" "Real steam locomotives burn coal; this one doesn't". I thought of directing his attention to the substantial pile of coal visible in the tender, but thought better of debating this "expert". 

Rode the trip this morning in the Superdome and enjoyed it alot!!! They offered danishes and bagels on the train which was very nice as well. The run-by in the station was specatacular as always, and then after we got off we went to a spot in New Lenox and got a good video without the whistle so you could actually hear it working. Good fun 2 days and big thanks to the FWRHS and Metra for putting on a fine show as always. Hope to see it again next year!!

mark s posted:

Had better luck on Rte 30 today/Sunday- - - the construction folks were off duty, so all lanes open.  I have been pursuing steam locomotives since a wee lad of 3 1/2 years, and never tire of the stirring display put on by a steam locomotive.  765  didn't disappoint. Not unlike the space shuttle taking off!

Of course, such events draw out the nuts. Was standing, observing 765 on the fill at the east end of Joliet Union Station, and a chap weaved and lurched his way up to me, and declared "that's not a steam locomotive, it's a fake". I replied, "whaduhya think, it's made of paper mache?" "Real steam locomotives burn coal; this one doesn't". I thought of directing his attention to the substantial pile of coal visible in the tender, but thought better of debating this "expert".  People, what makes life interesting!

Sounds like one of Joliet's finest!!

MJV1988 posted:

mark s posted:

Had better luck on Rte 30 today/Sunday- - - the construction folks were off duty, so all lanes open.  I have been pursuing steam locomotives since a wee lad of 3 1/2 years, and never tire of the stirring display put on by a steam locomotive.  765  didn't disappoint. Not unlike the space shuttle taking off!

Of course, such events draw out the nuts. Was standing, observing 765 on the fill at the east end of Joliet Union Station, and a chap weaved and lurched his way up to me, and declared "that's not a steam locomotive, it's a fake". I replied, "whaduhya think, it's made of paper mache?" "Real steam locomotives burn coal; this one doesn't". I thought of directing his attention to the substantial pile of coal visible in the tender, but thought better of debating this "expert".  People, what makes life interesting!

Sounds like one of Joliet's finest!!

Sounds like an alcohol burner...

Rusty

On our way back to Joliet currently in the Silver Solarium car. It's been a wonderful day!

It’s a hybrid. The A-Tank is full of batteries.  

Hmmm...Rich, you never mentioned that during our conversation at the FWRHS Picnic in Fort Wayne last month, must be a trade secret...

Anyway...I too rode the Superdome on Saturday afternoon...met some nice peeps and had a great time...here are a few photos and a couple of videos. Also spoke with Brody while loading in Joliet...he stayed busy the whole trip!

Of interest to some...I stopped on the trip home, at the National New York Central Railroad Museum in Elkhart...and was pleasantly surprised...tons of railroad memorabilia...a very nice 3 rail O Gauge layout with a large collection of engines and rolling stock...and an assortment of about 20 actual locomotives and cars as static displays outside. Glad that I stopped...have more photos of that visit too.

PDDMI posted:

Hmmm...Rich, you never mentioned that during our conversation at the FWRHS Picnic in Fort Wayne last month, must be a trade secret...

Anyway...I too rode the Superdome on Saturday afternoon...met some nice peeps and had a great time...here are a few photos and a couple of videos. Also spoke with Brody while loading in Joliet...he stayed busy the whole trip!

 

Paul;

Great shots/videos... thanks for sharing. But that first pic is absolutely spectacular  

I just heard her “blow” through the Tinley Park station about 10 minutes ago.  Did not rush out to see it. I am wondering if it is just the 765 and here support cars returning to Ft Wayne or if some passenger cars were in tow.

BTW can anybody supply a list of the cars that were in this years excursion?

Thanks.

I have more pics from today’s runs.  Will post tomorrow.

Very nice photos!! I too ran into Brody on the return trip while walking through the stampede pass. Nice kid and chatted with him very briefly as I didn't want to distract him too much from his job.

SantaFeJim posted:

I just heard her “blow” through the Tinley Park station about 10 minutes ago.  Did not rush out to see it. I am wondering if it is just the 765 and here support cars returning to Ft Wayne or if some passenger cars were in tow.

BTW can anybody supply a list of the cars that were in this years excursion?

Thanks.

I have more pics from today’s runs.  Will post tomorrow.

I believe it has the NS equipment and the Zephyr set as they're going to the CVSRR now along with the two coal gondolas.

