Here's some additional background on the Lake Coke 2nd main, including a visual.
https://www.railwayage.com/mw/bnsf-forges-more-funnel-double-track/?RAchannel=home
Not mentioned in the RA story is the fact that BNSF put up a sturdy barbed wire fence along its property on the northeast end of the lake to prevent people from walking from the highway parking areas across the two mains to access the shoreline. A smaller section of fence tops a retaining wall that was added at the southeast end of the lake.
As for the signal upgrade between Sandpoint and Whitefish, I can't speak for the entire route, but from what I've personally observed between Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry this year, there have been some new signals installed at unbonded sidings, but trains have still been entering those sidings at restricted speed. That tells the transformation was only part way done, at least as of this past summer. I haven't been east of Bonners Ferry since this time last year.
BTW the second main track section next to Cocolalla Lake has been put in service recently. CP Reasor, a new universal crossover at MP 14.3, also is in service with CP Cocolalla and CP W Algoma being retired. 2MT CTC is now continuous from CP Otis Orchards MP 58.9 east to CP East Algoma MP 5.1 on the Spokane sub.
Found a related article penned by our correspondent Bruce Kelly: https://www.railwayage.com/mw/bnsf-forges-more-funnel-double-track/
Some of the unbonded sidings between Sandpoint ID and Whitefish MT should be 'signalized' by now, need to check ATCS Monitor for kit updates. Or maybe some sightings by some locals ....
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! ***
Yes.
Bruce KellyYes, BNSF plans to add a second main between Otis Orchards and Irvin, WA. A distance of just over four miles. ...
Will that close the double track gap all the way to Spokane?
Those old stone piers are from the original 1881 NP alignment, which made more of a sweeping S-bend crossing of the river. BN track charts from the 1990s indicate the current bridge and alignment were built 1909-1911. That was when NP was shifting much of its main line slightly to the south where it runs through Parkwater, Yardley, and Erie Street Yard, utilizing a long, low trench between Yardley and Erie Street. Some segments of the original main are still in service for a mile or two west of Yardley and east of Parkwater. All of this was in conjunction with NP's construction of its elevated viaduct through downtown to eliminate the numerous street crossings.
Bruce KellyIt will require a pretty large bridge over the Spokane River and an awful lot of approach fill.
Here's a pic of the existing bridge via Bridgehunter:
More details: http://bridgehunter.com/wa/spokane/bh50196/
Apparently there was another bridge north of this one decades ago; the footings can be seen from the Hwy-290/Trent Ave street view. Anyone know the history?
Yes, BNSF plans to add a second main between Otis Orchards and Irvin, WA. A distance of just over four miles. It will require a pretty large bridge over the Spokane River and an awful lot of approach fill. Here's a link to one of the last local news stories about it. The expected spring 2019 start-up hasn't begun, and the news story mis-identifies the east end of the proposed project as Hauser, ID. That's obviously incorrect, since there's been 2MT between Hauser and Otis Orchards for 21 years.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/feb/26/bnsf-to-double-track-on-line-linking-spokane-valle/
Are there plans to double track Otis Orchards-Spokane ?
Mike, this part of BNSF often out-performs the national trend. It does have its share of intermodal (nowhere near what the southern Transcon handles) but is also blessed with a wide variety of domestic carload traffic, bulk ag traffic (mostly grain), crude bound for terminals up and down the west coast, and coal bound for two PNW powerplants as well as for export (the latter via B.C. ports).
Trade wars or not, peak season/fall rush in the PNW typically begins in late July, everything from harvested grain moving west to back-to-school and holiday (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas) merchandise moving east. It gets heaviest during October-November. To be fair, without a month's worth of lineups at my fingertips, I can only give you anectdotal observations from the Funnel. I live within eyesight and earshot of West Hauser, and with clear scanner reception at home that ranges from well west of Spokane to slightly east of Sandpoint. Some days and nights lately have been slower or busier than others. What I witnessed last Saturday at Sandpoint was typical of recent years, but seemed oddly abundant for what is supposedly a depressed period for rail traffic in general.
