Joshua Trees and Big GEs - Wanderings around California

[ac6000cw]

My first ever trip report, so here goes...

Day 1 - The lights of Los Angeles are twinkling below...

After a good trip on GN and LU to Heathrow, then 5000 miles on a Virgin A340 (good flight) it's time for US immigration...one 'mug shot' and full set of fingerprints later, I head for the 'Ground Transportation' exit (then spend 5 minutes wandering up and down to find the stop for my bus - better signage would help a lot).

As I was spending the first two nights of the trip in the Metro Plaza Hotel close to LA Union Station, I took the direct 'Flyaway' bus to there and walked through the long passageway under the platforms from the 'transit plaza' to the main concourse. The sound of idling EMD passenger diesels was echoing down the ramps from the platforms - this is more like it

LAUS is a slightly unusual design for a terminal station, looking like it was designed to allow for future conversion to a through station when it was built in the late 1930s. This should actually be happening by 2020, with new access tracks being added at the south end of the station. This being LA, there was a suitably glitzy event taking place in the original ticket hall space - dinner jackets and cocktail dresses all round.

A view looking from the waiting area towards the platform underpass:

Time for some sleep after 19 hours of travelling...

Day 2 - Riding on Metrolink (LA commuter rail system)

System map and timetable leaflet (with a better map) are here - http://www.metrolinktrains.com/routes/ and http://www.metrolinktrains.com/pdfs/Timetables/Metrolink_All_Lines_timetable.pdf

Up early and a quick 'motel' breakfast gets me down to Union Station for the 07:15 to Chatsworth, a mixture of Bombardier and Rotem double-deck stock with EMD F59PH '869' on the front. Passed a couple of Union Pacific (UP) EMD GP40s doing local industry switching:

before arriving in Chatsworth at 8:10,

and then getting the 8:25 back to LAUS (Metrolink is all-EMD push-pull loco-hauled).

Back in LAUS, the stock for the northbound Amtrak 'Coast Starlight' was pushed into the station, with a privately owned passeger car on the back - someone is having a nice ride north There were several private cars in the storage tracks alongside the station - see photo below (the viaduct carries the 'Gold Line' light rail line to platforms 1 & 2):

A Metrolink EMD F59PH on the left, F59PHI on the right.

Rotem cab-control car:

Amtrak California 'Surfliner' set (another F59PHI)

Next I took the 10:05 to San Bernadino. For part of this route the line is in the median strip of a freeway - it felt slightly odd to have road vehicles passing on both sides of the train. Passed a few BNSF EMD GP locos still in classic Santa Fe red-and-sliver 'Warbonnet' livery - nice to know it hasn't disappeared yet.

It was all going well when near Fontana the brakes are suddenly applied hard, followed by the sound of something hitting the carriage...a few minutes later the conductor announced that the train had hit a trespasser (the line in that area is fenced on both sides, incidentally).

After the police, the coroner and a new train crew had arrived, we got moving about 2 1/2 hours later. The new conductor came through the train to help people with their onward travel plans - along with some other passengers, I had intended to catch the 12:20 from San Bernadino towards Oceanside (one of the few off-peak Metrolink trains over the San Bernadino-Riverside line). A bus was quickly arranged to take us to Riverside-Downtown - I started to re-plan the rest of day...

Got on the 15:00 train to Irvine (on the line towards Oceanside) - only to hear an announcement that a BNSF freight train had hit a tresspasser at Norwalk (close to LA) and all three tracks were closed, so services on that route were badly disrupted - argh! I decided that getting to the seaside at San Clemente was not worth it (the orginal intention but it would be nearly dark by the time I got there), so I caught the next train to Fullerton (heading back towards LA) after arriving at Irvine. This was a packed Amtrak California 'Surfliner' from San Diego - I stood all the way.

Fullerton on a warm Friday evening is just a great place to watch trains - triple-track BNSF mainline, palm trees, a good cafe on the platform and frequent freight and passenger trains all evening (and a popular gathering place for local railfans). Even a nice sunset too...

More to come - it's Tehachapi Pass next...

