Both Snail-Paced and Big Time Activities …
… With a Few Surprises Too!
Photos Taken Monday, February 17, 2014
Pomona to Niland, CA
Part “B” (of A-D), Section 1 (of 1-9)
At Range Road, in the M.P. 648 area and by Salton Sea itself, grade crossing concrete parts are present.
There are also concrete tied rail sections for relaying the track through the grade crossing. Looking eastbound:
A westward view:
Just above, note the wood tied track that needs to be replaced (right).
Continued in Section 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K.P.’s absolute “theorem” from early, early childhood that he has seen over and over and over again: Those that CAUSE a problem in the first place will act the most violently if questioned or exposed.
Part “B”, Section 2 (of 1-9)
While we are at Range Rd. and CP SP648 BERTRAM … a lot of ballast is now present.
Continued in Section 3
Part “B”, Section 3 (of 1-9)
The next signals (far right) to the east, intermediates, are by the entrance to Bombay Beach.
Past Bombay Beach a ways, is one of those present one box two masts signals.
When trains are operating on the second track, these types of signals may (“may”) be transplanted (so to speak) to the Mecca area, east of Thermal.
That signal just above is near the next future intermediate set.
Continued in Section 4
Part “B”, Section 4 (of 1-9)
We now come to the Hot Mineral Spa Rd. (M.P. 652.90), the ex-Hot Springs Rd.
The grade crossing’s super elevation on the curves here is very pronounced.
Continued in Section 5
Part “B”, Section 5 (of 1-9)
The present signal at Hot Mineral Spa Rd is now on borrowed time.
Looking westbound, the curve is a big sweeping one. Trains travel 65 M.P.H. through here.
A westbound telephoto:
Continued in Section 6
Part “B”, Section 6 (of 1-9)
Eastbound views from Hot Mineral Spa Rd.:
What on earth is going on in the far background?
Just above, note the new intermediate signals without a grade crossing by them!
Continued in Section 7
Part “B”, Section 7 (of 1-9)
We are now by the crane, a few miles to the east …
The crane was swiveling around as needed. Note the distant landscape of this kind of nomad’s land.
Continued in Section 8
Part “B”, Section 8 (of 1-9)
Other equipment is nearby, this one of a seldom seen color.
Continued in Section 9
Part “B”, Section 9 (of 1-9)
We are across from the crane now, by the new SINGLE-TRACK bridging.
Apparently all the commotion and crane activity is related to two-tracking this single-track bridge.
Continued in Part C, to be posted Wednesday, February 26, 2014 by 9:00 A.M. Pacific Time
Terex push-pull scraper, a poor attempt to copy what Caterpillar mastered decades ago. Slow, noisy, and small load capacity. Green weinies.
A10
Part “C” (of A-D), Section 1 (of 1-8)
We arrive at Frink Rd. and the new signals … and much activity and equipment.
Cutup rails still attached to ties are stacked up everywhere!
Part “C”, Section 2 (of 1-8)
Eastward views:
Westbound again …A bunch of stacked tracks are cycled through for loading of the wood unto trucks
Part “C”, Section 3 (of 1-8)
The loading:
Part “C”, Section 4 (of 1-8)
All the wood, ties, and rail are from the old Rogoza siding.
A stack of ballast was placed here too.
Just above, besides the CP box with ROGOZA placarded on it (left), note the station name sign by and above the pile of ballast.
Part “C”, Section 5 (of 1-8)
We head east some more, and a ballast train is tied down.
The power was led by the latest batch of C45’s, shiny new UP 8101. Wow, a new C45 on a ballast work train!
The tail end of the ballast train, or maybe it is the head end, was just west of the west eastbound signals of the future CP SP658 WISTER
Above, again old ties are present.
Part “C”, Section 6 (of 1-8)
The next intermediates (right) to the east is near the west switch of the present CP SP660 WISTER (left background).
Above, the right new foreground intermediate signal is right next to the M.P. 660 sign, if you look real closely.
A better view:
A heavy telephoto of the present CP SP660 WISTER, the siding’s west interlocking signals.
