Wow! I had to look twice! Nice find!
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Metra placed them back to back in preperation for a private car charter run the next day from Orland Park on the Southwest Service line. They were back to back to make the run-around easier since they weren't using a control cab.
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215 & 216 are the new units and mostly used on MILW trains, they probably were just shipped over from the MILW side without a second thought.
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This train was my ride home on Friday (4:30 departure) and it was the first time that I saw F40's back to back on Metra. Incidentally, in the late 1980's, Southwest Service trains led with the locomotive on inbound runs, probably because the trains were serviced at MILW Western Ave.
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| Posted by metraRI on April 14, 2010 | |
The two remained paired together until Monday morning, this time 215 was the unit facing south due to the private charter being wyed at A-5. Quite a catch.
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I saw these on the 4:30 train that day. I was shooting near the wye, so I didn't get very good shots.
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If you go to the north side of Union Station during the morning or evening rush, you'll see three "backwards" trains. Heritage Corridor trains run through Union Station to and from the Western Avenue coach yard for servicing.
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| Posted by on April 15, 2010 | |
215 and 216 are new? Did Metra get new locomotives from another railroad?
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215 and 216 are ex Amtrak. 214 is the last EMD locomotive built in La Grange. Great shot of something that is so rare at Metra!
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