Looking at the Tehachapi rail cams this morning, I was able to discern a bit of a story. Apparently a boxcar went on the ground a bit east of the east end of Woodford siding, in of course a single-track stretch. This must have been around midnight or a bit after. On the museum cam replay, you could see some vehicles show up at the UP building right east of Green Street starting around oneish or a bit after. Not too long afterwards, several of the UP work trucks from there hit the road.
Later, on the replay of the loop railcam, one could see the crews working on the mess, though not clearly because the track was in a cut there and trees were also in the line of sight. It also appeared that the switch at the east end of Woodford siding was getting some serious attention Sunday morning.
It looked like trains started moving through around lunchtime, though not very quickly. The replay of the afternoon up until darkness seemed like a dispatcher’s nightmare, also a big pain to any crew running a manifest train, as IM trains were running by and around stopped manifests.
“…Long time ago, in that galaxy far,far,away…” [alien] [sigh] Growing up in Memphis, I had a number of acquaintances in jobs on the railroad, [a as well also police and firefighters] each group seems to have descriptive ‘sayings’ and ‘colorful lines’ that escribed some of their work casreers and circumstances that they were required to work in.
The men I knew who worked at the Frisco Yards, used to say “… It never rains on the railroad…” Usually spoken in the face of having to get out in the most miserable of conditions; weather or otherwise. Funny, then, I’d hear the same phrase uttered by acquaintances at the roundhouse on the IC RR at Johnston Yard… Never knew any iof the MOW guys, back then; but I am sure they can or could be as equally descriptive and colorful!
Yesterday afternoon I was watching some MOW crew members doing some scheduled work at the Barstow station on the East cam. I checked the weather conditions at the time and the Daggett airport was reporting 107° which is no picnic for labor in the sun. They were at it again this morning when it was a balmy 97° instead. Yesterday’s low humidity was 9% while it was up to 20% today, so, yes, it was a “dry” heat.
It isn’t just a “bad incident” that comes up in lousy weather, I guess.
Hulcher, Cranemasters and all the other wreck clearance contractors.
Having had the opportunity to be involved in working derailments both with the normal wreck train and their heavy lift crane as well as working a comparable deraiment with Hulcher - it is no wonder the carriers have moved to contractor with off track equipment for wreck clearance.
Roadmasters hate seeing Hulcher/Filsinger/Corman et all show up. Track damage doubles (or worse) and then the operating bubbas can’t figure out why the damage figures zoom beyond the FRA reportable levels. (the cat skinners and yellow cowboys destroy everything with their cat tracks)
Watched Hulcher change out a GE frozen traction motor on a siding with an idler . The damage to the main was unbelievable. About 3(?) months later one rail of the Main was replaced for about 50 - 60 feet at that location. Had to wonder why the tracked units could not have rubber treads that I’ve seen on identical yellow vehicles ?
I have not yet figured out how, even in Gray Davis’ California, people conceived of the idea of a pressurized high-octane gasoline pipeline going through a residential neighborhood. Let alone adjacent to a known dangerous railroad curve on a known severe railroad grade. Let alone at a depth, and of a construction, susceptible to nicking or impact damage from casual use of construction equipment.
The housing development probably went in between 1960 and 1970, judging by the houses, probably closer to 1960 with the one-car garages. Pipeline probably predated that. SP rail line in 19th century no doubt predated the pipeline by many decades. Figure the pipeline going in after Las Vegas “took off” as a metro area.
Just as an aside, that all occurred in something other than Grey Davis’ California, long before that development. (I was going to add the Chester A. Riley “revolting” to that, but I left it out not because it was inappropriate but rather to restrain from a direct political commentary on the state of our state.)