KP, That crane may be owned by Foundation Pile who is a major pile driving firm in the area and has been involved in several projects around the route.
Their equipment is painted blue and usually takes a beating.
Robert
http://www.foundationpiledriving.com/
Here is their logo ...
K.P.,
Happy New Year! Thanks again for sharing your work with us.
I think the future Metrolink Perris Line could have been routed a little differently. It should have left the BNSF San Jac Line at the old diamond and headed southwest down the UP Riverside Industrial Lead to meet up with the BNSF Transcon a few blocks northeast of the Downtown Riverside station.
It seems to me that going up to Highgrove adds unnecessary time to the trip. I understand that some in Highgrove want a station, but I feel that a station right on the Transcon would serve them better.
Update as of Thursday, January 3, 2013
Los Angeles Area Happenings
Part “A” (of A-K)
The Cucamonga Ave. Switch
Ontario, CA
On the way to the Los Angeles area, the Milliken Ave. Flyover construction was gone by, but nothing popped out to K.P. The new switch by Cucamonga Ave. was stopped at, and a few photos taken.
In the above photo, note the end of the switch on the lower right. Note also, towards the right end, concrete and wood ties seem to be interspersed! K.P. has never seen that before!
A peaceful setting (and without hustle and bustle of workers), the west end of the switch:
Above, both the mainline track and the separate new switch’s rails visually lineup making them hard to distinguish, but recognizing a slightly different rust-metal tone of each makes the distinction easier to see.
Continued in Part B
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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” (of A-K)
The Puente Hills Intermodal Facility
City of Industry, CA
From Workman Mill Rd. looking eastbound to where the 60 Freeway goes over the LA&SL in the City of Industry:
In the above view, note the bridge opening on the right. The third track may (“may”) be routed through THAT opening, as the left opening doesn’t look like it is being prepared for another track.
The upper left opening seems to have the high electric utility poles in the way.
In the last photo above, the makeshift roadway next to the track is fine for vehicles, but seems to have insufficient width for another track, so the right opening in the first photo may be the one to have another track laid through it.
Continued in Part C
Part “C” (of A-K)
While the rails on the lower left of the below view have been present for a while, it seems new rails are now on the other side of the orange piece of motorized equipment.
K.P. found a friendly worker in the area, and he gave very enlightening information about the signal bridge parts adjacent Workman Mill Rd.
That signal bridge will NOT be used at Workman Mill Rd.! Rather, it will be erected further west, around and beyond the curve. It is only at the present location because of all the construction going on at its intended site.
A wide graded area is present railroad south of the two present mains.
The heads on the signal bridge seem to insinuate it will be the EAST westbound signal’s structure, with one WEST eastbound head for the future Main 2, a new southernmost track yet to be laid.
When asked about the timing of track laying here, the friendly worker said currently the schedule is for this summer, which K.P. interprets as sometime in the months of July, August, or September 2013, seven to nine months away.
Continued in Part D
Part “D” (of A-K)
By the PHIMF loading area, rails are also stacked up. A double-stack goes by eastward (leftward).
A wall blocks visibility to the trash loading building (middle background). A worker’s vehicle is parked on site. MikeF90 a number of moons ago photographed this facility property from somewhere up on the mountains in the far background.
And, there was equipment going in and out of the under construction facility.
Continued in Part E
Part “E” (of A-K)
Not So Good of Track
Montebello, CA
By Workman Mill Rd. in the City of Industry, it was noticed that the hotter trains were consistently using Main 2.
A worker told K.P. that around M.P. 8.3 Main 1’s rails needed replacement, and trains were using it at a slower speed. Sure enough, when K.P. went to the site, right away he witnessed an older powered un-hot train utilizing Main 1 at a speed under normal track speed.
M.P. 8.3, at Greenwood Ave., is where a high and wide detector is located, for catching westbound trains with an inappropriate height or shifted containers before going through the Alameda Corridor trench to the seaports.
Continued in Part F
Part “F” (of A-K)
Back by the PHIMF
Peck Rd. is now having the bridge constructed for the PHIMF track, on the railroad north side of the two-track bridging.
