Chasing E&LS Railroad LOOKING At Some Pretty Sketchy Tracks!  

In northern Wisconsin, it's hard to find a U.S 41 interchange without one or even two Kwik-Trips

Obviously track maintenance is not a priority with ELS. Thanks for the chase Jason!

A level crossing at a highway. That's a first for me. Just learned something. Thank you Sir.

🎶 C'mon baby, let's do the twist! 🎶 Those cars are rocking back and forth!

Two trains in one video from the same day...woohoo!

Mega Log haulers!! 😊

Ballest, ties and tamping.

Thanks for your of Wisconsin small towns

Thank you Jason for an excellent train video, both parts, Job well done on showing those bad tracks. ELS can expect more derailments with those tracks, ties, and balance in very bad shape, Maybe ELS will hire more people to run their MOW Equipment and FIX THOSE TRACKS before they lose more money in derailments. I just pray no one gets hurt, engineers, conductors, or citizens of Michigan and Wisconsin. Thanks again Jason for posting this excellent video, Part 1 & Part 2.

No doubt that crossing would have accidents especially with that curve in the road.

I haven't been in Pound or Coleman much since the 4-Lane bypass was finished. Pound looked very quiet.... Thanks for the cGreat E&LS Chase double feature!

Definitely maxed out the cool factor, Jason! Thanks for taking us along. MOW crew needs to grow up and be responsible for their actions or inactions.

The last three cars on the end of the train or rocking pretty damn good I need to fix that before they have a derailment

WoW - more bad track! Rock & Roll! Also looks like a water problem there where the train is going into the foliage, Could affect the ties and roadbed over time.

NIce chase, Jason! Thank you for taking us with you.

Insane crossing! In the Netherlands it would be illegal!

Great job on the video

I'd ride that train in memory of Shoestring! You can, too!

Great video! Yeah it looks like they need to place ties!

These train crews have to be holding their breath traveling on some of the stretches of track.

Jason, a job well done (both parts) and thank you for what you do with this channel. Have a great day too. 👍

It looks like some of those tracks are sitting on the ground. Not even on ties. 😳

Great chase , Jason. Thanks for doing it and taking us along. I hope you enjoyed it too.

Wondering how the LP siding is sold.....FOB Factory? If I were a customer/disty, I'd make sure LP was on the hook until the material arrived at my facility. "Force Majeure" would certainly NOT be an out for derailments caused by bad track/maintenance issues. A nail-biter on each trip? Yeowza!

It would really be cool if ELS only had one livery for they motive force.

Jason , check the rr track for the manufacturer date. I bet it’s from early 1900’s

Tracks sound quiet in the City of Pound.

They quit using a track like in Saluda, NC but they let this stuff slide lol. Just weeeeird to me, awesome video though, thank you!

How a commercial line can’t keep quality to go on is beyond me!!

Just think of a Holiday weekend on Hwy 141 when a train crosses and traffic backups

Looks like Track maintenance is needed in Coleman, WI, the wobble of the cars speak of bad rail ties and lack of firm Railbed, is in much needed balance---Where is the MOW equipment?

Good chase. I enjoyed it.

Thanks Jason, you have an Awesome day as well

Impressive chase Jason. I very much enjoyed it. Thank you.

good train video

Really enjoyed the video and the effort put into making it. Have a great day, Jason

Part 1 was great

Just wanted to say that a joint bar is a br of steel that goes on each side of the track at a joint if all the holes(4) are not filled with a bolt and nut then it is faulty it takes 4 bolts and nuts to fasten them no less.

Yes, this is a great video. You've taken me to places in Wisconsin I've never been, shown me MEGA-LOG HAULERS in action, trains going south and north and most importantly, green Freddy ☘️. Top of the day to you! Thanks for sharing. 👍

Another great chase video Jason. Those old rr ties Haven’t been rehabbed in decades

The shortline on which I worked was a Conrail line before it was sold. Conrail didn't do track maintenance, and there was a derailment weekly. ELS is better than that!

Beach Boys: Jason gets around.Greg.😊.

It's funny they don't bounce off the tracks

A great video with some different locations from the usual. I cannot imagine a level crossing here in the UK like the one featured here, it would be the equivalent of having one across the M1 motorway! But I have one complaint, no shout of "Mega log haulers!" until the end!! Keep up the good work.

I look at Guildford and how bad it was allowed to become before CSX acquired it. ELS can be a shining star if put some effort into trackage updates. it will not be cheap but derailments and delays in delivery time is not cheap. Thank You.

I'm amazed at myself for becoming so hooked on your channel these days. Have a good one. Cheers.

Just like some tracks from some development coutry. In Finland, if you can find similar, they have been out of use for decades, absolutely.

Jason, your next rail-related mission, should you accept it: find out who/what owns the new reporting marks, LPXX. Where does that wood come from, and where does it go? What is the end product?

first train with a green freddy and last train with an orange freddy a god video thanks Jason !

