The day after I had spotted METX 211 and 505 coupled together at Metra/BNSF's 14th Street facility in Chicago, the dynamic duo are in charge of train 1223 arriving Downers Grove Main Street around 10:30am on June 20th. As far as I know, this was the first test run of any of Metra's SD70MACHs, as the other ones arrived with freeze damage because they had not been drained of their fluids while in transit.
The test run did not go well, as you will hear in the video, the SD70MACH is not providing any power. I found out later that 505 was isolated because of its safety feature which makes normal operations very difficult very frequently. On the rest of Metra's locomotive fleet, there is a "door close" light that informs the engineer that all the doors are closed on the train and it is safe to proceed. On the SD70MACHs, the door close circuit doesn't just inform the engineer, it will prevent the locomotive from making power.
Due to track work or freight traffic, train 1223 had to spot one or more stations on the middle track on this run. This requires the conductor to pop open one set of doors and give the engineer car counts to spot the door of one car on a grade crossing so that passengers may board or alight. Well, the conductor popped the doors and the 505 stopped loading, making it extremely difficult for the engineer to spot the crossing. After discovering this highly-disruptive safety feature, the crew just isolated the SD70MACH and kept going with the 211 providing power. The 505 was set out at Aurora and taken back to Chicago at a later time and/or date.
Metra BNSF Train 1223
METX 211 F40PMH-2 CB&Q Heritage Unit
METX 505 SD70MACH
Downers Grove Main Street Station
6/20/2023
5 окт 2024
