Kevin Gray’s Sunset Route Amtrak Trip
Heavy on Santa Teresa, NM
Part 906 (of 901-910, 901-930 Overall)
PHOTO #15 (RESHOWN)
EB@1276: West side of east fuel pads; when I zoomed in on this photo, I found 3 over 2 headed eastbound signals visible on Main #1 and the adjacent fuel track to the north; and a 2 over 3 headed signal for the south fuel track adjacent to Main #2 (like the other 2 fuel tracks further to the right).
PHOTO #16
EB1274-4_W: Telephoto view of container/trailer trans-loaders across partially groomed intermodal area .
PHOTO #17
EB@1274.2_SW: Another view of the intermodal yard and "straddle-buggies".
Continued in Part 907
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 905 (of 901-910, 901-930 Overall)
PHOTO #12 (RESHOWN)
EB@1276.45: Now within CP S1276 (E. Fuel); signal bridge is west side of E. Strauss. All turnouts are 30MPH, spring frog type in yard area. South lead ends in 1 block (signal is 2 over 3). East end of intermodal area comes in on the right.
PHOTO #13
EB@1276.15_W: View across intermodal yard area just east of east fuel pads; south side eastbound signals are 2 over 3, since all 3 south fuel tracks merge to east side south lead which ends in 2 blocks (at Tarmac); with a presumed 30MPH speed limit.
PHOTO #14
EB@1276.1_W: Still within CP S1276; Workers have not yet completed construction on east fuel pads on south tracks.
Continued in Part 906
Part 904 (of 901-910, 901-930 Overall)
PHOTO #9
EB@1277.2_W: View of construction equipment and materials looking back towards the intermodal area; note 2 kinds of ties, a signal base and unknown electrical equipment. When I zoomed in on this photo, I could almost read the east end intermodal box; based on the west end intermodal CP box (in later photo), I would guess the sign on this box reads: CP S1278 HOLD.
PHOTO #10
EB@1276.9: Within E. Strauss; workers appear to be installing a crossover to the south lead. Un-activated east end intermodal signal on the right is now fully visible: 2 over 2 for outbound (eastbound—Tarmac is 1 block away, so only red or yellow on top; and probably the same on the bottom to display Y/Y—approach diverging—to crossover at Tarmac) and --1-- light for westbound movement into the intermodal yard (we know what that is: red or flashing red!).
PHOTO #11
EB@1276.85: Another view of work on east side south lead.
Continued in Part 905
Part 903 (of 901-910, 901-930 Overall)
LINK: Santa Teresa, NM Facility Diagram of CTC Track
LINK: Diagram Symbols
EXPLANATIONS and Photo Labels:
EB / WB General track view direction of camera
@12xx.x Milepost location of camera
-/+ Camera is within 50 feet west/east of milepost
_d Approximate direction of photo away from main tracks
PHOTO #6
K.P.: We begin with Kevin Gray’s detailed text:
Note: "EB" [looking] view photos taken from Main #1 through the Santa Teresa facility (on WB Amtrak #1).
EB@1279.6: Existing short manual siding on the left (north) side and wide grading on the right; departing eastbound stack receding on Main #2. (Industrial Dr. crossing is 0.6 mi. to the east.)
PHOTO #7
EB@1278.9: Within CP S1280 (Tarmac); note high-speed moveable frog turnouts. The wide graded area on the south side extends for 1.5 miles eastward.
PHOTO #8 (RESHOWN)
EB@1278.7: West side of CP S1280; construction MOW train is on south lead, with the east intermodal lead to its right.
Continued in Part 904
Part 902 (of 901-910, 901-930 Overall)
PHOTOS #3, #4, and #5:
K.P.: Below, signal crew finishing installation at Aragon, TX:
K.P.: At the end of postings per direction, what Mr. Gray sent K.P. as to text and trip explanations overall will be provided in separate posts, in Second Sections.
Continued in Part 903
Part 901 (of 901-910, 901-930 Overall)
Many things and issues have been brought up in this thread, foremost of which is the two-tracking of the Sunset Route between El Paso, TX and Los Angeles, CA. Kevin Gray recently traveled on Amtrak Nos. 1 and 2, the Sunset Limited, took a number of photos, and then shared them with K.P. for posting herein. The following are Kevin’s explanations and fine onboard photo-work.
Italicized Courier font type (“Courier”) will be K.P.’s interjected thoughts or additional explanations, as are all the comments (“comments “) in this first post of the series, on westbound Amtrak No. 1.
PHOTOS #1 & #2:
K.P.: Below, new signals at Sanderson, TX
Continued in Part 902
Does a location exist on the south side of the I-215 bridge to build the third set of bridges for the BNSF line. Congratulation on over 5000 posts.