Great chase Jason, nice to see you come way south for a change, nicely done my friend!

Thanks for your videos !!!

Good chase, Jase!

The FRA needs to thoroughly inspect E&LS. Their track looks like completely neglected garbage.

I believe that you have outdone yourself Jason, both parts are excellent of this chase!!! Oh yeah I do believe that the MOW Crew ticked you off a bit Jason. Dang no wonder they have so many derailments in WI, definitely need some MOW work done.

Part was awesome great job

Great video J.You have a good weekend. Greg 😊

17:36.... "Get outta the way ya bum".... my grand entrance!! haha

KTs are everywhere in WI, in S.E. WI we have one every two miles.

Semi races....

Once, again the E&LS rocks and sways like the Toonerville Trolley.... its insurance carrier's rep must buy his/her Vodka by the case. Does the company have a "Red Phone" direct to Hulcher? Just speculating, of course. Another very fine video with fine narration. Well done!

Nice chase down into new territory. Spring is sprung, The grass is riss, I wonder where the flowers is!

Great chase video jason😊

Based on the tonnage this Railroad moves i would assume there not broke, they can also apply for government grants to upgrade the line, tie work ect. Based on the track view that was filmed my guess is either class 1 or excepted track...im sure there are inspections by both the DOT and FRA

Hi Jason

Nasty track conditions!!!thanks as always for sharing with us outside areas!!!

141 near Crivitz? This should really be a bridge

That first engineer didn’t use the bell at all. Not even when crossing 141

It's a very pretty place Jason. Love seeing the different crossings & area of Wisconsin. The train moves as slow as it does near your house! Nice shot of tye train over the I 41. Pound & Coleman nice too, never seen these places before. I wonder if the engineer & conducter think we don't usually see Jason this far south. 🤔❤🥰

Well Jason, l managed to make it in time for the premiere

I missed the crossing at olie

There’s a few of those divided highway crossings in Wisconsin. I’ve traveled to Green Bay from Madison a few times, and the route there has 2 of those massive divided HWY crossings - one in Beaver Dam, and one just south of Waupun. Idk if this same railroad owns those tracks, or the Wisconsin Southern, but they’re IMO dangerous as all hell, even if they’re not heavily used trackage.

They mad that they don't know how to fix the tracks the first clip shows that jumbled mess of railroad ties😂

The faster they go will I stop rocking at much or will it be worse

Yeah - good video Jason...

Bout as fast as they go all the way to Green Bay.

Everyone is so worried about the tracks; maybe someone should start a donation to help pay for new tracks. People don't seem to understand how expensive it would be to replace all that track. They do the best they can with what they have.

Looks like Pound Wisconsin

A few years back there was a shortline in either Indiana or Ohio said to have the worst track in the world. Maybe E&LS is trying for the record?

Thanks Jason for telling me why comments were turned off. I'm definitely new to the RU-vid thing, well new enough I didn't understand that if I marked it "made for kids" comments would be turned off. My son loves watching your videos and he'll love the shout out on your video. My name is Andy by the way. Keep making these awesome videos.

Your opening view shows just about everything that's wrong as that section has a high number of broken ties inadequate ballast and it looks like possible drainage problems plus rail that's pretty well been pounded to death. The train is just below the critical rock and roll speed but these cars being top heavy almost make up the difference. Nice shots in the small towns or what's left of them but also is the sad part that they are not Revenue producing areas for the railroad what's no prospects of it improving. The second Crossing on 141 you might have seen the gasoline tanker coming up on the right lane. In the economics of moving logs the mill at Kaukauna was having trouble with truck deliveries and that they can't take semis on the freeway with the long 50ft trees thru Green Bay so let's see if the cars turn up there. I did look up any other areas louisiana-pacific has plants in Wisconsin and they do have a wood plant in Green Bay so that can't be ruled out either. The other plants in Hayward an tomahawk are located where there's plenty of wood add a transportation would cost more than their worth. Nothing like a good mystery. Thanks for the extra efforts to see more of the line

Jason, 23 minutes Mark, Wobbling really bad due to bad rails, the need for need Ties, and Balance, and possible need rails with around 136 pound per square yard. IF ELS would take care of their tracks, derailments would stop. As Bad as those tracks are at 23 minutes Mark and what you filmed in Coleman, it is a wonder why that heavy load did not derail the train. Terrible tracks, ELS, ---- WHERE IS THE MOW EQUIPMENT, ELS????

5:00 LED mee-mool lights *(o)T(o)* made to light up and dim out like incandescent bulbs? How ridiculous. Jason, were there advance yellow *(RXR)* signs before the 141 grade crossing? Does eachave a yellow light which flashes when the *(o)T(o)* operate? Such may prevent vehicles running into a tra.in fog.