Continued in Part G
Part “G” (of A-K)
Revisiting the ‘Up and Over’
By the east end of the Bassett siding, at CP AL498 BASSETT looking east, the ‘Up and Over’ still has NO indication that laying a second-track is anywhere near to happening. Views look eastbound:
At the Workman Mill Rd. / Puente Ave. grade crossing (first photo this Part) at the west end of the ‘Up and Over,’ UP workers were performing normal servicing on the crossing gate, as seen from the McDonalds fast food parking lot across the street.
Continued in Part H
Part “H” (of A-K)
Looking west, the Bassett siding had Intermodal cars in it, and those cars have been there for a while, for the rolling surfaces of the wheels were totally rusted and not shiny as the typical everyday seen ones.
In the last photo above, a heavy telephoto, the 605 Freeway is seen in the background, as well as Metrolink’s Flyover to get its mainline on the eastern north side to the western south side.
When the ‘Up and Over’ finally has the second track laid over it, and all the ‘sidings’ hooked together, there will be a 6.8 mile stretch (almost 7 miles) of 2MT (two main tracks), unless the railroad will still consider this all sidings territory … How the railroad will list it in its official timetable will be interesting to see.
Continued in Part I
Part “I” (of A-K)
The San Gabriel Trench
San Gabriel, CA
East of Los Angeles is Alhambra, and east of that is San Gabriel. That area was visited, and even though ground breaking occurred in November, no obvious construction activity was taking place, though a mound of dirt with a tarp over it was present.
A west end view looking west from Ramona St. into Alhambra and the Sunset Route coming out of the Alhambra Trench. How construction workers can lower the foreground track (for the San Gabriel Trench) and keep the line in service is beyond K.P. The M.P. sign left of center is M.P. 490.
As seen in the distance above, the Alhambra Trench has angled side walling. The San Gabriel Trench will have straight up side walling. What will the meeting point look like?
Because of the slanted walling in the Alhambra Trench (built under Southern Pacific), the old cantilever structure had to be retained in the conversion from target signals to color lights. Two reshown April 15, 2011 views of that signal transition at CP AL488 ALHAMBRA (M.P. 488.3):
But, the San Gabriel Trench (being built under Union Pacific) will have, as noted above, totally vertical walls. It will be interesting to see if UP uses cantilever structures or simple mast signals in the new trench.
Continued in Part J
Part “J” (of A-K)
Back by the west end of the San Gabriel Trench, a present eastward view from Ramona Street, where the first photo in Part I was taken from:
At the other end of the project, in the east, at Walnut Grove Ave. (M.P. 491.67), a westward telephoto view shows likewise no construction activity.
At that Walnut Grove Ave., a wider view shows the SP high and wide detector thereat, the counterpart to the LA&SL one in Part E.
So, above, during construction of the trench (which will be coming up here and not at full depth) , they will not only have to relocated the track, but also the high and wide detector, which will put an interesting twist to a tight clearance funnel. Then, they will have to do it all over again when putting the final track in the trench itself – unless they relocate is elsewhere …
Continued in Part K
Part “K” (of A-K)
The narrowness of the right-of-way doesn’t give construction forces much room to move track around in.
Looking the other way from Walnut Grove Ave., eastward, the only partially lower trench will end, and the Sunset Route will continued eastward. The El Monte siding is seen in the background, with more Intermodal cars in it. So, both the Bassett and El Monte sidings are currently blocked with Intermodal cars.
While the San Gabriel Trench may seem rather snail paced with no visible progress, a lot goes on behind the scenes at first. The Milliken Ave. Flyover project on the eastern edge of Ontario seemed to start slowly too, with just some ribbon rail.
But, now after two years is semi-nearing completion.
So, the next San Gabriel Trench report probably in a few months should have more substantive progress to report.
-------------------------
A bunch of Sunset thread very belated replies should be forthcoming, hopefully (“hopefully”) soon …
Regarding the San Jac Line...?
