I’m all for sharing: Nevada’s only non Union Pacific railroad local;
There just isn’t lots of capitalistic competition on the central corridor here in Nevada. The merger should have let the Washington Group or Kansas City Southern take over this route! iT DIDN’T!
Jim
Jim
Which Route ---- the Wobbley or the Sufferin?
My own personal unaskedfor opinion is that the DRGW should have purchased the WP (it financed it in the first place to bypass Harriman) and also the MP-TP-CEI instead of the SP. One thing is for certain, the RR map of today would certainly not be what we have but be very much different.
The Army’s daily switcher at Henderson,NV to the munitions depot doesn’t count?
The Army’s daily switcher at Henderson,NV to the munitions depot doesn’t count? (Ex - SP Mina Branch)
No truer words can be spoken, yet if the feds had allowed someone other than BNSF’s token enabling of it’s access, it would have defeated the whole purpose of the Staggers Act in the process. Remember, in railthinking, head to head rail competition is BAD for the industry’s health, thus should only be allowed in the biggest of markets.
You’re right though, KCS or MRL should have been given rights to the West Coast as a condition of both the BN+SF and the UP+SP mergers. This would have created a nice triopoly, a condition which is essentially the minimum for a truly competitive market.
Mudchicken,
If you’re speaking of the local that covers the Hawthorne Army Depot at Hawthorne, NV - that is a UP job called extra out of Sparks, NV. Its an extra Wabsuka turn that goes past Wabsuka to Thorne where it interchanges cars with the Depot’s railroad. The track formerly owned by the SP between Wabuska and Thorn (Mina Br.) is now owned by the Army, however when needed the UP sends a extra Wabuska job down to Thorne.
Jim
The BNSF Fernley Local, train id LC505J, operates out of Sparks, NV to Fernley, NV 6 days a week, Monday through Saturday, on Union Pacific’s Overland Route. The local is normally crewed by 3 Union Pacific employees, an engineer, conductor and brakeman, although additional crew may work the train during student brakeman training.
Locomotives powering BNSF’s Fernley local are normally two EMD GPs, although in years past a single GE has been used on occasion. The power is generally rotated into Sparks from BNSF’s California operations about every 30 days. When not in use the Local’s power is parked adjacent to the “New” Sparks wye on East Glendale Street.
BNSF’s northern Nevada presence was an out-growth of the Union Pacific‘s merger with the Southern Pacific railroad during 1996. Operations of the local started as I remember it during 1997, maybe early 1998. During the early days of operation this local roamed the former SP route between Sparks, NV and Winnemucca.
Today, its regular customers include BNSF logistics’ RR Donnelly reload at Sparks along with Reno Lumber. At Fernley, Paramount Petroleum’s Asphalt plant, Trex, John Manville and Qubecor a large printing plant. For a short time the local was serving a new concern at Darwin, NV’s Western Nevada Rail Park.
The photo was taken at Clark, NV on June 2nd.
Jim