If you want to see bad tracks visit NOLA and the south east of Louisiana! Hwy 23 going down towards Port Sulfur the tracks are pathetic! The crazy thing is the tanker cars are coming from places like Chevron Chemical and most of the engines have to stay under 5mph because derailments happen all of the time! When you watch the engines pulling the train cars are dancing the tracks are so bad! New Orleans and the railroad are constantly fighting over who's responsible for the upkeep of the tracks so in other words nothing ever gets better. They only fix things when a derailment happens and they only fix the spot where it happened! I love watching the trains my mother's back yard had the old Kansas City Southern line running up Airline Hwy but after constant 18 Wheelers and cars being crushed at Clearview and Airline they ended up moving the tracks to the old Central Ave rail yard! Peace out

Hope to see you when you come south. Let J T now where we can meet up.

They have to creep through because the tracks are utter crap. 🐂😇

Hey, Jason, enjoyed these videos! As far as the mega haulers go, I’m thinking they were sidelined while CN and LP negotiated a price. Then they had to apply to the AAR for permission to use those initials. Or they had to wait for them to assign the initials, whichever. As far as how many will be in service; it depends on how many were purchased. The largest number I saw today was car number 139, so maybe at least that many were purchased (nos. 100-139). I did a little research. There were only 75 of them built in 2001-2002. I also found where the state of Wisc. was going to buy 150 new flat cars, for log service, for CN in 2016. So, if that happened, there may be a lot of surplus log cars around (gons and flats). Also, since the oil drilling industry is almost shut down, there may be surplus cars that used to be used for drilling pipe. As far as the track is concerned, the mow can only repair small areas, like occasional low spots, replacing really bad ties here and there, and repairing broken rails. The shape this track is in, it’s going to need a contractor to come in and totally rebuild large sections. If it gets bad enough, the FRA will embargo it, or sections of it, until it’s fixed. Also, as the train went through Lena, I was hearing this squealing sound that seemed to come from one car. I’m guessing that a brake shoe hadn’t fully released; brake shoe or shoes. Maybe a whole truck hadn’t fully released, I don’t know. I hope my observations are wrong, but it seems like these guys give poor service to their customers. Short lines usually give good service. It seems like those cars loaded with LP products do a lot of sitting around or get mis- handled. I know some of it is all the derailments they’ve been having. And a good part of it is the slow speeds they have to run due to the track. It reminds me of some of Penn Central’s branch lines or secondary lines right before they were abandoned. I can’t help but think that the owners are pocketing the revenue instead of putting it back into the track. Very possibly, the attitudes you are seeing from the employees, is a reflection of mismanagement. Sorry, we probably shouldn’t make accusations!

If I was Lp I would think about using CN to ship on

Mow crew didn’t want you filming them doing things they shouldn’t be doing. Don’t piss off the railfan with a camera 😂

One car brakes are on

WHERE IS 402?

Give them hell

The only reason for the tracks is because of the Easement for the pipeline and the fiber optic lines. 5:42

Don't quote me on this, but the reason there are no gates on that 65mph highway crossing is the speed limit. I worked for our FDOT for a short time and a rail crossing that is across a highway where the speed is 50mph or higher will only get alternating flasher signals, those signals that are elevated above, and over the highway are called cantilever signals, some also call them boulevard signals. They figure if they had gates, with traffic going 50+mph, a vehicle may not be able to stop in time when the gates first come down, so the gate being sheered off at 50+mph could become a dangerous hazard to others. Hence why higher speed roads would very rarely get gates with the lighted signals. Whether that's definitive or not, I can't really say, just something I had heard many years ago, but seems it would be true. As for those cantilever/boulevard crossing signals, they are my favorite type of signal, with or without gates. Most get gates on roads with speeds of 45mph or less. I just wish the model train signal makers would produce these signals in G Scale with and without gates. I'd love to have some of these type crossing signals for my indoor and outdoor Garden G Scale layouts. Got the regular 2/4 light crossing signals, a couple with gates. But I've yet to see any model train signal maker make one yet in G Scale. Awesome train chase videos Jason, enjoyed them very much. Loved seeing the small country towns, so sad😢 so many of them are getting swallowed up by surrounding larger cities. We've lost a lot of them in Florida over the years. So, your videoes are one day going to be a great historical reference point, showing how quaint and laid back most small towns are(were), and usually(some exceptions), folks in small rural towns are much friendlier and nicer than folks in the larger cities and towns(also some exceptions).

The faa should see these videos

No excuse for track to be in that bad of shape.

Jason: Yeah, that's a long time & drive chasing that train. Is E&LS 501, 502, and 503 the only active power on the RR right now? Is 402 totally out of commission at this time? Haven't seen 402 in any of your recent videos. Any word on the FP7 returning service? Joe Bliss, Plymouth, Michigan.