Long about 1990, give or take a couple years, Southern Pacific started a couple trains they refered to as PCX trains. This was a train that carried TOFC traffic for the May Trucking Company.
The PTPCX (Portland to Los Angeles Pacific Coast Express) and the LAPCX (Los Angeles to Portland Pacific Coast Express) where to get trailer traffic off of I-5 and on the railroad.
These trains where so hot that Amtrak would go into the hole for them.
Since the SP/UP merger I haven’t heard if they’re still around. Does anybody know if Union Pacific still runs the PCX trains?
I don’t know. But I hung out in Dorris (below K-falls) a lot last year and I don’t recall seeing a train that resembled the PCX. There was still a good amount of May Trucking trailers in the mix on other trains.
The PCX was one of my favorites to photograph. I have one with a set of 4 clean speed lettered GP60s running elephant style that I blew up to 12x16 to frame and hang on my wall. It was taken in Soledad Canyon a few miles below Acton.
I think they have been replaced by ZSELA, ZLASE, ZPTLA, and ZLAPT. I am not sure about the existances of the Portland trains. By the way, I do not see many May Trucking piggybacks anymore. These trains have many Interstate Distribution and Market Transport trailers. They also usually have a few Dole containers.
Since UP ate SP and took over operations between Portland and Los Angeles, the reliability and punctuality of intermodal freight transfers through that corridor has pretty much ended up in the toilet. I see the evidence daily in the form of intermodals tied down in the holes, dead-in-law for days at a time on the Fresno Sub while nearby BNSF is running piggybacks and double stacks back to back out of their Bakersfield Sub, up and over UP’s Mojave Sub. UP has really dropped the ball in that area.
Maybe the UPRR evulation of the PCX traffic is it was not profitable enough to operate it the way the SPRR ran it. Could be a reason the SPRR went belly up also. As for the BNSF over the UPRR Mojave sub it is the BNSF ONLY link for their bay area traffic to connect with the BNSF transcon @ Barstow so you would expect it to be a very busy corridor for the BNSF. For the UPRR all there mid west ot east coast traffic from the bay area goes over the Donner pass or thru the FRC so the amount of trains they operate over the Mojave sub would be far less then the BNSF filters thru the Mojave sub. [:D][:p]
What do you think of this post in reply to jadegirl?
Maybe the UPRR evulation of the PCX traffic is it was not profitable enough to operate it the way the SPRR ran it. Could be a reason the SPRR went belly up also. As for the BNSF over the UPRR Mojave sub it is the BNSF ONLY link for their bay area traffic to connect with the BNSF transcon @ Barstow so you would expect it to be a very busy corridor for the BNSF. For the UPRR all there mid west ot east coast traffic from the bay area goes over the Donner pass or thru the FRC so the amount of trains they operate over the Mojave sub would be far less then the BNSF filters thru the Mojave sub.
Spbed,
UP runs just as many if not more trains over Tehachappi as the BNSF (when they run). And when the Coast line is out of service they run even more.
Tehachappi is no longer BNSFs only northern California connect. They have track rights on the overland to Denver. They also own the inside gateway through northern Cal. & Oregon.While most of BNSFs transcon traffic moves through Tehachappi it dosen’t all.
Just because Tehachappi is not a transcon for UP does not mean its not a busy route. This line sees many UP trains.
Yes I know BNSF owns Trights on the FRC from Sac to Den. In the overall scheme of things that is small potatoes unless the BNSF has some way to get from the bay area traffic to Sac & then use the FRC trackage rights. Then from Den they would have to reconnect with the transcon to getto Chic or beyond. Sounds to me the Tloop is far quicker then SF/Sac/FRC/Den/ transcon. You have to compare that to what the UPRR can do over either Donner or thru FRC then the direct overland route which is what the BNSF has to compete against to keep their traffic base. There is no way that UPRR would send Chic or beyond traffic over the Tloop. The only traffic that the UPRR would send over the loop from the bay area is the traffic for AZ, NM, TX & the southeast USA. [:p][B)]