Curious as to where the old SP Riverside Spur crossed over the old AT&SF Spur to Perris, Hemet and San Jacinto. I went on a search and found this link: I'd like to share it with you. Link: <http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=33.997311,-117.334623&spn=0.002068,0.003331&t=h&z=18&vpsrc=6>
Since the map hasn't been udated as of this search, I'ma wondering how the two are connected? Thinking a right hand switch has been installed on the northern track, the old AT&SF San Jac spur and a curved section then connects with the old SP Spur. Would this be correct?
If I'm right. For those who know Riverside, the crossing is just east of Hunter Railroad Park, just south of Marlborough Ave.
My apologies for the edit's. Not used to this website and it seems to take forever to get approval for posts and edits.
RickH
BarstowRick.com Model Railroading How To's
Replies …
Part I (of I-II)
ccltrains (12-7):
Most of the posters in this thread probably don’t think questions are ‘silly,’ and welcome the opportunity to convey what they know.
So much has been happening on the Sunset Route and elsewhere that the promised overview from El Paso to Los Angeles has been put on the back burner. But, hang in there …
jeffhergert (12-7):
Sources inform me that what you read about the Golden State Route’s Herrington Subdivision between Pratt and Herrington, KS having SOME installation of CTC was correct.
From El Paso, TX all the way east to just beyond Pratt, KS, the Golden State Route is CTC. From there east to Herrington WAS basically ABS, except for a few mile stretch of CTC in the Morton Jct. area. But now, from Pratt to Morton Jct. is all CTC. From Morton Jct. to Herrington is still ABS. ABS is still the majority of the Subdivision, though.
As far as Rock Island and what their trackage was, this west coast OLD geezer was too young in the 1960’s to have any technical awareness of RI and how their tracks went, so I won’t comment on RI, if you, Jeff, can related to what I’m saying …
One thing that I’m curious about is UP’s trackage rights on the BNSF between Kansas City and Chicago. Do you know if that is on BNSF’s AT&SF portion, or BNSF’s CB&Q line, or on both? It would be nice to visualize Los Angeles to Chicago trains that utilize the Sunset and Gold State Routes exactly which BNSF route normally is taken. If you or anyone else here at the forum knows the answer to that, K.P. would love to hear about it.
mvs (12-9):
Ah, the Perris Valley Line … It may indeed be a bit off topic, but it WILL have a tremendous influence on alternate Sunset Route routed trains!
You, mvs, may be interested to know that in recent weeks a radical turn in K.P. dispatches and personal matters have brought me close to the future Perris Valley Line, along I-215 between Riverside and Perris, and will continue to do so for months to come. Thus, I will be in a good position to update the forum on the rebuilding of that freight branch for fast commuter trains, and a new thread on the subject is planned.
I personally marvel at a sight one can see up on a hill that the Perris Valley Line will have to negotiate.
And, that line will be graced with some of the spiffy new cars, as in the below photo of the Metrolink maintenance facility in Colton.
It would seem that the whole Riverside / Highgrove / Colton strip is an area to watch. While another flyover has been mentioned by the press in the past for the Riverside area, nothing has been heard about such lately. But I envision BNSF getting into a very strangling situation, and both UP and Metrolink seeing the extricating answer as more federal money being brought into the area for another flyover. I’ll bet my boots that is what will happen …
Look at the situation in downtown Riverside, and how BNSF (and UP) can’t really use certain tracks at certain times of the day!
LINK: The Strangled Downtown Riverside BNSF Trackage
UP, though, is in an excellent position, for it looks like the Sunset Route between Pomona and Fontana is finally being two-tracked, which undoubtedly will ease the bottleneck developing between Riverside and Highgrove (and Colton too).
Thanks, mvs, for that news link you posted. That was excellent and enlightening information.
BNSF6400 (12-11):
You mentioned rail being dropped between Sierra (CP AL533 SIERRA) and South Fontana (CP AL531 SOUTH FONTANA), and completed grading. What is exactly out there now?
