Party Like It’s 1996
UP SD70ACe 1996, the Southern Pacific heritage locomotive, visited Houston this past weekend. It was the lead unit on the QWCEW-8 (Quality West Colton to Englewood) priority manifest. The train arrived at SoSan Yard at 3:48 PM on Friday. To the extent this train has work at SoSan and East Yard in San Antonio, I was optimistic that it would get to the Houston area mid-morning on Saturday. Which would have been perfect, because the weather was perfect on Saturday.
Unfortunately for me, the train made better then expected time. The train passed through my neck of the Glidden sub before sunrise, arriving at Englewood at 6:28 Saturday morning.
I learned that the 1996 was scheduled to lead the QEWWC-12 train, heading back to West Colton, Sunday afternoon. Of course the perfect weather had moved on, leaving the Houston area with some seriously overcast skies.
Overcast skies can’t stop a true heritage fleet junkie from doing his thing, so I headed out to try my luck at photography under poor lighting conditions.
Arriving to the west end of Englewood about 2 PM was perfect because the QEWWC-12 was just starting his double over. I scrambled up the Lockwood Drive overpass for my first shots:
At it shoved back to couple up with the balance of its train, I moved to capture the other side of the 1996.
Its train coupled up, the 1996 drags west to Bringhurst Street for its air test.
Bringhurst Street is the first grade crossing west of Englewood. It’s at MP 359.85 on the Terminal sub, about 2/3 mile beyond the overpass in the background of the below image. No, I don’t know what’s taken over the pole behind the third unit…
Time for me to move to Bringhurst.
As soon as the QEWWC pulled to a stop at Bringhurst, an eastbound KCS arrived. The trailing unit looks pretty new.
The crew change had to wait until the KCS got by.
I did a double-take when I saw this because the KCS doesn’t have brand-new SD70ACe’s right now. When I saw the cab number, 4022, I realized that this was a sibling of lead unit 4027. It’s one of KCS’ original SD70ACe’s, delivered in the gray scheme in 2005. The 4022 is spotless, leading me to believe this unit is fresh from being repainted by KCSM in Mexico.
Once the KCS cleared up and the air test was completed, the 1996 departed Bringhurst.
It’s close to 4 PM by now, getting darker and darker, but I’m no longer afraid of the dark side. So I cranked up the ISO to 1600 and headed west to attempt one more shot of the 1996. I ended up at the UP overpass of I-10, near MP 365, looking toward downtown. Within 2-3 minutes, the 1996 arrives.
The QEWWC and QWCEW trains typically have DPU’s, so I hung out to see what might be bringing up the rear of today’s QEWWC. Within a few minutes, an SD70m and an SD70ACe arrived, with the 4570 laying sand on the rails. You sure don’t see that much in the flat lands of Houston!
With the passage of the DPU’s, I finally surrendered to the increasing darkness. All in all, not a bad day, considering just how dark it was. With digital, especially the 5D II, the dark side is not as bad as I thought it was.
BTW, in preparing this post, I just realized that it was an all EMD day. The power for the two trains I caught was 5 SD70ACe’s and 3 SD70M’s.
The Galveston Causeway – 2012
I’ve had a series of posts covering some of the history of the Galveston Causeway of 1912. This post will cover the causeway as of 2012, and the upcoming replacement of the lift bridge.
The first view is from Virginia Point, looking toward the lift bridge and Galveston Island. UP’s Galveston sub main line comes in from the left to converge with the BNSF’s Galveston sub mainline.
I’ve moved up several hundred yards to the beginning of the causeway.
Looking down old Highway 75. This roadway was state-of-the-art for auto traffic in 1912, the early stage of the automobile era. As cars became more numerous, this roadway became inadequate. Car and truck traffic was transferred to dual 2-lane highway causeways in 1939.
Note how the track structure has already been moved to line up with the new lift bridge. The bend to the right will be straightened when the new lift bridge is operational. The turnout in the foreground is not the UP main. It leads to the Texas City Industrial Lead, a 12.5 mile long spur that extends all the way to industries on the north end of Texas City.
Let’s cross over to Galveston Island to visit the job site where the new lift bridge is being constructed at 5828 Harborside Drive. All of these images are from Sept. 21, 2011.
When completed, the 1,580 ton bridge structure will be moved (veeeerrrrry carefully) with trailers about 250 yards where it will be loaded on to a 300-foot-long, 100-foot-wide barge. Once loaded and secured, tug boats will move the barge adjacent to where the bridge will be installed. The contractors will have two windows in which to complete the installation. Marine traffic on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, one of the busiest in the country, will be stopped for 72 hours. Rail traffic will be stopped for 12 hours.
