What is happening? You be the Judge!
Part “A” (of A-B)
On the afternoon of Tuesday, May 7, 2018 K.P. traveled from his base in Hemet, CA all the way to the Thermal-Mecca area northwest of Salton Sea in southern California to check out a report of some kind of signal installation activity on the Sunset Route. He found the new single-mast signals alright, but more significantly, in the Thermal area some kind of preliminary grading for vehicle usage and yellow marker flags were present!
At 62nd Ave. looking westbound:
On the above photo, not only is the yellow flags present, note the yellow aerial pipeline marker on the left.
Some at this forum may remember a photo by Salton Sea years ago of a lengthy digging taking place and a cable being buried by UP workers way before two-tracking came to that area. It has to be wondered if that above photo is in preparation for a like signal cable to be buried.
Looking east from 62nd Ave., the grading seems to go only a few hundred feet more and stops.
At this point in time, it is unknown if this is some kind of two-tracking effort, or the buried pipeline is possibly being relocated.
Again, two possibilities seem to arise with a section of track on the northeast side of the grade crossing from which the above two photos were taken from:
That panel track above could be just a replacement section, or for a new second track through the 62nd Ave. grade crossing. K.P. has long felt the new, second track would be laid on the north side here, with the section of panel track positioned correctly. That suggests those yellow flags on the south side are for burying a signal cable.
Again from 62nd Ave., an eastward view, this time a telephoto of the Highway 86 overpass (formerly Highway S86) shows no grading or yellow flaging.
Since it is early on in this new development, if new two-tracking is in its earliest stages, it cannot be said if two-tracking will stop eastward at 62nd Ave. to go all the way to the Mecca siding.
Continued in Part B