Regarding the "P" plate on the signal. Metrolink uses an Southern Pacific style for much of its signalling style (in no small part because McGinley, their first Chief Engineer, was a SP employee for many years before going to Metrolink.
On Metrolink, a "P" Plate stands for "Protection" and not for Permissive. It is placed on any signal in advance of some sort of trackside protection, like a High Water Detector, Rock Slide Detector or something similar. I would guess the bridge just west of the South Perris Station has High Water Protection. The reason for the "P" Plate is to advise the crew that if this signal is red and they allowed to proceed at Restricted Speed (automatically allowed if there is a number plate or with Dispatcher permission if no number plate) they need to watch out for whatever condition the P Plate protects. These are listed in the employee timetable. See example for Metrolink's San Gabriel Subdivision.
A Question …
Towards the end of April a security guard at the Riverside stop (that is used by multiple Metrolink lines) was inquired of as to when the Perris Valley Line would start operations. The response they thought was sometime toward the end of the month. Since we were at the end of April, presumably the security guard was referring to the end of May. Of course, K.P. will believe it when he sees it …
Since the PVL will be restricted to Main 3, at least according to the current Riverside trackwork, the Riverside Metrolink stop’s overhead walkway bridge will have to be used by patrons to get from the main stop area to the boarding platform, and walk through the above cool (neat) glass bridging walkway.
More photos will be posted herein as time permits, but a more detailed posting about the bridge and trackwork in Riverside will be presented in the “Sunset Route Two-Tracking Updates” thread soon.
(Tracks can be seen on the lower corners of the above photo.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.
At long last Metrolink has published an updated 91 Line schedule that shows PVL service starting June 6:
http://www.metrolinktrains.com/content/media/16/images/91-PVL%20full.jpg
It remains to be seen if this has been a worthwhile nine figure investment for improving local mass transit. At the start there will be three South Perris - LAUS round trips (Mo-Fr only) and three midday round trips South Perris - Riverside which (presumably) are for connections to other Metrolink lines or local buses.
A one-way, 2 hr 25 min ride from S. Perris to DTLA in a Rotem car seat is not my idea of a fun commute.
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! ***
Perris Valley Line Tidbits
Part “A” (of A-B)
A Sneak Look
A personal contact who wishes to remain anonymous emailed me this photo of the first regular trial inbound run Monday, May 9, 2016 from the ‘Perris South’ stop, of the 4:37 A.M. train, and said I was free to post it if I so wished.
He says the inbound train left a little late, but since it wasn’t going to pick up passengers on the way to Riverside, it didn’t really matter.
I thought I would pass the photo along to the forum.
K.P. at the Riverside Stop on the …
.... Overhead Pedestrian Bridge
The below photos and the next post’s photos were shot on Friday, April 29, 2016.
To help thread readers understand the track arrangement to be utilized by the PVL in Riverside (CA) …
Southwestward (westbound) views:
Since Perris Valley Line trains will be limited to BNSF Main 3 and its siding, the above left two tracks at the Riverside stop are those tracks.
The overhead pedestrian bridge, looking towards Main 1 (northwest, bearly seen bottom track):
Continued in Part B
Part “B” (of A-B)
Three northeastward (eastbound, PVL outbound) views:
So, that will give the forum an idea of upcoming operations of the PVL at Riverside.
This will conclude the series.
Working the Future Schedule
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Perris South … End of the Line
Perris, CA
At twilight on the slightly breezy evening of the above date without passengers operations until June 6 (2016), three train sets were parked apparently for the entire weekend.
The outbound ends are seen (above), almost to the bumper posts, by (and seen from) Mapes Road.
For the record, the Metrolink units from left to right are: 888, 897, and 865.
Interestingly, the other end of those three tracks funnel into one track, and that one track cut into the mainline at a CP called MAPES. That mainline, as it travels southeast to and crosses the Mapes Road the grade crossing was NOT upgraded, hence, the old crossing flashes in the above first top photo.
