Well, sorta…
At least they have these guys working.
You federal tax dollars at work!
That’s in Commerce Yard, isn’t it? (Or going there)? I understand that UP plans on getting 60 of these units.
Nope,
Galena junction, just west of Gate 8, Houston Ship Channels Turning Basin.
Or just across the street from the entrance to PTRA’s North Yard.
Our storage yard is behind them, just on the other side of the Houston Public Elevator, in the back ground.
The cars behind them are bad order cars cut out by the UP, Galena yard is about four miles behind the train.
Ah, I see. I was basing my “guess” from this UP news release.
Based on the press release, not a bad guess…
If you want to see where I work, click onthe link, and scroll up just a bit to see North Yard.
The hybrids would be sitting just to the right of the entrance to the Port…about 50 yards from the interlocker.
I hope that this isn’t a stupid question, but I’m looking at your map and…
What is an interlocker?
I’m not sure (getting a little number-punchy), but the UPY 2300s might be the hybrids that are staying in Texas. The sixty switchers for California are NRE-built genset units numbered in the UPY 2700s. They seem to like to try 'em out at Proviso before sending them west.
Other news–we’ve sent the first five of this year’s GEVOs west to the coast. UP 7600-7604–nose-to-tail, in order!–arrived at Proviso yesterday. The first three went out yesterday on an intermodal; the other two today. There should be 200 new GEVOS this year, UP 7600-7799.
Great pictures.
The only stupid question is the on left unasked.
The diamond to the left in the photo, just down from the plate girder railroad bridge…
That is an automatic interlocker…where the UP(old SP) tracks cross ours…they run left to right in the photo, our are the up and down…kinda hard to explain who’s tracks are who’s, we share some of theirs, they use some of ours…
If you get a red, you have to stop, get out and go to the little box, press the button, and wait for the signal…if it fails to clear, you have to flag your train through the interlocker.
An interlocking plant, or interlocker, is where two or more tracks cross at grade…back in the day, there would be a tower and a tower man to control all the switches and signals.
Now it is done with signal relays and manual throw switches.
When there was a tower, it controlled the crossing, the switches leading down to the docks, and the switches to the center swing bridge, which is ours.
If you scroll down, you will find the swing bridge, which crosses Buffalo Bayou, at the turning basin.
The Houston Ship Channel was a natural bayou, which was dredged to accommodate ocean going ships, back in the 1920s.
The bridge marks the end of the ship channel proper, but the bayou is open to navigation by barge almost all the way to down town Houston.
…Ed, are these the units that are powered by two smaller diesel engines and they come on line as needed…?
How about a small map…use it to scroll around the link…help any?
…Sure looks like they would have super visibility for the operator.
Q,
I think they are…it they are still there tomorrow, I will get in them and check them out more…was on the way home and out of time today, just grabbed a few shots.
…Good looking engines and good looking photos…I can zoom on them and make them bigger yet, and really get a good look.
Ed
The interlocker is manually operated. Do you have to do this very often during a shift? And if you were the last one through it, is it still clear for you on the return move?
YES!!! North Yard was the only aspect of the original map that I had any confidence in locating. It definitely helps to know the layout. I even looked for something on the web, but came up short.
Spokester…
The interlocker is the diamond, protected by signals…red for stop, lunar for proceed.
For a long time, it was stop signs, which worked great, but the FRA was bored one day, so…
This entire area is within either PTRA yard limits, or Up’s yard limits.
The switches leading up to the interlocker signals are hand throw for the most part, so you operate under GCOR 6.28, restricted speed.
As a courtesy to each other, we line behind when possible, but outside of the interlocker limits the governing rule says the right of way or right of movement belongs to whichever train the switch is lined for.
CTC starts at the point where the PTRA tracks meet the UP main just above, or north of the swing bridge.
The UP main curves to the left just before the diamond.
Most everything else is technically within yard limits.
Carl,
Are all 200 coming in one order early this year, or spread out through the year ?
Good goobly! Those tugboats-on-rails things look hideous!
The nickname “Yucksters” comes to mind![X-)][|(]
Not really sure, Dale, but I suspect that they were ordered together and should be delivered steadily until they’re all here. How long this will take is anyone’s guess.
Ed, didn’t really mean to hijack your thread. I hope to be able to view some of that complex firsthand someday. Maybe when they give us six weeks of vacation–or when they give me 52!