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New cross country perishable train

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 8:31 AM
124 hours is a bit slow, but.... if you can load 55 railcars and keep em cool across the USA and have constant service it might put a good face on perisable once again.

The Northeast has a insatible appetite for food as does the rest of the USA.

How often will Albany recieve such a train? The reason I ask is because you can only generate so many loads, empty rolling stock and facilities to process everything so often.
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 9:11 AM
I was using the figure for a "team" truck (2 drivers in the same vehicle), which is really the only way to get from WA to BOS/NY in 5 days safely, to compare with our 5 day service, it is a much higher rate than single driver. Also figuring 4th quarter, which is historically higher and tighter due to harvest, and fuel continuing to rise a bit more. I'm sure a slight dollop of exaggeration was is there as well, I stand slightly corrected; But even figuring at say 7G, Railex plans to deliver almost 3X as much product for relatively the same price. So yes, if reliability is there (Obviously my job #1), and we have been assured by UP and CSX that it will be, we hope to do quite well. And yes, other routes are a definite possibility, some of the NS cities that have had long delivery times are being examined, the model could apply to several cities, with hubs in CA and WA. The WA/NY link was the obvious first choice due to demand.
HAve a good day guys,
Bill
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 9:20 AM
Um...OK in order i guess..
UP only for now
Unit train; rolling stock not an issue; Plenty of loads year round; Not just NE, can ease down upper east coast as well. Warehouse/inventory services in Albany. Think of it as an FOB warehouse gents: Your WA product becomes FOB Albany. A shipper can stage product in our facility and ship to many different customers.
We start with one train arriving in Albany every 12 days; then go to 2 once proven.
Conventional cars will be rec'd in between unit trains as well...
Bill
(How come no one picked up on the Green Goats doing the yardwork?? THAT"S cool..LOL)

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Posted by Home erfline rr on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 10:26 AM
Hello: I have some observations and questions regarding this "NEW" service.

During the 1920's there were stories of "Silk" trains that were only a few cars long, and had express routing to bring the silk from the Western USA sea ports to the clothing shops in the East Coast Cities.

There are stories and pictures of Pacific Fruit Express Reefer trains running from the Western USA Cities to the Eastern Cities during the 1940's and 1950's.

Is the only difference between this latest venture and the above two examples only that these trains will orginate and end in specialized warehouses with climate controlled loading unloading areas?

The question I have is the refernce to Coast to Coast. Albany is a land locked city in New York State. How does that translate to Coast to Coast?

I do see the benefits of using a dedicated train to bring the produce to the East, but is the Railway going to not take advanctage of higher East to West freight rates and ship other items to the West on the same unit trains?
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 10:38 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by Mallman64

In response to the "cherry picker" comments, who is obviously in the trucking industry; let me see if I can give you a different perspective on the "womb to tomb" scenario. If the farmer in Washington State harvests his cherries and puts his 3 month window into his state-of-the-art coolers and then has his salesmen pound the phone for over the road truckers as in the past but most recently to no avail, those cherries just "hand around the coolers with no where to go for up to 7-10 days at times, depending on whether or not the reliable trucking industry feels like working their way up from Cal where the supply is better and less driving. Now 5 days go by and low and behold, here comes a 48 footer with an attitude!! He loads his truck with those beautiful bings, load locks himself in, and off to Boston he goes. He checks his unit and its 90 degrees outside but its a cool 36 degrees in his trailer. He goes down the road and has 5 days till his delivery. More chances than not the driver is getting 5-6 grand for the trip so on the second day he says what the f... and desides to go to his favorite truck-stop and cop some crystal meth!! Any trucker with any brains knows he can make the trip in 4 days so WHY NOT HAVE A LITTLE FUN! Couple of white-trash rest area "hoes" glass pipe and who needs to call in!!!! Meanwhile the cherries inside ain't feeling so good because the unit tripped and now the temperatures a rising faster than the blood pressure of our "California turn-around" driver. We all know the story from here. Driver misses delivery, brings unit back down to temp first, loses the temp recorder, retailer rejects load, and rather than transload through a temp controlled rail center and inspect and deliver cherries through a destination point on the eastern seaboard for "just in time delivery" you are telling me that we should rely on the present "highly efficient" trucking inddustry that takes up 90 percent of the day, looking for these past heroes of the highway. Good for the railroad for showing some steel!!! I'd rather be on a GPS refrig train the first day out of a cooler than a truck attitude the 7th day out of the same cooler, without the glass pipe!!!!

