How It Was In December-January 2012-2013
Part II (of I-III), Section “A” (of A-I)
By the 60 Freeway, we come to a dramatic view of how high up the line has reached in a short distance.
A broader view of the above photo:
The only crossbucks protected dirt road grade crossing of a ‘Y’ nature (the foreground roads come from the left and right) has a well-traveled look, and an unbelievably high volume of users! Metrolink will undoubtedly put crossing gates in here when rebuilding the line.
Looking the other way, the line continues snaking up the hill.
Continued in Section 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 I, Section “I” (of A-I)
The track then curves and goes up the mountainous terrain.
Only a mile or two more of climbing:
It is difficult to comprehend all this climbing trackage WAS the ‘Transcon’ (sort of, anyway) of the latter 1880’s! From San Diego, Colton was reached by the California Southern in 1883 and via Cajon Pass Barstow in 1885. Southern Pacific had built a line from Mojave to Needles in 1883, meeting up with the Atlantic & Pacific from Albuquerque, NM. Eventually, Santa Fe owned all this trackage. San Diego was actually reached, then, BEFORE Los Angeles was reached by non-Southern Pacific track builders!
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Continued in Part II to be posted on Wednesday, January 30, 2013 before 9 A.M. Pacific Standard Time.
Part I, Section “H” (of A-I)
A northwestward heavy telephoto from Mt. Vernon Ave.: Note the jointed rails.
Southeastward views: The Box Springs Mountains are in the background. The rails are now of the continuous welded rail (CWR) type.
Continued in Section I
Part I, Section “G” (of A-I)
A close-up of one of the archaic insulated joints:
The above insulated joint is a far cry from today’s mainline insulated joints, as the below 141 pounds per yard rail joints with eight bolts each on Union Pacific’s Sunset Route at Casa Grande, AZ.
A southward telephoto:
Continued in Section H
Part I, Section “F” (of A-I)
We now move over to Blaine St. in Riverside. Northward views … and the lower elevation in the background:
A southward view: Note the ancient insulated joint on the lower left.
K.P. 40 years ago used to be employed just down the street, and when on the A.M. shift, regularly saw Santa Fe’s San Jac heading to the community of San Jacinto. When on the P.M. shift, regularly saw the train returning to San Bernardino.
Continued in Section G
Part I, Section “E” (of A-I)
There used to be until very recently a diamond here, but no more. View looks physically southwest on the alignment of UP’s old Riverside Industrial Lead.
The above diamond removal was in conjunction with the I-215 widening and the Colton Flyover construction.
Continued in Section “F”
Part I, Section “D” (of A-I)
From Marlborough Ave. looking north
Looking south:
Continued in Section E
Part I, Section “C” (of A-I)
Intermodal trailers from the train in the last photo of Section B passes left to right. Somewhere in the green grassy area underneath those cars (most likely on the upper left) a future track will curve to out of view on the left bottom track.
Looking south (westbound under BNSF, likely eastbound under Metrolink) on the San Jac Line, the wye track should cut in somewhere in this view. The track and ties have deteriorated considerably from years past. The track is now reportedly owned by Metrolink.
Just a side note, looking the other way, north, one can see the San Jac’s junction with the BNSF Transcon (and that same eastbound train in Part B) going into the distance.
At this point in time, it is unknown if Metrolink trains from San Bernardino will go to Perris too, maybe on weekends, and use the just above bottom track.
Continued in Section D
Part I, Section “B” (of A-I)
An eastbound view from Mission Inn Ave.:
An eastward September 30, 2012 view from Iowa Ave. (BNSF M.P. 7.3):
On the upper right of the above view, a branching off curve to the San Jac Line will be put in.
From Villa St., a first look for the forum of the San Jacinto Branch (photo bottom) as a BNSF eastbound passes.
Continued in Section C
Part I (of I-III), Section “A” (of A-I)
We start actually away from the San Jacinto Branch, in downtown Riverside, where the Los Angeles to Riverside “91 Line” (named after the nearby 91 Freeway) currently ends, at overnight tracks with bumper posts.
A telephoto of those overnight tracks, with the Riverside stop in the background upper right:
The triple-track BNSF line with the overhead pedestrian bridge for accessing both sides of the tracks: The main station is on the right.
Pot signals are used in tight clearance areas.
Note the background signal bridge when the AT&SF line was originally triple-tracked in the early 1990’s. When Metrolink put up the overhead walkway bridge to additional platform space (left), the Main 3 signal (left) on the signal bridge was deleted and pot signals were necessary because of close clearances.
The above photos were shot from Mission Inn Ave. (BNSF San Bernardino Sub, M.P. 9.8). Mission Inn Ave. years ago used to be named 7th Street.
Really looking forward to this thread. Hopefully the construction contracts are bid upon and issued sometime soon; that is a remaining hurdle to this project.
Not sure if I posted this on the Sunset thread: http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/perris/perris-headlines-index/20130119-perris-planning-commission-approves-metrolink-station.ece
The Future Perris Valley Line
The purpose of this thread is to share update information on rebuilding a portion of Southern California’s ex-Santa Fe Railway San Jacinto Branch, commonly called the San Jac …
… to become the new Perris Valley Line of the commuter agency Metrolink.
The Metrolink Colton maintenance facility
The commuter line will run from Riverside (as a continuation of the 91 Line) to Perris. That commuter agency is most closely related to Los Angeles, perhaps 60 miles to the west.
An official Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) website on the project:
LINK: Information ... and Photo of Metrolink in Perris
A detailed overview of the present old line is to follow, in THREE multi-sectioned parts. Part I will be presented Monday, January 28, 2013; Part II is scheduled for Wednesday, January 30, 2013; and finally Part III on Friday, February 1, 2013. All presentations will be posted by 9:00 A.M. Pacific Time on the scheduled date, but most likely much earlier.
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