Against All Odds
Sometimes things just work out no matter how badly the deck is stacked against you. Case in point is my 2/5/2013 chase of UP 1988, UP’s Katy heritage locomotive, on an SSPSA-05 (Special Spring-San Antonio) passenger special.
I learned of this UP Engineering Dept. special the previous day, but the call time for the train was 0300 at Spring. Even if the train was delayed, no way do I see it, especially since I had a video deposition to cover at 0900 in southeast Houston.
As I left the house at 0730, I considered grabbing the camera “just in case”, but I didn’t. It was overcast and the forecast called for more of the same, with a chance of rain. There was no reason to take the camera, right?
The deposition was over by 1130, but I had to go to Pasadena to check up on a few things. Finishing there, the trip to the Galleria area in Houston to deliver some finished work was fitful-traffic issues, missed exits, and wrong turns. Nothing was going right.
But at least it seemed to be clearing up a bit so I turned on the radio to see what might be running. You probably know what happened next. As soon as I turned the radio on, I heard UP 1988 requesting clearance through a Form B on the Terminal Sub literally one mile away from me!
Wonderful. I’m free, UP 1988 is on a special train near me, the weather is clearing up and I don’t have my camera. Let’s just say that I was slightly agitated at my predicament.
Once I had exhausted my vocabulary of expletives, I considered my options. Giving up seemed to be the prudent option, but I ruled it out immediately. Going home to get the camera was out of the question. The special would be long gone by the time I did that. But I remembered that Eric, our youngest son, happened to be home from school. Maybe he could grab my gear, jump in his truck, and meet me on the side of Hwy 59 in Sugar Land.
I called him, explained my situation, told him where the camera gear was located and agreed on a meeting point all while monitoring the SSPSA’s progress westward.
By the time I got the camera, the special was at MP 22, about 2 miles ahead of me. My only hope was to stay on the freeway past Rosenberg and hope to catch it at the Spur 10 overpass near MP 40.
It was a valiant try, but the train got there about 60 seconds before I did. I wasn’t too unhappy because the sun had taken a dive behind some thick clouds. At least I was finally in position to catch up with the train.
It took another 10 miles before I could overtake the train, setting up at the San Bernard River Bridge with all of 30 seconds to spare.
For a moment I considered declaring “mission accomplished”, but I decided to continue the pursuit. In for a dime, in for a dollar, right?
I wanted to do a proper pacing still shot, with a slow camera shutter speed, but I didn’t feel comfortable making the needed camera adjustments at 75mph. But I did use the SLR like a point & shoot, aiming the camera at the train as I overtook the head end west of East Bernard. This shot at 1/800 second is nice, but it would’ve rocked at 1/30 second. Maybe next time…
I was able to get ahead of the train, again with about a 30 second margin, at CP SA061, the east switch of Lissie.
UPP 104, the North Platte, is the sole car on the SSPSA-05.
The train would be stopping at Eagle Lake, 7 miles ahead, to drop off and pick up passengers. This allowed me to get ahead of it easily for these shots of it at the far east end of Eagle Lake.
The SSPSA is stopped at Eagle Lake for some Engineering Dept. employees to dis-board while others boarded.
Wanting just one more view of this diminutive passenger train, I headed west before the train got back on the move. The tangent from Eagle Lake (MP 69) to Ramsey (MP 73.6) is oriented west-northwest, making the shot backlit. Can’t have that. From Ramsey to Columbus (MP84), the track turns even more to the northwest (more backlit) and away from the highway.
I ended up at Glidden, CP SA086 for my last shot of the SSPSA-05 as it approached the Hwy 71 overpass. It was only 18 miles west of Eagle Lake, but you can’t put a price on good light, right?
The light was very tasty. I considered going further west with this train, but I decided to quit while I was still ahead. I was over an hour away from home and I’d already caught this train at 6 locations. Against all odds.
Let’s continue with my coverage of Union Pacific’s project to add 5 miles of double track at the far east end of its Glidden subdivision. This post will cover the vicinity near MP 15, in the vicinity of the Chimney Rock Drive grade crossing, over the 6-week period between October 4 and November 21, 2012.
Looking east toward Heacker on October 4, 2012, the roadbed appears to be substantially completed and rail for the new main has been delivered.