MRL has been averaging 25-30 trains per day over Mullan Pass (up considerably from previous years), the majority of which are overhead BNSF trains which join the Funnel at Sandpoint. Just so happens that on my multiple visits to Sandpoint so far this year, it seemed as though half (if not more) of the trains through that lovely city and crossing the Lake Pend Oreille bridge were coming off of or heading onto MRL.
Thanks for the status update, Bruce!
Bruce KellyWife and I spent Saturday in Sandpoint, photographing 31 trains between 6am and 8pm. That's not counting the 5 or 6 trains we passed during the 45 minute drive north and likewise on the way home, plus the half-dozen or more trains that rolled through Sandpoint during the high-sun middle hours of the day when we grabbed lunch and enjoyed some non-camera time at the beach.
That's an astonishing amount of traffic, is it typical for this time of year?
Someone needs to sponsor a webcam on this segment of the northern transcon; the southern is well covered.
Track-laying and ballast dumping for the second main along Lake Cocolalla began last week. West Algoma is gone and a new control point, CP Reasor, has been added just west of there. BNSF tells me the name is in honor of a railroad family who once lived in the area. In just a matter of weeks, the Funnel will be solid 2MT from Otis Orchards, WA, to just short of the Lake Pend Oreille bridge at East Algoma.
Wife and I spent Saturday in Sandpoint, photographing 31 trains between 6am and 8pm. That's not counting the 5 or 6 trains we passed during the 45 minute drive north and likewise on the way home, plus the half-dozen or more trains that rolled through Sandpoint during the high-sun middle hours of the day when we grabbed lunch and enjoyed some non-camera time at the beach.
Mike, on the 11th I did some shooting at the bridge. Grading is still under way along Lake Cocolalla. No track for second main laid there yet.
I discovered a couple of YT videos showing the impressive Lake Pend Orielle bridge that BNSF is planning to augment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2Nu7SJvE_Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojPlhBeiCJA
So far I have not found any recent status reports on Kootenai Sub signaling upgrades - about 11 sidings were still unbonded at last count.
Sort of related, I went down to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha today 03/31/19) and took the Wisconsin side because the highway hugs the BNSF Northern Transcon for a majority of the distance between Prescott, WI and Nelson, WI where you cross to Wabasha.
It is two-main-track territory. Main 2 (which is predominantly eastbound traffic under normal conditions) was a parking lot, with 9 trains parked on it with no crews. Main 1 was functioning as a single track mainline, with traffic passing in both directions.
MidlandMikeThey might downgrade the line thru Newton, so more problems for the SW Chief.
Not likely; BNSF is getting good value out of the LaJunta sub for rerouting due to upstream flooding.
kgbw49It will be interesting to see if the last two bridge projects at Alva, OK and Sibley, MO ever get the green light for double tracking.
I think the Alva bridge project is 'shovel ready' since it was suspended around 2016, presumably to use the budget for the Ft. Sumner, NM bridge and second MT. I would be surprised if the Sibley crossing upgrade made any progress until the similarly massive Lake Pend Orielle bridge (Sandpoint, ID) build is well underway.
It will be intereating to see if the last two bridge projects at Alva, OK and Sibley, MO ever get the green light for double tracking.
I know that they take a long time with all the permitting required, and they have to fight for capital with all the other priorities.
Of the two, it seems the one at Alva over the Salt Fork Arkansas River is closest, with the approach grading on the north side already completed.
Alva is just northeast (railroad east) of Avard, OK where traffic for St. Louis, Memphis, Birmingham and Atlanta breaks off the Transcon on former Frisco trackage.
Found this ... not sure if it was shared previously ...
kgbw49I wonder if that means that they plan to operate fewer trains through Wichita on the "paired main lines" section of the Southern Transcon?
They might downgrade the line thru Newton, so more problems for the SW Chief.
kgbw49Or perhaps the will route merchandise trains through Wichita both ways and intermodal will go both ways on the Emporia Subdivision.
The line thru Newton follows the Cottonwood River (ie. "water level route") thru the Flint Hills, whereas the line thru El Dorado goes over the hills. I wonder if that might favor your scenario?