As it stands now, the new bridge is scheduled to be in operation on Feb. 14, 2012.
T-Bird Gets T-Boned
KCS 4589, an eastbound manifest, struck a Ford Thunderbird this evening in Houston. The collision occurred about 9:30 P.M at the Bellaire Avenue grade crossing on the Terminal sub in southwest Houston.
It appears to have been a low-speed collision, as the car has only been pushed 40-50 feet from the eastbound lanes to the westbound lanes. According to the account in the Houston Chronicle, there were no injuries. However, no information was available about the condition of the T-Bird driver’s undergarments.
Here’s a street view showing the location of this collision:
View Larger Map
Out & About – Feb. 4, 2012
I had a photo/video job in Houston this last Saturday. There was a 2-hour gap between the end of the ceremony and the beginning of the reception. Not really enough time to go home, so how do I kill two hours?
Of course, I’ll see what’s going on at UP’s Englewood Yard. The fact that it had been raining all day would normally deter me from this, but not today. I’ve been wanting to develop inclement weather photography skills, and there’s no time like the present.
I arrived at the east end of Englewood just in time to catch a hump job shoving a cut:
Englewood hump power has changed up over the last few years. 3-unit sets of SD38-s were standard for years, but lash-ups of SD40-2′s and SD38-2′s are the norm now. Note the remote-control sled at right.
You can only watch a hump job so much, so I headed east to see what might be coming into town on the Lafayette sub. I didn’t have to go very far before I saw a KCS grain train slow-rolling between switches at Dawes.
Nice to catch new ES44AC 4779 leading this train. The KCS took delivery of 25 ES44AC’s, numbered 4765-4789, late last year.
KCS 4779 leads a Mexico-bound grain train at Dawes on Feb. 4, 2012.
The 4779 is coasting to a stop for the red signal at Mesa, CP LF355.
Interesting to see an approaching eastbound train here, as virtually all traffic on the Lafayette sub is westbound.
I decided to get my shot of the eastbound as it passed by the DPU on the KCS grain train.
The only eastbounds typically through here is local traffic for Dayton, TX, about 30 miles east of Houston. There’s a large aggregate plant there, which would be the destination of UP 8585.
The 8585 was traveling on yellows, so it was easy to get ahead of it for some shots of it at Greens Bayou, just east of the east switch of Dawes.
Like I said, it had been raining all day.
Click here for a picture of Greens Bayou under normal conditions.
I decided to head back west to see if there might be some shots of the KCS 4779 where it had stopped. When I got to Mesa, I saw another eastbound approaching. I thought eastbounds were uncommon here!
This train is also headed for Dayton. BNSF has trackage rights to Dayton to access trackage rights on UP’s Baytown Branch, where BNSF and UP generate lots of chemical traffic.
The KCS conductor has a friendly wave for the crew on the BNSF 7469.
I was impressed by the amount of water in Green’s Bayou, so back there for shots of BNSF 7469. The first shot shows it just west of the bayou at CP LF353, the east switch of Dawes.
BNSF 7469 crossing the old bridge across Green’s Bayou. Anybody care to hazard a guess what year this bridge was built? Enter your guess in comments below. Hint: it’s older than the Galveston Causeway.
I had heard another train roll-by the first eastbound, UP 8585, at Fauna. I headed east to see what might be waiting there for the BNSF 7469.
Here’s BNSF 7469 going in at CP LF351, the east switch of Fauna.
UP 5090 has been holding the main for the two eastbounds.
Not quite enough water in the ditch to get a complete reflection, but what can you really do?
I was ready for more action in spite of the rain, but it was time to head to the reception venue and get back to work.
P.S.- Don’t forget to enter your guess in comments of what year the Green’s Bayou bridge was constructed.
Over 75% of New Galveston Causeway Destroyed in Hurricane of 1915
During the research for my previous post about the construction of the Galveston Causeway, I found several contemporary sources that stated that the causeway consisted of 28 70′ long arches, with the 100′ long rolling lift bridge in the middle of the 28 arches. Because I did have several sources for that info, I posted this information in one of the photo captions.
Over the weekend, I couldn’t stop thinking about that caption. Something just didn’t seem right. I seem to recall a lot more the 28 arches. As a matter of fact, there must be more than 28 arches. Doing the math, 28 arches at 70 feet is less than half a mile. I know the causeway is a bit over two miles long. Where did all the other arches come from?