Above, note the turned aside, temporary lower head on the right mast that we saw on the visit a couple of months ago.
Part “C”, Section 7 (of 1-8)
Next, we reach another set of intermediates, all with lower heads.
Those intermediates are just west of the east switch of the Wister siding.
Part “C”, Section 8 (of 1-8)
A culvert is reached, with rocks surrounding a bunch of water.
A most interesting set of intermediates is then reached. Both have a lower west side eastbound head with TWO colors, likely without a red.
Continued in Part D, to be posted Friday, February 28, 2014 by 9:00 A.M. Pacific Time
A quick update to my quick update from last week.... I drove east along on I-8 this past Sunday... there is definitely some trackwork being done east of Yuma.
CP Dome (SP753)
Saw at least 30 ballast hoppers near SP762. This area is already double tracked, couldn't tell which track they were occupying.
CP Wellton (SP770)
From a distance, what looked like a geometry car, one of the Harsco concrete tie & track laying machines, and what looked like a Plasser ballast unloading conveyor were all stored on a siding at Wellton. It's quite the collection of equipment, and closely matches what I saw deployed in Pima County last year when they made the big push between CP Marana and CP Stockham.
CP Noah (SP776)
A few miles east of Wellton, a fully loaded MOW train was sitting at the west end of the siding at Noah, with what I'm guessing were 30+ pieces of track gang equipment on green flats. There were two school buses, several trucks, and what I'd guess were ~20 self-powered pieces of yellow track equipment. I don't recall seeing this last week, but could have easily missed it. On the east end of Noah, a large pile of wood ties were stacked up.
CP Colfred (SP783)
Some more large piles of wood ties stacked up next to the MOW track inside at SP784, and a few wood tie flats as well.
CP Mohawk (SP792)
As I drove past SP972 (CP Mohawk), I got to see four trains at once... an EB was in the siding, with three WB's stacked up tail to nose on the mainline. As we drove further east, we passed two more WB's, which would also have to join the conga-line waiting to pass.
From another list, I was told trains are being held regularly at Mohawk like this due to trackwork, and fleeted thru 5-6 at a time.
One observer on that list identified one work zone as being done near Dateland, which is halfway between CP Aztec and CP Stoval.
CP Aztec (SP811)
I was clearly wrong about the location of the concrete tie train I'd reported at Stoval or Mohawk -- it was actually sitting in CP Aztec on the MOW track at SP811. This would also match up with the reports of work being done west of Aztec...
Many Hours of Free Time
On Saturday, February 22, 2014 from 4 A.M. to 5 P.M. K.P. fulfilled two absolute-type assignments, with gobs of free time between them. The Ontario-Riverside-Colton area was checked out during that free time.
A very good look at the OWLS diamond at CP C038 ONTARIO on the LA&SL was able to be had. A light power set backed (“backed”) across the diamond (above, right to left) on the unbroken rails route.
Preparation for fifteen posts resulted from that date, and their presentation will be split between Thursday, February 27 and Saturday, March 1, 2014. Posts should be up by 9:00 A.M. Pacific Time, but could be posted up to 12 hours early. Riverside-Colton will be covered first, and then Ontario the next scheduled post date.
The last of the series “Both Snail-Paced and Big Time Activities … With a Few Surprises Too!” about the Niland area should be posted as scheduled.
Update as of Saturday, February 22, 2014
Riverside-Colton-Ontario, CA Areas
Part I (of I-VIII, Overall I-XV)
In conjunction with the new Los Angeles & Salt Lake (UP) Bridge over the 91 Freeway in Riverside, CA, the through-route at CP C056 SCRRA JCT (M.P. 56.4) is being realigned, from a turnout route to a physically straight through route. Such an action will necessitate at CP C055 STREETER (ironically, a mile or two from Streeter Ave.) that the west side eastbound signal heads on the signals be modified. K.P. made it a point to see if the modifications have been done yet, but it was found nothing had changed.
Over at the new 91 Freeway LA&SL Bridge, the temporary Maintenance-of-Way switch had been installed.
