The Longest Day: Ogden Dunes, IN. 6/21/2024

And just like that, a trip that I had been planning for months had arrived; the Longest Day (albeit, a day late) in Ogden Dunes! I stayed the night at the Holiday Inn in Valpo the night before, and got started around 4:30 AM. A thick fog off the lake made the morning light start a bit later but not even a minute before I arrived at the South Shore station, my first train made its appearence. NS 25G cuts through the fog and starts the day of hopefully heavy rail traffic.

NS 22X hightails it eastbound minutes after 25G.

CSS 104, the first of many South Shore commuter trains for the day, comes in for its station stop at Ogden Dunes.

A fresh AC44C6M leads NS 17N west through Ogden Dunes.

The fog thickens as NS 25P follows NS 17N.

NS W4G cuts through the fog eastbound.

CSS 106 departs the Ogden Dunes station westbound for the city.

NS B06 departs the yard in Burns Harbor bound for Arcelor Mittal in Gary for some work.

NS 28V speeds eastbound through Ogden Dunes.

CSS 8 comes in for its station stop at Ogden Dunes. This would be the first of several ex-Metra double decker sets I would see throughout the day.

CSS 108 is right on the heels of the last CSS move, marking the beginning of the westbound commuter rush.

CSS 110 follows CSS 108. Note the Chicago Cubs wrap on the lead car.

CSS 112 follows the other 3 eastbounds coming to a stop at Ogden Dunes.

After a fairly large gap in freight traffic, NS 34J breaks the silence eastbound as the fog begins to lift with a CP unit leading.

KCS 4612 trails behind the CP leader on NS 34J.

CSS 14 comes in for its station stop at Ogden Dunes.

CSS 114 follows CSS 14 a few minutes later and comes in for its stop at Ogden Dunes. Not the Operation Lifesaver wrap on the side of the lead car.

The first Amtrak of the day makes its appearance. AMTK 350, an eastbound Wolverine with a sole P42 on the front. An increasingly rare occurrence for the Wolverines as these trains are usually dominated by chargers.

AMTK 371, the westbound Pierre Marquette, races west through Ogden Dunes with a solo charger on the head end.

CSS 103, the first eastbound South Shore of the day, comes in for its station stop at Ogden Dunes.

AMTK 29, the westbound Capitol Limited, speeds west through Ogden Dunes.

CSS 105 comes in for its station stop at Ogden Dunes eastbound.

CSS 118 comes in for its station stop at Ogden Dunes.

NS 1234 leads NS 29G west through Ogden Dunes.

NS B16 departs the Burns Harbor yard bound for Kankakee with a solo SD70M-2 blowing some oil by the Ogden Dunes station.

CSS 20 comes in for its station stop at Ogden Dunes.

The first CSX train of the day rolls through Ogden Dunes. M327 with a pair of GEs and a geep.

CSX 6508 trails 3rd on M327.

CSS 7 speeds east by the Ogden Dunes station.

AMTK 110 leads AMTK 49, the westbound Lakeshore Limited, by the Ogden Dunes station.

The Pacific Island and 20th Century Limited private cars trail on the rear of AMTK 49.

Westbound AMTK 351, Wolverine, screams by the Ogden Dunes station.

NS 65E follows AMTK 351 westbound by the Ogden Dunes station.

CSX N801 hurries eastbound by the Ogden Dunes station. This is a runthrough BNSF coal train from the Powder River Basin bound for one of the power plants on the Lake State Railway in Michigan.

CSS 120 comes in for its station stop at Ogden Dunes.

AMTK 365, the westbound Blue Water, screams by the Ogden Dunes station.

IDTX 4628 trails on the rear of the Blue Water.

About a minute later, CSX M326 races toward home rails in Porter with a pair of GEs.

NS 33G breaks a short lull in action with a pair of BNSF H3 GEs.

A fairly fresh H3 Dash 9 trails 2nd on NS 33G. I would guess that this unit hasnt been out of its original Warbonnet colors much more than a year.

CSS 109 comes in for its afternoon station stop at Ogden Dunes.

Then finally after wondering all morning if I was going to get one, the roar of EMD motors could be heard from the east coming from the South Shore tracks, and AF4 screamed by the station behind one of the GP38-2s and 1 of 2 SD38-2s. Only one more railroad to go; the IHB!

CSS 804 trails behind CSS 2004 on CSS AF4.

NS 880 roars by Ogden Dunes with a trio of BNSF locomotives after stopping shy of the road crossing while waiting on traffic ahead to clear up.

NS 266 follows behind NS 880 with the days first UP leader and another BNSF GEVO trailing.

BNSF 8020 2nd on NS 266.

CSS 22 comes in for its station stop at Ogden Dunes.

IDTX 4613 leads AMTK 353, a westbound Wolverine, by the Ogden Dunes station.

BNSF 9058 gets a free ride with not much work to do on the rear of CSX E800.

CSS 25 comes in for its station stop at Ogden Dunes.