I was able to locate two original sources that shed light on this burning question.
Engineering and Contracting-1911 has an article about the construction that mentions the 28 70′ long arches, but it also notes the 28 arch bridges were connected to the mainland by 3696′ of ”protected roadway”. Another 4523′ section of “protected roadway” connected the arch bridges to Galveston Island.
OK. What’s a “protected roadway”, and what happened to it?
The first question is answered in the same article (click here to view) from Engineering and Contracting-1911: ”the protected roadway consists of an earth embankment retained between two rows of concrete sheet piles, extending 4 feet above the water. The piles…form continuous bulkheads on the sides of the earth fill. The top of the rows of piles is covered with a reinforced concrete cap…The (slope of the) earth embankment is protected with a paving of 6 inches of concrete.”
Here’s an old postcard showing the original design of the Galveston Causeway.
The original design of the Galveston Causeway included 8219' of "protected roadway", wide concrete capped earthen approaches to the original 28 arches.
So what happened to this original design?
The entire ”protected roadway” segment, over 75% of the original Galveston Causeway was washed away by a hurricane that struck Galveston on August 15-16, 1915.
Steam and interurban rails hang from the arched bridge segment of the Galveston causeway after the hurricane of 1915.
From August 25, 1915 Engineering News, Vol. 74, No. 9: ”The city’s only line of communication with the mainland was not only broken but in larger part destroyed. The only portion remaining intact is the 28 reinforced concrete arches, 70 ft. span, and the rolling-lift steel bridge of 100 ft. span in the center of the arches.”
A review of the “protected roadway” segment revealed “the lines of concrete piling were intact at every point, but the sand-and-gravel fill was scooped out by the action of the water (storm surge), letting down the concrete slabs.”
The Galveston Causeway would be re-built with an all arched bridge design, but it would not be complete until 1922.
You know what’s funny? This whole post started out because I knew that the Galveston Causeway must have more than 28 arched bridges. It does have more than 28. I just don’t know exactly how many…
F Units in the Fifties on the Southern Pacific
Neighbor, how long has it been since you’ve had a nice serving of SP F-units in the 50′s?
Well, that’s too long!
(Apologies to Wolf Brand Chili’s advertising agency…)
SP 6392 leads First 804 around the famous Tehachapi Loop on Nov. 27, 1953.
Second 803 passes through Humphrey, CA on January 26, 1956
Galveston Causeway Bridge – 100 Years Ago
I recently posted about the Galveston Causeway lift bridge replacement project, where the current 100′ long span will be replaced with a new 300′ long vertical lift bridge. The target date for installation of the new bridge is Feb. 14, 2012. I hope to get some pictures of this process, as it isn’t every day that new lift bridges are installed. Meanwhile, let’s look at some images of the Galveston Causeway from back in the day.
Originally, each of the three railroads into Galveston had its own bridge. The 1900 hurricane destroyed two of these bridges, and damaging the Santa Fe’s bridge. After the storm, the railroads agreed to pool resources, rebuild the Santa Fe’s bridge, and share the one bridge.
This is the original Santa Fe bridge, post 1900.
The all wood structure would be closed from time to time due to occasional fire / weather damage. As it was a critical connection to the mainland, the Texas Railroad Commission ordered the railroads to build a fire-proof causeway.
Construction began in 1909, with the new causeway opening for traffic on May 12, 1912. It had two tracks for the railroads, one track for an interurban train, and a 19′ wide brick roadway for automobiles. Additionally, a 30″ water line, providing fresh water to Galveston, also used the new causeway.
Opening day festivities for the new Galveston Causeway on May 12, 1912.
Opening day festivities for the new Galveston Causeway on May 12, 1912.
The Galveston Causeway originally had three tracks and a highway.
The causeway consisted of 28 70' long reinforced concrete arches.
A 100' long bascule lift bridge allowed passage of marine traffic.
The original steel bridge had deteriorated to the point that it was replaced in 1989 with a new bridge, but still only 100′ long. The original 1909 design was based on single barge tows, with barges being 35′ wide back then. Barges are now up to 108′ wide and multiple tows are the norm, ranging up to 1,180′ long. Needless to say, this bridge was quite a bottleneck for marine traffic.