The west side of the Sierra Ave. overpass (to see what you reported) is one of those weird locations where I have to hike in a long, long ways to get photos, and when by the Citrus Ave. overpass recently, it seemed to be closed for pedestrians during the overpass construction over, not only the freeway, but the Sunset Route as well. So, photo documenting that area is challenging to say the least. But, I can hardly wait till UP starts laying track for the fourth track, which undoubtedly will be a dark siding or spur.
cacole (12-14):
There was a “traffic jam” … Laying a second main over traffic arteries must be a nightmare. At least UP had options with other nearby roads in that Tucson, AZ area! In Maricopa, at the super high volume Arizona Highway 347, UP had to put in a whole other temporary grade crossing to get vehicle traffic through when they laid a second main across 347 a few years ago.
Here in California, there are usually options, and mild auto traffic simply takes a brief detour, as when Bon View Ave. in Ontario had the grade crossing modified and rails laid across it, as in the below never shown November 1, 2012 photo.
More replies continue in Part II
Part II (of I-II)
eolesen (12-16):
Great report and pictures! Having personally been to those sites, I could only dream of the two-tracking you have now actually seen taking place and shared in photos.
BNSF6400 (12-19):
No such color coding and markings have been seen on turnouts under construction. Of course, I wasn’t looking for such … The stack of ties for those switches have been seen with all the pertinent information spray painted on them, however.
I’ll have to look for any color coding that may or may not be used now.
MikeF90 (12-21):
I tend to agree with you on a CP AL515 RESERVOUR / CP C033 WO TOWER consolidation. That certainly would be consistent with contemporary UP practices.
On the other hand, since all the electronics have already been upgraded and color lights used there, they may just leave everything as is, except for the removal of the old siding switch (under SP) for the two-tracking the SP side that is currently taking place. Of course, Mike, that keeping the electronics may or may not work in adding the second mainline.
Eventually, two sets of mains will exist, two tracks on the LA&SL side, and two on the SP side, and that will eliminated the need for any CP(s) at the site. But, that may be a long way off, as Town Ave. needs a fourth-track bridge, and that looks to be a long, long way off.
eolesen (1-3):
It looks like the next section to be put in service will be between the new CP SP961 MARANA and the future CP SP970 SABINO, with only one more section to get to the present end of two-tracks from El Paso, at CP SP979 STOCKHAM. Does that assessment jive with what you are seeing on the ground in Arizona?
rdamon (1-5):
I don’t recall any ownership markings on that light blue crane in the Pomona-Montclair area.
‘Taking a beating’ was how that crane between the LA&SL and SP tracks looked, though.
mvs (1-5):
Your routing concept for the Perris Valley Line out of Riverside, involing where the Riverside Industrial Lead and the San Jacinto Branch crossed, more or less matched mine … until I was on site and saw the situation there!
A super sharp hairpin turn would be needed for Metrolink on the above photo’s center background track to curve around to the cross track on the left!
LINK: Aerial of Location of the Necessary Sharp Curve
With the BNSF route, a more compatible and cleared land area is present.
LINK: A Different, Wider Turn Environment -- A Triangle
Also, the sharp turn and crammed area around the vicinity of the old, long gone Riverside Jct. tower in Riverside may have been a factor too.
It might be added that the BNSF mainline route is getting some benefits that the old SP route isn’t, namely, grade separations!
One such grade separation is planned for Iowa Ave. (that the BNSF crosses) in the Highgrove area.
The old SP route has a proliferation of grade crossings that would have to be dealt with in some way.
Like I said, mvs, I originally thought like you, but after personally seeing the facts land-wise, concluded that the powers that be probably made the best choice under the circumstances.
BarstowRick (1-8):
Yes, that sounds right, and your map link is the location.
And Rick, welcome to this forum!
By the way, I have the email notification set for replies to this thread, and saw a lot of replies from you but only one actual post, which led me to conclude you were editing your post by the delete process. An easier way (and I use it ALL the time to correct typo blunders, etc.) is to simply press the pencil-like icon (when signed in) on the lower left border, and then edit the post.