 

[ianhr]

If you have time don't miss the Orange Empire RR Museum in Perris, just south of Riverside; also the parallel BNSF & UP lines through the Cajon Pass, and the marshalling yards at Barstow. It's worth taking a ride on the pleasant coast line to San Diego too, and a ride on a PCC streetcar when you get there!

 

[Kite159]

Looks amazing

 

[Techniquest]

Welcome to the trip reporters club! Certainly you've done a good job of your first one

While most of the places aren't familiar to me, I was still able to follow it all happily Those locos look beast, I can only imagine what they sound like!

I look forward to reading about the next part when it's ready!

 

[FQ]

That was a great read. I enjoyed the photos too.

 

[ac6000cw]

If you have time don't miss the Orange Empire RR Museum in Perris, just south of Riverside; also the parallel BNSF & UP lines through the Cajon Pass, and the marshalling yards at Barstow. It's worth taking a ride on the pleasant coast line to San Diego too, and a ride on a PCC streetcar when you get there!

Agreed - the Orange Empire RR Museum will come along later in the trip report (it was 'Pumpkin Day' there when I went), as will Cajon. The trip I'm writing about I did in October this year, so the report is slightly historical.

Those locos look beast, I can only imagine what they sound like!

The F59's have the same engine as the 66s/67s (V12 710 series) but without the big exhaust silencer, so imagine a much noisier 66. The F59PHI are actually the last of the 'classic' EMD passenger locos built, with two-stroke diesel engines and distinctive two axle 'Blomberg' bogies with transverse leaf spring bolsters. Metrolink has 20 new EMD F125 locos on order - an all-new design using a 4700hp V20 Caterpillar four-stroke C175 engine with bodyshell and bogies supplied by Vossloh in Spain. So basically a larger, super power, single-cab class 68 - I suspect the local railfans are going to enjoy those...

 

[47403]

Cracking thread, with some great pictures too, them double decker locos look absolutely HUGE!!!!
Fullerton certainly sounds like a good place to wile away the hours, enjoyig the rail action.
Looking forward to more, thanks for sharing.

 

[Phil.]

That shot of the Rotem cab control car. Are those brake discs on the outside of the wheelset?

 

[Techniquest]

The F59's have the same engine as the 66s/67s (V12 710 series) but without the big exhaust silencer, so imagine a much noisier 66. The F59PHI are actually the last of the 'classic' EMD passenger locos built, with two-stroke diesel engines and distinctive two axle 'Blomberg' bogies with transverse leaf spring bolsters. Metrolink has 20 new EMD F125 locos on order - an all-new design using a 4700hp V20 Caterpillar four-stroke C175 engine with bodyshell and bogies supplied by Vossloh in Spain. So basically a larger, super power, single-cab class 68 - I suspect the local railfans are going to enjoy those...

PHWOAR! I think the forum's ever-growing Class 68 Fan Club will need a trip to California to sample those one day!

66s/67s but louder for the F59s? That could be interesting indeed. Shame I'm going on a tourist holiday to New York in March, if I could afford to I'd be flying to LAX on a crankfest and enjoying the sounds and sights. After all, it sounds like a good proper flailing session would be called for!

*Plans for 2017 are rapidly changing, Japan may have to wait!*

Those decker trains do look like good fun, imagine such a thing on Manchester's Metrolink!

 

[tfesully]

"Hotel California" springs to mind seeing the photos of the palm trees silhouetted in the evening sky. The romance of rail travel! Wonderful photography and a very interesting trip by all sounds.

 

[ac6000cw]

That shot of the Rotem cab control car. Are those brake discs on the outside of the wheelset?

Yes, they are - the white Bombardier BiLevels behind it have a similar arrangement. From memory, there is a disc only at one end of each axle and the bogies (called 'trucks' in the US) are an inside-framed design.

You'll find the Bombardier BiLevel coaches all over the US and Canada on commuter rail operations (except where clearances are too tight to accommodate them). GO Transit in Toronto has over 600 of them, Metrolink has the next biggest fleet at nearly 150.
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Shame I'm going on a tourist holiday to New York in March, if I could afford to I'd be flying to LAX on a crankfest and enjoying the sounds and sights.

