Road trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas

[MP57313]

My wife and I just returned from a short trip to Las Vegas. My wife is not a railfan but does tolerate occasional scenic route (highway along the tracks) detours.

Saw a few trains in Cajon Pass, and took the scenic route (old US 66) between Victorville and Lenwood, near Barstow. For those not familiar with this, it is a 2-lane road (the "National Trails Highway") that is still well maintained and has a posted 55 mph limit. It runs parallel to the BNSF-UP shared tracks. In Oro Grande, a few miles north of Victorville, there is an antique store with a couple of cabooses next to it. There are also two wood-sided freight cars in rather poor shape. On the trip out we only saw one train; on the trip back we saw four (the stop at the antique store helped).

When a train is headed by both BNSF and UP units, whose train is it? Do you judge by the lead engine? There was a southbound train of hopper cars stopped at Oro Grande. Most of the cars were unrepainted from UP-heritage lines (mostly Missouri Pacific and Rio Grande), but the lead engine was BNSF...

Did not see many trains on the UP between Yermo and Las Vegas, in either direction. I-15 does not follow the RR in that many places, but where it did the rails were empty...except for a lone double-stack car on 'Borax' siding, just north of the NV/CA line.

Also briefly checked out the r-o-w of the former UP Blue Diamond branch. The r-o-w is still easily seen where it crosses NV rte 160. With Las Vegas continuing to grow rapidly (another 1,000,000 people in the next ten years?!) some traces of that route could disappear under new housing in a few years.

Rio Hotel in Las Vegas is adjacent to the UP but isn't set up for railfanning. I wonder why[;)]

[ericsp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MP57313

When a train is headed by both BNSF and UP units, whose train is it? Do you judge by the lead engine? There was a southbound train of hopper cars stopped at Oro Grande. Most of the cars were unrepainted from UP-heritage lines (mostly Missouri Pacific and Rio Grande), but the lead engine was BNSF...

It was probably loaded at a mine on UP and destined for the cement plant at Victorville on BNSF.

QUOTE: Originally posted by MP57313

Also briefly checked out the r-o-w of the former UP Blue Diamond branch. The r-o-w is still easily seen where it crosses NV rte 160. With Las Vegas continuing to grow rapidly (another 1,000,000 people in the next ten years?!) some traces of that route could disappear under new housing in a few years.

Unless they act fast to preserve it for a part of a possible light rail system.

[ericsp]

Don't forget to look over the deadline at Yermo. I was there in August 2002. It was mostly SD40-2s with some SD40Rs, SD40T-2s, and a couple of SD45T-2s.

[FThunder11]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MP57313

Also briefly checked out the r-o-w of the former UP Blue Diamond branch. The r-o-w is still easily seen where it crosses NV rte 160. With Las Vegas continuing to grow rapidly (another 1,000,000 people in the next ten years?!) some traces of that route could disappear under new housing in a few years.


Unless they act fast to preserve it for a part of a possible light rail system.

There wont be a lightrail service in Las Vegas unless they all of a sudden decide to got rid of there monorail, which they already spent a lot of money and time on.

[Modelcar]

...While the subject of RoW's [in the Vegas area], is being discussed here....can anyone comment on the RoW leading out from Boulder City on down to Hoover Dam. It was used in hauling material for the building of the dam back in the 30's. While I was in that area for some time in the early 70's, I traveled Rt. 93 down to Kingman many times and eyeballed that route that swung down through the valley towards the dam and some of it was visible from the highway. I know some of it was along the present water line and even went through tunnels....My question: Is it still visible or has it been completely taken over by massive building projects....? As the route was located out of Boulder City towards the dam, one could look over to the left [east..?], and see a large horse shoe curve but houses were being built in that area even then and I doubt if any evidence of the RoW is still visible. Anybody have any comment....?

[MP57313]

QUOTE: Originally posted by M.W. Hemphill

The train "belongs" to the railroad that employs the crew, except in the case of detour trains, or haulage rights trains, and sometimes trackage-rights trains, too. Between Daggett and San Bernardino, UP has rights on BNSF, and uses their own crews for their own trains. <snip>
...Cima and Kelso...Cadiz and Amboy .

The trains in question were in the "shared" section, near Oro Grande. I'm just not used to seeing a combination of UP and BNSF engines leading one train! I thought there might be some differences in cab configuration or some other detail where the crews would be more familiar with their own road's engines.

I have been through Cima and Kelso and Cadiz and Amboy way back in the 60s and mid-70s (and rode the Desert Wind in '89) I agree those locations are worth the detour if/when I can build in the extra "travel time" (no doubt I would take longer than 90 minutes since I'd stop here and there to take it all in).