Midway in the three tracks were the inbound ends of the same train sets.
Two of the above three trains have BNSF ‘other end’ AC (“AC”) six axils / traction motors, which units were previously used on BNSF Powder River Basin coal trains in Wyoming and other places coal trains traveled. With the steady demise of coal trains, it was convenient timing for Metrolink to come calling for power!
(Before reaching this Perris site, K.P. was in Banning, and, saw an eastbound UP coal train, yes, “coal train,” on the Sunset Route!)
On the second photo, the power from left to right are BNSF 5696 and 5640, plus cab car 649.
These THREE trains, according to the published schedule, will traverse the 91 / Perris Line to Los Angeles Monday morning. There are other scheduled trains from and to Riverside. Where they originate at is unknown to K.P., nor how much layover time they have before changing over to PVL service, and likely returning to the original how they got to Riverside in the first place.
This will conclude this single-post.
Back to “Perris South” Again
Part I (of I-III)
On Saturday, May 28, a visit to the Perris South area was done in daylight this time. The following inbound facing photos of the outbound facing power were taken.
Continued in Part II
Part II (of I-III)
More inbound facing outbound end trains views:
In the photo just above, a worker’s pickup truck is seen (far left). During this visit workers were seen servicing the power, revving up the engines, and doing what they had to do to get the fleet ready for Monday’s trips to Los Angeles on the 91 / PVL line.
Midway in the layover tracks, the inbound BNSF power is seen.
Continued in Part III
CP MAPES. The CP box, other boxes, and microwave tower all have a fence around them now.
Overall the Perris South parking lot still needs to be paved.
A house-like office building of some sort has been put in.
There is not much time left before the Monday, June 6 (2016) beginning of PVL operations. From this visit, it looks like a flurry of last minutes things on the construction will take place.
This will end the series. However, a Second and Third Sections follow.
Second Section
From the south side of Highway 60 (in the background), northbound vehicles are seen on I-215 approach the Highway 60 interchange bridging.
The Perris Valley Line supposedly will help reduce congestion at this highway interchange. On K.P.’s visit this date, traffic, while slow, was remark free flowing. Most times traffic is super slow going, as three lanes funnel into two lanes (see yellow sign in photo center), an incredibly dumb design for a new highway interchange! K.P. often wonders if (“if”) a public hanging of government officials will someday result …
It is unknown if such a poor design was because of stupidly, or a conniving conspiracy to promote Perris Valley Line commuter train use.
A Third Section follows.
Third Section
The Poarch Road grade crossing was stopped at briefly in the Box Springs area of eastern Riverside.
It is that former dirt road grade crossing with crossbucks that was rebuilt with crossing gates and flashers, AND gating to prevent vehicles from using it, ONLY emergency passage such as the police, ambulances, and fire department responders.
When K.P. has more time, he hopes to traverse that relatively newly paved Poarch Road to see what photographic view can be had, but as seen below, the city seems to be having trouble keeping sand off the road.
As a continuing curse K.P. was dealing with ALL day, as soon as he had parked, gotten his camera out, and walked to a halfway good line of sight view of the ‘closed’ grade crossing, a red car with a gal driving it stopped in the view, on that path meant for emergency responders, and stayed there for about 10 minutes! Did I mention curse for the day?
And, of course, NO cops came by …
K.P. was out this way to photograph BNSF intermodal cars parked for the “Sunset Route Two-Tracking Updates” thread, but there was no intermodal cars parked anywhere! There wasn’t even any along Cajon Blvd. in northwest San Bernardino. What a weird day …
KP,
Looking at the fourth photo in your section II above, I counted the dynamic brake vents and it dawned on me that these locomotives are AC4400s and not Dash 9s as I had assumed....
I've heard of the Dash 9s being stored in various locations and assumed that some of these would go to Metrolink. But if there are AC4400s surplus, the downturn must be more serious than I thought.