ENDQOUTE.

First off. Let me say this.

ANY driver caught smoking while on duty will be arrested, sent to jail and license is in danger.

A typical long haul reefer driver is a company man who expects to make .25 cents a mile not 5-6 thousand dollars. That money probably needs the lading to be signed for delivered and the paper work processed. It can take 2 weeks to get the 5-6 thousand.

Staying out of the interstate rest areas and keeping the left door shut and out of the truck stop is the way to protect yourself, your health, the truck and the load. If you cannot do any of this then I dont want you in a class 8 truck resposnisble for a great deal of equiptment, expensive cargo and service contracts.

Some of the things I concede to trucking as I have had some wild times, but nothing that will prevent me from sharing with the family. But the perception that truckers are smoking while on duty, seeking out infected (Sexually and probably physically -medically) people who prey on those who dont know any better and other activites designed to prevent safe, fast and accurate transport of cargo is unacceptable to me. Period.

That driver will find himself out of a job and probably in so much trouble it will take alot of time, effort and money to clear up. Something hard to come by when you are trying to make a living on the road.

Now that I have had my rant in response to this posting I gotta say that I support this train service from Washington. It's very hard to get into the Yakima and out again probably thru the Eastern Oregon especially in the dead of winter which happens to be Chain season during the harvest.

You tell me that this methadone smoked driver who is zoned out on his on world filled with pleasures and sickness is going to have the strength and the skills to bring a convoy of 100 trucks over the cabbage safely during a winter storm.

YEA RIGHT.

Put it on the train, each of those reefers can be tracked via GPS and monitored in real time for any mechanical or temperature problems.

I ran reefer for a number of years and they were pretty reliable. I had a unit go down on me at Grand Junction on a chilly 50 degree rainy night at midnight due in Denver at 7 the next morning. I got up and took it straight thru the now 40 degree rain into denver because 1- no repair shops other than Salt Lake or Denver and 2- the value of the load was in excess of 100,000 and I will not be the one that loses it as a company driver.

The load was repaired in Denver with some Heroics by Carrier getting out of bed and to work way earlier than usual start time. And the delivery was made.

With that in mind, the Railroad is going to need an ability and manpower to respond to any number of reefer problems within 3 hours anywhere on the line. There are mobile repair units ready but I would expect nothing but the newest and the very best reefer cars for this job.

Some produce is just too hot time wise to meet the 124 hour service. But Apples and stuff like Potatoes are just fine.
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 10:49 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by rrandb

QUOTE: [i]

Greyhounds,


Question: Is there anyone out there who thinks that box of cherries is going to get from the orchard to NYC just as fast as the over the road truckers, or at the same cost to the grower/marketer? By that time, the over the road truckers will have handled two cross country trips between existing facilities, probably with backhaul to boot, which totally negates rail's efficiency advantage since the truckers will have hauled just as much freight in that time period as the rail cars.


I am a little fuzzy on the math here. How is that two truckers (team drivers) who haul two truckloads in ten days at twice the cost and half the amount of freight (4 truckloads per freight car) are more cost effective and competitive than the railroad. Besides the fact if they are driving a SAT linked tractor there dispatcher could shut them down for either speed or hours violations. To even have a prayer of 2 West Coast turnarounds in ten days you better be able to to drop and pick trailers at both ends. One way will be deadheading. Throw in a back haul and they will back for more cherries in 7-8 days. Unless of course they're back hauling from the same warehouses. NOT This revival of a tried and true method of deliving fresh produce to the east coast by rail will be something to look forward to. [2c] As always ENJOY


A team will get from Yakima to Boston in about 3 days flat including day and night provided weather cooperates. Turn around time to the NW or west coast will likely be 3-4 days and yer ready to reload again if everything is forklift unload or drop and hook. Ive done it and also as a Single I can make a complete USA Turn around in less than 10 days but probably violate a number of HOS designed to save lives.

