TitanTrainSpotter

Friday night railfanning on the Ex-Milwaukee Road in Elgin, Illinois. National Street Station is one of the stations near downtown Elgin. This rail line is the Elgin Subdivision of the CPKC. Metra also utilizes it as their Milwaukee District West Line (the line's name pays homage to the fallen flag Milwaukee Road) for commuter service from Chicago to Big Timber Road west of Elgin. Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt

We spent Memorial Day Weekend in the Shawnee Hills of southern Illinois getting back in touch with nature. We also carved out some time for railfanning on CN's Bluford Sub in both Illinois and Kentucky. I had been under the impression that most of the traffic on Bluford was usually headed south, but we did catch a northbound train at sunset entering Metropolis, Illinois from Kentucky, via the Ohio River bridge. Watch the entire video for some amazing views of Garden of the Gods in the Shawnee National Forest at the end! Enjoy the video. Don't forget to hit the subscribe button if you haven't already! Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt Track: "Settling", Birdo Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/VxHpiY Listen on Spotify: https://go-stream.link/sp-birdo

One of my frequent BNSF locations, this by far has the best view. We are talking about the parking lot just east of the Lisle commuter train station near the village hall. This vantage point gives you a fantastic view to the east, and a picturesque curve in the tracks to the west. This is definitely one of my favorite locations to railfan. On this Thursday before Memorial Day Weekend, I was able to spend about an hour trackside and catch everything that runs on this line. Two Amtrak trains, Metra trains and a long intermodal freight train. Enjoy the video, and enjoy the holiday weekend. Spend some time with those who are important to you this weekend. Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt

While not "officially" here, summer is here. We are coming up on Memorial Day weekend, which unofficially starts summer. Grills come out, racing fans head to Indy for the 500, and we take some time to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service of their country. I spent a couple of hours on this summer-like day along the BNSF Racetrack in Naperville. I was stuck in a training class all day which happened to be nearby and took the opportunity to spot some trains afterward. As the video was being recorded, parts of Iowa were getting hit with really bad weather including tornadoes. Prayers to those affected. This same weather was due through the Chicago area later in the evening. Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt

We spent a rainy May afternoon railfanning in Rochelle. We started with the City of Rochelle (COR) Railroad which is operated by shortline Burlington Junction Railway. The shortline provides service to industries on the east side of Rochelle and has connections to both the Union Pacific and the BNSF. Enjoy the video! Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt Track: "Space 10", Overu Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/25fb0a38-f4e4-40fc-b451-2addf02147ed Listen on Spotify: https://go-stream.link/sp-overu

Continuing the celebration of the final golden spike being being driven into the transcontinental railroad (connecting Union Pacific and Central Pacific at Promontory Summit, UT on May 10, 1869), CPKC continued the journey for CP #2816, a 1930's era 4-6-4 Hudson-type steam locomotive named the Empress. The steam train left Bensenville Yard (Illinois) on the morning of 05/09/24. Numerous railfans gathered at points west to catch yet another glimpse of history as the train passed. Kole and I (and his friend Davis) headed to Pingree Grove, Illinois several miles west of Bensenville on the CPKC Chicago Subdivision (ex-Milwaukee Road trackage). In this video you can see our catch of the train in Pingree Grove, Hampshire and Illinois Route 23 near Genoa. Enjoy the video! Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt

This is part 1 of our video of CP 2816 in northern Illinois. Kole has had this on the calendar since the Final Spike Tour was announced. We caught some great evening shots of the train in Franklin Park, and some night shots of it being moved to Bensenville Yard. Franklin Park truly embraces its rail heritage, having been a rail stop since real estate broker Lesser Franklin purchased farmland for development in the late 1800's. The Chicago & Pacific Railroad (later the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul aka The Milwaukee Road) built this rail line through the area in 1873. Watch for part 2 of the CPKC coverage from northern Illinois. Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt

Sunday afternoon. Cinco de Mayo 2024. Spring is finally here to stay. The flowers are blooming and it's high time we get outside and look for trains! We spent the afternoon on CN's Freeport Sub near Powis Rd and Munger Rd (Munger is the allegedly haunted railroad crossing, but I did not see any ghosts). This line was constructed in 1890 by the Chicago, Madison and Northern Railroad and was soon owned by the Illinois Central. This line provided a "branch" from the IC's northern terminus of its main line in Chicago, west to the "other" main line in Freeport. It later provided IC with trackage to Iowa. The line hosted Amtrak trains (the "Blackhawk" with service from Chicago to Dubuque) from 1974 to 1981. The line was part of CN's 1998 purchase of the IC and now hosts a handful of CN freight trains each day. Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt

We caught a Ferromex loco again on the BNSF Racetrack! Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt

Metra commuter trains and one local hopper on the BNSF Racetrack on a gorgeous spring day. Enjoy the video! Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt

We catch a GP switcher move and an intermodal freight train heading southwest out of Chicagoland. Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter

Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter ---------- It was such a gorgeous spring day and school got out early, so Kole talked me into heading to downtown Downers Grove for some pre-rush hour railfanning. Some great catches including two Amtrak trains and a Metra horn salute. Enjoy the video! Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt

Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter ____ A Saturday afternoon railfan outing (04/06/24) on the BNSF Racetrack in Lisle. A speeding freight, a local freight, Amtrak, Metra and the Lisle Police all make an appearance. ____ Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt

Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Just a short catch of CSX moving a train toward Chicago. The New Rock Sub (former Rock Island) provides access to Chicagoland from the southwest. CSX shares the track with Metra between Joliet and Chicago and Iowa Interstate for the entire length of its New Rock (named for the Rock Island) trackage from North Utica near LaSalle, IL to Blue Island, IL. I do not know the inner workings of CSX using trackage rights on the BNSF Racetrack. I seldom see CSX on this line, but that does not mean they don't use it. If anyone knows the backstory (@PCBill0622 ?) put it in the comments for all of us to learn! Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt

Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter -------- Kole had money burning a hole in his pocket so we went to Lombard Hobbies to spend some of it. The store sits near the Union Pacific Geneva Subdivision, so after making his regular donation to the store, we caught a couple of trains on the UP. It was raining and cold, but we know warm weather is just around the corner. Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt

Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter We initially caught NS 1072 on the BNSF crawling by the CN tunnel in East Dubuque, Illinois and decided to go on a chase. We got ahead of it and was able to catch it again at Hillsdale, Illinois on the Barstow Sub, and then again at Orion, Illinois, but only after capturing an eastbound hopper train. Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl Track: "Begin", GUM Música fornecida por https://Slip.stream Download grátis/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/faXZZt

Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter ------- I have always been fascinated with train tunnels. When I was a kid, my parents took me to French Lick, Indiana to ride the excursion train on the old Southern Railway. This historic line goes through the Hoosier National Forest and the Burton Tunnel. Perhaps this is where my tunnel fascination came from. I grew up in Illinois, most of which is very flat. To find mountain-like hills, you have to go to the Shawnee National Forest in the southern tip of the state, or the Driftless area in the northwest corner of the state. Both of these hilly areas feature active train tunnels. On our return trip from Waterloo, Iowa to video the Iowa Northern Railway, Kole and I made a stop in East Dubuque, Illinois and spent a few hours just outside the CN (ex-Illinois Central) tunnel there. The terrain in this area is very hilly, and there are high bluffs along the Mississippi River. Driving through the Galena area, one might think they were in Pennsylvania or Tennessee. This area certainly is a hidden gem in an otherwise flat state. Our video today features our efforts to catch a CN freight train exiting the tunnel. While waiting, we caught several trains on the BNSF Aurora Subdivision, which runs adjacent to the CN in this area. Our wait finally paid off, though. Watch the video until the end to see what the inside of the tunnel looks like! As always, thank you for watching. We appreciate you. Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl

Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter If most people asked their 15 year-old kid..."Where do you want to go for Spring Break?" I'm sure many would hear Florida, Texas, Vegas, etc. When you ask an avid railfan where he wants to go, you get different answers: "Waterloo to catch the Iowa Northern again before it disappears into CN." So...Waterloo it is. I think we have now seen our share of Iowa Northern trains. We caught two separate freight trains, but chased them and rewatched them both a number of times from different locations. The weather sucked. It rained, then it snowed. Then when it stopped snowing, it was bitterly cold with seemingly gale-force winds. That aside, though, we hope you enjoy the video as much as we enjoyed making the memories. Pardon the wind noise and enjoy that jointed rail sound. Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl

My son Kole and I went on a wild goose chase to catch this Montana Rail Link locomotive. But we finally caught it...back where we started. A short video from 03/21/24. Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl

Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out TTS on Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter After filming the abandoned BN locomotive in a Bensenville industrial park, I headed over to the CPKC tracks (near where the Northwest Bridge Sub joins the Elgin Sub just west of Bensenville Yard) and caught a couple of trains. A Grey Ghost was leading one of them slowly into the yard. Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl

I wanted to visit an industrial shortline in Bensenville, Illinois again. I was here a few years ago and wanted to see if the abandoned Burlington Northern E unit was still here. It was. And it seems to have deteriorated more with each passing year. This relic train locomotive has a story behind it. I'm just not sure what that story is. It has been abandoned on the same dead-end spur in an industrial park for many years. It's rusting and falling apart, and has been victimized over the years by gang graffiti artists to the point where there is more graffiti visible than there is original green paint color. There are NO windows left intact. Kind of a sad state of existence when you think about it. At least I was able to document its existence and condition today, as I'm sure its days are numbered. If you know the history of this locomotive (it is in BN paint scheme and also has a MARC logo on the side), shout out below. I have heard many stories and rumors, but nothing presented to me as solid information. I have heard that this is the old BN9912 which struck a pedestrian in Downers Grove in 1991. However I do not believe this to be the case. Enjoy the video. Thank you for watching. Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out our TTS Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/458029659683112/ and our Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl

Just a short video chasing a BNSF freight train. I was at Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve near Lemont, Illinois filming a nature hike for the channel A Deeper Look and as I was finishing up, I heard a westbound freight train rumbling through town on the Chillicothe Sub. Was I able to catch it? Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out our TTS Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/458029659683112/ and our Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl

We spent the afternoon in downtown Wheaton, Illinois, the county seat of DuPage County. Wheaton is home to Wheaton College, where evangelist Billy Graham attended college. The conservative town prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages between 1887 and 1985. The community was settled in the 1830's and incorporated in 1859. Wheaton is the second county seat of DuPage County, Naperville being the original. The old courthouse (pictured in the intro of this video) is on the National Register of Historic Places. The county outgrew this courthouse, and a larger judicial facility was built on the west edge of town in 1990. The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad was chartered in 1836 and would be built through Wheaton on its journey west and northwest from Chicago. It would later become the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1864 and exist under that name for well more than a century. In 1996 it was merged into the Union Pacific Railroad. The UP is the last of the big Class I railroads to call themselves a "railroad," as all of the others have adopted "railway" into their name. Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out our TTS Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/458029659683112/ and our Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl

I happened to be driving by Eola Yard in Aurora and thought, "Why not?" I grabbed what camera gear I had with me and stopped to see what was cooking. The CB&Q heritage Metra unit made an appearance, some switching occurred, and a crew change happened. Not terrible for a spur of the moment outing. Enjoy the video and happy March! Spring is in the air. Get Your Train Merch Here! (wall art, pillows, blankets, puzzles, cups, etc) https://donald-maulding.pixels.com Check out our TTS Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/458029659683112/ and our Instagram at https://instagram.com/titan.train.spotter Track: "Falling For You Instr" Music provided by https://Slip.stream Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/WrW2wl

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