BNSF indicates that they will be installing some double track on portions of the Emporia Subdivision between Wellington, KS and Kansas City, ostensibly to handle growing intermodal traffic.
http://www.bnsf.com/news-media/news-releases/bnsf-capital-program-kansas-2019.html
I wonder if that means that they plan to operate fewer trains through Wichita on the "paired main lines" section of the Southern Transcon?
Or perhaps they will route merchandise trains through Wichita both ways and intermodal will go both ways on the Emporia Subdivision.
Time will tell and it will be interesting to see what happens!
Here is the other single track gap on the BNSF Southern Transcon - the crossing of the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River at Alva OK.
interestingly, there has been a lot of grading completed on the Oklahoma side of the river, including what looks like sub-base laid on a substantial portion of the graded section.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Alva,+OK+73717/@36.8129481,-98.6627411,415m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x87af6fe53e8e4b29:0x5507c579d3a68a71!8m2!3d36.8050308!4d-98.6664737
Interesting video at the end of this article by BNSF on how changes at Amarillo increase capacity.
https://www.bnsf.com/news-media/railtalk/service/southern-transcon.html
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sibley+Railroad+Bridge/@39.1798997,-94.1816013,867m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x87c1093c5f054fb5:0x14df44822633ea28!8m2!3d39.1798997!4d-94.1794126
One of two remaining single-track bottlenecks on the Southern Transcon - the massive bridge over the Missouri River at Sibley, MO. This will be an expensive gap to close.
You can see the many refueling tanks on KP's map.The need to save some time for track work might be why the trains are stacked up? Awaiting release of track by MOW?
diningcarYes, and a crew change stop. But, significantly, it is a train inspection stop where the train is walked on both sides.
1000 Mile air brake inspection?
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Yes, and a crew change stop. But, significantly, it is a train inspection stop where the train is walked on both sides.
Isn't Belen a refueling stop?
If followers of this thread will study aerials of Belen, New Mexico, they will find at least EIGHT crew change tracks, four westbound on the north end of town, and four eastbound on the south end, positioned for the trains direction of travel.
Westbound:
https://goo.gl/maps/H9GXA6ZeKo12
Eastbound:
https://goo.gl/maps/jVMHr9gUQeB2
At Winslow, AZ and Needles, CA trains stack up for changing crews. It has to be wondered why hotshots go 70 M.P.H. just to sit a long time trying to make relief at Winslow and Needles. They could save much fuel if trains were limited to 30 M.P.H. across the territory, and stagger arrivals.
My colleague was actually in Needles very recently, and he saw no track work or grading west of town up to Ibis. BNSF really should rethink the current additional track efforts before too much money is spent, maybe relocating the relief spot, so trains have a NUMBER of tracks to utilize for reliefs and quickly move on, as at Belen. THAT is more like the Transcon, and not a bunch of trains stacked up unproductively!
Of course, stacked up trains waiting reliefs are symptomatic of ‘pay per run’ operations. Who cares if crews waste time sitting around waiting to be relieved. Nobody is accountable, and management seems to be too incapable for some reason to see that! All they see is costs they can cut. IF, and the following statement should not be construed as promoting it, but if crews were paid by the hour, magically such extra relief tracks would spring up seemingly out of thin air! There, then, appears to be a flaw in management’s present thinking, and probably even top dog Mr. Buffet hasn’t figured THAT out yet!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.
It would appear that the quadruple track in Belen and Needles are related to the crew change points. At Belen it is also related to the climb out of the river valley, but with 4 tracks, one can stack quite a few trains on two of the tracks to wait for a re-crew while still having double track capacity open. And one could also stack lower priority trains on the additional tracks while allowing higher priority trains to pass them.
BNSF has released a few state-specific details of its 2019 plans. The only expansion projects I've found so far are building two miles of second MT near Wishram, WA (northern transcon) and a "multi-year project to install double track on portions of the Emporia Subdivision" (southern transcon in KS). The longest single track section of the latter is between CP 1271 and CP East El Dorado (MP 171), about 44 miles.
Smaller, ongoing projects are often not mentioned. Perhaps the three mile single track section near Alva, OK needs some reconnaissance when construction season starts.
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