Update as of Thursday, April 3, 2014
Grand Terrace-Colton, CA
Part V (of I-V)
The Colton Crossing
The large stack of old signals and crossing gates (presumably now junk) is ever getting taller and more crowded!
Just above, note the Signal Dept. shipping trailers in the background. Such trailers so often supply parts for putting new signals together.
This will conclude the series
Part IV (of I-V)
Just a block or two east of the crossing is the Colton Signal Dept., and the bungalow for the future CP AL525 GUASTI (M.P. 524.7 or nearby) is still present (right).
The Colton Crossing area (just south of the Colton Flyover), in the southeast quadrant, is cleared out now, with just some odds and ends present.
Continued in Part V
Part III (of I-V)
The 9th Street Street-Running Issue
From Grand Terrace terraces, a northward very, very heavy telephoto shows that NO track has been built yet to replace the center of 9th Street street-running.
The 9th Street center of the road track is still in place. It is just lingering on instead of being removed or paved over.
By BNSF’s CP south of Fogg Street, at the BOTTOM of the embankment, ballast was piled up.
Perhaps (“perhaps”) the BNSF replacement track to replace the track on 9th Street will be started soon.
Continued in Part IV
Part II (of I-V)
The Truss Bridge
Workers were all over the structure.
Just before leaving, a BNSF westbound went by, giving the scene a bit of scale.
Continued in Part III
Part I (of I-V)
The late evening of Wednesday / early morning of Thursday BNSF truss span relocation to by the installation site took place as scheduled. The truss structure was NOT placed in the theorized freeway center, but on the east side, by the northbound I-215 lanes.
The parked bridge section (left) and the center support (right).
The center supports.
Above, at this angle, one two-column support is in front of the other two-column support, and hard to see and distinguish between.
Continued in Part II
billio To MikeF90, thanks for the reply. Clad to hear Pomona-Ontario finally done. What you say about the servicing of Mira Loma (from Montclair versus West Colton) makes a lot of sense. A little surprised that no formal Metrolink stop exists for Ontario Airport; I'm thinking that if commercial flights, say, double, a stop will no doubt be plunked down somewhere near there.
billioBefore UP can maximize the use of Santa Teresa, recall that they have to modify the (hopefully) soon-to-be former fueling tracks underneath downtown El Paso so their trains can "blow through at 40 MPH." I'm guessing by year end, at the latest.
billioOne last goofy question: Regarding the stretch of double tracking being workd on from Niland west, any idea when the secon track is open for business? It looked from KP's most recent pics pretty close to being cut over, but who knows? Thanks in advance.
A 'quasi insider' will probably tell us when the next 2MT section (Bertram to Wister) is open if a random K.P. visit doesn't. Wister to Niland will probably be (SWAG) three to six months or so after that.
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! ***
MikeF90 @K.P., great shots of those bridge spans. That CP East Redondo pic is at Perrino Place, one of very few grade crossings on the Alameda Corridor. Looks like some signal maintainer needs to be called. A repeat link post from last page: http://www.pe.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20140326-grand-terrace-crews-prepare-for-massive-bridge-move-over-i-215.ece Tomorrow night the first span will be moved down the freeway to another staging area with the final emplacement being Friday night.
@K.P., great shots of those bridge spans. That CP East Redondo pic is at Perrino Place, one of very few grade crossings on the Alameda Corridor. Looks like some signal maintainer needs to be called.
A repeat link post from last page: http://www.pe.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20140326-grand-terrace-crews-prepare-for-massive-bridge-move-over-i-215.ece Tomorrow night the first span will be moved down the freeway to another staging area with the final emplacement being Friday night.
I really REALLY hope someone timelapse shoots this process when they move them, that would be very cool to see the whole thing all the way through.
Have fun with your trains
To MikeF90, thanks for the reply. Clad to hear Pomona-Ontario finally done. What you say about the servicing of Mira Loma (from Montclair versus West Colton) makes a lot of sense. A little surprised that no formal Metrolink stop exists for Ontario Airport; I'm thinking that if commercial flights, say, double, a stop will no doubt be plunked down somewhere near there.
Before UP can maximize the use of Santa Teresa, recall that they have to modify the (hopefully) soon-to-be former fueling tracks underneath downtown El Paso so their trains can "blow through at 40 MPH." I'm guessing by year end, at the latest.
One last goofy question: Regarding the stretch of double tracking being workd on from Niland west, any idea when the secon track is open for business? It looked from KP's most recent pics pretty close to being cut over, but who knows? Thanks in advance.
Posting Schedule
Westbound, with eastward views:
Parts 901-910, plus a “Westbound” Second Section:
Saturday, April 5, 2014 by 9:00 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Eastbound, with westward views:
Parts 911-920:
Monday, April 7, 2014 by 9:00 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Parts 921-930, plus an “Eastbound” Second Section:
Wednesday, April 9, 2014 by 9:00 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Example: PHOTO #41 in Part 915:
Posts could be posted up to 12 hours early.
