K.P.,
Thank you for these neat set of photos from the Antelope line. The Vincent Grade/Acton station is one of the more unique stations in the Metrolink system, to be sure!
K. P. HarrierMoving Mountains Part “J” (of A-K) A number of views of the Vincent Grade - Acton Station stop. While this stop has been in operation for a number of years now, the site has matured to many trees, and a certain quaint attractiveness about it. While the station stops on the Perris Valley Line have Environment Impact Report parking lot drawings about them, it is unknown exactly what type of buildings will be present for its station stops, nor how much grading for them will be necessary. Hopefully, they will be as imaginative and attractive as with the above photos. Continued in Part K
Part “J” (of A-K)
A number of views of the Vincent Grade - Acton Station stop.
While this stop has been in operation for a number of years now, the site has matured to many trees, and a certain quaint attractiveness about it.
While the station stops on the Perris Valley Line have Environment Impact Report parking lot drawings about them, it is unknown exactly what type of buildings will be present for its station stops, nor how much grading for them will be necessary. Hopefully, they will be as imaginative and attractive as with the above photos.
Continued in Part K
Moving Mountains
Part “K” (of A-K)
The Perris Valley line is supposed to have a massive amount of dirt moved in the Box Springs area for the relocation. (The below photos were previously shown.)
So, earthmovers have been in a number of locations in California and Arizona over the years. We can expect the Perris Valley Line to be next!
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This will conclude the “Moving Mountains” series.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 “I” (of A-K)
The old right-of-way then swings back to the present route:
Continued in Part J
Part “H” (of A-K)
Back at the old right-of-way again:
Above, on the upper left, note the long, high landfill needed for the reroute.
A wider view:
Continued in Part I
Part “G” (of A-K)
At the Aliso Canyon Rd. grade crossing, at M.P. 57.99 …
… two views toward Los Angeles. Because of the wideness of the right-of-way, it is unknown if any of this track was relocated or not.
Just above, note the concrete ties through the grade crossing (lower left) vs. wood ties.
Towards Palmdale:
The Metrolink grade crossing track markings:
We now head back towards Palmdale, and look at that Quartz area relocation again, from the other side of the tracks, and higher up.
Continued in Part H
Part “F” (of A-K)
On the right, the old, trackless right-of-way comes to the left center of the photo
Above, autos and the Sierra Highway are seen in the background. Also, the line climbs left to right.
The old right-of-way cut shadows are on the hillside, just left and slightly below center.
Barely visible on the lower left, the Antelope Valley Line is seen. The freeway in the background is Highway 14, along with the Metrolink track route, goes through a scenic, very mountainous area.
Continued in Part G
Part “E” (of A-K)
Many moons ago in the Anschutz era of Southern Pacific, Metrolink (the outfit that now owns the trackage of the future Perris Valley Line) purchased what is now the Antelope Valley Line between Los Angeles and Palmdale.
In the above photo, the south end of the Quarts-Crest siding wasn’t always that way, but the siding was extended to the way it is now. Under Southern Pacific, this Main and siding situation was a section of “Double-track” (not two-tracks) and involved spring switches.
Metrolink revamped the already excellent route, relocating some trackage.
The old right-of-way is barely discernible about midway up in the below photo.
An old culvert is still visible.
Continued in Part F
Part “D” (of A-K)
Months later, a signal mast was put up on the reroute, and track laid and partially ballasted. A train on the old Main 2 is visible in the background.
The newly laid track was then fully ballasted on the new route.
Today, the reroute is in operation.
And the old line has railcars in storage on it, and 18-wheelers break down on the I-10 Freeway.
Continued in Part E
Part “C” (of A-K)
In the Marsh Station Rd. area near Cienega Creek east of Tucson, AZ, Union Pacific’s former Main 2 (now of a radically different designation) was rerouted. Here, some then preliminary views:
Continued in Part D
Part “B” (of A-K)
Circa 1976 major line relocations took place on the Santa Fe in Cajon Pass, some of them on the actual California Southern route that came up from Perris and through the Box Springs area discussed in the previous Part A.
That relocation is seen in the distance on the upper left of the below never before shown to the TRAINS Forum photo:
Down by Cajon, in 1913 a second track was laid over Cajon Pass, and went over the bridge cement-work on the far right of the below view:
The 1913 line was relocated to its present location in the 1970’s, because of what K.P. believes partially caused a train wreck over the now abandoned culvert-work above.
In 2008 the second-track on that “north” side route was laid, making three-tracks over Cajon Pass.
It should be noted that line relocations and adding additional tracks on Cajon Pass was done with railroad funds, and not public money. The Perris Valley Line is being rebuilt to commuter train standards and stations built, all with a quarter of a billion dollars of public money!
Continued in Part C
Part “A” (of A-K)
One area on the future Perris Valley Line (PVL) route is mountainous, in the Box Springs area, as previously shown.
The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and known project details mention a lot of earth moving north of that above pictured area. However, K.P. knows of no specific details about such, but likely that earthmoving will be done to make a higher speed route through what is now freight train negotiated at a relatively slow speed.
