Update as of Friday, August 22, 2014
The Two Eastern Stops
Perris, CA
Part “A” (of A-C)
A number of months ago this grade crossing electrical box photo was posted here. The location was in the southeastern part of Perris.
It had no ownership markings. Most grade crossing boxes on the Perris Valley Line referred people to a BNSF hotline number if there was a grade crossing problem, like gates down, etc.
Metrolink has since put its sticker on the box.
The old flashers are still in place.
But, there is a sign in place as evidence something will change soon.
You may recall there is a like sign by Marlborough Ave. in Riverside, near where the BNSF San Jac Line and the UP Riverside Industrial Lead used to cross.
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.
Second Section
By the new BNSF truss bridge sections was a big red, ACE contractor owned (or at least leased) crane.
When its use for by those truss bridges is finished, K.P. wonders if it will conveniently be used in heavy duty projects for the nearby Perris Valley Line. Time will tell.
Update as of Saturday, May 7, 2014
The Future Stop at Marlborough Ave.
Riverside, CA
Part III (of I-III)
Makeshift water connections are by Marlborough Ave.
Above, the future Perris Valley Line is across the view about midway up, especially discernable on the right.
A whole bunch of boulders are by the Perris Valley Line itself, and that newly put up Microwave tower on railroad property.
A whole bunch of rocks has been put by a rather new derail installation, presumably to prevent wayward cars from enter the fenced property at the bottom of the track embankment.
K.P. traveled much of the future Perris Valley Line, and nothing overly stood out as new construction, except this area by Marlborough Ave.
Continued in Second Section
Part II (of I-III)
A sign identifies the project as with the Perry Valley Line.
Above, note all the large rocks in the background.
There are poles and piles of such rocks here and there.
Such rocks are now across the street shoring up Union Pacific’s Riverside Industrial Lead track, in the M.P. 544 area.
Above, the slanted track in the background is the future Perris Valley Line. What a steep grade (rightward) station stopped trains will encounter when starting outbound!
Continued in Part III
Part I (of I-III)
At Marlborough Ave., only about a mile or so from the BNSF mainline to the north, construction equipment is now present, in a large fenced area.
The lead construction company is ACE (with red painted equipment), the same company that has done a lot of work for Union Pacific on the Sunset Route, and has the big I-215 Freeway widening contract very nearby. In that freeway project, a BNSF railroad bridge is being replaced with larger truss bridges.
Continued in Part II
K. P. Harrier Update as of Monday, May 26, 2014 Perris Valley Line Happenings Part “D” (of A-F) Some close-ups: Continued in Part E
Update as of Monday, May 26, 2014
Perris Valley Line Happenings
Part “D” (of A-F)
Some close-ups:
Continued in Part E
K.P.,
I note in your photos that the ties were produced by the CXT tie division of L.B. Foster, as are the ties being used on the UP Sunset Route project. Out of idle curiosity, I wonder if they came from the Tucson plant that both of us have photographed in the past.
John Timm
Thank you K.P. for the update! Now, we wait for those ties to be used.
Part “F” (of A-F)
K.P. is pretty sure a tie guard does not live in the house overlooking the tracks. A railfan is possible, but since railfans don’t usually have enough money to walk around with $100 bills stuffed in their pockets and falling out behind them, probably the chap that lives here is not a railfan …
That park with giant flowers is almost trackside. The old AT&SF line now heads southeast.
Nothing seemed to be happening construction-wise towards the end of the line in the distance, not too far from the I-215 bridging on the distant left.
One last view, of something K.P. had not expected.
Since it was the Memorial Day Holiday, the Orange Empire Railway Museum was running trolley equipment almost into downtown Perris under their strung catenary, almost to the junction with the Perris Valley Line.
So, that is what is currently happening with the Perris Valley Line.
Part “E” (of A-F)
More close-ups:
K.P. went a little hog wild taking pictures of the ties, but seldom does an opportunity arise for close-ups.
Continued in Part F
Part “C” (of A-F)
The curve coming into the north end of the old town of Perris had a bunch of ribbon rail trackside.
Just south of that final curve before downtown Perris, another group of ties were staged.
Those ties were staged right by a public park-like scene, with a public roadway right next to them.
Continued in Part D
Part “B” (of A-F)
Just south of Nuevo Rd. a nice lengthy stack of concrete ties were staged, the long line only separated by electric poles.
A west side eastward perspective: There are even more ties out of view on the right.