Apples55 posted:

PDDMI posted:

Hmmm...Rich, you never mentioned that during our conversation at the FWRHS Picnic in Fort Wayne last month, must be a trade secret...

Anyway...I too rode the Superdome on Saturday afternoon...met some nice peeps and had a great time...here are a few photos and a couple of videos. Also spoke with Brody while loading in Joliet...he stayed busy the whole trip!

 

Paul;

Great shots/videos... thanks for sharing. But that first pic is absolutely spectacular  

Thanks Paul...that one jumped out at me too...

An additional treat was seeing the California Zephyr cars on the train and the Pennsylvania blunt end observation car.  A sincere thank you to the Fort Wayne group and Metra for bringing back long absent steam to the "Second City".

I took the excursion on Saturday AM in the Frank Thompson:

It was the second car after the auxiliary tender, so the locomotive sounds were very audible during the run to Chicago.

During the layover in Chicago, I took a pic while the crew was servicing the 765:

And more when the train was backed up and then came back  for a photo run:

I had done a map recon of the route, and, during the run to and from Chicago, confirmed that chasing the train was impractical (train speed and the road network wold not be conducive).  It would be select one point, and take pictures there.  So, Saturday afternoon, I grabbed some images just past the Joliet Station.  I had planned to do the same thing Sunday morning (expecting a better lighting with the sun more to the East), but I failed to realize that the train left an hour earlier on Sunday.  So, my next, and last, photo session took place Sunday afternoon.  I was able to get closer to the train as the security personnel unlocked a gate near the station.  I took some shots prior to and then during departure:

There are more images, and (to avoid cluttering up the thread) they are in a Dropbox file which can be accessed with the following link:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rup...Q2-dZAbKgDysc4a?dl=0

marsrover posted:

I took the excursion on Saturday AM in the Frank Thompson:

It was the second car after the auxiliary tender, so the locomotive sounds were very audible during the run to Chicago.

During the layover in Chicago, I took a pic while the crew was servicing the 765:

And more when the train was backed up and then came back  for a photo run:

I had done a map recon of the route, and, during the run to and from Chicago, confirmed that chasing the train was impractical (train speed and the road network wold not be conducive).  It would be select one point, and take pictures there.  So, Saturday afternoon, I grabbed some images just past the Joliet Station.  I had planned to do the same thing Sunday morning (expecting a better lighting with the sun more to the East), but I failed to realize that the train left an hour earlier on Sunday.  So, my next, and last, photo session took place Sunday afternoon.  I was able to get closer to the train as the security personnel unlocked a gate near the station.  I took some shots prior to and then during departure:

There are more images, and (to avoid cluttering up the thread) they are in a Dropbox file which can be accessed with the following link:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rup...Q2-dZAbKgDysc4a?dl=0

 

marsrover posted:

I took the excursion on Saturday AM in the Frank Thompson:

It was the second car after the auxiliary tender, so the locomotive sounds were very audible during the run to Chicago.

During the layover in Chicago, I took a pic while the crew was servicing the 765:

And more when the train was backed up and then came back  for a photo run:

I had done a map recon of the route, and, during the run to and from Chicago, confirmed that chasing the train was impractical (train speed and the road network wold not be conducive).  It would be select one point, and take pictures there.  So, Saturday afternoon, I grabbed some images just past the Joliet Station.  I had planned to do the same thing Sunday morning (expecting a better lighting with the sun more to the East), but I failed to realize that the train left an hour earlier on Sunday.  So, my next, and last, photo session took place Sunday afternoon.  I was able to get closer to the train as the security personnel unlocked a gate near the station.  I took some shots prior to and then during departure:

There are more images, and (to avoid cluttering up the thread) they are in a Dropbox file which can be accessed with the following link:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rup...Q2-dZAbKgDysc4a?dl=0

 

Was fun riding with you! 

MarsRover,

Thanks for posting your excellent photos! I too had photographed the Lima plaque while at the FWRHS Members Day in August and realized that I’m actually about a month older that the 765...time fly’s when you’re having fun...

Here is a link to the article I wrote for the Pinball News website on seeing the 765 steam engine pass through Blue Island. It was a number 10 day for me,seeing the 765 run by at a decent speed and then hours of playing fun pinball machines at the nearby Rock Island Public House.

I took the morning train on Saturday the 15th.  This is at Lasalle Street Station. 

I lost track of which route this was crossing over us.  But the afternoon view was better than the morning view. 

The comings and goings of the steam train at a parking lot outside Joliet.