Southern Shoo-Fly Pie, The Ryan Shoo-Flies

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Many railfans and followers of transit in the Chicago area are members of one or more historical groups, one of which is the Shore Line Historical Society which publishes a slick quarterly magazine called "First & Finest." F&F includes a "Wire Report" that gives first hand the day-to-day happenings. I have complete volumes and would like to share the coverage F&F gave to the Dan Ryan Rehabilitation. Readers may want to note the lengths of several runarounds. Also note that ballasting and third rail renewal was also done, both inside and outside of shoo-fly boundaries.Snapshot 2013-02-24 19-53-40.tiff

F&F Summer 2004: Capital Improvements/ Dan Ryan Rehabilitation Project: The CTA's Dan Ryan reconstruction project started on Sunday, March 7, 2004 when a series of single tracks were instituted the following week. The work was in preparation for the creation of "shoo-fly" run-arounds.

The $282.6 million Dan Ryan Rehabilitation Project --which includes the $4.5 million already spent to rehabilitate the bus bridges at 69th and 95th streets --is expected to take 36 months to complete. Work will include improved signal, track, communications and power substation systems, and seven renovated stations from Sox-35th to 87th Street. The project must be completed before the $430 million Ryan highway reconstruction begins in 2005.

Beginning the week of March 14, the CTA began nighttime work on the north and southbound right shoulders of the Dan Ryan Expressway between 26th and 95th streets to smooth and pave the shoulders to accept auto traffic in anticipation of the shoo-fly the CTA will construct for Red Line trains. The creation of the bypass tracks will allow uninterrupted bi-directional traffic while taking the permanent tracks out of service for replacement.

F&F Autumn 2004: Dan Ryan Rehab: Mayor Daley, President Kruesi, and other officials formally kicked off the Dan Ryan rehabilitation project as at a press conference on March 24, 2004. Actual work for the $282.6 million project had begun a few weeks before in the form of prep work for the institution of "run-around" tracks to allow special trackwork to be installed.

The Red Line rehab project will be executed in three phases and is scheduled to be completed in 2006. During the first phase of the project, the CTA will replace track, install a temporary signal system to support existing and upcoming track work, and begin third rail replacement from Cermak Road to 95th Street. Under phase II work, CTA will construct two new substations, upgrade two existing substations and demolish one substation. The CTA also will install a permanent signal system and finish replacing third rail. Station renovation will occur in Phase III and will cover seven stations along the line from Sox-35th to 87th. These stations will receive upgrades that include new flooring, enhanced lighting, refurbished platform canopies, new customer assistant kiosks and improved signs. Eight escalators will be replaced and new elevators will be installed at 47th and 69th, making ;the stations accessible to customers with disabilities. There also will be enhancements to improve; bus connectivity, such as curb cuts, canopies over station entrances and improved lighting on the approach to each station.

The Dan Ryan Runaround: The Chicago Transit Authority's renovation of the Dan Ryan branch of the Red Line was officially kicked off in late March, although as mentioned in the Summer 2004 Wire Report some preliminary work began in early March. One of the very unique aspects of this project is how the CTA is accomplishing the replacement of some special trackwork and certain other infrastructure improvements within the right-of-way while minimizing disruptions to service: the creation of temporary runaround "shoo-fly" tracks.

The shoo-flies consist of bypass tracks in each direction located outside the current CTA right-of-way on what is now the expressway's left shoulder in each direction. The creation of these bypass tracks, each of which stretch between 1,000 and 2,000 feet, allows the CTA to maintain uninterrupted bi-directional traffic on the Red Line while taking the permanent Dan Ryan branch tracks out of service for replacement. Work to be performed in the bypass areas includes the replacement of tracks and ties, installation of new special work such as crossovers, and the sinking of new traction power cables and substation connections. The runarounds are only being established where certain work is required, not along the entire branch.