Continued in Part C
Part “A” (of A-F)
On the above date, the old AT&SF San Jac line was followed along I-215 between Riverside and Perris. Little advances were seen. The few culverts observed, however, were now well along in the upgrading stages.
There looked to be an equipment staging area along I-215 more towards the Perris end.
Above, note the rails partially following the line now. They are semi-buried with dirt to the convenience of workers and their vehicles.
K. P. HarrierIt is hard to believe a year from now Metrolink commuter trains will be quickly traversing this old, dilapidated branch line.
I would agree! It will be interesting to see how work progresses for the rest of this year. Thank you as always for the pictures.
Update as of Friday, May 16, 2014
Little that is Obvious
K.P. was involved in a rather unexpected dispatch on the above date deep into Riverside County, and on the way back followed the ex-Santa Fe Railway line from Perris to Riverside, including semi-through the Box Springs area.
Except for a concrete culvert or two, basically nothing stood out as new, except one thing: a bunch of Continuous Welder Rail (CWR) was spotted trackside between the Mt. Vernon Ave. and Blaine St. grade crossings, with the Box Spring Mountains in the background.
It is hard to believe a year from now Metrolink commuter trains will be quickly traversing this old, dilapidated branch line.
Update as of Friday, March 21, 2014
Some Views from Harley Knox Blvd.
Riverside County, CA
Part “C” (of A-C)
Looking north again, the side by side sidings between Harley Knox Blvd. and Van Buren Blvd. were empty, with no Intermodal cars stored on them as overflow from BNSF’s Intermodal Facility in San Bernardino. Reports are that the economy is improving, so well cars are not stored anymore, at least not on the Perris Valley Line.
Big concrete piping is present.
A makeshift grade crossing for contractor’s workers:
At this point in time it is unknown if the present old track will be relocated slightly, or remain in place.
While southbound on the I-215 Freeway K.P. did see what looked like new culvert cement-work in that new graded pathway somewhere between Van Buren Blvd. and Harley Know Blvd.
This will end the series.
Part “B” (of A-C)
Two views with a southward bent, for Perris Valley Line outbound.
The fence separating the I-215 Freeway from the Perris Valley Line route has had a lower skirting added.
In the first photo in this Part “B” the Harley Know Blvd. south sidewalk is seen. Unlike some overpasses, this one has a sidewalk on each side of the street, making photography easy.
A note from a few weeks ago, it was hoped back then that a walk up onto the Van Buren Blvd. NEW overpass could be made. Unfortunately, while half the new overpass is open, the sidewalks are not open yet, and it doesn’t look like they will be anytime soon during this key time of the Perris Valley Line construction.
Looking north from the general east-west road called Harley Knox Blvd. There has been some grading for the future Perris Valley Line.
Thank you for the first of (hopefully many!) PVL updates. Glad to see something happening.
Update as of Friday, March 7, 2014
Signs of the PVL along the I-215 Freeway
The old AT&SF line along the I-215 Freeway between Riverside and Perris is showing definite signs that the Perris Valley Line is coming! Some grading is present. Looking northwestward from Cajalco Expressway:
Southeastward:
The PVL will have a new, second track straddling the freeway.
Northwestward, closer to Cajalco Expressway, for an unknown purpose there is grading on both sides of the present line:
This is all not much, but it is the first real concrete sign the PVL is definitely coming now!
thank you for the updates, K.P.!
having grown up in hemet, its pretty sad to see how much the line thru town has deteriorated. as of right now, there is no way a train will make it past warren road on the west end of town. there are multiple areas were sections of rail are missing or broken. i think its been about 10 years since a train came to town, possibly longer. there were well cars stored on the line just west of warren road all the way into winchester for a while several years ago
At Long Last …
The Friday, February 21, 2014 Press-Enterprise had an excellent news article that the forum may be interested in. The material super briefly also touches on long-range thinking, of getting to Hemet and San Jacinto, plus a branching off line to Temecula!
ARTICLE LINK: Things Are Starting!
Update as of Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Southbound on I-215 on the way to San Diego, the Gernet Rd. / Poach Rd. grade crossing was stopped at briefly, the grade crossing that will be eliminated during the construction of the Perris Valley Line. Those dirt roads were found to have been freshly paved! (Lower right)
The grade crossing must be on its last leg, because in was horrendously bumpy going over with an auto. Dirt was a couple of inches above the rails, but the railheads themselves were clear of dirt. Quite a strange sight to see!
Not too far south of Van Buren Blvd. a red-like full sized pickup truck decaled with the Ames “A” in gold lettering was seen trackside. Ames is the contractor for the Perris Valley Line construction.