Well, New Jersey Transit (NJT) operate on the other side of the Hudson river from NYC, and run this lot - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_Transit_Rail_Operations#Locomotives - on loco-hauled trains. The PL42AC are EMD-powered, and the ALP-45DP are monster electro-diesels fitted with two CAT engines to provide 4000hp on diesel.
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"Hotel California" springs to mind seeing the photos of the palm trees silhouetted in the evening sky.

I hadn't thought about that (reaching for the album cover )

Wonderful photography and a very interesting trip by all sounds.

Thanks for the nice comments from everyone. I'm much more of a video than a stills shooter, but that is much more difficult to do at decent quality once sun the goes down.

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Cracking thread, with some great pictures too, them double decker locos look absolutely HUGE!!!!

This video shows the relative size of a Class 70 versus a typical modern US freight diesel... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czF7n0umETo

 

[Kristofferson]

Wow, welcome to the trip reporters club indeed

some beastly trains there - my only "familiarity" with the line is from Train Simulator, but it must be spectacular in real life.

 

[ac6000cw]

Day 3 - Moving on to Tehachapi Pass

(Some of the video - and noise - highlights of Day 3 are here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVjog6nJITc - and the photos are here - https://www.flickr.com/gp/135999716@N08/8th72W)

It's time to switch from steel wheels to rubber tyres - after a quick re-pack, checkout and breakfast, I walk down to the car rental desk inside Union Station. Seems to be no one at home when I get there, but the agent and a customer soon appear, having a 'discussion' about the costs of a rental (groan). I try to put on my best impatient look - after a few more minutes they reach a truce and I produce my reservation (fully paid in the UK to side-step most of the 'up-selling' car rental people always try on). Some rumaging behing the counter eventually produces the keys to a Mazda 3 (about the size of a Ford Focus but with a boot - sorry 'trunk') and I wander over to the underground parking lot. Set the SatNav destination to 'Mojave, CA' - a pit-stop town east of Tehachapi (top of the pass), with the mainline running through the middle - and off we go... (the route is here - https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/U...f8073bdffbca0!2m2!1d-118.1739645!2d35.0524699). For the aerospace enthusiasts, this route takes you reasonably close to the NASA Armstrong Flight Research facilities at Palmdale and Edwards, plus Mojave Air & Space Port (Virgin Galactic's base). It also keeps quite close to the Metrolink line to Lancaster, and the UP line onwards to Mojave.

Whilst driving on the LA Freeways is part of the LA 'experience', the traffic on them varies from bad to horrendous - imagine the worst part of the M25 but with more lanes and legal overtaking on both sides. You need your own wheels to explore Tehachapi and Cajon etc. but if you don't fancy LA driving then consider getting the bus to Bakersfield (for Tehachapi) or train to San Bernadino (for Cajon) and renting a car there instead. As for me - I've just put 'pedal to the metal' and I'm hoping that someone will let me in when I get to the end of the Freeway entrance ramp...

I somehow managed to miss the turnoff from I-5 onto CA-14 towards Palmdale (oops), so in the end changed my route and decided to head instead for the west end (bottom) of Tehachapi Pass - just east of Bakersfield. The drive over the mountains north of LA is quite scenic anyway - think M62 between Manchester and Leeds but with brown hills instead of green moorland. My eventual route - https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/U...0x80ea132585c7fcd5:0xa567973abd3085e0!1m0!3e0

This actually works out quite well - when I get to the railroad at the CA-184/Edison Highway junction, a BNSF train is heading east towards the pass in front of me - the chase is on! I turn right and fairly quickly catch up with the tail end with two GE C44-9W DPU's providing the noise (DPU = Distributed Power Unit = radio-controlled loco). I keep pace with this for a few miles (window down of course ) until it slows to a stop at signals - this allows me to get to head end, with 3 x C44-9W and one ES44 (all GE).