West of Chimney Rock, fill material is still being delivered to build up the subgrade.
Just over 2 weeks after the above images were taken, delivery and placement of crossties was taking place east of Chimney Rock on October 19th.
It’s an interesting process how the crossties come off the truck and are placed on the roadbed.
Moving forward to November 21, 2012, the new double track grade crossing for Chimney Rock Drive has been installed. The next two images are looking eastward from the west side of the grade crossing.
Looking east down the new main, it’s almost straight rail.
The view westward from Chimney Rock :
The next post will cover the area around Hillcroft Avenue.
UP Glidden Subdivision Double Tracking Project – Update from Heacker
I’ve been remiss in keeping you up to speed on Union Pacific’s Glidden Sub double-tracking project. It’s at the far east end of the Glidden subdivision. Phase 1 of this capacity expansion effort is between CP SA014 (Heacker) and CP SA019 (Missouri City).
My first post showed the project as it was in late August of last year. This post will look at it On October 4, October 19, and November 21, 2012. This post will show the changes at Heacker over this 6 week time frame.
The roadbed is almost complete in this 10/4/2012 view of UP 3940 kicking up the dust as it leads the LHT43 local eastbound.
Concrete crossties are in place in this 10/19/2012 view, looking west from Heacker.
Moving 200 yards west, this was the view eastward and westward, respectively.
By the time of my 11/21/2012 visit, rails had been secured to the crossties. The new main is starting to come together!
A single crossover is being installed about 1/4 mile west of CP SA014. Harrisburg sub traffic, primarily BNSF, will use this crossover to access the new main.
The next post will cover the same timeframe, but from the vicinity of the Chimney Rock Drive grade crossing near MP 14.9.
Dash Two Trio
I came across an unexpected sight earlier this evening. Returning from Pasadena around 7:30, I saw the silhouette of a train between switches at Sinco, near MP 8 on UP’s Strang sub. I couldn’t really see much because it was dark and a refinery tank farm was obstructing my view of the train.
I just happened to turn my head when I was even with the head end, instantly recognizing the iconic profile of EMD spartan cab locomotives. This sight required further investigation, dark and cloudy or not. I was rewarded with a sight that’s become quite uncommon in 2013 – 3 SD40-2’s leading a BNSF manifest train.
As dark as it was, I thought there was no chance to photograph this train. But I found a spot across from a Lyondell employee parking lot that just might have enough light to allow a shot of this rare bird.
A dark and cloudy night isn’t the best of conditions for a photograph, but they’ll suffice for an image of a Dash Two Trio in 2013.
Getting The Runaround
Nobody likes getting the runaround, but train crews particularly dislike the runaround because of how it delays them. The runaround delays their train in two ways: waiting for the other train to overtake them and then dealing with unfavorable signal indications because they’re now following a train.
This past January 11, 2013, the Glidden sub DS told UP 5074, an ILBEW (intermodal Long Beach-Englewood) train, that he had good news and bad news for them. The Houston terminal was ready to take them in, but he had to get one train around them at Harlem. Fortunately for the ILBEW’s crew, the train that would run around them was Amtrak #2, the eastbound Sunset Limited.
The ILBEW is at CP SA029, the east end of Harlem, as AMTK 14 overtakes it. The signals facing me will stay dark until #2 knocks down the signal at CP SA029.
Forty-five seconds later, #2 passes by me at track speed.
Right after Amtrak got by me, the ILBEW got its signal and begun dragging out of the Harlem siding en route to its rendezvous with the Englewood ramp.
Two SD90MAC’s sporting their new 3500 series numbers made up the balance of the ILBEW’s power.
All in all, the ILBEW’s crew had to be pretty happy with this particular runaround. They only had to wait 10 minutes for the overtake and as fast as #2 was running, they weren’t going to be running on its blocks very long.
Warbonnets After Dark
Enough of the current stuff – let’s go back to the 1960’s and check out some Santa Fe passenger power after dark. These images are from duplicate slides in my collection. Unfortunately, there’s not much information on the slide mounts, so I’ll let these amazing scenes from nearly 50 years ago speak for themselves.