A track diagram is included at the outset, with closer up diagrams in an Appendix at the end of the series.
K.P. will no doubt elaborate, but here's what I know:
billioKP, your prior post showing the stretch between Pomona and Ontario, several weeks back (I don't have the patience to comb back through the past 40 pages to find the pic) showed some track machinery which seemed to putting the finishing touches on this stretch. Is it completely finished, or is some niggling piece remaining to be completed?
The second main track between Pomona and North Ontario is in service and chugging along just fine. The Montclair yard upgrades, hard to tell. More below.
billioSecond, a Google Earth overview of the SP and UP (LA&SL) lines show no sign of a Metrolink stop at Ontario Airport. It seems that there ought to be one if none exists. Which leads to the (slightly) off-topic question: does Metrolink have a "Ontario Airport" stop?
The only stop is at East Ontario on the 'Riverside' line (LA sub, ex LA&SL). When Metrolink was forming their lines in the early 1990's, no doubt SP would have told them 'Hell NO, you won't run your commuter trains by WC yard on a single track main.' Same almost applies today. BTW commuters north of the ONT airport are also served by the MLNK San Bernardino line (ex-ATSF)(link).
billioThen, I reread Fred Frailey's masterful 2007 article about UP's plans for the Sunset Route ("Creating a Sunset," Trains Magazine, November 2007, p. 30) in which, discussing UP'd proposed operating plan for the West Colton Yard, he mentions dispatching haulers off to various points in the LA Basin, one of which is Mira Loma. From all I can tell, Mira Loma seems mostly an auto loading/unloading facility on UP's LA&SL, so gettingthere from West Colton must be (operating wise) a dog's breakfast. You must have to run from West Colton west to Pomona, then reverse over to the LA&SL and shove backwards into the auto facility, then run around the train to pull loads/empties from the unloading tracks, shove them into the receiving yard, then pull whatever is moving from the receiving yard to the unloading tracks -- whoa! what a mess. Is there any way they can run down BNSF from by heading east from West Colton to the Colton Crossing, thence south on BNSF to Riverside and thence west to Mira Loma? (I know, over trackage rights, which most operating people use only in extremis). Ideally, a crew could circle south east of Guasti and connect with the LA&SL going west -- except that no such connection exists, and given the stiff cost of building one, and the small amount of traffic involved, no such construction is likely to take place -- ever. Do you know anything about this Mira Loma hauler?
IIRC most local crews are nominally based out of Kaiser not WC. I don't think incoming domestic auto loads would be need to processed through WC, a block setout could be direct to Mira Loma (siding off of 2MT) or done at ELA, COI, or LATC even though they are mainly intermodal yards. Empty auto racks are frequently stored at Montclair, and the new switch at CP Ontario (LA sub) may be to make that process easier. UP is not shy about using its seven miles of trackage rights between Colton and West Riverside but of course has to factor in possible delays. That Mt. Vernon (SE) connector gets a ton of use.
Another 'railfan rumor' that's been floating around is that local crews and manifest trains may stage through Montclair. Makes sense for any traffic that does Not touch a truck. However like much construction on the UP, progress seems s.l.o.w. Only one siding has been completed off of the Al sub, and it has been used!
In other Sunset Corridor news, the huge Santa Teresa facility has 'soft opened':
http://www.abqjournal.com/377703/news/santa-teresa-site-seen-as-an-inland-port.html
The new fueling facility will alleviate some pain, but I am surprised that intermodal use is starting so soon given the deficient road infrastructure nearby on both sides of the border. Let the ROI begin!
Just doing my part to help break the 5 grand post count....great thread besides.
23 17 46 11
Following up the previous post, herewith a few more questions:
KP, your prior post showing the stretch between Pomona and Ontario, several weeks back (I don't have the patience to comb back through the past 40 pages to find the pic) showed some track machinery which seemed to putting the finishing touches on this stretch. Is it completely finished, or is some niggling piece remaining to be completed?
Second, a Google Earth overview of the SP and UP (LA&SL) lines show no sign of a Metrolink stop at Ontario Airport. It seems that there ought to be one if none exists. Which leads to the (slightly) off-topic question: does Metrolink have a "Ontario Airport" stop?