Thousands of truckers make the journey into the major cities north of DC and east of Pittsburgh each night, flowing in from all kinds of places around the USA. Those are the ones who feed the Northeast.

Rail service will have to really re-discover the old 40's and 50's facilites for transloading all over again. Imagine a 50 car train pulling into a distribution center and by noon the cargo is ready for the local trucks to the stores. You will need alot of precision, manpower, equiptment and workers with strong backs. It can be done. But it must be done maybe a short distance outside of the metro area itself of any major city.

Especially away from the Markets. Those are places where it is worth a driver's life to deliver a load on some nights.

The disptacher who shuts down a driver in the middle of Wyoming 100 miles from any suitable facility in a winter storm will be just the same as pulling the trigger. I will support some functions of the satellite but there are just somethings that MUST remain under the control of the driver. If the driver cannot or is not legally able to do the run, the problem must be found and solved because customers WILL find another carrier or put it on the rail.

I dont consider West Coast loads to be backhauls. Heck even a nice load of fresh Pallets made from Maple or Oak will be gold.

That box of Cherries will be taken care of just fine. I have hauled a few of these and they are usually under state control and are followed by paperwork that all but steals your soul.
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 11:02 AM
There was a comment regarding 4 truck loads in each rail car.

Alot of the work is LCL. So a Diner in Jersey might ask for 4 pallets of Apples for the week. (Apple Pies, apple sauce, apple salad etc... mmmmm)

2000 pounds per pallet (Not actual weight but sometimes lighter or heavier) 8,000 pounds will fit in about 8 feet worth of a Reefer Rail Car's or truck deck. You probably have another oh... 40-45 more feet worth of deck to load for any number of Jersey customers.

Ive had up to 15-24 customers on a single trailer in LCL service during the Nursery battle push and upwards of 15 or more during some of the produce pushes east.

The most intense form of LCL I know of is direct delivery to restraunts (Spelling?) such as Red Lobsters from distribution centers and under control of corperations such as Darden who controls the consuming facilities. You cannot do that on rail.
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 12:39 PM
Wow...you guys know your stuff...this is fun...although it is like having 6 people asking questions at the same time to someone who would much prefer to speak than type.
A few points:
Yes, Albany is landlocked..LOL...however it is by design...think about it geographically, it is better to stop there both from a real estate value perspective as well as a location point. Albany is 3 hrs from NYC, 3hrs from Boston, 3 hrs from Montreal, 4 hrs from Philly, etc etc etc. You have only to look at our neighbors in the park to see that is a pivotal area: Fedex & Price Chopper. Nearby Hannaford, C&S etc etc. A truck being loaded directly from the train overnight can reach these DCs or a terminal mkt with 3-4 hrs making early morning delivery every time. AND custom loaded with multiple sizes OR differnt customers as well. Full car prices but custom truck loads, any receiver would love that. Individual store del are possible, but we are a platform much better suited to hit DCs and Terminal mkts.
Silk train was interesting, I'd never heard of that. But the difference between this operation and a 40/50/s era 36ft ice bunker reefer car express train are
significant to say the least.
These reefer cars are brand new; Problems should not be an issue; However they are satellite CONTROLLED which means if we DO encounter a problem, it will be found very quickly and even if no service is avail, simply shutting the unit off and letting it rely on it's precool and insulation should be sufficient for such a short trip.
Perhaps a tour of the facility will be in order once we are operating! If you guys can all get together I'd be happy to show you around.
Regards,
Bill
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Posted by Chris30 on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 12:46 PM
The UP has been running perishable trains from the west coast to N Platte, NE and resorting the cars for four(?) midwest/east coast destinations for several years now. The UP perishable freight that eventually ends up at Albany, NY (Selkirk Yard) is QNPSKP (N Platte-Selkirk perishable). Is this new business going to be a seperate unit train directly from Washington to New York? Or, will the 55 cars go to N Platte and then be added to QNPSKP? If the 55 cars were added to QNPSKP then it probably would be a true perisable freight. (If I'm correct, QNPSKP gets filled out with non-perisable freight for Chicago & the northeast that gets switched in/out at Proviso Yard.)