To create the bypasses, crews first have to prepare and pave the right shoulder of the expressway and occasionally close an entrance or exit ramp, as the creation of the rail bypass encroaches on the expressway lanes, taking up the left shoulder and half of the inside lane, necessitating a shift toward the outside of the highway. No auto lanes are actually closed or eliminated. Next, crews cut the concrete barrier wall that protects expressway drivers from the rail right-of-way. A bed of ballast is then laid inside the new alignment and pre-made sections of track are installed. This work typically involves a series of single-track operations at night and on weekends while crews work from within the CTA right-of-way to install this infrastructure. Over a weekend, the permanent tracks are severed and a connection is made at both ends of the temporary runaround. The shoo-flies are protected from auto traffic by concrete jersey barriers with chainlink fences atop them. The temporary tracks are fully signaled with Automatic Train Control (ATC).

The CTA plans to implement runarounds at eight locations. Not all shoo-flies will be in service concurrently. Typically, only two will be in use at a time and each will last approximately six to nine weeks per location. The first bypass to enter service was between 84th and 87th streets on April 3-4, 2004. Consequently, this was also the first bypass to be taken out of service, over the weekend of May 8-9, once work on the new permanent infrastructure was completed. The CTA began using the second set of by-pass tracks beginning the weekend of April 17-18 between 67th (Marquette) and 69th; these are scheduled to be discontinued over the weekend of June 12-13. The next shoo-fly was between 45th and 43rd streets and was activated northbound on Friday, May 21 and southbound on Saturday, May 22 and is scheduled to be in service until mid July 2004.

Future shoo-fly locations are in the vicinity of 63rd street, 33rd Street, 94th Street, 55th Street and 79th Street, in that order. At press time, work was underway on the construction of the 63rd and 33rd runarounds. Single tracks were also being operated between 87th and 95th for electrical infrastructure work by contractor Aldridge Electric.

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F&F Winter 2004-2005 Dan Ryan Rehab: During the reporting period, the CTA put additional "shoo-fly" bypass tracks into service on the Dan Ryan and took others out of service. The temporary runaround tracks, ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 feet in length, allow for the replacement of special trackwork and certain other infrastructure improvements within the permanent right-of-way while maintaining uninterrupted bi-directional traffic on the Red Line. The bypass tracks between 69th and 71st streets, put into service in April 2004, were taken out of service over the weekend of June 12-13, with service resuming on the renewed permanent right-of-way. The following weekend, June 18-19, a new runaround between 58th and 62nd streets was put in service, remaining in use for just under two months until August 6-7. The shoo-fly between 43rd and 45th streets, put into service in May 2004, was discontinued over the weekend of July 9-10. Red Line trains began using the bypass tracks between 30th and 34th streets northbound on Friday, July 16 and the southbound on Saturday, July 17, remaining in use until Sunday, August 29 when trains returned to the main track. Finally, the two runarounds in service at press time were between 92nd and 96th streets (placed in service Friday and Saturday, September 10 and 11). They are expected to be in use until early October and early November, respectively.

Work continued along the line at a number of other points as well on other trackwork, traction power upgrades, and right-of-way improvements. The Dan Ryan uses single tracks several days a week, typically late at night and at other off-peak times, to accomplish this work. On June 13, the new left- and right-hand crossovers at 69th were put into service and the new crossovers at 45th were placed in service on July 11 while the 33rd and 94th crossovers were removed from service for replacement on July 16 and August 13 respectively. The newly installed left-hand and right-hand crossovers at 33rd were placed in service on Sunday, August 29. Work was underway in August on the new 45th Substation and during July the 63rd Center Track was renewed, with the new storage track and crossovers put into service on August 8.

F&F Spring 2005 Dan Ryan Rehabilitation: The CTA's $294 million Dan Ryan rehabilitation project is presently on time and on budget. Work on trackwork, traction power upgrades, signals, communications, and right-of-way improvements continued along the line at a number of points, using single tracks several days each week (usually more days each week than not!), typically late at night and at other off-peak times.

The last of the "shoo-fly" bypass tracks --the temporary runaround tracks that allow for the replacement of special trackwork and other improvements while maintaining bi-directional traffic--entered and left service The runaround tracks between 92nd and 96th streets continued northbound until Friday, September 24 and southbound until September 25, when trains returned to the rebuilt permanent tracks. Trains also discontinued use of the shoo-fly between 52nd and 56th streets on Saturday, October 23 southbound and Sunday, October 24 northbound. Red Line trains began using the by-passs tracks northbound between 79th and 75th streets Friday, October 1 and southbound Saturday, October 2. Service on them was discontinued on November 5-6. The 75th-79th tracks were the last runarounds to be used in the track and special trackwork replacement project.