First up is ATSF E6A 14 holding its train on a cold winter night. I may be wrong, but I believe that this image is at Newton, Kansas. If that’s correct, ATSF 14 is leading the Texas Chief.
Next up is what many say is the most beautiful diesel locomotive ever, the Alco PA1. Here we see ATSF 75 is at Fort Worth, TX. It definitely isn’t on a Texas chief, as trains 15 and 16 were scheduled into Fort Worth at 1:45 and 1:50 PM, respectively. My guess it’s power for the Angelo, trains 77 / 78 operating between Fort Worth-San Angelo.
Going to the other end of the aesthetic extreme, here’s Santa Fe U30CG 402. Based on what’s visible in the image, it appears to be at Santa Fe’s Argentine engine facility in Kansas City,KS.
Finally, here’s another view of ATSF 402. It’s paired up with a U28CG, as the train waits to finish its station stop at Barstow, CA in August of 1968.
I’d be interested in any information you might have about the dates or locations of these 4 slides.
Out & About – January 10, 2013
I was able to capitalize on several hours of what passes for nice weather yesterday to catch a few trains. We just had a strong front go through southeast Texas, with several days of rain. The crystal-clear conditions that are typical after a front passes through just aren’t happening this year. A thin layer of high cirrus, with a few large sucker holes is about as good as it gets this year.
First up was the MEWEG train, UP 5193, at MP 27. There’s a nice curve here that’s typically not shootable due to overgrown vegetation. But the UP recently had several hundred yards of it cut back, probably to create a safer walk for the crew changes that take place here regularly.
The MEWEG train is a low-priority manifest to Eagle Pass, Texas. The containers in the distant background belong to an eastbound KCS train in the Sugar Land siding that’s waiting for the 5193 to clear the east switch.
Once the MEWEG cleared up, KCS 4590 pulled its intermodal eastward. Even though it wasn’t going fast, maybe 35mph, I just coudn’t get ahead of the 4590. I couldn’t get a green light on Hwy 90A to save my life. I don’t know how, but I barely made it to MP 20.5 to get this shot at the intermediate signal. (Actually, I do know how I was able to finally get ahead of the train, but I can’t talk about it. You know, 5th Amendment and everything….)
Next up was KCS 4702 with the daily Shreveport – Laredo manifest which I captured at MP 25, the east switch of Sugar Land.
The KCS local, with a one car train, waits impatiently for its turn to move east toward Houston.
As the westbound manifest was passing, I relocated about 1/2 mile east to the Brooks Street grade crossing. You might have seen it in the news recently. It’s the grade crossing where an auto carrier 18-wheeler bottomed out, getting stuck , and shortly thereafter, whacked by the KCS local this past Monday, Jan. 7, 2013.
You’ll never guess the history of the GP40 leading today’s local. It was built December 1965 as New York Central 3030, keeping the same number when it became a Penn Central / Conrail unit. Conrail returned the unit upon expiration of its 15-year equipment lease in 1980. C&NW picked it up in late 1980. It was overhauled, painted into C&NW colors, and re-numbered C&NW 5519. C&NW retired the unit, selling it to National Rail Equipment in 1989.
NRE then re-built the unit. Helm Locomotive Leasing leased it to Union Pacific, where it became UP 882 in February of 1990. It only lasted 2 years on the UP. It suffered fire damage in March 1992 and was retired by UP. Helm sent the unit to AMF in Canada, where the unit was re-built again. The unit then became KCS 4755 in Spring of 1994. It was re-numbered 2800 several years ago when KCS combined KCS and TFM locomotives into a common numbering plan. By the looks of it, it was recently re-painted into the current KCS livery. It just goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover…
Here’s the going-away view of the KCS local as it crosses Oyster Creek en route to do its work in Houston.
MOW was getting the railroad once the KCS local got through the Form B between Heacker and Missouri City, so I took a cue from the classic Simon & Garfunkel tune and went homeward bound.
Out & About – January 6, 2013
We’ve been pretty much socked in around here since Dec. 18th, so not a lot of current activity to show you. There was a brief respite from the bad weather this past Sunday, 1/6/2013, so I made a point of taking the camera with me as I left to Pasadena to attend to some chores.