Note the burnt/rusty patch in the middle of the front loco - it's probably had turbo problems (not uncommon on those older GE's).

A train quickly arrives from the opposite direction, then our eastbound train gets moving and I pace the head end until the road and rails part company at Ilmon. I carry on along Bena Rd and Caliente-Bodfish Rd to get to Tunnel 2 before it arrives (the 12 tunnels are numbered from the foot of the pass, but with gaps as there were originally 18 or so). A few minutes after I set up the tripod, the noise of hard-working diesels drifts up the hill...

The head end approaches Tunnel 2:

and the tail end powers past:

I carry on down the hill towards Caliente and catch this westbound BNSF train descending towards Tunnel 1:

and then it heads along the creek towards Bakersfield after looping around Caliente:

Back up at Tunnel 2, another westbound emerges from the tunnel. Note the vehicle on top of the hill - you can walk or drive up there (carefully - I did it once on a previous trip) and get good views of the railroad in both directions.

After all that action, I drop down into Caliente for a coffee and 'where to go next' break. Decide it's time to head further up the pass, so I drive up the steep road towards highway 58 and come across a Union Pacific (UP) train just about to restart from the east end of the passing loop ('siding') at Bealville. This has 'one of each' on the front - EMD SD70M + GE AC4400CW + GE ES44AC. The AC4400 is putting on a reasonable 'clag' display, and the whole lot are managing to shake the ground - I could feel the diesel engine vibration through my feet! - as they get the train moving on the 2%+ gradient:

then head up the hill. In a few minutes, the train will emerge from Tunnel 5 up on the far hillside (just above where the front cab is now):

There is a bit more of Day 3 to come, but I think that's enough for one post

 

[Techniquest]

It has to be said those locos look like beasts! I'd play the videos but I am earphone-less right now and would wake the whole house up if I played them currently!

Rather enjoyed Day 3 so far, looking forward to the next bit when it's ready!

 

[ac6000cw]

It has to be said those locos look like beasts!

Yes, it's not hard to get 'hooked' on them

For comparison, GE Class 70 versus ES44AC:

GE Class 70:
Length: 21.71 m (71' 3")
Width: 2.64 m ( 8' 8")
Height: 3.91 m (12' 10")
Weight: 129 tonnes

GE ES44AC:
Length: 22.30 m (73' 2")
Width: 3.12 m (10' 3")
Height: 4.70 m (15' 5")
Weight: 185-195 tonnes, depending on configuration

US (and Canadian) locos look massive mostly because of their height (0.8m taller and a bit wider than our nearest equivalent), but they are also much heavier - real heavy-haul motive power. (And they sound like they mean business too)

 

[FQ]

Hellfire!

 

[Kristofferson]

Beasts!

 

[47403]

Yes, they are - the white Bombardier BiLevels behind it have a similar arrangement. From memory, there is a disc only at one end of each axle and the bogies (called 'trucks' in the US) are an inside-framed design.

You'll find the Bombardier BiLevel coaches all over the US and Canada on commuter rail operations (except where clearances are too tight to accommodate them). GO Transit in Toronto has over 600 of them, Metrolink has the next biggest fleet at nearly 150.
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Well, New Jersey Transit (NJT) operate on the other side of the Hudson river from NYC, and run this lot - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_Transit_Rail_Operations#Locomotives - on loco-hauled trains. The PL42AC are EMD-powered, and the ALP-45DP are monster electro-diesels fitted with two CAT engines to provide 4000hp on diesel.
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I hadn't thought about that (reaching for the album cover )



Thanks for the nice comments from everyone. I'm much more of a video than a stills shooter, but that is much more difficult to do at decent quality once sun the goes down.

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


This video shows the relative size of a Class 70 versus a typical modern US freight diesel... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czF7n0umETo

Jesus H Christ, the 70's pretty much dwarfed. I'M assuming the double decker locos must be bigger again.

 

[ac6000cw]

Jesus H Christ, the 70's pretty much dwarfed. I'M assuming the double decker locos must be bigger again.

