Update as of Friday, June 20, 2014
Towards the Western End of the Sunset Route
Part “C”, Section 14 (of 1-14)
The San Gabriel Trench
San Gabriel, CA
Looking west again:
Back towards the east: The new high and wide detector and replacement signals (on a single mast this time).
A slightly angled eastbound look and the surroundings:
So, there we have it, what is currently happening at the somewhat lengthy San Gabriel Trench construction site.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 “C”, Section 13 (of 1-14)
The Walnut Grove grade crossing (M.P. 497.61) has a new, not in service grade crossing electrical box (left) …
But, did you notice that that new grade crossing box (above) is NOT on the north (right) side of the tracks, but on the south side (left)? Apparently the temporary track for when the trench is dug will change from the north side to the south side of the present line. Remember that “mysterious zone” with. angled bridgework on the first photo of Section 11? The changing sides might explain that.
That area (center) where the changing sides may take place, looking westbound from Walnut Grove Ave.:
Looking east:
Reportedly, the trench will be elevating up as it comes out of the deep, dug out area, probably about 4 or 5 feet that grade crossing will have to be lowered.
Continued in Section 14
Part “C”, Section 12 (of 1-14)
We now arrive at Walnut Grove Ave., where that high and wide detected is located.
Above, did you notice that the big advertising signs (at least this side of the street) no longer have advertisements on them?
Of course, the other side of the street has advertisements still, but they undoubtedly are on borrowed time.
Continued in Section 13
Part “C”, Section 11 (of 1-14)
Looking eastbound from San Gabriel Blvd. the high and wide detector at the grade crossing to the east is visible.
With the above view, we have entered a mysterious zone of the unknown. Did you notice the new bridging under construction on the lower left? It is angled!
Back at San Gabriel Blvd. we find another piece of equipment needing flagmen protection.
We have to travel NEARBY residential streets, and find more equipment staged.
Continued in Section 12
Part “C”, Section 10 (of 1-14)
Looking west, piles of sub-ballast were on a graded strip on the north side.
That sub-ballast is visible on the far right as the dug up grade crossing has a barricade pushed northward (rightward).
Caterpillar (CAT heavy equipment) now owns the company that makes EMD power, most notably SD70ACe’s. Will those locomotives eventually have “CAT” on their sides?
Continued in Section 11
Part “C”, Section 9 (of 1-14)
We now move east to the San Gabriel Blvd. grade crossing, at M.P. 491.23. A number of construction flagmen were present, and traffic was a mess there.
Continued in Section 10
Part “C”, Section 8 (of 1-14)
In this business and residential area, more wood walling:
A common piece of equipment comes by, off the railroad’s right-of-way.
Continued in Section 9
Part “C”, Section 7 (of 1-14)
Those barricades seem to be at a staging area, designated as ‘Building 4.’
Continued in Section 8
Part “C”, Section 6 (of 1-14)
Looking east from Del Mar Ave.:
Because the present grade crossing south side box is in the way of trenching …
… a new box is being put in on the north side.
Two photos up, note that a bunch of concrete barricades are present.
Continued in Section 7
Part “C”, Section 5 (of 1-14)
Now, at Del Mar Ave., M.P. 490.70 …
Looking westbound and at the new grading:
A bunch of Continuous Welded Rail (CWR) is present trackside.
The Del Mar Ave. grade crossing:
Continued in Section 6
Part “C”, Section 4 (of 1-14)
From Mission Road now …A project sign was erected by those present intermediate signals.
Looking westbound from Mission Road:
An eastward view:
Looking back west from Mission Rd., that wood walling totally blocks off the residential street just to the south:
Continued in Section 5
Part “C”, Section 3 (of 1-14)
That wood walling:
Looking the other way from Ramona Street, the south dirt roadway gets watered.
Just above, note that not activated yet mast signal on the upper left, and the track lowering to the Alhambra Trench on the right.
Continued in Section 4
Part “C”, Section 2 (of 1-14)
A telephoto looking westbound from Ramona Street, the Alhambra Trench is seen on the background left, with its track elevating out of that trench towards the camera location. On the lower right new grading is now present, as well as an unactivated, new mast signal that will replace that one by Mission Road.
From the west that new grading crosses Ramona Street and heads east on the north side of the present track.
Above, notice how closed the new grading is to the vehicle roadway on the left.
Looking east from Ramona Street, a wide area is present (center), which the San Gabriel Trench will be dug down at.
Above, note on the upper right a wood wall is now present.
Continued in Section 3
Part “C” (of A-C), Section 1 (of 1-14)
The original Sunset Route Alhambra Sub’s San Gabriel Trench construction area was visited, and finally substantive developments are now taking place. This presentation will generally be on a west to east basis
The Ramona Street grade crossing (M.P. 490.2) is closed to vehicle traffic now, and torn up. View looks westbound.