I timed my departure from home in order to catch Amtrak #2 as it departed the depot at 12:10 PM. I wanted to catch a shot of it from the Elysian Street viaduct. The Houston skyline would be a nice backdrop from there. But my plan changed as I neared downtown when TD2 advised #2’s crew: “You’ll be going Lafayette sub today”. Cool, #2 will go the wrong way!
Pursuant to UP’s directional running plan, Amtrak #2, along with all other eastbound through freight traffic, is routed via the Beaumont sub. This is the ex-MP Houston-Beaumont mainline.
Today’s #2 will be a throwback to the good old days, when it went via the ex-SP Lafayette sub to Beaumont. The dispatcher didn’t give a reason for the re-route, but a good guess would be Beaumont sub congestion that would delay the passenger train.
I set up on the Wayside Drive overpass at the east end of Englewood. I had visions of a nice 3/4 view of #2 at the CP LF358 signal bridge, but a westbound manifest had just dragged in and stopped short before clearing up track 093, the westbound receiving lead. No problem, a head-on shot will do nicely. (Click image to view an extra-big 1600×800 version of image)
Did I mention that the rear of the westbound manifest was fouling main 2?
Main 2 is fouled? No problem. The dispatcher has lined the Sunset Limited Main 2 to Main 1.
I crossed over to the east side of the overpass in time to catch #2 passing UP 7046 leading another westbound manifest. You might recall seeing UP 7046 a few posts back, leading an MEGEW train.
Time to head to Pasadena and get on-task. But I wanted to take a quick look at the south side of Englewood, just for grins.
I certainly got a grin when I came across the power for the MEWFP, with UP 1995 leading. I had no idea the C&NW heritage unit was in town! With no crew on the power, it wasn’t going anywhere soon, so I contented myself with a few shots as it sat in perfect light.
As I was wrapping up my shots of UP 1995 I heard a train to my right. A yard job was dragging a long cut of cars on to track 111, aka the western thoroughfare.
UP 1995 about to be eclipsed by the yard job.
At this point I headed toward Pasadena, thinking I was done with the camera. Think again. En route I came across BNSF 7205 at Manchester Jct. waiting for a Manchester Yard track to become available for its train.
I visited with the BNSF crew as they waited for PTRA to do their thing. Once they got the word to head in to Manchester Yard, that was my cue to head out to Pasadena. I hated leaving plenty of sun and plenty of rail traffic on the table, but the chores won’t do themselves.
Ghost Town Torn Down
I posted about Union Pacific’s new Englewood Yard office last Spring. I referred to the old yard office as a ghost town because it had been abandoned. Today, I discovered that the ghost town has been torn down.
In driving over the east end of Englewood Yard today on North Wayside Drive, something seemed odd. This is the building I expected to see, albeit without the vehicles:
I slowed down to get a better look when it hit me: the old UP, ex-SP yard office was gone! This was the view today:
I’m not surprised it was torn down. It was way too small, with nowhere near enough parking, and it was run down. Nevertheless, it had been a landmark at Englewood Yard since the early 1950’s. I’ll miss seeing it…
Fifties Flashback – Southern Pacific Steam
In previous episodes of Fifties Flashback, I posted images of Southern Pacific F-units (here and here) in the classic “black widow” colors. But there was more to the 1950’s than brand-new diesels. After a century of service , it was the last hurrah for external combustion locomotives in the U.S. Let’s take a look at a few scenes from that era on the Southern Pacific.
Southern Pacific S-12 class 0-6-0 1259 is in its 34th year of service as it’s being serviced on May 30, 1955 at Fresno, CA. It’s one of 38 0-6-0’s built by SP’s Sacramento and Los Angeles shop forces between 1919-1923. The 1259 was one of 7 built in LA in 1921. The last stand for the S-12 switchers was the winter of 1956 working in San Francisco-area yard service. The 1259 was scrapped in 1959.
The building in the background in the above image is the Pacific Southwest (now Fresno Pacific) Tower. When built in 1925, it was the tallest building between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Just over a year prior, we see Southern Pacific GS-3 4422 leading Train #72, the daily southbound mail and express train between San Francisco and Los Angeles, at San Luis Obispo, CA on April 2, 1954. It’s typical consist was 10 to 13 express / refrigerated express / mail cars with 2 coaches at the end of the train. Before the Interstate Highway System rendered them obsolete, trains like this were the 1950’s analog to FedEx and UPS today.