Coming: A Tidbit (Just a Tidbit) about the Phoenix Line
In recent weeks a somewhat of a mystery has arisen on the Phoenix Line that kind of makes no sense whatsoever, seems rather illogical, and is quite subject to misinterpretation and fodder for the rumor mill. Forumist desertdog first alerted K.P. to it a month or so ago from reading another railfan posting service. Just a few days ago it all started making sense. In a day or two, a paragraph or so will be posted on what K.P. believes has taken place.
Stay safe, everyone.
K.P.
K.P. I appreciate your response and the redirect on how to edit. Thanks
Keep your pic's and reports coming. I hope you don't mind but I peel them off here and send them to a number of Bear Valley Model Railroaders here in the Big Bear Valley. Now I need to get me a Big Bear Sandwich after I take a Big Bear Shower and..........you got it.
Thanks again.
An Opinion about a Phoenix Line Signal Mystery
K.P. in California has not seen it, obviously, but reportedly on the west side of the Phoenix Line in Arizona a new color light signal has been erected and IS functional, replacing a very old color light signal. There are basically no trains that go through there, except for a few cars a year for a customer(s) to the west. Some railfans have interpreted that new signal under such a situation as a ‘sign’ UP will soon reopen the Phoenix Line to through traffic. But, this forum contributor does NOT think so.
Consider the below three reshown photos from the portion of the Phoenix Line that is out of service to the west, in the Hyder area.
The signal system on the Phoenix Line is a very, very old one, and replacing failing or damaged parts probably has to be by cannibalizing signals on the portion of the line that is out of service. There is a point where such cannibalized parts become exhausted, and there are no replacements available, at least not nearby. So, in erecting the new replacement signal in question (which the railroad had to do because of government regulations), the railroad was probably merely doing the legal thing the cheapest way possible.
I would concur, with your deductive reasoning.
I do hope at some point in the future the line is re-opened but only when there is industry adequate enough, to justify doing so.
Dreaming a bit. I would like to see Amtrak use the line to get into Phoenix. To do so would be a major investment on behalf of UP and Amtrak. It would mean building a station in Phoneix that would have adequate parking, security, safe boarding and departing access a place where folks can find cover from the elements and upgraded track in and out of Phoenix. As far as the line goes you'd have to rebuild it from the bottom up. They would have to replace the subroadbed, ties and rails along with the signal system. You'd need to be able to justify that to the CFO's. Not likely to happen.
I think I said somewhere else that the better investment would be to see Amtrak, privatized and building it's own high speed rail lines. Get them off these slow clunker rail lines. The routing and access to the trains could be joined directly to transportation hubs Ie. airports. What afraid of a little competition? Grin!
** Tuscon Update and some replies **
Ballast hoppers have been moving about between the east end of Kino (where the MOW switch went in) and Cortaro Road.
The tie train sitting at Avra Valley Road near the east end of Rillito since December 21st still hadn't moved as of 0800 Wednesday, but there was a crew out there looking at it.
The crossing at Tangerine was completed over the weekend.
The crossing at Marana Road/Cochie Canyon Trail (it changes names as it passes under I-10) is closing tonight for the second track. Because there's no other crossings in the area, UP is building a temporary crossing about a half mile east of the existing crossing (between Adonis Road and the I-10 frontage road). I'll have pictures tomorrow.
A pair of bulkhead flats (not the normal MOW green tie cars) loaded with crossover ties has been sitting at the site for CP Sabino, and crews have been showing up there pretty regularly over the past week.
The tie-laying crew put track down thru the Sabino site, which looks like a waste as they're going to cut out a bunch of rail for the crossover, and also put in a second set of new ties, but that's the only way they could have work progressing in that middle section short of turning around the tie train and working east from Marana.
@KP, to your question, yes, all this activity pretty much confirms that this section will be in service soon. Zoe Richmond from UP Public Affairs says some time in late 3Q, which I hope is just a mistake. They should be done long before that.
@BarstowRick, the UP isn't going to invest a dime into the west Phoenix line. A conductor told me that the traffic flows at PHX are all inbound loads -- virtually nothing comes out. With the upcoming yard at Picacho, I just don't see the justification.