An aerial of that area shows …
LINK: Aerial Overview
… just how curvy that ex-California Southern 1882-1883 track-laid north-south route is, a route that went from San Diego to Colton. No major relocations that K.P. knows of have ever taken place in the Box Spring area before now. Of course, part of the inspiration for any route relocations died in the early 1890’s when the through route was severed and abandoned because of massive flooding and severe washouts between Perris and Oceanside.
This post series is intended to show several relocations that have taken place on other routes in modern times, within the last forty years, to show by example what results with relocations
Continued in Part B
That will be the theme of an eleven part (A-K) posting series, comparing future track relocations on the Perris Valley Line with what was done in Arizona recently and in Southern California in the last 35-40 years or so.
The material is all ready to go, but making a slot of time for the posting is expected later tonight, between 9:00 P.M. and midnight, Pacific Standard Time.
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Severely delaying the posting has been new ways at photobucket.com, and at this point it is unknown exactly what approach is going to be taken to deal with those new disruptive ways.
Replies:
ccltrains (3-14), BarstowRick (3-15), mvs (3-15):
The Fontana, CA area billboards on the Sunset Route that were taken down in recent times have not been replaced. I question whether they ever will. Concerning the billboard removal on the Perris Valley Line (PVL), I don’t see them returning either.
BarstowRick (3-15/3-15a):
No, they are not clearing the right-of-law at this time, but I expect that in the future.
All those old switches I understand will remain.
mvs (3-15):
Personally, I don’t think the judge in the lawsuit would side with those that brought the lawsuit. It is an existing, active rail line, so, from that perspective, I don’t think those that brought the suit have a leg to stand on. But, time will tell.
cacole (3-16):
Ah, yes, the Union Pacific Main 2 reroute by Marsh Station Rd. in Arizona. Good comparison. Note the next item …
Comparisons
On Saturday, March 16, 2013 K.P. was on assignment in the Palmdale, CA area, far away from the Perris Valley Line, and did some documenting of Metrolink’s Antelope Valley Line for comparison purposes. A post series is thus in the works, and it will give the forum added perspective about the PVL mountainous Box Springs area. Timely was cacole’s mention of the Marsh Station Rd. area of Arizona, a mountainous area also, and that is planned to be brought into the post series for comparison too.
Within a week the series should be ready for posting.
Take care all,
K.P.
Ames Construction Company is also the contractor for Interstate 10 reconstruction and removal of the Union Pacific Pantano bridge at the Cienega Creek / Marsh Station Road area in Arizona, fulfilling a $17 million contract with the Arizona Department of Transportation.
Belated Victory Report
This probably escaped most of us, but back on February 6, 2013, the Press-Enterprise newspaper reported Ames Construction, Inc. was the low bidder and won the contract for all the grading and culvert-work for the Perris Valley Line (PVL).
Ames Construction just finished a Union Pacific Sunset Route grading job in the Niland, CA area east of Salton Sea.
It was the Sunset Route contractor on the two-track grading work in Arizona, of which these photos of that work were taken between Casa Grande and Toltec, shot on August 5, 2008:
The Press-Enterprise PVL story:
LINK: Known Contactor Designated
From other railroad projects this forum contributor has seen the Ames Construction on, it can be said they definitely know their trade and get the job done in a very timely manner. It is not surprising they were the low bidder!
The question that comes to mind, if you don't mind my speculating? Are they clearing a R.O.W. for the new high speed track and leaving the old switching line in place. There is a picture K.P. has shared with us that shows a number of left handed switches. It would be costly to replace these with high speed switches. Not to ignore the local, while it is in working and the need for the commuter trains to get around them.
Just a thought.
CCLTrains, thanks for the come back and dully noted. I like the magic box you mentioned. What you don't know is I've practically eliminated all TV watching...getting sick and tired of it. No cable boxes in my tin can of a home.
RickH
BarstowRick.com Model Railroading How To's
K.P., thank you for your update on the Perris Valley Line from earlier this week.
I'm of the mindset (similar to people in this thread and rdamon in the Sunset thread) that these felled billboards will be replaced, perhaps with electronic billboards. Currently in the city of Los Angeles, there is an interesting controversy involving electronic billboards.
Also, the fact that the judge has (to my knowledge) not yet ruled on the lawsuit involving the Perris Valley Line, makes me a bit surprised that this work is occurring.
BarstowRick I also do not like the 18 minutes of commercials per hour on TV. We get around this by recording shows we like on our Directv box and playing them back at our leisure. The nice thing about doing this is you can zip through the 9-12 commercials per break in a few seconds. This reduces an hour program down to 42 minutes. Also if you miss something you can replay a little bit and also pause for nature calls.
I have no idea who was felling the billboards on the Indian reservation, but I do not think too many tears were shed on their passing. I would never do this myself as it is a felony even though how revolting the billbosrds are. Do not think this would be a good defense if caught.
I'ma not a great fan of billboards but I would rather see billboards then watch 18 minutes of advertising per half hour on TV. The only reason they are being taken down is either the permit ran out or it isn't seen as being profitable to have them in this location... OR... look for bigger better ones to replace them. I suspect all three.