The good news is that they will be the cheapest locos to maintain in the Metrolink fleet.....
M636C
M636C, one off the cuff lay person's question on those AC4400 units. If it turns out Metrolink decides to lease them for the long term, would it be cost prohibitive to regear them for 79 mph operation to improve timekeeping?
kgbw49 M636C, one off the cuff lay person's question on those AC4400 units. If it turns out Metrolink decides to lease them for the long term, would it be cost prohibitive to regear them for 79 mph operation to improve timekeeping?
The problem becomes the rather large amount of unsprung mass. BNSF probably won't like what you are doing to their track even if there are no issues with balancing and ride.
M636C, the AC4400CWs were stored like the early Dash 9-44CWs because of age and condition more than the downturn. Metrolink, however, seems to be using only a small fraction of their leased units and many are stored in their yards by the LA River.
M636C and NorthWest, thank you both for sharing your expertise! It is very enjoyable reading posts from experts such as yourselves willing to share your knowledge with a novice like myself. Sincerely appreciated and thanks again!
NorthWest The problem becomes the rather large amount of unsprung mass. BNSF probably won't like what you are doing to their track even if there are no issues with balancing and ride. M636C, the AC4400CWs were stored like the early Dash 9-44CWs because of age and condition more than the downturn. Metrolink, however, seems to be using only a small fraction of their leased units and many are stored in their yards by the LA River.
I expect you are right on some sort of rebuild program as there is less to do than the AC44C4M program, but we'll see. These units were stored right after the 2014 peak in traffic (mid to late 2015).
I'm basing my comments on the issues that were experienced with the U34CHs, primarily that of curve straightening but also of heavy truck sideframes. The Hi-Ad is probably no better.
The AC4400CWs are a political solution to a (largely debatable) technical problem. They aren't used on every train even on the few lines that they are used on (primarily the higher-speed lines where the lower speed is more problematic). They leased 40 but less than half that appear to be in service at a given time. Soon they'll return to the dead line, but I'm enjoying chances to shoot them while they last.
Metrolink service started yesterday on the Perris Valley Line. The article at pe.com reports that the ridership was rather low (no surprise to me).
A Very Brief Glimpse of the …
… First Day of Operations
Citrus Street
Riverside, CA
Looking outbound, the off the mainline signal is lit, and the absolute signal in the distance is high green.
The crossing gate mechanisms activate, and gates come down.
And, the 4:30 P.M. outbound PVL train out of Riverside soon pops into view and approaches the grade crossing with horn blaring.
Very Brief Glimpse of the …
The last car and BNSF engine pass.
Though but a glimpse, at least you can say you saw through a few photos the first day of operations!
This will end the series.
The Power Gets Around …
… and So Does K.P.
As previously shown, on the evening of Saturday, May 21, 2016 K.P. was at the Perris South stop area and took the below photo (which is reshown).
It was mentioned that BNSF unit 5696 was on the northernmost train (above, left). A blowup of the above view is below showing its number boards.
K.P. visited Tehachapi Pass for the “TEHACHAPI: Two-Tracking Updates” thread on Saturday, June 11, 2016, and swung by the Metrolink Antelope Valley Line’s Lancaster stop afterwards. That same BNSF 5696 was Lancaster!
So, the BNSF units, as well as Metrolink’s own power, do roam the Metrolink system and get around.
K.P. had NOT been by Metrolink’s Lancaster stop for a while, and found it has changed dramatically as far as access is concerned, and the access concept is very different from the Perris South end of the line stop, at least for now. A post or posts on that comparison should be ready in a few days.
Perris South Seems to be a Different …
… Approach to an End of the Line Stop
The Tehachapi area was visited Saturday, June 11. 2016 to see how that two-tracking effort was progressing there, and a stop was made afterwards at Metrolink’s Antelope Valley Line’s end of the line at Lancaster, with a comparing of that stop to the Perris Valley Line’s end of the line stop at Perris South in mind.