The old and new bridges, plus at CP C056 SCRRA JCT. east of the new bridge the new west side eastbound signal.
Eastbound Metrolink trains will get a red over flashing red
Continued in Part II
Part II (of I-VIII, Overall I-XV)
Ballast cars were on the east side of the 91 Freeway Bridge (far left), as seen from the BNSF Transcon by Cridge St.
Looking eastbound (northeast) from Cridge St., at the BNSF Transcon and the Metrolink station stop and the overhead bridge for commuters.
Above, the foreground interlocking plant is the junction with the LA&SL, and the change from BNSF two-tracks (behind the camera) to three-tracks. Metrolink 91 Line trains tend to end-of-line at the area for it on the right, completely off the BNSF Transcon. However, with the advent of the Perris Valley Line in 2015, 91 Line commuter trains will assumedly continue eastbound on Main 3 as Perris Valley Line trains, thus effectively clogging CP HIGHGROVE at BNSF M.P. 6.1 making the junction in essence single-track temporarily. It would seem something will have to be done about that.
Just a by the Riverside Metrolink station stop photo to round of the forum’s perception of the area:
Continued in Part III
Part III (of I-VIII, Overall I-XV)
At the Streeter Ave. underpass construction on the LA&SL, things are coming along very well
All those above constructions workers are surprisingly working on a Saturday!
A westbound view:
Continued in Part IV
Part IV (of I-VIII, Overall I-XV)
At Streeter Ave., eastbound views and the shoofly and related tracks:
Continued in Part V
Part V (of I-VIII, Overall I-XV)
The end of two-tracks at CP C055 STREETER in Riverside pictured at the top of Part I … several hundred feet to the east is the highly banked curve at Riverside Ave. as in the below reshown September 30, 2012 photo
On this visit K.P. surprisingly found the grade crossing closed for underpass construction!
The just above view looks south.
Continued in Part VI
Part VI (of I-VIII, Overall I-XV)
In the North Riverside / Highgrove area, the Iowa Ave. overpass construction over the BNSF (alternate Sunset Route via the LA&SL) is finished!
An eastbound telephoto:
An eastbound view and the fine wire meshing.
At this point in time, in the just above view, it is unknown if a fourth-track (in the area on the lower right) will be laid in conjunction with the building of the Perris Valley Line.
Continued in Part VII
Part VII (of I-VIII, Overall I-XV)
In the Highgrove / Grand Terrace area the BNSF replacement bridge over the I-215 Freeway that had construction-stalled with a lengthy delay has suddenly resumed construction big time!
It has been forum reported that a bridge or bridges for TWO-tracks will be built on the east side of the old BNSF (AT&SF) bridge. At this difficult to get to angle, K.P. found it inconclusive as to how many east side tracks the bridging is being built for, but it kind of looks like bridging for two-tracks. .
K.P. did NOT actually drive by pier-work, so it cannot definitively be said one way or the other. However, the south (westbound side) concrete-work seems to suggest it will be a two-track bridge.
Continued in Part VIII
Part VIII (of I-VIII, Overall I-XV)
The traffic lanes walling (bottom) in comparison to the new bridge piers.
Looking north, a huge pile of dirt has been piled up!
From De Berry Street, looking southward: The big pile of dirt seems to be acting as a train stop in case a set of cars somehow ran away, and wouldn’t land on the freeway:
Parts IX to XV is scheduled for posting Saturday, March 1, 2014 by 9:00 A.M., but may be posted up to 12 hours early.
Part “D” (of A-D), Section 1 (of 1-9)
English Rd. had barricades blocking the grade crossing and signs saying the road was closed.
There is also a thought-provoking sign:
K.P. counts 6 days of road closure listed on the sign! 6 days! And split 5 and 1.
The old sign just beyond the above row of signs had been there for a while …
… talked about a road closure a mile ahead. But, apparently the approach slopes for this grade crossing are going to be completely redone, especially since a second-track is coming …
The photo just above, note the new mast signals on the upper right!
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.