Even though the road is closed, pedestrians can still walk across the tracks.
As a memory aid, at the next grade crossing to the east, at Mission Road., there is a mast intermediate block signal.
March 1, 2014 view
January 3, 2013 photo
Continued in Section 2
A Few Replies
ccltrains (6-23):
Typically, state and local governments do contribute funds. There are also often voter approved proposition and measures funding.
The grade separation at Fullerton Rd. is slated to be an underpass.
It, though, will hardly alleviate congestion for the area.
Railroad Street (above never before shown photo’s center) that parallels the UP-LA&SL tracks mainly has business related traffic on it, so when the underpass is completed, the Fullerton Rd. / Railroad Street intersection will still exist, though way lower than presently. The big benefit will come from all the vehicle and truck traffic not being disrupted anymore by passing freight trains that can go up to 65 M.P.H. here, or 70 M.P.H. Metrolink commuter trains.
If this old geezer stood properly as a pedestrian by the crossing gate at Fullerton Rd. as a 70 M.P.H. Metrolink went by, and if (“if”) he wore a toupee, it is questionable where he would still possess it after the Metrolink passed … Only a crossing gate separates pedestrians from 70 M.P.H. speedsters.
MikeF90 (6-23):
Thanks for the Whittier Daily New link about the City of Montebello’s efforts towards funding a trench for the LA&SL tracks through their community. That trench effort was totally new news to me!
You mentioned “politicos” that “keep insisting on a wildly expensive” “trench,” to the tune of a billion bucks.
Whether the following is the motive or not is unknown, but “politicos” tend to love money and what it can do for THEM. Money has sort of magical properties, and just multiplies and multiplies. Typically, acquired funds (grants, etc.) are deposited in a LOCAL bank. While in possession of such a billion dollars, because of banking’s wizardry, it can become two or three billion dollars, generating the bank some nice earnings (profits), and there is often a reward for the politicos that made those profits possible.
That article mentioned a changed railroad policy of additional right-of-way widths when accommodating shooflies. I somehow sense that policy resulted from the present trench construction in San Gabriel. You too, Mike, may see how such a changed policy could come about after seeing the photos of that San Gabriel project, which posting is scheduled for this Thursday. I suspect (“suspect”) the SP Alhambra Sub will soon have a rather mysterious temporary reduction of traffic, and the LA&SL Los Angeles Sub will have an offsetting increase, and nobody, not even railroaders, will be able to discern why, except maybe a few readers of this thread that are able to put two and two together (clue: Thursday’s angled bridge) …
Best,
K.P.
Part “B”, Section 7 (of 1-7)
Track Advances in the PHIMF Area
City of Industry, CA
But, the west side doesn’t look so good!
An SD60M leading a westbound train zips over the four-lane Peck Rd. that because of construction still is regulated to only two lanes, with orange pylons everywhere.
K.P. now zips off to the San Gabriel Trench construction area, and sees fascinating NEW things there …
-------
Part C is schedule for Thursday morning by 9:00 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, July 26, 2014. It deals with the San Gabriel Trench near Los Angeles, CA, and has 14 Sections.
Part “B”, Section 6 (of 1-7)
At Peck Rd., the east side of LA&SL concrete bridge supports has come along nicely.
Part “B”, Section 5 (of 1-7)
Following MikeF90’s ingenious lead, K.P. went up the hill too, and an overview of the PHIMF trash loading area was seen.
Above, the LA&SL is the lower tracks, while the PHIMF tracks and concrete area is just below center.
More of a telephoto:
Ties and even heavier telephotos:
Part “B”, Section 4 (of 1-7)
A couple of gray ‘things’ (for lack of a better description) now rise out of the ground trackside:
Looking south, the new north center island now has unplanned greenery growing in it.
Part “B”, Section 3 (of 1-7)
Looking east, the present crossing gates and the new track:
Looking eastbound, at the new dual-control switch, with the 60 Freeway overpass in the background:
Burial bases are on each side of the street, besides the middle.
Part “B”, Section 2 (of 1-7)
Looking west still, orange cones mark the burial bases for the future repositioned crossing gates, within new concrete islands.
The background top section of track (in the below photo) is in assembly (by the background fence), and may be destined for insertion into the grade crossing itself.
A north side concrete center of the street island has been prepared too, and the crossing gate (right) will be repositioned, or a new one put up (left).
Part “B” (of A-C), Section 1 (of 1-7)
There are now visible track advancements in the Puente Hills Intermodal Facility (PHIMF) area, most notably in the vicinity of the Workman Mill Rd. grade crossing at M.P. 13.92.
