Fred Ottusch said:Fred, yes.... It basically follows rte 142 into mount Vernon, Illinois....
Thanks Andy, Was hoping you would see this & reply and you didn't let me down ! Does the tracks out of McLeansboro follow hwy 142 pretty good until just before Mt Vernon? Woodlawn is the interchange with the BNSF, isn't it? Any idea what work the train "normally" does ? Trying to get an idea how much time the chase will consume so I can plan out the rest of the day. Thanks again, Fred
Jon Radder said:Jon, there's actually 3 railroads there... UP, NS & EVWR....UP basically runs north and south.... NS comes in from thr north, just west of the UP, then heads east and crosses the UP just Northeast of the engine rebuilt facility... EVWR basically runs east & west....
I decided to follow along from McLeansboro on Google Maps. Wow - that is some crazy track arrangement on the East side of Mt. Vernon near National Railway Equipment!
Just east of the engine repair facility( about a mile) is where NS and EVWR built the new interchange track for coal hauling… It “Y”'s on the NS tracks, but only connects to run east on the EVWR tracks… There is talk now, of an ““intermodel yard”” to be built where the metal scrap facility is located now, just north of the engine repair facility…
It’s a very interesting time to be railfanning on the EVWR… 
Jon Radder said:The area around NRE is always interesting and fun to see what is going on. Lots of old hulks laying around in different stages of disassembly and reassembly. Also, there is a big scrap yard next door, that hails off what is no longer usable. Always a changing scene. They are now building/rebuilding trackage into the scrap yard from the EW tracks.
I decided to follow along from McLeansboro on Google Maps. Wow - that is some crazy track arrangement on the East side of Mt. Vernon near National Railway Equipment!
Thanks Guys - There may be a boat load of rebuilt engines on their way via NS. I got this off Facebook yesterday about an engine move to National Railway. Don’t know if they also have a facility in Memphis, or if that’s just a stop along the way.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/jrad/_forumfiles/NREXEngineMoves.jpg)
Hope Lance at http://www.facebook.com/altoonaworks or http://altoonaworks.info doesn’t get too upset that i borrowed his image.
Thanks again guys for all your info, will be in Mt Vernon on wed.
Jon, I think NRE has more than one facility.
My friends & I drove east from Mt Vernon. Il and arrived in McLeansboro at 750am on wed and were stymied by the fact we couldn’t find an eng or train. Found “the office” but didn’t see any signs of engines kept there. After driving around town for about 30" we caught them on the scanner about having work at Enfield, which is EAST of there. Drove to Enfield and caught them just as they arrived at the mill. Talked to the crew who said normally they would have gone west but they had a lot of work on tues that resulted in them going east to Mt Vernon, IN on wed. He told us they would have a meet at “trumbull”
The meet at “Trumbull” was with a coal train. We couldn’t find Trumbull so we settled on Carmi and were disappointed when the coal train came with NS power, BUT were happy when the rear pusher was the 8098 Conrail Heritage eng. We then waited there for the eastbound to come. He had the 3837 and 3836 sandwiching a GATX.
Want to thank you for all your info helping us catch the EVWR in action.
What…no pictures 
Ralph
Sorry, I’m one those old guys that still shoot slides. If you’re ever around Detroit come to our slide show, plenty of pop, potato chips, popcorn & pretzels - lots of good slides as well as good company.!
Fred Ottusch said:They make slide scanners just for guys like you ;) I was born at St Johns. If they hadn't of tore down Tiger Stadium..............I might have come back for a visit :) Ralph
Sorry, I'm one those old guys that still shoot slides.
Lots of postings of increased traffic and new customers and trains on the EWRR Yahoo Group. This was a big shock of possibility posted within the last 24 hours.
I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if CSX eventually sells the old B&O main from Shattuc, IL, into Cone Yard in East St. Louis to EVWR, with EVWR accessing it via trackage rights over 15 or so miles of the BNSF Beardstown Sub between Woodlawn and Shattuc. Of course, the connection at Shattuc would have to be re-laid, which would be no big deal… EVWR could rather easily handle the few remaining CSX trains that run Evansville - St. Louis (Q265, 247, 204) that currently must run via the B&O @ Vinncinnes, a much longer route, and with one crew vs. two. They could build business into the St. Louis market, bringing coal to AmerenUE plants west of the Mississippi River, etc. With anemic traffic east of Vinncinnes on the B&O for the past decade, one can only assume the number crunchers at corporate have an eraser hovering over this part of the system map.
This is the old B&O main within 2 blocks of our house.