At the Santa Teresa, NM the new facility Union Pacific is having built also has Ames as the contractor, and they use red trucks there also.
Ames apparently has different corporations under an umbrella organization. UP’s Sunset Route two-tracking in Niland, CA a few years back had an Ames corporation out of Scottsdale, AZ.
But, according to the press, the Ames outfit for the Perris Valley Line construction is out of Corona, CA. But, all the trucks wherever they work are all red with gold lettering.
Update as of Friday, February 7, 2014
In darkening light that made photography impractical, the Mt. Vernon Ave grade crossing in the Box Springs area of eastern Riverside was passed. Nothing track-wise was found to report. However, the grade crossing and Mt. Vernon Ave. itself had a lot of barricades present, and a sign said something to the effect that ‘utilities’ were being relocation.
A reshown daytime photo from the past of the Mt. Vernon Ave. grade crossing that looks physically east, or outbound. The line curves to the left, and out of view curves to go up a hill on the right:
Exactly why utilities would need to be relocation is unclear, as BNSF trains and predecessors have passed here for more than a century and a quarter without any problem. Perhaps the new Perris Valley Line will have a new big swooping curve through here necessitating some type of utility relocation.
Hemet, CA
The very heavily traveled Florida Ave. grade crossing only has mere dilapidated crossbuck posts. And rusted too!
Metal posts were on their way out when K.P. was a kid! Maybe the powers that be should call this the Dinosaur Extension of the Perris Valley Line …
The depot is now a museum.
K.P. definitely wanted to visit the museum for a bit, but, it was a Monday of all days …
… Maybe another time …
What Perris Valley Line officials have in mind for a future station stop is unknown, but use of this ex-Santa Fe depot seems unlikely.
This will conclude the series.
The old Santa Fe depot just north of Florida Ave.:
Somewhere around 1970 K.P. vehicle-passed this depot and it had two low hoods Alco B-B trucked units parked by it, on that curve.
This line is well known to both railfans and AT&SF railroaders as the San Jac for the town of San Jacinto several miles to the north.
A closer view of the curve and depot … Hey that is a rare depot on a curve!
The track is semi-buried heading towards the end of the line.
The above photos took some time to take, as intervals in chronic heavy vehicle traffic were few.
Update as of Monday, February 3, 2014
Perris Valley Line
K.P. was dispatched to Hemet, CA, and on the way, along I-215 south of March Air Reserve Base, in the new Van Buren Blvd. overpass area, there was a bunch of new Continuous Welded Rail (CWR) stacked trackside along the future Perris Valley Line.
The new Van Buren Blvd. overpass appeared to be open with traffic traversing it, so as time permits, K.P. hopes to be able to walk up on the overpass in the next few months and take photos of that CWR, and get some photo views previously difficult or impossible to obtain.
K.P. had some free time in Hemet, a town he hadn’t been in except briefly for over 30 years. Those involved with the Perris Valley Line effort hope to eventually extend the line to Hemet and San Jacinto (to the north of Hemet). This will be a brief report on K.P.’s findings in Hemet.
The key east-west street in town is Florida Ave. From that street a view looking southwest:
Above, a trespasser is barely visible walking the right-of-way.
Little money has been put in the line in recent decades, and rail is even covered with dirt.
PVL Timeframe … and Future Non-Timeframe Really Big Things Envisioned!
An announcement was made Monday, December 9, 2013. The highlights from the Press-Enterprise as interpreted by K.P.:
Ground breaking in January 2014, trains projected to be running in summer 2015
The future wye factor (K.P.’s terminology): One stem, Perris to Hemet and San Jacinto, another stem Perris to Murrieta and Temecula on a route that has never seen tracks, the very thing K.P. mentioned a few months ago.*
Non-PVL News: San Bernardino to Redland start construction 2016
LINK: The Press-Enterprise Article
____
* If ever Temecula is reached on a new right-of-way, K.P. perceives an effort to reach Oceanside will be made (it is just too tempting and logical), partly on old California Southern right-of-way.
Hoopla for Monday, December 9, 2013
The Press-Enterprise newspaper says there will be a big announcement today, and that Perris Valley Line construction can start in two to three weeks.
LINK: News Story
Construction CAN Start (with a Minor Catch)
The Press-Enterprise has three stores, linked below:
LINK: RCTC gets green light for Perris Valley Line (10-1)
LINK: TRANSPORTATION: Perris Valley Line gets green light (10-1)
LINK: BOX SPRINGS: Paving seeks to ease pain of crossing closure (10-2)
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.