I might add here taking the law into your own hands is still against the law. However, what would a bunch of outlaws be, if they didn't break a few laws.
There is one way to find out who is dispatching a certain section of railroad...turn your scanner on. It will be apparent with the next local... in switching the spur.
Keep the reports coming K.P. Most of the time your assessments are right on. Yes sir, most of the time, grin.
I realize that renting the air space above the tracks is a revenue source to railroads (think Grand Central Station) but it does not do much for the beauty of nature. The bill boards are a blight on the landscape and I am happy to see them going. Besides they can block the view of the trains. In Texas a law was passed limiting bill boards along freeways. Immediately several signs went up before the effective date of the law in an open field where a freeway was planned to be built in the future. Talk about blight and skimming around the law. A few years ago someone was hitting bill boards with a chain saw (wooden posts) at night and fell several signs on an Indian reservation. More power to them. Hope they were not caught in the act.
Update as of Monday, March 11, 2013
Along I-215 North of Perris, CA
Surprise Developments
Part VI (of I-VI)
A northward view from the other side of the track, from the frontage road:
Another northward view: Note the nearby downed billboard on the lower left.
The signs are laid right by the roads.
This will conclude the “Along I-215 North of Perris, CA” series.
Part V (of I-VI)
Ride St. used to go through, but hasn’t for many moons. The background barricade will have to be moved or eliminated to lay another track. An 18-wheeler passes on the paralleling I-215 Freeway.
A northward view of the track that will remain, with a new Metrolink high speed track to be laid on the background right-of-way right:
Continued in Part VI
Part IV (of I-VI)
Looking north from the Placentia St. overpass: One additional sign was on the ground, and another was being prepared for being put on the ground
A closer view:
Note the proliferation of tracks to rail customers on the left. There are no such customers on the right because Highway 395 / Interstate 215 used to parallel the track quite close.
A view looking south from Ride St.:
Continued in Part V
Part III (of I-VI)
Later that day, in the afternoon, K.P. had about 40 minutes free time right in that area, so returned to the site, and the sign was down, and workers gone.
The sign post with the double-stack well-cars in the distance.
The Nuevo Rd. overpass is in the background.
Continued in Part IV
Part II (of I-VI)
Nearby (to the above) a contractor and its vehicles, including a small crane-type truck, were present to take down billboard structures right by the track. Here, the freight track (far right) will remain, and a new, high speed track for Metrolink will be laid. The far right pickup truck had orange BNSF decals! Hence, this track may still be dispatched by BNSF dispatchers.
Continued in Part III
Part I (of I-VI)
Intermodal double-stack well-cars have been parked in long sidings on the ex-Santa Fe San Jacinto Branch of late. However, a new development has arisen. They are now parked right on the branch itself, making getting to the far end of the branch not possible. Maybe there are no customers at the far end anymore.
Three elevated views by the Nuevo Rd. overpass area just before the sun rose:
Looking south:
Northward views:
The well-cars’ north end:
The cars have been ‘in the area’ blocking the line for at least two weeks, but note the shiny wheels (above)! They may (“may”) have been moved northward a mile very recently for some strange reason …
Continued in Part II
If you started Hi-Railing from the Perris Depot northward, your Hi-railing experience would be short lived!
Along I-215 a short distance to the north of the above photos, something would block your way. And, there is also something happening out that way too that caused BNSF to station a mobile unit by what was happening!
A six-part series on all this will be posted either later today or early tomorrow.
ChuckCobleigh (2-22a):
It is amazing how different minds see different things (interpretations) when looking at one matter. One advantage I had about the bridge adjacent Case Rd. was seeing the bridge in person, which avoids have to ‘interpret’ a scene from a photo.
It is assumed a replacement bridge over the San Jacinto River will be built. Putting in such a new replacement bridge on an active rail line is a show in itself. But, there is not much rail traffic at the site, which will greatly expedite the logistics of a replacement.
On September 1, 2008 the following Sunset Route photo was taken at Thermal, CA, near Indio.
On April 25, 2009, the new bridging was in service. But, the key point is that the other main’s bridge had pre-stressed bridging laid within the old bridge!
Obviously the bridge in Perris is different. It is wondered what logistics and science will be employed in replacing it.
Best,
K. P. Harrier All the mapping aerials I checked show a view the same as the photos previously posted. What I did find, however, was the Google “Earth” mode you mentioned was, because of the sun angle, kind of illusionish, and not definitive.
All the mapping aerials I checked show a view the same as the photos previously posted. What I did find, however, was the Google “Earth” mode you mentioned was, because of the sun angle, kind of illusionish, and not definitive.
I think I figured out what I am seeing. After looking at the Google Earth Street View of that part of Case Road, I realize that what I was seeing as separate bents is actually the bridge bents themselves, the cap beams of which extend a goodly distance beyond the deck. So much for my suspicion that they had started working to put a second bridge in already.
Once the I-15 route was completed between I-10 and Cajon Pass, I have had way fewer opportunities to sample the I-215 route.
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