Besides the use of runarounds, there was one "line cut" (the severing of service in the middle of a line) for the installation of new infrastructure where the construction of runaround tracks was not feasible. From 10 pm Friday, October 15 until 11 pm Sunday, October 17 trains did not operate between the Sox-35th and Cermak-Chinatown stations, with a bus shuttle transporting customers between the two stations.

At each of the crossovers between Cermak and north of 94th (except each end of 63rd Center Track) there was insufficient room within the "L" right-of-way to erect a CTA standard signal relay house. So, steel structures were erected that bridge over the tracks, anchored with four corner posts, two on each side of the right-of-way. The signal houses are then placed on these elevated platforms.

As a result of the aforementioned runarounds, single tracks, shuttles, and other efforts, the following improvements were completed on the Dan Ryan branch during Fall: 1. The following crossovers were removed from service so contractor Kiewit/Reyes could install new ones: the 55th diamond crossover on September 10; the left hand crossover at 23rd on September 10; the left hand crossover at 79th on October 1. 2. Contractors Keiwit/Reyes and Aldridge Electric removed the left hand crossover at 23rd and installed new left and right hand crossovers during the October 15-17 line cut described above. 3. Kiewit/Reyes removed and replaced the 95th interlocked diamond crossover, south of 95th/Dan Ryan station at the entrance to the yard, during mid-November, requiring one of the platform pockets to be temporarily removed from service during certain owl periods. 4. Three new crossovers entered service: the new 94th Interlocking on October 17; 87th Interlocking on November 14; and the left and right hand crossovers at 23rd on November 17 at 1500 hours. 5. Structural supports for signal relay houses were completed at 45th, 33rd, and 87th streets in September and for the 69th relay house in early October. 6. The foundation for the 79th relay house was set in mid-October. 7. The 23rd relay house's foundation was set in early October and the structure was installed in mid-October. 8. Relay houses at 94th, 87th, 63rd, and 59th streets were set in late September. Relay houses at 23rd, 33rd, and 45th were installed in early December. Relay houses had also been installed at 79th, 69th, and Garfield during the reporting period, so by press time all of the new Dan Ryan signal relay houses had been installed. 9. Work continued on Princeton, Pershing and 50th Street substations. The Dan Ryan rehabilitation project is scheduled to conclude in winter 2006.

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F&F Summer 2005/ Dan Ryan Rehabilitation: The CTA's $294 million Dan Ryan rehabilitation project is presently on time and on budget....Right-of-way work included track punchlist work, installing insulated bonds, ofundations and pulling signal and communications wiring, pulling wiring and setting junction boxes, changing out third rail, and digging inverter ducts. On Sunday, December 5, 2004 the new 95th Interlocking was placed in service. The 63rd Center Track and associated crossovers were temporarily removed from service on Friday, December 17, 2004 between 0900 and 1500 hours while contractor Kiewit/Reyes completed the installation of insulated joints.

At 1900 hours, Friday, January 07, 2005, 79th Crossover as removed from service while contractors Kiewit and Aldridge Electric completed installation of the new wiring and signal equipment to convert 79th into an interlocking. On Tuesday, January 25, 2005, at 1600 hours, the new 79th Interlocking was placed in service. Similarly, 69th Crossover was taken out of service on Friday, February 4, 2005 at 1900 hours and returned to service as 69th Interlocking at 1000 hours on Monday, February 14, 2005. On Friday, February 4, 2005, the new 87th Interlocking was also placed in service. 95th Interlocking was temporarily removed from service at 0900 hours on Monday, February 28, 2005 while Kiewit and Aldridge completed signal testing and wiring of the new interlocking plant.

