Bizarre Rail Operations

[ericsp]

It is time for our first installment of Odd Rail Operations

On Tuesday I saw an UP freight train with a spine car loaded with containers on it.

Stay tuned for more Odd Rail Operations.

[DSchmitt]

I once saw double stack cars carrying ties eastbound on the UP (at that time SP) main line in West Sacramento CA.

I saw about 30+ UP locos (no cars) at Binney Junction (Marysville CA) on the old WP line crossing the SP line. This was after the UP took over the WP but before the SP merger.

[MP57313]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp
a spine car loaded with containers on it.

Not familiar with this...do spine cars normally carry truck trailers?

[ericsp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MP57313

QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp
a spine car loaded with containers on it.

Not familiar with this...do spine cars normally carry truck trailers?

Spine cars can and do carry trailers and containers (except the NTTX cars, they only carry containers. I think the older spine cars only carried trailers). The oddity was that this was on a regular freight train, not an intermodal. Furthermore, it was operating between yards without intermodal terminals.

[DSchmitt]

For several years the SP ran Roadrailers tail end of a "box car" train several times a week in each direction on the "east valley" line north of Sacramento. A box car with a Fred was always on the rear.

[MP57313]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp
The oddity was that this was on a regular freight train, not an intermodal.

Aaah, that explains it. Actually saw something similar in Canada in early July. I figured it was a "straggler" that missed the departure time of the intermodal train.

[csxengineer98]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp

QUOTE: Originally posted by MP57313

QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp
a spine car loaded with containers on it.

Not familiar with this...do spine cars normally carry truck trailers?

Spine cars can and do carry trailers and containers (except the NTTX cars, they only carry containers. I think the older spine cars only carried trailers). The oddity was that this was on a regular freight train, not an intermodal. Furthermore, it was operating between yards without intermodal terminals.

well you would get a real kick out of the csx Q148 then...auto racks on the head end...trailers next..followed by mixed freight
csx engineer

[ericsp]

It is time for our next installment of Odd RaIl Operations.

On Thursday (09/02/04) I saw a mixed freight train pulling out of the yard with an end of train device. Waiting on the mainline behind it was another mixed freight and an intermodal train. The train that pulled out of the yard backed back into it. I thought that this was to allow the other trains to proceed. However, after they left I went back to the yard. The locomotives had disconnected and the EOTD was removed. The cars were still sitting in the yard on Friday evening.

[Junctionfan]

You should see some of the intermodal trains on the CP Galt Subdivision in Ontario.

Sometimes most of the cars on the train are spine cars with containers.

[Anonymous]

All kind of weird **** goes thorugh berea since they are tearing down the west end of clevelands steel mills...
It's sad to see them go...

[Anonymous]

Not really all that odd, but on a local CP freight today I saw a flat car with an old camper, and 2 brand new water delivery trucks.... I've been wondering where on earth they came from and where they could possibly all be heading.

[fuzzybroken]

macguy, I think that one takes the cake!

Let's see, I think I have a picture somewhere within my web space of a railcar with a bulkhead container with an interesting load...

Ok, here we go, CP 507173 (50-60' flatcar) with Hapag-Lloyd container, with crated-up load:
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=4081832&a=31293073&p=68565104&f=0

Enjoy!
-Mark
Other pics from this page:
http://www.geocities.com/fuzzybroken/RR2.html

[gabe]

I once saw an Amtrak consist with passengers in it.

Gabe

[Randy Stahl]

QUOTE: Originally posted by gabe

I once saw an Amtrak consist with passengers in it.

Gabe

Good one !!!!
Randy

[jeaton]

Mark-Maybe that was one of the odd 42' 7" containers.

Jay

[Anonymous]

bnsf...outside of Waterman, IL today i saw one of them 'spine' cars with a flatbed trailer on it loaded with bobcats... haven't seen that before.....

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by fuzzybroken

macguy, I think that one takes the cake!

Let's see, I think I have a picture somewhere within my web space of a railcar with a bulkhead container with an interesting load...