No, the passenger locos are smaller (about 6 inches lower and 17 feet shorter) than the freight locos in the video. They are still very tall by UK standards though. It's only the passenger cars that are actually double-deck.

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Day 3 continued...

After the diesel-powered foot massage courtesy of EMD and GE, I decide to chase the train, so I head up the hill and turn left towards Tehachapi (at a 'life in your hands' T-junction with the main road). Two junctions along and I turn off onto Woodford-Tehachapi Rd (a nice junction with slip roads and an underpass!) and head towards Woodford Siding (passing loop) and set up the tripod. I get more than I planned - it's track-owner UP versus trackage-rights tenant BNSF head-to-head!



(The line over Tehachapi Pass was built by the Southern Pacific (SP) railroad in the 1870s, and it granted trackage rights to the Atichson, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad (ATSF) twenty years later. Since then they and their post-merger equivalents have shared the route between Bakersfield and Mojave.)

A short drive up the road and we are just below the famous Tehachapi Loop, with a super-powered (eight locos!!) BNSF mixed freight rounding the curve before diving into Tunnel 9:



...and then looping over itself (the third loco is a 35 year old EMD SD40-2) :



Carry on up the road and we arrive at the historical marker for the Loop, with an overview of the whole scene (Tunnel 9 is roughly where the single tall tree is behind the train on the left):



After an action-packed day, it's time to head for the Best Western Mountain Inn in Tehachapi, followed by a walk into town for some proper food (and a beer ).

(But I'm not missing out on the action - the mainline is just across the road from the hotel, so 'rolling thunder' is always on tap... )

 

[Techniquest]

Wow those trains really are long! hock:

 

[47403]

Wow those trains really are long! hock:

I was thinking exactly that tech, sounds like one helluva day, again some awesome pictures too. Really good read this, keep it rolling please.

 

[Jimboshot]

Superb pictures there. I think when we were there, we counted that the trains needed to be either 83 or 86 cars long, to be long enough to go over themselves. Almost all were well over that length.

Looking forward to the Cajon pics, one of my favourite places for taking photos up on the Hill. We once counted a northbound container train going up the hill, had 329 boxes on it, obviously double stack, but a lot were also 60 footers.

 

[ac6000cw]

Wow those trains really are long! hock:

I think it's about a mile (by rail) from Tunnel 9 (entrance to the loop) to just off the right hand side of the photo.

Common maximum train length in the US is about 8000 feet (1.5 miles), but over something like Tehachapi Pass a train that long and heavy would normally need rear or mid-train locos added to keep the forces within the train low enough. Otherwise there is a risk of couplings breaking or wagons (freight cars) being pulled over on the inside of curves. The first train of the day was probably getting on for that length - it took about 5 minutes to go past Tunnel 2, doing 15-20 mph - with 4 locos on the front and 2 on the rear.

They do run them longer that sometimes, but it can be disruptive to operations because they won't fit in many of the passing loops.

My personal record for train length was one I saw in western Canada (near Banff) with a front-mid-mid-rear loco setup (yes, 4 sets of locos!) - it seemed endless...

 

[GB]

Very nice write up. Been to those places a few times so know just how impressive it all is.

One thing I have found though is that when your in the states, you can get so close without any hassle, the scenery is beautiful and the long trains with many locos are such a sight that when you get back to the UK its hard to get back into it all again.

 

[ac6000cw]

Very nice write up. Been to those places a few times so know just how impressive it all is.

Thanks. This was my third visit to Tehachapi - first one was 'my' part of our honeymoon , it was mostly still SP black & red and ATSF red & silver 'Warbonnets' plus manned helper sets (banking engines) scooting about back then...(and I was shooting mushy video on a VHS-C camcorder instead of 'Full HD' 50fps video on a mirrorless camera now)

One thing I have found though is that when your in the states, you can get so close without any hassle, the scenery is beautiful and the long trains with many locos are such a sight that when you get back to the UK its hard to get back into it all again.

Completely agree - a wet afternoon at Barnetby or a breezy morning on the footbridge at Trimley don't have quite the same allure somehow

 

[Kite159]

I can remember a couple years ago when I was on a tour of California and we stopped for lunch around a small town on route 66, overlooking the tracks and the length just blows you away, as it goes on and on and on.

