A Night of Failure - Metra Train Breaks Down at Morton Grove

This night had to be its own video. We decided to meet up for some Metra Lollapalooza rush action, which quickly turned into a disaster upon train 2153 breaking down at Morton Grove. This delayed the extra trains as well as other regular Metra trains, turning the night into absolute chaos. Following the chaos came WSOR T-001 with the 4171 leading, as well as one of the latest Amtrak 341s in modern history. That would also be one of the only recorded times that the Hiawatha has had 4 engines, with the 'cabbage' counted.
As usual, feedback is appreciated.
#railfanning
#trains
#illinois
#4K

[@g-manonthego6678]

It’s a great thing that all of Metra’s MP36 fleet have been rebuilt with Caterpillar-powered HEP Gensets. That setup puts less strain on the main prime mover, although it burns more gas.

[@paulmatulavich7321]

I enjoyed this video, as the night scenes were nicely captured. Great colors and relections (iphone 15?) Well filmed on a tripod. A+++++

[@timectrl]

"Failure is a stepping stone to success" not for these commutors

[@raytylicki9001]

First problem too.many grade crossings Second needs Electrification for high frequency more reliable service.

[@albertcarello619]

What about the Commuters that have to go north beyond Morton Grove!? I hope they can get on another train that will take them further north.

[@easternroutemainlinevideos6823]

Sweet video

[@staintedcards]

amtrak was a bit over powered i think

[@johnmerkle9270]

I've never seen that happen that's kind of scary there had to be a bigger delay and a bunch of people cuz you didn't get home from work work till like 10 at night

[@staintedcards]

they couldnt back it up to let the gates go up? and why was the other crossing activated kinda weird

[@MGRailVideos]

1. The prime mover was at fault, since it appears the HEP generator was working fine. Therefore the locomotive could not move under its own power. 2. The 'Lincoln Lane' crossing activates with the Lincoln Avenue crossing. When a train departs the station headed northbound, the Dempster Street gates will also go off. The way the Dempster gates work, quite a few trucks have destroyed the gate there- I actually caught one on video by accident in my NW Suburbs Volume 3 video!

[@bernardtheaubreycoxandcoolgame]

Bad time to break down

[@bernardtheaubreycoxandcoolgame]

@@MGRailVideos Oh dear

[@danielonn2002]

turn off the bells

[@EDdie-bg4ut]

Dude I used to live hereee, I have soo many videos of trains here if you want?

[@jeffreysmith85]

Where were the police? They moved that broken train out

[@MGRailVideos]

If you look to the far left of the screen starting at 0:48, you can see a Morton Grove police cruiser pull up to the crossing. After letting multiple cars through, they went and explained to the officer what was going on.

[@danielonn2002]

Turn off the crossing bells

[@cats0182]

They sent a road engine that had to run backwards? With a "pilot" standing on the front? METRA doesn't have yard rescue/engines? What a joke.

[@MGRailVideos]

Metra doesn't use their switchers as often as they used to anymore. They more recently obtained the NIRC 11 which is out and about rather often, but usually on MOW moves rather than rescues like this.

[@MetraEverythingProductions]

NOT 403 its too sad

[@MGRailVideos]

403 has been fixed since this incident. I've seen it multiple times since then.

[@scenicdepictionsofchicagolife]

@@MGRailVideos do you know what the issue was?

[@MGRailVideos]

@@scenicdepictionsofchicagolife I have no clue, but my best guess is something related to the prime mover since the HEP seemed to still be online.

[@jackchen7003]

Americas railroads are so old and yet we’re the richest country, Asia and Europe have way better trains

[@oboyz3848]

Guns and oil man

[@raytylicki9001]

They also have high taxes

[@scenicdepictionsofchicagolife]

This has nothing to do with age or maintenance. Metra despite it's funding woes has a fleet that's in pretty good shape. This is not the result of poor maintenance, just bad luck. No need to make it seem like anything else. Metra is not a class I railroad that purposely let maintenance slide as much as possible.

[@raytylicki9001]

@@scenicdepictionsofchicagolife The Metra car that I rode in last year was built in 1976.45 Years ago.The trolley that rode in New Orleans 1920s,Cleveland Rapid-1984

[@scenicdepictionsofchicagolife]

@@raytylicki9001 unless there is a good reason to replace something, what reason is there to buy something brand new after just a few years? Rail equipment is not like a household car. It is not intended to be replaced after 7 years (the US average for family cars). Many of the old bilevel cars have been refurbished or rebuild by Nippon-Sharyo to bring them back up to spec. I see no issue with this. Building completely new coaches is also extremely environmentally taxing and has a huge carbon impact. It is a shame that so many people are so readily willing to participate in the throwaway society just because they need "shiny" new equipment that can perform the same job. You can rebuild locomotives and prime movers too. This is why there are freight locomotives on the rail from the start of the diesel era. Trains ≠ cars. The reason Amtrak is replacing the Genesis series locomotives with the Siemens Charger is because the Genesis series reliability sucks new or old and they were fuel thirsty. They are replacing the old coaches with Siemens Venture cars because A. Many of them are even older than most Metra cars, and B. They see tremendously higher mileage and the quality of those cars just like the Genesis locomotives was crap. The Siemens Venture cars are also meant to pair with the Charger units. So in this case I do believe it makes sense. On the bright side, if you dislike the classic Metra bilevel cars you'll be glad to hear that they will be gradually replaced with Alsthom Coradia bilevel cars in the future.