Federal Railroad Administration


Burlington Bob

Burlington Bob

Well-Known Member
I was riding my new (to me) motorcycle yesterday when the crossing lights started flashing and the gates started lowering as I came around the curve before the BNSF crossing. There was a train consisting of two Union Pacific GE six axle units pulling a maroon smooth side passenger car lettered "Federal Railroad Administration" and below that "Safety Enforcement", IIRC headed towards Galesburg, IL. Didn't have enough time to grab my phone for a picture and it was getting late so it probably was too dark anyway.

To the best of my knowledge there haven't been any derailments or other problems that I know of. Also, this isn't an Amtrak route.

Was curious if anyone had any ideas as to what this was all about.

Since this area of track was updated to CTC from track warrant operation, I've had the opportunity to see trains following closely behind one another on several occasions. In the past, two trains had to be spaced much further apart to travel safely. Nice to see all of the upgrades that BNSF has done the last couple of years on the Beardstown Sub. It has eliminated the bottleneck the area between Beardstown and Bushnell had become when it was dark territory.
 
Well, Doggies!
A wandering child has returned to the fold. Lots of folks been asking about you?
 
Thanks guys, I haven't given up on trains and model railroading! But I (we) do have a new (well, 2013) Can-am Spyder RT-S SE-5 motorcycle and we've been riding it a LOT!

The FRA car I saw looked like a regular Pennsy smooth side passenger car. It wasn't an observation car and there wasn't anything in the way of equipment mounted to it that might be used for track inspection or something similar. It could have come right out of a Pennsylvania passenger train from the fifties. Probably just an office use car but it was interesting and I've never seen one before.

I'll be back on a more regular basis after the riding season ends, depending on my work schedule. I definitely miss everyone and all the goings on here but summer only lasts so long!
 
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Bob I don't have a clue about your question.

I just wanted to say hey and I'm glad to hear you are having fun!

Be safe my friend!
 
Hi, Louis! Yep, we're having fun playing with our new toy. I'm kind of wondering if it was just a move to another site for an assignment. Sure was plenty of horsepower for one old passenger car..........but it was impressive!
 
I had a similar experience a year or so ago, mine was with a UP car in Southern Idaho. Even more odd to me was that it was two engines, then three UP passenger cars (chrome/stainless steel) that looked brand new, and then a half a freight line behind them. There were people in the cars to.
 
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