In 2001, the Coast Guard deemed the bridge an “unreasonable obstacle to navigation” and ordered the bridge’s owner, Galveston County, to alter the causeway providing a 300′ wide opening and 73′ vertical clearance. (The county owns the bridge, but BNSF operates the bridge under a 999 year lease. ) Funding for the $68 million project was not available until the 2009 economic stimulus package.
This image shows the current bridge, along with the I-45 causeway in the background. Note the guide path that was installed to keep marine traffic on the “straight and narrow” path.
For more information about this project, click here for an interesting Coast Guard PDF presentation about the new bridge. It has some good aerial photos. Click here for a detailed history of the causeway along with some great historical images. Click here to see my original post about the new bridge.
I’ll have more to post about this project soon.
Union Pacific 7605 – Before & After
My previous post ended with a photo of UP 7605, the DPU on a QWCEW train. Here’s another shot of that DPU eastbound by the old Imperial Sugar mill at Sugar Land, Texas on Jan. 24, 2012.
I noted that UP 7605 seemed familiar to me and left it at that. Here’s the rest of the story…
In early 2007, Union Pacific and General Electric conducted the ”Green Locomotive Technology Tour” to showcase GE’s new Evolution Series locomotives. UP 7605 and 7606, two brand-new ES44AC’s, were selected to take part in this tour, along with several other locomotives that had new pollution-reducing technology.
UP 7606 was in standard UP colors, but the 7605 was delivered in a unique GE blue, green and silver paint scheme.
Once the tour was concluded in March, 2007, these two units were released into system-wide service. As you might guess, the 7605 was quite a popular subject for railfan photographers.
I was able to catch up with it twice in the Houston area. Here’s the first shot I was able to get of this unique locomotive, shown leading the ILBEW-9 at Missouri City, Texas on April 13, 2007.
Like all good things, it did not last long in this scheme. The 7605 was routed to contract paint shop Mid-America Car in Kansas City in November, emerging in standard UP colors in December, 2007 .
Out & About – January 24, 2012
Despite overcast skies today, I headed out to see UP’s MKT heritage engine on its latest visit to the Houston area. It was on the QWCEW 21 which was originally scheduled into Englewood at 0503, but delays en route permitted me to catch it in daylight.
It was about 1530 when I heard the DS give an unforseen slow order to UP 7398 and UP 1988, at Harlem and Rosenberg, respectively. I immediately headed to Stafford to set up for the two eastbounds.
As I arrived to my spot near the intermediate signal at MP 20.6, I saw an approaching eastbound. As I bailed out of the car, I couldn’t understand how the first eastbound could get here so quickly, especially with the 10 mph slow order that it had to pass through.
As the train got closer, I was able to answer my question. It was neither of the trains I was aware of, but in fact a third eastbound, a KCS intermodal. It was running ahead of the two UP trains.
Check out the crew’s salutation of the photographer. (Click on the image for a better view)
KCSM 4566 leads an EB intermodal at Stafford, TX on Jan. 24, 2012.
I wanted a different backdrop for the next 2 trains, so I drove 4 miles west along Hwy 90 to Sugar Land. The next train, UP 7398, came into view shortly. Interestingly, only one unit on the head end of this intermodal.
A block of “K” Line containers brightens up an otherwise dreary image.
DPU UP 7433 comes into view as it shoves the train across Oyster Creek.
This 1×1 power consist (1 unit on the point and 1 DPU) on an intermodal is a first for me. KCS likes 1×1′s on loaded grain trains, but I’ve never seen it on an UP train, intermodal or otherwise.
Now that the two opening acts are by me, UP 1988 is up next. Seriously, after 5 years, you’d think that I’d be over the UP’s heritage units. But I’m not.
I moved to CP SA025 (east switch of Sugar Land) to await Miss Katy. Within 10 minutes, she came into view.
The QWCEW, and its westbound counterpart, QEWWC, are a sure bet to have DPU power. As expected, the DPU brings up the rear.
As the DPU passed me, I noticed it was UP 7605 . Hmmmm… There’s something about that number. It seems very familiar to me.
Out & About – Jan. 2, 2012
I flipped the radio on a bit before mid-day today, just to see how much traffic might be running on UP’s Glidden Sub. Within 30 seconds, the DS tells UP 8698: ”I’m ready for you at the east end of Sugar Land.”*
* Eastbound trains that get an approach signal indication at CP SA028 (west switch of Sugar Land) will stop about a mile short of the east switch in order to not block crossings should the signal at CP SA025 (east switch of Sugar Land) be red. As the signal is not in view from this stopping point, eastbounds will wait for the dispatcher to advise when to proceed. Operating rules prohibit a dispatcher from telling a crew what any signal indication is, hence the DS will tell the crew only that he is “ready” , but the crew must view the actual signal indication. I know, I know…TMI.