CC
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 12:54 PM
completely separate...no stops...crew change only in chicago...talk is to allow UP motive pwr to go all the way to S Schenectady....but you are correct QNPSKP goes into Selkirk where it is humped. Those are conventional perishable cars. Also no excess height cars can continue on into Boston, although not sure about Hunt's Point.
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Posted by Chris30 on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 1:05 PM
Thanks Bill. I'll give you the bonus questions now. Is the unit train currently operating? And do you have any idea what the UP symbol for this train is?

CC
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 1:21 PM
Negative....Look for 1st train latter half of Sept...no Idea on symbology just yet...Ops mtg today in Omaha w/UP...will find out....
B
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 2:06 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by bcrailex

completely separate...no stops...crew change only in chicago...talk is to allow UP motive pwr to go all the way to S Schenectady....but you are correct QNPSKP goes into Selkirk where it is humped. Those are conventional perishable cars. Also no excess height cars can continue on into Boston, although not sure about Hunt's Point.


Hunts Point is truck only.

If they get railcars into Hunts I'll eat my steering wheel. I spent some time at Hunts.

I dont think Albany is land locked. There is a river that runs to the sea in that area. Surely it can carry navigatible river traffic?

I think Albany will be doing alot of Grand Union business in that area, I used to run Eggs out of Maryland into that area and Butter; spices from Baltimore into that part of the NY state.

One of the things about the Northeast, they consume everything. It's hard to get anything out of there.
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Posted by rrandb on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 2:22 PM
Thanks again Bill . It is a real pleasure to have you on board. I hope we haven't pestered you to the point that you won't stay. GOOD LUCK There are many more rooting for you than just your suppliers and customers. [2c]
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Posted by CShaveRR on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 3:39 PM
UP's symbol will probably contain new letter combinations for both origin and destination (don't eliminate anything logical from consideration because it's already in use). I doubt that it will just be considered a Hinkle-to-Selkirk train. Whether it begins with a "Q" (priority manifest) or "O" (other unit train) remains to be seen. It will probably end with a "P", denoting the perishables it's hauling.

The new reefers ought to be OK for 70-mph operation on UP, loaded or empty. The current QNPSKP often carries cars that slow it down to 50. Chris, I haven't looked at this train too much lately, but believe that it still carries one block in addition to the Selkirk block, which is set off at Proviso for forwarding (I think they're CN cars, or something like that); the Selkirks from the hump are also added. I suspect that this will still happen after the new train is running, but the train may lose the "P" from its designation.

Carl

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Posted by rrandb on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 4:02 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by Safety Valve

There was a comment regarding 4 truck loads in each rail car.

Alot of the work is LCL. So a Diner in Jersey might ask for 4 pallets of Apples for the week. (Apple Pies, apple sauce, apple salad etc... mmmmm)

2000 pounds per pallet (Not actual weight but sometimes lighter or heavier) 8,000 pounds will fit in about 8 feet worth of a Reefer Rail Car's or truck deck. You probably have another oh... 40-45 more feet worth of deck to load for any number of Jersey customers.


This will be dedicated unit trains from dedicated perishable terminal to terminal. LCL should not be an issue. At 4 truckloads per car times 55 cars we should see many reefer vans available to haul those LCL which are illsuited to rail traffic.[2c]
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 4:17 PM
Not a pester at all...once again thanks for all the kind words. It's nice to see the interest and support out there. Also great to see you guys kick it around amongst eachother like a RR thinktank. As an avid model RR guy as well, this was a job opportunity I couldn't pass up after 20+ years in produce packing in Boston. So I'm just as excited about it, both for myself and RR in general.
Bill
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 9:30 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by rrandb

QUOTE: Originally posted by Safety Valve

There was a comment regarding 4 truck loads in each rail car.

Alot of the work is LCL. So a Diner in Jersey might ask for 4 pallets of Apples for the week. (Apple Pies, apple sauce, apple salad etc... mmmmm)

2000 pounds per pallet (Not actual weight but sometimes lighter or heavier) 8,000 pounds will fit in about 8 feet worth of a Reefer Rail Car's or truck deck. You probably have another oh... 40-45 more feet worth of deck to load for any number of Jersey customers.