By far the oldest locomotive in this post, SP T-31 class 4-6-0 2353 was built by Baldwin in 1912. It worked the majority of its 45-year career in Northern California. Its last assignments were local and switching service in and around Bayshore yard in Brisbane, CA. This image shows the 2353 working on a short local on August 1, 1955 passing through Burlingame, CA, some 8 miles south of Bayshore Yard.
The 2353 was retired in on January 18, 1957, but it was able to avoid the scrapper’s torch. It was donated to the Imperial County Fair in Imperial, CA where it was on static display until 1984, when it was donated to the San Diego Railroad Museum in Campo, CA.
Over the following 12 years, SDRM volunteers restored the 2353 to operating condition. Here’s a shot of the 2353 pulling a short freight across the Lower Campo Creek trestle on April 15, 2000.
Unfortunately, a Fall 2000 FRA boiler inspection of the 2353 revealed serious problems that have sidelined the locomotive since then. At present the 2353 is on static display at the SDRM’s Campo, CA museum.
Out & About – Dec. 18, 2012
As the video job I had today didn’t start until 1:30 PM, I turned on the radio about 10:30 to see if I might catch a few trains before I had to go downtown. Right off the bat I hear Amtrak calling the signal at CP SA020. No hope of catching that, but the DS advised the MOW foremen that he had 3 eastbounds following Amtrak. Cool. These next 3, I can catch.
I had already loaded the video gear in the car, so I was able to get on the road quickly. As soon as I got trackside in Stafford, a headlight was in view. It was KCS 4739 with an eastbound manifest, which I photographed right at MP 20 of UP’s Glidden sub.
Right behind the KCS 4739 was UP 5122 leading an MLDEW (manifest Laredo-Englewood) which I caught at the intermediate signal at MP 20.6 ( The westbound signal, facing the camera, is 20.5; the eastbound is 20.6)
Note the conductor-in-training wearing the orange cap required of employees in training.
There were 3 of these CELX (Celanese Chemical) 6-axle tank cars in the train.
I moved about a 1/2 mile west for the last train of the morning, the MEGEW (manifest Eagle Pass-Englewood). It had only one unit for power, AC4400CW 7046.
One unit, and the hood doors are open. Makes you wonder if the crew had issues with the unit.
Eastbound fleet over, I headed downtown, ostensibly to my 1:30 job. But it was only 11:30 AM. What to do? Hmmm. Amtrak #2 is scheduled to leave the depot at 12:10 PM. The depot is downtown. My job is downtown. Sounds like a plan!
I headed to the McKee street grade crossing, about a mile east of the depot, where I can capture the eastbound Sunset Limited with downtown Houston as the backdrop. The train departed on time, passing by me at 12:13 PM.
After photographing #2 doing the “Maury Street Maneuver”, I made my way to my video assignment. As it turned out, it was brief, allowing me to catch one more train on my way back home.
UP 7042 was stopped at Heacker (CP SA014) but I passed on the shot as the light was too nosy. I was a few miles down Hwy 90 when I heard the 7042 get cleared through a Form B. I set up just west of CP SA020. The track curves away from the sun here just enough to create a nicely lit image of UP 7042 leading an MEWEG (manifest Englewood-Eagle Pass).
I noticed that this unit also had hood doors open, in addition to the GE-trademarked scorch damage along the hood. The 7042 looks like it’s been worked hard during its tenure on the UP.
The DS indicated there was a fleet of eastbounds set to run. I decided against staying out, opting to head home to prepare for the next day’s video assignment.
Not Quite In The Nick of Time
Slightly out of my coverage area, but interesting nonetheless, is this video showing a mudslide derailing a passing BNSF intermodal train.
It occurred yesterday, 12/17/2012, at Everett, WA when a 75 foot-wide wall of mud slid from the top of a 100 foot-tall hill, striking and derailing, a 66-car Chicago to Seattle intermodal.
Per BNSF spokesperson Gus Melonas, geotechnical engineers were set to inspect the super-saturated hill as soon as the train passed by the location. Alas, not quite in the nick of time…
Southwest Rails 