In May’s edition of Trains page 10 it states that the mudslide at Frazier Oregon disrupted rail trafic on the north south line of the Union Pacific railroad. It states that trains were being diverted through Pocatello, Idaho, and Salt Lake City to get freight from the Pacific Northwest to Southern California. In the March issue page 14 it states that the Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad was about to abandon the rail line between Medford Oregon and Yreka California. This line being from Eugene Oregon (conection with UP) to Weed California (conecting with UP). Did UP send trains to Salt lake City to get to Southern California, or did they use the ex SP line that was shorter?
Amazingly during the MAJOR Frazier Slide Closure the UPRR was forced to Detour some trains all the way to Granger, WYOMING (almost Green River, WY). Yes that was and is a LOOOONG Detour indeed. This is because the former SP Siskyou Line thru Medford, OR does NOT clear most MODERN rail equipment. That Siskyou Line is built to very ancient curve and clearance and can only handle trains that are completely “PLATE C” clearance or smaller.
As a result of the very TIGHT clearance restrictions of the shorter SP Siskyou Line the Frazier Detours were SPLIT mainly between the following 2 Detours in order to equalize traffic. You also need to realize these Frazier–Oakridge OR Detours were competing for limited space with regular traffic on the BN Bend OR – Oregon Trunk Line:
BN Oregon Trunk Line thru Bend, Oregon AND the traditional UP Pocatello ID thru Brigham City UT TO Ogden UT Line. Those Ogden UT detours were complicated because the DIRECT line thru Brigham City is SINGLE TRACK territory dispatched with old–style radio track warrants and HAND THROW siding switches. That hand–throw switch factor greatly limited traffic levels that could be run thru Brigham City. This is why some Ogden detours were further SPLIT again to run via the MODERN CTC mainline thru Montpelier ID and GRANGER WY the really LOOONG–LONG way. I imagine that some of those Granger Detours MAY have been run east into the nearby Green River WY yard to change crews and change ends. Many very crazy out-of-the-way routings probably happened because of this extended SP Frazier slide and closure. I was almost expecting a ver few trains to be detoured all the way east to Denver Co and the Joint Line. There are so very FEW detour options around the Western US that NOTHING would have surprised me with this mess that is fortunately now a thing of the past. I do hope that the railroads and US Go
There was a previous thread on this subject, which covered an important point (and problem) with the CO&P’s former SP Siskiyou Line. Along with needed tunnel repairs, tough grades and (I assume here) short passing tracks and (maybe) old rails, its tight curves and low tunnels have limited capacity for lots of today’s rolling stock.
A quick look at a rail map of Oregon makes this route the obvious detour, but UP did not choose to pursue it, and apparently for good reasons.
By the way, could anyone here confirm the correct pronunciation of “Natron”, as in “Natron Cutoff”?
NAY-tron, from the original Egyptian word for salt mined at Wadi Al Naturn. The chemical symbol for sodium, Na, is from Natrium, the Latin cognate of natron.
Kind of ironic to read about TWC being referred to as “old fashioned”, though it did not appear until the 1980s, and CTC being referred to as “modern” when it dates to 1928. The CTC on most of the UP Oregon Short Line and O-WR&N lines dates to the early 1950s, as do most of the siding extensions. I do see how TWC being “old” and CTC “new” could appear that way from the outside, but from a practical point of view the values of new and old are not applicable. What matters is value. There’s no value to investing in CTC on a low-density line with moderate train speeds.
RWM
When SP owned the Siskiyou line even the SD45 tunnel motors scraped the sides of the summit tunnel and that for sure would eliminate any of the modern GE power and EMD power.
Al - in - Stockton
Worked on that line several years.
There are three tunnels between Ashland and Siskiyou - westbound 15, 14, 13. Thirteen is at the top of the hill and is often referred to as the Siskiyou Tunnel. Side clearance is “standard” but verticle clearance is not. Tunnel 14 is between the upper and lower Wall Creek crossings, as is Tunnel 15, also. Tunnel 15 is directly below 14 and is there only because 14 would collapse if 15 were removed since 14 curves out over 15…
14 is where your side clearances exist. it is an “S” curve in the middle of the mountain and the “bulge” for the “S” is directly over Tunnel 15. All power longer than an SD-9 was restricted through there (about 200-300 feet of distance), as were the ALCO C-628, C-630 and C-636 and all 6 motor U-Boats, but we ran them anyway, and as you siad, the tunnel has markes where the rock and the locomotive made contact.
What is really “wild” here, is that, IIRC, all classes of cab-forward AC-'s would clear in Tunnel 15. And at Dollorhide, there is a buried “U” turn wooden trestle from back so far no one can really remember when, that “bounces” when you cross the area and it is really easy to scatter your train down the canyon wall. Really a good place to bust knuckles and pull drawbars.
The clearance and curve problems North of Medford are between Hugo and West Fork (Tunnel 2). Speed 25 and above and grades at 1.8%.
Over Siskiyou Pass, grades of 3.3% between Holbrook (Klamath River) and just a couple of miles above Ashland, where it “eases” to 2.2%.
I am doing this from memory, so we may not be precisely precise, here.
That line sounds like a Lionel train layout.
lol… that made me laugh.