Relatively short sections of concrete ties and rails have been put together, and are resting trackside by the present Main 2’s south side. Looking east:
Looking westbound:
Even before the traffic would justify a third track on the Los Angeles sub, UP and the ACE project have to deal with the politicos in Montebello who keep insisting on a wildly expensive grade separation trench:
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/general-news/20140612/costs-for-union-pacific-railroad-crossing-project-in-montebello-triple-to-1-billion
Links to my Google Maps ---> Sunset Route overview, SoCal metro, Yuma sub, Gila sub, SR east of Tucson, BNSF Northern Transcon and Southern Transcon *** Why you should support Ukraine! ***
Definitely an intersection to avoid. Will the local or state governments contribute to the building of an overpass?
Part “A”, Section 5 (of 1-5)
The Future Fullerton Rd. Underpass Area
Another possibility for additional tracks over Fullerton Rd. in the future is what BNSF has been doing with their Intermodal extra well cars in San Bernardino, bringing them quite a few miles out the old San Jacinto Branch for storage, from a few days to several weeks at a time.
The many UP Los Angeles Intermodal loading and unloading facilities may have similar fluctuations, and maybe (“maybe”) the long range plan is to likewise have storage tracks over Fullerton Rd. in the City of Industry
When considering the right-of-way for additional tracks, ponder the following:
Aerial LINK: Impossible Right-of-Way for Three or More Tracks
That above linked area by the 605 Freeway, not too far to the west, kind of puts an end to the four-track LA&SL idea between Los Angeles and Pomona. A future Fullerton Rd. underpass bridge for four-tracks thus takes on, not a four-track mainline likelihood, but merely a couple of extra tracks for temporarily storing Intermodal cars, as with the new Montclair area facility.
Part B is about developments concerning the Puente Hills Intermodal Facility (PHIMF) in the City of Industry, and will be posted by 9:00 P.M. Tuesday, June 24, 2014.
Part “A”, Section 4 (of 1-5)
When the eastbound train’s tail-end finally passed, the gates went up, and all the cross-street stoplights became almost overloaded. And it was almost a gridlock situation.
Compounding the problem was all the non-hotrod 18-wheelers and lesser trucks that have a right to be there continually clogging the area. (After all, the area is called the City of Industry for a reason!)
Afterwards, K.P. visited a nearby business briefly. But even after 10 minutes since the train passed, it took 10 more minutes for K.P. to just get over to the ‘just down the street’ 60 Freeway. For any that might want to visit this super congested area, bringing a cot for a nap might be in order …
The LA&SL southern Nogales Ave. underpass construction to the east is only for TWO LA&SL tracks, whereas the southern Fullerton Rd. underpass will be for four LA&SL tracks bridging over it. At this time it is unknown if other bridges in the area involving LA&SL tracks will have those bridges modified with widening to four-tracks, or if the future Fullerton Rd. underpass with four-tracks wide bridging will be only to accommodate extra parking of trains like the new Montclair facility does.
Part “A”, Section 3 (of 1-5)
If a track was laid on the south side, a lot of overhanging bushes would have to be cut out. The right-of-way area fence (of unknown ownership) is seen on the far right.
Because of such trains as shown in Section 2 and the closed Nogales Ave. grade crossing to the east, the Fullerton Rd. grade crossing vehicle traffic severely backs up, almost nightmare-like.
Just above, the south side Gale Ave. cross-street is very nearby too. In that latter photo above, the 60 Freeway is visible in the background, by the tops of the two trucks.
Part “A”, Section 2 (of 1-5)
Looking west, the narrow right-of-way is seen.
Above, what was thought to be the tail-end DPU’s of a stopped westbound (with the typically dim headlight burning) proved to be the head-end of an eastbound. Its headlight turned bright, and the power started towards Fullerton Rd., and finally crossed.
Why it was stopped is unknown, but it may have had something to do with the “South” Nogales Ave. underpass construction a mile or two to the east.
Part “A” (of A-C), Section 1 (of 1-5)
Word is that the future railroad bridging over the Fullerton Rd. underpass will be for four-tracks. That site at LA&SL M.P. 21.43 was visited, and the right-of-way width was seen to be relatively confining. The following are photos of the situation there as of the above date.
Looking east on the south side: A fence and buildings.
A north side eastward view:
So, two more tracks would fit tightly on the north side, and if they had to be split between sides, one on the south side.
Railroad Street straddles the tracks on the north side.
Series Schedule
The “Update as of Friday, June 20, 2014 -- The Western End of the Sunset Route” series will be posted as follows:
Monday morning, June 23, 2014: The Future Fullerton Ave. Underpass Area
Posting by 9:00 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Tuesday evening, June 24, 2014: Track Advances in the PHIMF Area
City of Industry
Posting by 9:00 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Thursday morning, June 26, 2014 The San Gabriel Trench
Postings may be posted up to 12 hours early.
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