That said, there are a few other things in the works, primarily a commuter rail study that ADOT has been doing for the past decade. It's inching closer, especially as smaller cities like ABQ and SLC are able to prove that it works. Won't go too deep into it, but both the BNSF and UP lines are included in the feasibility studies, as are new build. IF this goes from plan to reality, there will be a new station in downtown PHX that ties into the light rail network. There may also be service on the west line, but only as far as there's residential growth. Right now, PHX ends about 30 miles from downtown, and there's nothing else between there and Wellton.
Along with the commuter study, there is also a study underway for TUS-PHX rail service. That could work either way --
1) it might build up the case for Amtrak to go downtown, because there would already be a corridor in/out that is set up for passenger traffic, however...
2) it might also eliminate the argument entirely, since one could take a state operated train between PHX & TUS, and transfer to Amtrak at TUS. It's a backtrack for those heading to California, but I suspect more of the demand would be to/from the east and midwest.
The signal that was talked about earlier may be there to complete a circuit and protect the junction. There is a similar situation in Landcaster, Ca on the Metrolink overnight storage. Here there is a signal at end of track, indicating red and the only purpose it has is to complete the circuit.
K. P. Harriermvs (1-5): Also, the sharp turn and crammed area around the vicinity of the old, long gone Riverside Jct. tower in Riverside may have been a factor too. ... Like I said, mvs, I originally thought like you, but after personally seeing the facts land-wise, concluded that the powers that be probably made the best choice under the circumstances.
...
You're right; that turn at the old ATSP/SP diamond would have been tight and probably would've required eminent domain. Never mind the street running on the SP branch towrds downtown Riverside.
K. P. Harriermvs (12-9): Ah, the Perris Valley Line … It may indeed be a bit off topic, but it WILL have a tremendous influence on alternate Sunset Route routed trains! You, mvs, may be interested to know that in recent weeks a radical turn in K.P. dispatches and personal matters have brought me close to the future Perris Valley Line, along I-215 between Riverside and Perris, and will continue to do so for months to come. Thus, I will be in a good position to update the forum on the rebuilding of that freight branch for fast commuter trains, and a new thread on the subject is planned.
This is (selfishly) excellent news for me! I look forward to seeing the work start. Thank you again for all the updates that you provide.
K. P. HarrierIt would seem that the whole Riverside / Highgrove / Colton strip is an area to watch. While another flyover has been mentioned by the press in the past for the Riverside area, nothing has been heard about such lately. But I envision BNSF getting into a very strangling situation, and both UP and Metrolink seeing the extricating answer as more federal money being brought into the area for another flyover. I’ll bet my boots that is what will happen … Look at the situation in downtown Riverside, and how BNSF (and UP) can’t really use certain tracks at certain times of the day!
In my not-so-humble opinion, a flyover in Riverside might be more "worth it" than some electric train tracks in Chowchilla.
Permit me to make a few comments and ask a question or two. I would like to see the Phoenix line reactivated but that will never occur in our lifetimes. As a retired board of director of Dallas Area Rapid Transit I am familiar with financial considerations and have to put aside my railfan interests and think logically. Based on KP's photos of the Phoenix line it is junk. I would not run a train over those tracks without major track work. As fellow bloggers have said UP will do nothing on this line until there is significant industry to justify reopening the line. As I said not in our lifetimes. The logical idea would be a regional rail train from Phoenix to Tuscon that connects with Amtrak as has been mentioned. Hopefully ADOT will look favorably on this plan.
Now to my question. Before I retired from the DART board we were building our 100+/- mile light rail line and our commuter line between Dallas and Fort Worth. Mostly we used concrete ties everywhere except at turnouts. We used wood ties there as the cost of the specially fabricated concrete ties for the turnouts was prohibitive. My question is what is the UP doing re turnouts? Are they installing custom made (and very expensive) concrete ties or using wooden ties at turnouts?