Before progressing further, this over three years ago January 21, 2013 Lancaster stop night photo is reshown. The tracks are on the left.
Things back then looked very open, and access to the two or three-block long north-south facility was quite easy.
But, on this visit things were found to have radically changed there!
Not only had power been put on both ends of most commuter trains …
… but rather high rod iron fencing had been erected on the west side of the facility sometime in the last three years.
Part III (of I-III)
The rod iron fencing DOES allow one to shoot photos through that fencing.
In that just above view, note the elevated, overhead cameras looking down onto the trains.
A bit more blowing up of a similar view shows the facility has chain-link fencing on the east side and not the rod iron work
Lancaster (downtown stop) is in a quite different environment than Perris South is. The latter is in a somewhat rural setting with kind of nothing around it. (Reshown photo)
It is yet to be seen if rod iron fencing is in the Perris South stop’s future, or other stops on the Perris Valley Line, but the PVL’s stops (except for the downtown Perris stop) seem to be in different environments, in industrial and / or rural areas.
Also, the commuter cars layover area at Perris South is separate from the board area, unlike in Lancaster where the layover area is the boarding area.
An Outbound PVL at Northern Riverside
Headway 1
A photo sequence was made Wednesday, June 15, 2016 from the Iowa Ave. overpass over the BNSF Transcon. The eastbound Metrolink train on the BNSF travels northeastward before curving southward.
Continued in Headway 2
Headway 2
The sequence continues …
Still Metrolink doesn’t seem to be advertising much (if any) about the new Perris Valley Line.
The first new F125 passenger locomotive arrived recently. It is wondered when it will make its first run on the PVL.
K.P. and all, last week I had the opportunity to take the afternoon roundtrip on the Perris Valley Line from Riverside (Downtown) to Perris (Downtown).
Because of the newness of the line, the lack of marketing, etc. it was not very crowded in either direction, especially outbound to Perris. It felt like there were a couple more folks on the inward run.
It seemed as though the fastest we went, was briefly on the BNSF between Riverside and the junction where K.P. took those photos. I thought the train made good time climbing up through the Box Springs pass -- which is a very scenic climb.
Paralleling the 215, I think the speed limit is 60 mph, and it feels slower because the tracks literally curve around the overpasses (e.g. Van Buren, Alessandro, etc.). On the long siding track paralleling the 215, I saw the BNSF freight (San Jacinto local?) with some engines in Santa Fe colors.
I got off at the Perris (Downtown) stop, which is also a bus terminal so it was somewhat busier. There is a nice Mexican restaurant (Taqueria 2 Potrillos) within walking distance of the station.
The old Santa Fe Perris depot is open in the afternoons, Thursday through Sunday. The person volunteering at the depot was very nice and showed us around the depot. It was neat.
The train had Riverside County Sherriffs helping check tickets on the inbound leg. They, along with the Metrolink conductor, were very friendly.
Overall, it was a nice round-trip. On the trip back to Riverside, the 215 freeway was slowing, so I can see why the Perris Valley Line has potential. I really hope that the ridership increases -- I think either Temecula (or San Jacinto) could be long-term next-steps for Metrolink.
Lost Opportunity … Power Orientation Change
This past Wednesday, K.P. was dispatched to a McDonald’s in Sun City. That would be perfect for riding the PVL soon afterwards. But, then the DS advised K.P. to do a pick-up in San Bernardino … Oh, well. Hopefully, soon a ride on the PVL can be had.
In the “Metrolink – New Happenings in San Bernardino, CA Area,” mention was made of a reversal of power orientation. It is assumed the Perris Valley Line has that change too.
The above thread’s link:
http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/p/255205/2857765.aspx?page=2
K.P. has been unable to get the link to work. So just copy and paste it in the http line.
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