TIE ONE ON: ALL THOSE RAILROAD ROCKS REALLY MEAN SOMETHING

This week's completion of a maintenance project along the two southernmost tracks of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad in downtown La Grange may have seemed routine, but as a result train commuters and engineers may now be enjoying a much calmer ride to and from the city.

So says BNSF spokesman Steve Forsberg, who took the time to tell us what those unique-looking, large-scale heavy equipment rail cars and varied work crews were actually doing on the tracks between Sept. 17 and 21 that caused so many passersby to stop and watch.

"(The project) should help give you a smoother train ride and provide a much safer ride for years to come and also help maintain track speed," he said, adding the weekend work doesn't change operations but rather likened it to a routine "repaving of a highway road."

Announced early last week, the project was billed as a "significant" railroad tie replacement program that would tie up grade crossings at Gilbert, Brainard, Kensington and Ashland avenues and La Grange Road.

That it did. But the project was more involved, and perhaps for railroad buffs, commuters and others, more interesting than that.

"It's definitely a neat thing," said Assistant Village Manager Andrianna Peterson. "They're replacing deteriorating railroad ties between here and the city ... and they're using some new equipment they've not used before."

It's not only the ties being replaced where needed, but the large white rocks in the fairly thick ballast rock bed beneath the rails and ties are also "reconditioned" at the same time, a process Forsberg said is technically called "regulated" and involves machines that remove and clean the ballast quarry rock with claw-like "pinchers" before shoving them back into the bed and under the ties in the same manner.

"It's a visual sight to behold," he added, noting while some of the rail machinery removes and replaces the steel spikes, others handle the ties, which are no longer kept on the side of the tracks for each project but inside the actual rail cars for easy reach.

"What we're doing is replacing part of the structure the rails sits on; the rail is very, very durable and can last forever," he said. "The machines clean the ballast ... which is there to create stabilization for the ties and help with water drainage (so ties don't rot as quickly). That's why ties last longer."

Forsberg says only pieces of the so-called "mechanized track gang" -- that large-scale row of aforementioned rail cars -- are new, but the technology is fascinating. Working all summer, piece by piece, between Aurora and Halsted Street in Chicago, train crews must work in well-oiled sequence and everyone has a task.

"The ties (being replaced) are kept on the rail cars and a mechanism feeds the ties as they are removed," said Forsberg, who noted the northernmost outbound track was done last year. "It's kind of like a rolling assembly line."

Forsberg says the railroad bed beneath the Aurora-to-Chicago tracks is pretty-well packed down after so many decades of use. The rail line was the very first in the region and was built in 1849. The train cars that used to run through here were upwards of 1 million pounds each, but today weigh only half that.

While the railroad tie and ballast work has since been completed and is now underway in Brookfield, Riverside and beyond, Metra has already started to replace concrete platforms east of the Burlington Avenue shelter across the tracks from the historic circa-1901 Stone Avenue station in La Grange.

Plans call to finish replacement of the entire platform outside the station and shelter in the spring -- or sooner.

As for the station itself, Phase I, or the preliminary conceptual design portion in conjunction with Oak Brook-based Legat Architects is "almost done," according to Peterson.

Next comes the final drawings for an estimated $3 million project that has already earned a $385,000 grant through the West Suburban Mass Transit District and may still qualify for some much-desired federal funds through the work of U.S. Rep. Daniel Lipinski, D-3rd District, of neighboring Western Springs.

The Village Board looked at several different concept designs for Stone Avenue station in February, she said, and provided extensive input. But before any designs are finalized, the public will have the opportunity to state its case as well.

"We have been working with Metra reviewing plans and making decisions and now that the platform work is going to proceed, we are making sure plans conform and match up with ours," she said, adding it may not be a good idea to work separately.

The station has long been in need of tuckppointing, soffit/fascia and roof work and has deteriorated over time, she said, noting renovations in recent decades has not been as historically sensitive as today's village leaders would have liked.

There are aluminum window panes, modern lighting and asphalt roofs, while it's likely the window panes and roofs were once wood and the lights were much less sophisticated.

"Because the village is involved as being a steward of the station, we believe it's important any renovations be done in an historically accurate way," said Peterson. "We want it to be a sensitive renovation. This building is going to stay as it is ... and will be even more beautiful than it is."

She said while some improvements are easier to plan out, much of the historical change will be carefully crafted in conjunction with the La Grange Area Historical Society.,

For one thing, accessibility to the disabled will be improved, as a ramp slapped on the side of the facility years ago may not even be appropriate with federal standards.

And although it's not a village decision BNSF is adamant about changing the grade of the pedestrian crossing mid-block for safety reasons and as a result the grade will be different when all is said and done.

"Still, our projects all need to be coordinated," she said.

The platform work will not likely be completed by the end of this fall, which means part of the work under construction will remain inaccessible to pedestrians during the winter months.

Bicycle facilities also will be upgraded, as will the former coffee shop inside the station. That hasn't been occupied by a retail tenant for a long time. Also, indoor seating will, hopefully, be maximized.