This will be dedicated unit trains from dedicated perishable terminal to terminal. LCL should not be an issue. At 4 truckloads per car times 55 cars we should see many reefer vans available to haul those LCL which are illsuited to rail traffic.[2c]


Well, when that train pulls into Albany with's cornicopia (Spelling) the food is probably going to end up being broken down into alot of different orders as required. With saying 4 trucks to take away one Reefer load and 55 Reefers to unload ye are going to need around 200 trucks ready or more to fill your orders the day you unload that train.

Or am I spinning myself out on your operation in Albany?
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Posted by rrandb on Thursday, June 8, 2006 12:01 AM
Yes, 220 trucks in local or at best regional service not coast to coast. Might be nice to see your gal (or guy if your a female driver) more often. Maybe not.
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Posted by greyhounds on Thursday, June 8, 2006 12:19 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by Safety Valve



Well, when that train pulls into Albany with's cornicopia (Spelling) the food is probably going to end up being broken down into alot of different orders as required. With saying 4 trucks to take away one Reefer load and 55 Reefers to unload ye are going to need around 200 trucks ready or more to fill your orders the day you unload that train.

Or am I spinning myself out on your operation in Albany?


As long as Railex is dealing with commodities such as apples, the loads won't have to move out the same day as arrival. The apples are generally placed in storage after harvest anyway. (frozen patatoes will work too.)

The shipper can sell out of the Railex facility and promise next day delivery on Washington apples instead of selling out of a storage facility 3,000 miles away.

But if and when they get into something like lettuce, that stuff is going to have to be levitated from train to truck and delivered PDQ.

TOFC might make more sense for more time sensative commodities such as lettuce. It could ride the same train and be ramped de-ramped at the same facilities.
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, June 8, 2006 12:41 AM
Me thinks the Produce like Lettuce and greens need to stay with the OTR team drivers, there is just too much waiting going on at the dock for these as they are literally picked and cooled to order.

Ive been sent one too many times to a place called Americold south of Salinas near the coast by hot and lathered desperate dispatchers only to be told on arrival that I must wait. That time I waited 44 hours straight in front of the dock 20 feet from the shippers window blowing fumes that a way watching videos and fixing food onboard.

Naw, stick with the Apples only dont be late, I think Safeway in Atlanta cries bloody murder if you are 10 seconds later than 7 am at the dock with papers in hand on apples.
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Posted by greyhounds on Thursday, June 8, 2006 1:19 AM
Railroads can haul lettuce.

www.ams.usda.gov/fv/mncs/shipsumm05.pdf

They did about 4,900 TOFC loads last year. See page 10.

It's a small fraction of what moved by truck, but it moved.

Railroads are not going to win a cross country race with a team of drivers. It's going to be a trade off between one less day of shelf life on the lettuce and the rate savings by rail.

"By many measures, the U.S. freight rail system is the safest, most efficient and cost effective in the world." - Federal Railroad Administration, October, 2009. I'm just your average, everyday, uncivilized howling "anti-government" critic of mass government expenditures for "High Speed Rail" in the US. And I'm gosh darn proud of that.
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Posted by ericsp on Thursday, June 8, 2006 1:23 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by Safety Valve

QUOTE: Originally posted by bcrailex

completely separate...no stops...crew change only in chicago...talk is to allow UP motive pwr to go all the way to S Schenectady....but you are correct QNPSKP goes into Selkirk where it is humped. Those are conventional perishable cars. Also no excess height cars can continue on into Boston, although not sure about Hunt's Point.


Hunts Point is truck only.

If they get railcars into Hunts I'll eat my steering wheel. I spent some time at Hunts.

I dont think Albany is land locked. There is a river that runs to the sea in that area. Surely it can carry navigatible river traffic?

I think Albany will be doing alot of Grand Union business in that area, I used to run Eggs out of Maryland into that area and Butter; spices from Baltimore into that part of the NY state.

One of the things about the Northeast, they consume everything. It's hard to get anything out of there.

Isn't this Hunts Point?
http://maps.google.com/?ll=40.812228,-73.878357&spn=0.002221,0.005885&t=h&om=1

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Posted by Chris30 on Thursday, June 8, 2006 10:27 AM
Ok, just for fun, I'll take a shot at the UP symbol for this new unit train. The new refer cars are good for 70mph? Interesting. Then again, if you're trying to get from Washington to New York in five days those cars better move!

