Kenosha (4:46 – 23:28)

At 12:29 the train passes a siding and spur that serviced American Brass. At 13:11 the tracks going off to the west are part of the former “Kenosha Division” which once went from Kenosha to Rockford. The KD line is still in use today by UP to connect the former C&NW Old Line (North Line) to the former C&NW New Line a few miles west.

After the train arrives at Kenosha station and the crew puts it away two freight trains pass each other. Here are comments from former C&NW engineer Doug Davidson regarding which trains they were:

“First, a couple of C&NW basics. C&NW had only two timetable directions of traffic in this area, eastbound and westbound. Eastbound was going towards Chicago, westbound was traveling away from Chicago. The train you rode to Kenosha was a westbound train even though the route is north-south. Freight trains were identified by five letters. The first two letters were the point of origin, PR=Proviso. The second two letters was the point of destination, EM=East Minneapolis. The last letter was an A or B. An A signified one daily train in that corridor, a B signified a second daily train in the corridor.

By 1988, all C&NW freight trains were operated as extras and they did not appear in the timetable. Between1978 and 1983, the C&NW lost a lot of business on the Wisconsin Division, so that by 1988 we were down to four daily manifest freights in each direction. There was PREMA and EMPRA between Proviso and East Minneapolis. There was also PRITA and ITPRA between Proviso and Itasca, WI (Superior). There were two daily trains per day between Proviso and Green Bay, PRGBA and GBPRA, and PRGBB and GBPRB. There could be other extra trains like grain trains, potash trains and coal trains. None of these trains were scheduled.

The first eastbound train in your video is most likely EMPRA, a manifest freight carrying general cargo. EMPRA usually operated between Butler and Proviso in the afternoon and while it could operate over the New Line, it frequently operated via the Kenosha Sub. The westbound freight is most likely the westbound counterpart PREMA. PREMA usually operated over the New Line, but it was the only westbound manifest operating at this time of day. PRGGB was ordered at Proviso between 6PM and 8 PM and it always operated over the Kenosha Sub because it made a set out at Waukegan.”

Both freight trains are led by an SD-45 engine followed by an SD40-2. The number boards are difficult to read. But the eastbound numbers look to be 944 followed by 6821. The westbound numbers look to be 958 followed by 6898.