Even though I had not achieved my goal of an overview of traffic, I had heard enough to grab some gear and head out to CP SA017, the east switch of Missouri City to set up for a fairly new SD70ACe on the point. Within 5 minutes, a QWCEW (Quality West Colton to Englewood) manifest came into view.
- UP 8698 is between switches at Missouri City, TX on Jan 2, 2012.
A quick pivot to my right provided this view of the 8698 as it neared the clear signal at CP SA017.
With traffic being light on Hwy 90 due to the New Year holiday, I was encouraged to head 5 miles east to CP SA012, West Junction, for another QWCEW photo-opp.
As I get in the car, I get the traffic overview I was interested in. I hear the DS give track & time to MOW until 1330, so this is the last train for a couple of hours. Oh well…
I got to West Jct. about 90 seconds before the 8698.
The track in the foreground is the Glidden sub main, which has just diverged from track 2 of the Terminal sub. The Terminal sub is the preferred route for Englewood-bound trains.
Once the power got by me, I got in the car quickly because it was pretty chilly and I, in my haste to get out of the house, didn’t bring a jacket. As soon as I got the car moving, I remembered that this train usually has DPU’s. Oh well, back in to the cold…
The wait was brief before UP 8486 came into view, shoving on the rear of the QWCEW.
With the DPU by me, I headed home. I was about halfway home when I realized that I had just witnessed, and documented, a fairly uncommon event for the Union Pacific of 2012: a 3-unit power consist with not one GE locomotive!
Bridge on Borrowed Time
The venerable bascule lift bridge that carries BNSF and UP trains across the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Galveston Bay is slated to be removed from service any day now. It’s being replaced with a 300′ long vertical lift bridge. The current 100′ span, deemed state-of-the art when completed in 1912, is dangerously narrow for today’s barge traffic. More accidents occur as a result of collisions with this bridge than any other bridge on the Gulf Coast.
It was declared a hazard to navigation by the Coast Guard in 2001. The owner of the bridge, Galveston County, was ordered to replace it with a lift span of 300′ long. Funding was not available until 2009 when ARRA stimulus funds were allocated to this project.
Here how the project appeared in May, 2011. (Click any image to enlarge it.)
Over the next few days, I’ll post more images showing the progress of this project, as well as some interesting historical tidbits.
Out & About – Oct. 27, 2011
The downtown video job I was on this past Thursday ended early enough to where I could make a drive-by of the far west end of UP’s Englewood Yard.
I made it as far as the Waco Street overpass, MP 359.3 of the Terminal sub, where I encountered the QEWWC (Quality Englewood – West Colton). It was conducting its air test in preparation for departure. (You might recall a post from March 11, 2010 where I have a 1989 shot from this same location.)
UP 8552 prepares to depart Englewood Yard with a QEWWC train on Oct. 27, 2011.
As I was taking the above photo, I could hear an eastbound approach. I couldn’t see what it was because the overpass blocked my view. I only had to wait a moment before BC Rail (British Columbia Railway) GE 4646 popped into view with a light engine move into Englewood.
I’ve never seen BCRail power in Houston, or anywhere in the U.S. for that matter. The closest was some retired BCRail ALCO’s that were en route to Mexico in the mid 1990′s. I guess you really can see anything, anywhere, these days.
Since no other shots were available of the wayward Canadian locomotive, I moved west to the Bringhurst Avenue grade crossing to await the departure of the QEWWC.
Within 5 minutes, the QEWWC got highballed by the car department and started pulling west. Unfortunately, it traveled less than a mile before stopping short of Bringhurst Ave. account traffic at Tower 26.
I swapped lenses, putting the 70-200 in order to get these shots of the 8552 as it waited signal indication to proceed.
Note the Waco Street overpass is in the background of the next shot, illustrating just how little the 8552 moved after departing Englewood.
The train hasn’t moved in the 4 previous views, but I was able to achieve the different perspectives by adjusting my location slightly and using the full range of the 70-200 lens.
As the QEWWC wasn’t going anywhere soon, I headed home via South Main Street.
As I arrived at the South Post Oak grade crossing, I saw UP 7317, a MEWEY (Manifest Englewood – East Yard train getting re-crewed at Heacker.
As this train wasn’t moving soon either, I packed it in and headed home.