KP I appreciate the great posts you are doing. It is a great way for those of us who are remote to the Sunset Route to keep track of what is happening. Keep up the great work!
ccltrains Now to my question. Before I retired from the DART board we were building our 100+/- mile light rail line and our commuter line between Dallas and Fort Worth. Mostly we used concrete ties everywhere except at turnouts. We used wood ties there as the cost of the specially fabricated concrete ties for the turnouts was prohibitive. My question is what is the UP doing re turnouts? Are they installing custom made (and very expensive) concrete ties or using wooden ties at turnouts.
Now to my question. Before I retired from the DART board we were building our 100+/- mile light rail line and our commuter line between Dallas and Fort Worth. Mostly we used concrete ties everywhere except at turnouts. We used wood ties there as the cost of the specially fabricated concrete ties for the turnouts was prohibitive. My question is what is the UP doing re turnouts? Are they installing custom made (and very expensive) concrete ties or using wooden ties at turnouts.
The Union Pacific now uses concrete turnouts for almost every mainline application. They are still using wooden tie turnouts in yard ladders, off main industrial spurs,etc. Union Pacific purchases its concrete tie turnouts from a company named NORTRAK. They make them to standard specifications now, so they are no longer custom made and thus the expense is much lower. Union Pacific has been using concrete crossties in turnouts since 1994 (the big 60 MPH No. 30 turnouts have always used concrete, but in those early days they were custom built and quite expensive.)
K. P. HarrierIt would seem that the whole Riverside / Highgrove / Colton strip is an area to watch. While another flyover has been mentioned by the press in the past for the Riverside area, nothing has been heard about such lately. But I envision BNSF getting into a very strangling situation, and both UP and Metrolink seeing the extricating answer as more federal money being brought into the area for another flyover. I’ll bet my boots that is what will happen …
IMO the Colton flyover and Al sub two tracking push this possibility back even more. UP and MLNK traffic would have to increase drastically to justify a flyover or even new Santa Ana River and Barton Road bridges to complete a third MT between Highgrove and Colton first.
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! ***
Concerning a Thursday, January 10, 2013 dispatch, K.P. could see the writing on the wall, i.e., he would be in Ontario after dark … So, he succeeded in ‘conning’ the DS to let him go the next day in daylight … If it wasn’t for that, this series would not have arisen … at least not at this time …
A New Twist at Ontario, CA
Part A (of A-H)
Followers of this thread undoubtedly will remember this recent December 29, 2012 photo of the new, uninstalled turnout by Cucamonga Ave. in Ontario, a block or two east of M.P. 521 on the Sunset Route.
Now, on the LA&SL just a mile from the above, switch parts and concrete ties have been offloaded just west of Sultana Ave. in the vicinity of M.P. 37.9.
Back on the SP side again, switch parts have also been offloaded between CP AL520 NORTH ONTARIO (west switch) and San Antonio Ave. (Ontario), M.P. 519.55.
Part B (of A-H)
A westward SP-side view shows the land to the west of San Antonio Ave. (Ontario) that has recently been graded.
Will a block swop facility or collecting location be put in here, maybe for boxcar traffic, for boxes destined for the future eastbound Red Rock, AZ classification yard, and the big North Platte, NE Bailey classifying yard?
Back on the single-track LA&SL, ties and more ties.
Part C (of A-H)
A now rare, very old track circuit electrical housing is by the Montclair Yard’s switching track that ends nearby (west of Sultana Ave.), and a derail (with a purple “D” sign).
A strange track scribbling: Did graffiti people write this, or UP track people, possibly for moving the switch to west of San Antonio Ave.?
Here is the old switch with wooden ties that will be replaced.
Part D (of A-H)
Looking west: The dilapidated and rusted LA&SL switching track (that the switch is for) goes back to the Montclair Yard (far background). Note the old jointed rails.
The switch and ties:
In the above two photos, the new ties are on both sides of the main electrical box.
Part E (of A-H)
An eastbound Intermodal train came by … and was going slow, probably for a slow order.
Just above … No vehicles came by UNTIL the power passed …
Intermodal cars and those ties:
The DPU finally comes. And the engineer’s head end counter must be getting close to the zero mark (in reverse counter mode), and he would know to resume track speed.
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