Then, I reread Fred Frailey's masterful 2007 article about UP's plans for the Sunset Route ("Creating a Sunset," Trains Magazine, November 2007, p. 30) in which, discussing UP'd proposed operating plan for the West Colton Yard, he mentions dispatching haulers off to various points in the LA Basin, one of which is Mira Loma. From all I can tell, Mira Loma seems mostly an auto loading/unloading facility on UP's LA&SL, so gettingthere from West Colton must be (operating wise) a dog's breakfast. You must have to run from West Colton west to Pomona, then reverse over to the LA&SL and shove backwards into the auto facility, then run around the train to pull loads/empties from the unloading tracks, shove them into the receiving yard, then pull whatever is moving from the receiving yard to the unloading tracks -- whoa! what a mess. Is there any way they can run down BNSF from by heading east from West Colton to the Colton Crossing, thence south on BNSF to Riverside and thence west to Mira Loma? (I know, over trackage rights, which most operating people use only in extremis). Ideally, a crew could circle south east of Guasti and connect with the LA&SL going west -- except that no such connection exists, and given the stiff cost of building one, and the small amount of traffic involved, no such construction is likely to take place -- ever. Do you know anything about this Mira Loma hauler?
Finally, thanks again for a superb peice of photographic reporting. I find myself like a kid waiting for the next edition of The Saturday Evening Post to arrive with the next exciting chapter
K.P.:
Your twilight photos show Track 112, the OWLS diamond, and the crossover to the BNSF all complete and in place. Does this mean that this massive project is finally "done". Is there anything else to do? Or, is it now just a matter of running hundreds of trains on all mains at all hours without interruption?
If this is the end of projects at the Crossing, then a moment of reflection is due. Such a massive undertaking this was, ahead of schedule and under-budget, with such significant results. With so much investment in PTC, we aren't likely to see a railroad project like this anywhere for a while to come.
Oh, and kudos to that mosquito-like guy on the bridge with his camera! I am sure that his presence became routine to many of the construction workers! (And what an awesome documentation he did!!).
Thanks!
John
Semi-Quick Reply
Both Super Hunky and MikeF90 (4-1):
The Caltrans Website (District 8) lists what I interpret as only a northbound I-215 closure this Wednesday night at 11:00 P.M. to Thursday morning at 5:00 A.M. Presumably that is to move the big truss structure to the installation area. Then another closure is scheduled for both northbound and southbound lanes from Friday night at 11:30 P.M. to Saturday morning at 11:30 A.M. Presumably that will be to actually put the bridge span in place. It is ludicrous to think the freeway would be closed for 12-hours, but I suspect that the span placement will only take a few hours, but the other 10 hours are just in case something goes terribly wrong and more time is needed, which I seriously doubt will happen. News reports are somewhat contradictory about the schedule, so it is difficult to say how things will work out for certain.
However the timing will be, there is a question as to where the span will be placed temporarily, which the news outlets have never described, at least to my knowledge. Since each side of the freeway is hilly …
… maybe the span will be parked in the cleared area in the middle of the freeway.
All photos above are reshown.
But, it would seem prudent to close both freeway directions for that, the last part of the bridge movement at least, but no such closure is scheduled for the Wednesday to Thursday move. So, we will just have to wait and see what happens.
Best,
K.P.
Great set of pics showing the Truss Bridge Fabrication K.P. Did you see how they were going to move them into place. I believe I read somewhere that Span Placement was taking place soon.
Fourth Section
Finally the train is by the camera location, the Rancho Ave. overpass in Colton
There are a lot of things happening right now in the Colton-Riverside, CA area. From new truss bridges to underpasses! Now that Track 112 by Colton Crossing is in service, visiting the area is well worth it. If a visitor by chance hits a no-trains period lull, there are plenty of new and in-process things to see in the area.
Third Section
The twilight action:
Another train comes, this time on Main 2. It must have crossed over at CP SP542 LOMA LINDA, where the four red signals on a cantilever structure is at.
Continued in “Fourth Section”
Second Section
Just a few miles to the northwest from Grand Terrace, CA is Colton, and the Colton Flyover, where the Sunset Route goes over the BNSF Transcon. Sunset Route eastward view after sunset:
Look at all those trains coming off Beaumont Hill!
Just above, note the electrical box “light” on the right by the BNSF Connector and Track 112. Also, the manual crossover (photo center) is all in place now.
BNSF gets in on the action (right bottom).
Continued in “Third Section”
The Truss Bridges Review
Grand Terrace, CA
Part “E” (of A-E, Plus Second to Fourth Sections)
Photos Taken Friday, March 25, 2014
The second bridge away from the other two:
Man, does this view make one hungry?
Above, note the railings are in place on this structure too.
All three bridges:
Continued in “Second Section”
Part “D” (of A-E, Plus Second to Fourth Sections)
A closer view:
Side views of the first (background) and third bridges:
Continued in Part E
Part “C” (of A-E, Plus Second to Fourth Sections)
The third bridge is coming together.
The first bridge now has some type of yellow-work in place to further the construction.
The first (left) and third (right) bridges:
Continued in Part D
Part “B” (of A-E, Plus Second to Fourth Sections)
Photos Taken Monday, March 21, 2014
A lot of crane-like equipment:
The third (foreground) and second (background) constructed bridges.
This nice gentleman gets paid to climb around on this giant jungle gym!
Continued in Part C
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