And had a great time doing it! Here's a sneak peek! Amtrak #5 was detoured over the Wyoming route, via Sherman Hill due to a rockslide in Byer's Canyon: About as far as I can zoom, autoracks cautiously negotiate the crossovers at Hermosa, just east of the namesake tunnel:
Grain loads claw their way up the .82% grade behind 2 C6044AC's down on their knee in run 8; West Perkins siding on #3 track is our location: And a going-away shot into a huge cut:
Hemi: Do you have a picture of you in all this Nanook of the North climbing and hiking gear stuff? This really looks like rough country.
A heavy manifest climbs thru the area west of Perkins, and east of Dale Jct: The next shot is atop a HUGE cut made for the 1953 alignment of #3 track, just east of Dale Jct, and is among the deepest on the line, at 120'! A shot down into that huge cut with that same junk freight still on its knees: Going-away shot, at the huge hill at Dale Junction:
Never thought to do that.. No, we drove to most of these shots with just a short hike to gain some elevation. This is actually gentler terrain than that of the Moffat Route tunnel district... But, yes, it is rugged. The only way in is on some really rough roads. Some so steep my light-in-the-back-end truck needed 4x4 kicked in to ascend the grade! Here's the steed at Borie, WY on #3 track with that same grainer on its knees, at about 9AM.
Are you kidding? UP puts a pair of AC44's or SD70's on nearly any train, and sends them up #3 track to slug it up the hill at 8-11 MPH. This is unfortunately standard. Only the rockets; high HPT powered stacks, Amtrak and V-trains get sent up #1 or 2 track via the old 1.54% grade. Any wonder why UP power looks so shabby in short order? Max rated HP throttle application (at/near the minimum speed to avoid burning traction motors on the DC units) for 3-4 hours at a time. If that ain't abuse, I don't know what is. Part of the reason UP is having so many problems with low average train speed is putting a 40 MPH manifest (on level track) in front of a 70 MPH high-priority intermodal, and wondering why the intermodal is late. You simply cannot do things like that, and expect all trains to run the speeds advertised and guaranteed. Either overpower all trains, or downgrade intermodal speeds. It can't work together like that otherwise. The only good thing about that is chasing, even on the unpredictable dirt roads leading to #3 track, is relatively easy. The stack talk thru the canyons at higher elevations is quite spectacular, as well.
The drag freight Hemi and I shot above Borie was maybe doing 10-15 MPH- we had a long time to look at this freight. How slow was he? Well, we caught the rear end at around the I25-US30 interchange, but jeremy had to flip a U-turn to get back for gas. Once we headed back west (via Otto Rd., WY221 (old US30)), we went over the 1 and 2 tracks (1 track was packed nose-to-tail with eastbounds waiting to get in) on a 1-lane bridge, and headed up an oil company/ranchroad across the Borie Cutoff track to 3 Track, where we waitied some time for this freight to pass thru Speer, several rail miles east. With two 4400HP AC-traction motored diesels, he may have stalled, but he wouldn't burn up a traction motor. UP was wringing everything they could out of these beasts- Run 8 all the way to Dale Jct, even at a .55 % grade.
Speaking of Borie- Anyone ever see a picture of the old tower there? I'm curious as to what it looked like. Boxcab E50
most manifest are 50 mph not 40 mph and how much would speed go down if you held every train that is a 50 to wait for a 70 mph train on another track when there are only two tracks now you have two mains taken up to get one 70 by a 50 that makes sense huh???
also what is a V-TRAIN, do you mean Z train (Z's are the real hotshot carrying UPS trailers and extra high priority stuff)
For the record, UP has a two-track mainline (three over Sherman Hill from Cheyenne to Dale Jct.) with sidings and crossovers. Also, plenty of sidings and crossovers exist on this line west- I know, because I've paced it from Cheyenne west to at least Green River. I'm sure even the UP dispatchers may be capable of getting faster trains around slower ones if they were of a mind to, with this physical plant. This ain't the Katy or Espee's single track out this way. I daresay speed wouldn't suffer too much with proper dispatching........even if this is the much-maligned UP we're talking about. BTW, since you're quick with responses, and your answers point to possible RR employment, would you mind telling us if you are indeed employed by the railroad, and what it is you do? I admit to knowing little about day-to-day operations, but I don't mind learning a little bit from those who do. [ October 18, 2005, 01:04 AM: Message edited by: friscobob ]
A V-train is a vehicle train--autoracks. We saw a V train, and it was solid loaded autoracks. Here it is, approaching the #1 and 2 track at Dale Jct:
I know one thing for sure...somebody had better fix those fences with all the gaps in them before any animals get loose.
Flash--you have the right idea, but the wrong prototype.. Yes, they are fences, but not the kind that keeps animals in or out--they are snow fences. The idea is that snow blowing and drifting will not accumulate in the large ROW cuts, but rather behind the fence. Some have collapsed, from wind damage, most on Sherman Hill are steel, though several miles of them are wood as well. Here's a great shot of the snow fences, in formation to battle the incessant Wyoming winds: Creston Jct, WY (west of Rawlins): [ October 18, 2005, 08:38 AM: Message edited by: HemiAdda2d ]