 

[Kristofferson]

Ridiculously long trains indeed... Eight locos, eh? Now there's an idea for the model railway!

 

[ac6000cw]

Ridiculously long trains indeed... Eight locos, eh? Now there's an idea for the model railway!

I'm not convinced all eight were actually powering the train - it's hard to tell from the noise at a distance, but it wasn't a very long train (according to Wikipedia a train needs to be at least 4000ft long to loop over itself, and those green boxes were the end of the train). I suspect some of the locos were 'hitching a ride' to Barstow yard - BNSF's main base in California, and a major loco servicing location.

 

[FQ]

I've seen longer (and more locos!). How I want to be back over in the States again!

 

[ac6000cw]

Day 4 - Part 1, A beautiful early Sunday morning in Tehachapi

It's 5:30am, and the sun is still well down behind the hills as my first train of the day rumbles past the motel:



After a quick breakfast (and filling up the flask with coffee ), I head east through town and on past the cement works at Monolith, to park myself about 1.5 miles east of there. After a short while, a long eastbound UP mixed freight led by three ES44AC's splits the signals:



The tail end of the train is just leaving Monolith - the large chimney in the distance - so it's about 1.5 miles long.

We are in 'Two Main Track Centralised Traffic Control' (2MT CTC) territory here i.e. both tracks are bi-directionally signalled with periodic crossovers between the tracks. This is a simple set of intermediate block signals (just single red/yellow/green heads, on both sides of the posts to cover both directions) - if there were crossovers etc. here there would be multiple, vertcally arranged heads to provide more 'speed signalling' indications. I think the radio antennae on the black post are part of the new PTC (Positive Train Control) safety system being rolled out on mainlines across the US, as mandated by Congress in the wake of the 2008 fatal head-on collision between a Metrolink passenger train and a UP freight at Chatsworth.

This is a dispatcher's view of the 'Mojave Sub' - http://www.trainweb.org/KernJunction/dispatcher.htm - Bakersfield is top-left, Mojave is second place from the left on the 3rd row down. In UK terms, a US 'dispatcher' is basically a train controller and power-box signaller rolled into one, setting up routes and issuing movement authorities ('track warrants') to train crews over the radio. In CTC territory these are usually of the form 'Proceed from X to Y under control of signal indications', but on unsignalled lines ('dark territory') they are the sole means of train control and can be much more specific about exactly what is authorised. Many years ago in the pre-radio era, the dispatcher would have issued 'train orders' to a network of telegraph stations along the line, who would then have 'hooped up' paper versions on the end of pole so that train crew could grab them as they rolled past - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_order_operation. Southern Pacific did away with all that over Tehachapi during WWII by installing CTC to cope with wartime traffic levels - UP has recently re-signalled the line, so all the old SP single lens 'searchlight' signals are no more...

Back to the trains - the UP freight glimmers in the morning sun that has recently climbed above the hills:



...then the mid-train DPU helper set (another three ES44AC's) comes into view:



Headlights appear under the bridge as a westbound BNSF intermodal powers upgrade and passes the UP train:




(The video version of the whole seven minute sequence is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT-BNqJ1tVI )

After amusing myself for 20 minutes trying (unsuccessfully) to photograph the colourful birds in the scrub behind me, a short UP freight comes round the curve from Monolith:



The third loco is an EMD SD70ACe - note the difference in shape of the flared radiators compared to the two GE ES44's at the front.

Then 15 minutes later a westbound BNSF 'Autorack' car-carrying train appears under the bridge and hustles along towards me:



...complete with a 'foreign' blue and yellow ES44 from CSX (one of the two eastern US mega-railroads):



...and a rather smokey C44-9W in the lead:



I was thinking about finding some more coffee when train horns sounded in the distance - an eastbound BNSF intermodal drifted past:



After five trains in a hour of lovely morning sunshine, coffee was calling (and breakfast part two - it was still only about 8am) - back to the motel

More to follow...