By the end of February, 2005, the signal relay houses at 94th, 87th, 79th, and 69th Streets were in service, while those at 63rd, 59th, 55th, 45th, 33rd, and 23rd streets were in place and being tested. Work at Pershing and 50th Street substations was also continuing, with foundation work underway at the former and completed at the latter. Walls for the 50th Street substation were being fabricated by February.

F&F Autumn 2005/ Dan Ryan Rehabilitation Project: Generally work by Kiewit/Reyes and various subcontractors during the spring of 2005 included completion of the installation of signal and switch equipment, completion of traction power punchlist work, change out of third rail, pulling wiring and setting junctions boxes, installation of precast signal and ductbank work, plowing for traction power heat tape duct installation, installing temporary section gaps for special ductbank work, pulling signal and communication wiring, excavating for duct crossings, installing insulated joints, conducting underground signal work, electrical punchlist work, completing signal ductwork wiring, and acccomodation of IDOT contractor Walsh Construction's completion of concrete form work at the Wentworth, 67th and Skyway bridges.

Several new pieces of infrastructure came off- and on-line during this period as well: 1. Garfield Crossover was removed from service on April 29, 2005 at 1900 hours to allow installation of the new wiring and signal equipment to covert it into an interlocking. It was returned to service as Garfield Interlocking at 1000 hours on May 9, 2005. 2. 63rd Center Track was removed from service on April 1, 2005 while Kiewit/Reyes and Aldridge Electric completed the installation of route selectors, signals, trips, track circuitry and testing of the newly installed equipment. On April 15, 2005 63rd Center Track was placed in service. The new Middle Track has a 20 car capacity, and the South Storage Track has a three car capacity. Access to the Middle Track is through the new 63rd and 59th interlockings. The middle track was temporarily removed from service again during the midday hours on May 3-6, 10-12, and 17-19 to complete installation of new third rail. 3. Signal aspects and indications at 69th, 79, 87th, and 94th interlockings were modified on May 22, 2005 at 0900 hours in accordance with the new bi-directional signaling placed in service at the same time between 69th and 94th. 4. 95th Interlocking was returned to service effective at 1300 hours on March 31, 2005.

The new bi-directional signaling between 69th and 94th interlockings was tested ;during owl hours. From 1900 hours on Friday, May 20 to 0700 hours on Saturday, May 21, 2005 and during the same hours on Sunday, May 22, trains in both directions operated against the normal flow of traffic according to instructions from the controller and on signal indication in five phases. The result was an interesting weaving of trains back and forth across different tracks during these hours. Following the successful test of this equipment, the bi-directional traffic control system was placed in service on the Dan Ryan branch of the Red Line between 69th Interlocking and 94th Interlocking on Sunday, May 22, 2005 at 0900 hours. Several interlockings were modified as a result.

Preliminary station work was also initiated at a number of sites, although this was generally limited to condition assessments and site analyses. Such work was carried out at 79th station in late March 2005, Sox-35th in early and late April, and 87th station in early May. In late May, Kiewit and Aldridge conducted exploratory digging for future station work at Garfield. This work required single track operations around the stations.

F&F Winter 2005/2006; Dan Ryan Rehabilitation Project The period began with work taking place under the second phase of the Dan Ryan project. Phase II, which began in August, 2004 and runs through January 2006, includes constructing two new substations and demolishing one substation, installation of a new bi-directional signal system, finishing replacing the contact rail and installing new fibre optic cable. Other work during the period included installing traction power heat tape, cabinets and controllers; pulling electrical and signal wiring, pouring concrete; installing running rail; replacing ties; excavating for signal duct work installation; installation of communications wiring brackets on the Green Line Englewood branch over and near the Dan Ryan; and ballasting between 59th and 69th interlockings.

...Bi-directional traffic control was placed in service on the Red Line as far north as 45th Interlocking on July 30 and up to 23rd Interlocking on August 30, 2005. At the end of June 2005, Phase III was authorized to proceed. The last of three phases, this package of work involves renovations at several stations from Sox-35th to 87th, including new flooring, enhanced lighting, refurbished platform canopies, new customer assistant kiosks and improved signs. Phase I work was mostly concluded by this time. Phase II and III work usually did not involve track structure. THE END