ZWASKP (Z=high priority, WA=Wallula, WA or Washington, SK=Selkirk, NY, P=perishable)
or
ZWARTP (RT=Rotterdam, NY)

A "Z" train without one trailer or container? Now that would be interesting. To get through Chicago I'm guessing scheduled late night arrival, IHB and a crew change at Barr Yard (CSX). I wouldn't rule out the possibility routing this train over "J" to get around Chicago. A "Z" on the "J". That would be interesting too. Although I'm starting to see stack trains on the "J" now.

QNPSKP - As long as a majority of this train is perishable freight, I don't see the "P" (perishable) designation being dropped. Maybe it's just me, but the perishable designation adds a weight of urgency and makes it stand out from other more routine freight trains.

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, June 8, 2006 1:59 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp

QUOTE: Originally posted by Safety Valve

QUOTE: Originally posted by bcrailex

completely separate...no stops...crew change only in chicago...talk is to allow UP motive pwr to go all the way to S Schenectady....but you are correct QNPSKP goes into Selkirk where it is humped. Those are conventional perishable cars. Also no excess height cars can continue on into Boston, although not sure about Hunt's Point.


Hunts Point is truck only.

If they get railcars into Hunts I'll eat my steering wheel. I spent some time at Hunts.

I dont think Albany is land locked. There is a river that runs to the sea in that area. Surely it can carry navigatible river traffic?

I think Albany will be doing alot of Grand Union business in that area, I used to run Eggs out of Maryland into that area and Butter; spices from Baltimore into that part of the NY state.

One of the things about the Northeast, they consume everything. It's hard to get anything out of there.

Isn't this Hunts Point?
http://maps.google.com/?ll=40.812228,-73.878357&spn=0.002221,0.005885&t=h&om=1


Yep that's hunts!

Just noticed how they got rail sidings into the place, I guess I better get started on that steering wheel for dinner. =)
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Posted by jeffhergert on Friday, June 9, 2006 9:12 PM


QNPSKP - As long as a majority of this train is perishable freight, I don't see the "P" (perishable) designation being dropped. Maybe it's just me, but the perishable designation adds a weight of urgency and makes it stand out from other more routine freight trains.

CC

[(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]
When it first started, it seemed to get better treatment out on the road. Even went to the Clinton-Mo Valley Long Pool instead of the Fremont-Boone, Boone-Clinton Short Pools.
Now it seems to be just another manifest train.
Jeff
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Posted by ericsp on Saturday, June 10, 2006 12:16 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by jeffhergert


QUOTE:
QNPSKP - As long as a majority of this train is perishable freight, I don't see the "P" (perishable) designation being dropped. Maybe it's just me, but the perishable designation adds a weight of urgency and makes it stand out from other more routine freight trains.

CC

[(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]
When it first started, it seemed to get better treatment out on the road. Even went to the Clinton-Mo Valley Long Pool instead of the Fremont-Boone, Boone-Clinton Short Pools.
Now it seems to be just another manifest train.
Jeff

Perhaps that is why the QFRNPP is looking shorter these days, sad.

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, June 15, 2006 5:35 PM
OK Gentlemen,
Here's the word I've gotten form UP for our symbology:

ZWASSP

Z for highest priority despite no containers ( A term of our contract)
WA Walulla
SS South Schenectady
P Perishable

So I guess we are the Wasp train, better than a bee, we can keep biting...LOL

Was in the S Schenectady yard today reviewing plans for our interlocking switchgear (There is a twin main continuing on to Selkirk, depending on traffic the unit train could end up on either track, so we need to install switches and a crossover to feed into our lead). It's a great place to train watch! In fact there were several people there w/cameras in hand hoping for something interesting heading into Selkirk.Regards,
Bill


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Posted by rrandb on Thursday, June 15, 2006 11:02 PM
Is that a first for Up. A Z train with no containers. It's the Wasp Apple Special P train or double wasp train or ZWASSP WASP. Good luck.
  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Central Iowa
  • 6,901 posts
Posted by jeffhergert on Thursday, June 15, 2006 11:14 PM
Better than one symbol once proposed (according to my local chairman) for an auto train from South St. Paul to Kansas City.

ASSKS

They didn't use that for some reason.

Jeff

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