Ok, here we go, CP 507173 (50-60' flatcar) with Hapag-Lloyd container, with crated-up load:
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=4081832&a=31293073&p=68565104&f=0

Enjoy!
-Mark
Other pics from this page:
http://www.geocities.com/fuzzybroken/RR2.html

Any idea what was in that container?
Some sort of transformer, perhaps? [?]

[TH&B]

I saw a bulkhead flat carrying canoes, maybe about a dozen of them.
How about the circus train, they ave some strang loadings?

[broncoman]

I saw a double stack train that had one 5 car set that had opened versadecks on the bottoms with a regular container above them. The versadecks had no loads on them they were just opened up supporting the conatiners above them? Looked like a centerbeam car with containers on top.

[DPD1]

If you're talking operations... How about USS Cumberland Mine. They have one SD38-2 that had to be brought in, because the RR is not connected to any other railroad. It operates completely captive.

Dave
Los Angeles, CA
-Rail Radio Online-Home of the "TrainTenna" RR Monitoring Antenna-
http://eje.railfan.net/railradioonline

[StillGrande]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl

QUOTE: Originally posted by gabe

I once saw an Amtrak consist with passengers in it.

Gabe

Good one !!!!
Randy

I once saw an Amtrak train actually arrive at the scheduled time.

[andrewjonathon]

I saw an interesting load in New Westminster (near Vancouver) last Sunday. There was a red English double decker bus loaded onto a flatcar. It looked so tall that I am surprised it could fit under some overpasses. It was sitting in the BNSF interchange track so I assume it was heading south into the US.

Andrew

[Randy Stahl]

QUOTE: Originally posted by StillGrande

QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl

QUOTE: Originally posted by gabe

I once saw an Amtrak consist with passengers in it.

Gabe

Good one !!!!
Randy

I once saw an Amtrak train actually arrive at the scheduled time.

Honest ????!!!!
Randy

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

My odd operations are both related to steel mills. One is the rather well-known bottle train which supplies Acme Steel's finishing plant in Riverdale IL with molten steel. The other was a slag train on CWP&S in Irondale (part of Chicago). The CWP&S is a common carrier which also performed the plant switching at Wisconsin Steel Works, owned at the time by International Harvester. Several times a day, one of CWP&S's switchers would shove about ten slag thimbles to a dumping site about 3/4 mile north of the mill. It was an especially impressing show at night. The operation was discontinued when the mill shut down in the late 1970's.

[ericsp]

Today I saw a UP train that was pulled by two BNSF 9-44CWs and a patched CNW 8-40CW. The BNSF line is opened. To make the train even more unusually, it was heading north and about half of its cars were loaded with Canadian lumber.

Also, when I coming home tonight, I saw a mile long train (mostly empties) coming out of the train yard, it was powered by a single GP40-2.

[Overmod]

Unit coal train on ex-Southern line through Germantown and Memphis, Tennessee, westbound with solid Conrail blue power, headed by 6722 (second unit a big GE and third an SD-70)

[Junctionfan]

Recently I saw 2 BNSF engines on a NS autoparts train with an NS Exhibit car on the front of the consist.

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by gabe

I once saw an Amtrak consist with passengers in it.

Gabe

tee hee

[ericsp]

As I was driving home from work on Tuesday, I saw a UP local come out of the yard and park on the easbound main. On the other end of the yard were two through freights parked on the westbound main. I do not think there are any crossovers between where they were parked. I went by there a couple of hours later, nothing had changed, exept there was now another train waiting to leave the yard. To quote the track section gang superintendent (or whatever he was suppost to be) on Blazing Saddles "What in the wide, wide world of sports is a-goin' on here?".

[Anonymous]

This was about 5 years ago....but anyways.... Q115 I belive had come into trade crews, but the crew was not called outbound yet, so the inbound crew had to cut a crossing and tie the train down. Well after a few hours went by, the crew came on duty as normal. Went out to their train and left. (only to find out some hours later that they had left the rear end of their train sitting)

Its clueless to me why they didnt do their air test or even look at their rear end to see how much psi they had.