MikeF90 K. P. Harrier The Sad Hunter Park Commuter Stop In the above mentioned Friday afternoon, an almost totally empty new parking lot, and the evening rush home hadn’t even begun yet. Not seeing any other walking human in the above photos, it looks like ridership is appallingly low. Any rough estimates?
K. P. Harrier The Sad Hunter Park Commuter Stop In the above mentioned Friday afternoon, an almost totally empty new parking lot, and the evening rush home hadn’t even begun yet.
Not seeing any other walking human in the above photos, it looks like ridership is appallingly low. Any rough estimates?
K. P. HarrierThe Sad Hunter Park Commuter Stop In the above mentioned Friday afternoon, an almost totally empty new parking lot, and the evening rush home hadn’t even begun yet.
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A Roundtrip on the PVL
July 12, 2016
Part “H” (of A-H)
Some last views:
Trying to enjoy the ride AND document the scene with a camera is challenging, especially for the first roundtrip. K.P. can hardly wait to ride again, as he already has a mental list of follow-up photos for next time …
On the way back to base, after some things, it was about time for another inbound train to pass Poarch Road.
It came as expected. It was on the descending grade and going quite slow as when K.P. rode it just a few hours earlier.
This will conclude the 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 “G” (of A-H)
We arrive at the South Perris stop.
Note that signal has the lower light off. It was actually on, but the camera caught the light off while red over FLASHING red.
The train went further outbound to a South Perris yard of sorts.
The east westbound signals of CP MAPES:
Continued in Part H
Part “F” (of A-H)
We go up the grade, go under Highway 60, curve around a bit, and come to CP EASTRIDGE, where the BNSF gets on the parallel old track, and we start following the I-215 Freeway.
The Moreno Valley stop:
Paralleling the I-215 Freeway southbound at speed, generally the motorists and the train pretty much stayed even with each other.
Continued in Part G
Part “E” (of A-H)
On the outbound end was the class locomotive, 851 from EMD
An interior shot of the car seats was taken. The seat is thin and looks uncomfortable in the buttocks area when entering and exiting the seat, and THAT sort of throws one off balance a bit.
When leaving the BNSF, the PVL curves sharply. On the outbound trip, with 851 leading, the train took the curve super slowly.
At the Hunter Park stop and leaving it outbound, we start up the steep grade:
Continued in Part F
Part “D” (of A-H)
After the above, K.P. just watched the scene to downtown Riverside:
Continued in Part E
Part “C” (of A-H)
Later, we slowly (“slowly”) go down the Box Springs Mountain grade, and immediately pass that closed to the public Poarch Road grade crossing.
As we go down, down, down the Box Springs grade, and pass that controversial area where in the lawsuit the judge went in favor of those that sued the PVL people.
Just above, on the far right, is that pathway the judge said had to be dealt will. Things were coming and going so fast it was hard to know what to photograph. K.P. knows now what to watch for next time.
The Mt. Vernon Ave. grade crossing and intermediate signal:
Continued in Part D
Part “B” (of A-H)
After the downtown Perris stop, the inbound Metrolink gets parallel to the I-215 Freeway. In the Van Buren Blvd. area we go at speed by BNSF short-term stored Intermodal well cars, including power that includes BNSF 6613.
Then we come to the Moreno Valley / March Field stop.
Continued in Part C
Part “A” (of A-H)
Unlike Lancaster, San Bernardino, etc., a Perris Valley Line (PVL) commuter run does NOT stay at the end of the line stop, but rather goes to a staging or waiting area away from the stop. My train came out to the station stop just a few minutes before departure time.
It soon departed, and passes the first grade crossing.
Continued in Part B
Hey, mvs!
K.P. Joined You in the …
… Ranks of PVL Riders!
Tuesday, July 12, 2016 a Perris Valley Line ride from South Perris to downtown Riverside roundtrip was made. Cool trip!
Fifty-four photos were taken with his old camera. In a few days a brief presentation of the trip is hoped to be put together.
Great Trick at the Riverside …
… Hunter Park Stop, Isn’t It?
How did K.P. shoot this photo if he was ON the arriving train?
Initially with plenty of time to spare as he used to regularly have on dispatches a few years ago, traffic jam after traffic jam was encountered on the freeways, so that K.P. eventually discerned he probably wasn’t going to make the South Perris stop before departure of the next inbound PVL train. End of that effort …
Sad story of futility! But, even sadder was the visual sight of the Riverside Hunter Park PVL stop that he passed on the way back, the stop where the above Friday, July 8, 2016 photo was shot at.
The Sad Hunter Park Commuter Stop
In the above mentioned Friday afternoon, an almost totally empty new parking lot, and the evening rush home hadn’t even begun yet.
In the middle photo, a contracted outfit’s security guard approached (left) to see what K.P. was doing. When that guard found out it was just a railfan, they warmed up and we had a great chat.
The handicapped parking spaces (especially the bottom photo) had NO cars in them whatsoever either. Most places seem to have a Hitler-like T-4 mentality where handicapped have no parking spaces left, and the handicapped circle and circle hoping a handicap space will open up, with sometimes AK-47 shooting fights breaking out as several continually circle the area all searching for one space. That is certainly an interesting ‘American’ way to fulfil Hilter’s dream of a ‘perfect society.’ Obviously, though, no shootout was here at an EMPTY parking lot.
Anyway, there were only a handful of parking spaces occupied in the whole big lot.
The whole place was something to see and was a sad place indeed! In the very top photo (of the train arriving), NO passengers got off nor on … only the conductor, who got off then right back on.
Speaking of the Devil and AK-47’s
The house was packed with my kids and their kids … With half still asleep a short drive to the next community was made for breakfast. Then a stop at the market, BUT, NO handicapped parking spaces was observed. I went for another ‘go around’ and some young man and his girlfriend (or his wife) suddenly quickly backed out of a parking space and crashed into K.P.’s slowly passing car! An AK-47 shootout ensued and NBC Nightly News showed up. (Just kidding on the latter two!) … Anyway, my insurance carrier said it was clearly the other person’s fault. K.P. has another vehicle he can drive, but prefers the one he usually drives, so things may be a bit slow in reporting for a few (or several) weeks …
Take care all,
K.P.
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.
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.
An Outbound PVL at Northern Riverside
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.
This will end the series.
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
Perris South Seems to be a Different …
… Approach to an End of the Line Stop
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.
Part II (of I-III)
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.
Continued in Part III
Part I (of I-III)
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!
Continued in Part II
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.
Very Brief Glimpse of the …
… First Day of Operations
Citrus Street
Riverside, CA
Part “B” (of A-B)
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!
A Very Brief Glimpse of the …
Part “A” (of A-B)
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.
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).
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.
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.
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!
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?
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?
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
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