[8D] Hi gang. After several months without my laptop [xx(] I’m back. Not that I had much time to play on the 'puter, I have been very busy at work till this month. Hope everyone is doing good. Did I miss anything exciteing 'round here?
Anyway, I have some pix to post from the time I’ve been gone (or at least an occasional lurker anyway).
The first is my taken across the street from my new home (This month anyway). Directly behind my place is the BNSF transcon & Needles yard [:P][:D][;)].
I have a great view of the tracks to the east, but that’s about it from the house. And there are too many obstructions for good pix.But the action is a stones throw away.
Here are some recent shots traveling between Frazier Park (Gorman) and Needles.
Here is an eastbound approaching the track split at Ash Hill.
And again on the curve. This is where the westbound loops back around to the NE for a mile or so to gain elevation while the Eastbound (and steeper) main continues going NW.
BTW- It’s bidirectional 2MT CTC now.
Heading east one trip I caught this pair leaving Barstow at Nebo road. This was the beginning of an awsome chase.
At first it looked like a typicall run around with the stacks overtakeing the (empty) ethanol train before Dagget. Instead they ran side by side at up to 65 all the way to Nuberry Springs where the stack train yielded the rest of the way to the next crossover and got on the right handed main behind the ethanol.
Due to a bridge out just east of Dagget, I had to run on the north of the tracks to Minneola? rd. When I saw what was happening I switched to video after one last shot (from behind).
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Thanks Sam, I forgot all about the popcorn machine. Hope someone put it to use while I was out[(-D].
And I am going on memory on the Flannigan dates so I may be off a bit (Modoc line opened in 29’? or was it 27’) and track rights east may have happened in 58’, Pyramid line abnd. in 60’. Anyway exact dates are not my point. My point is Flannigan, with it’s colorfull history is about to be all but history. Just feeling a bit nostalgic.
…Really interesting shots Chad…Enjoyed them. Especially since I have been in that general area. Once stopped at a place in Needles for a cold drink and a big thermometer under a big palm tree was pointing to 120 degrees.
Great shots. We didn’t linger around Needles on our trip out that was (perhaps our desire to get to Cajon that day, perhaps our shock at being stopped by the “fruit check”). But I would have loved to catch something like a chance to pace two trains like that. It wouldn’t happen on UP, because empty tanks are restricted to 50 (one railroad must know something that the other doesn’t).
Larry, Carl, Brian. Good to be back. Going to be on the road most of this week. Leaveing for San Diego to get my stuff from storeage (finally) here in a few. Then off to Modoc for a week of vacation.
as to the solid tank car train: it’s been a while since i updated my info but when i retired you only needed a spacer if there were other kinds of cars in the train; all tank cars, no spacer. the milw. rd. branch to south bend WA had nearly all tank cars, but if they had any other car, they had to add spacers behind the lokey and ahead of the caboose! certain non-hazardous tank cars didn’t need spacers either -big duke
I believe the do have to use a spacer car between hazardous tanks and the power… However, I am not sure if this is the case if the tanks are empty. I looks like in the picture that the 1st two cars after the power are different, so I am guessing they are unused tank cars that they are using for “spacers”. This is absolutely a guess since I know very little about railroading rules… I know in trucking we do not have to placard empties since the reason for the placards are to notify authorities of what is contained in the trailer, so if empty there is no real danger, so no need to placard, so possible this is the case with spacers between empties and power.
Here is a great example of BNSF using spacers on a unit fuel train this Spring.
