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[choo-choo-wayne]

Anyone know why BNSF trains  travelling from Sioux City, IA to Willmar, MN in a generally north-northeast direction are westbounds and vice versa??  I realize it's an East-West railroad so there are no north or southbounds, but it's more east than west!

[Don Gibson]

ATSF - BN Tracks in the San Juaquin valley (CA) run N.S. but are still classified as EW. Predecessor RR listed same as NS.

I don't know WHAT the SP  called their parallel Valley Division.. It was there first. SP routes E of LA run EW. while N of LA run NS - but are called whatever the timetable says.

[DanRaitz]

Don,

 

On the SP timetables, any train that was heading towards San Francisco (Corp. HQ's) was considered "Westbound", and if it was headed away it was considered "Eastbound".

 

Dan

[BNIRRLives]

The way it is supoosed to be, well the way I was taught is trains traveling North, or East is cosidered a Eastbound. A train traveling South, or West, is a westbound. I don't know why but that is railroad geographics.

 

BNIRRLives

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Just to confuse things a little further, trains heading north out of Grand Central Terminal on the former New York Central are considered westbound.  Direction is very important under timetable and train order operation since trains of the same class traveling in one direction are superior to those in the opposite direction.  It probably still matters under Track Warrant Control or Direct Train Control.