Track Warrants
"The Electronic Internet Newsletter of Western Railroading"P.O. Box 720301
San Jose, CA 95172
USA
Issue No. 17
Jan. 26, 1995
UP Action on Altamont by Ken Rattenne©.
Union Pacific and Southern Pacific are planning to operate a joint inspection special on SP lines from Portland OR to Houston TX. UP equipment will deadhead from Council Bluffs IA to Portland in advance of the special.
Deadhead consist:
Power unknown Pony Express baggage/recreation (to Cheyenne) 208 power car North Platte staff car Little Rock crew sleeper Pocatello business car St. Louis business car Portola sleeper Green River sleeper Harriman dome lounge City of Denver diner Idaho inspection/observation car
Deadhead Schedule:
Council Bluffs IA 14:00 1/29
Ar. North Platte NE 19:15 crew change
Dp. North Platte 20:15
Ar. Cheyenne WY 23:05 crew change, set out Pony Express
Dp. Cheyenne 23:35 1/29
Rawlins 03:20 1/30 fuel/service
Green River 05:50 crew change
Pocatello ID 10:50 crew change
Nampa 15:20 crew change
La Grande OR 19:10 crew change
Hinkle 23:25 1/30 crew change
Ar. Portland (Albina) 03:35 1/31
Live consist:
Power unknown 208 power car North Platte staff car Little Rock crew sleeper Pocatello business car SP 150 Sunset SP business car St. Louis business car Portola sleeper Green River sleeper Harriman dome lounge City of Denver diner Idaho inspection/observation car
Live schedule:
Dp. Portland OR 06:00 2/2
Ar. Eugene 08:20
Dp. Eugene 08:40
Klamath Falls 13:00
Dunsmuir CA 15:30
Ar. Roseville 20:15 2/2
Dp. Roseville 07:00 2/3
Fresno 10:15
Bakersfield 13:00
Ar. West Colton 18:30 2/3
Dp. West Colton 06:00 2/4
Yuma AZ 11:15 MT
Tucson 16:00
Ar. El Paso TX 22:10 2/4
Dp. El Paso 06:00 2/5
Alpine 10:15
Del Rio 14:20
Ar. San Antonio 18:15 2/5
Dp. San Antonio 07:00 2/6
Flatonia 09:00
Eagle Lake 10:10
Rosenberg 10:40
West Junction 11:15
Eureka 11:25
Ar. Houston 11:35 2/6
Dp. Houston 21:00 2/7 deadhead
No information available yet on route beyond Houston.
If you can use for the column, add credit to Bill Farmer. Thanks
Rob Carlson courtesy of Altamont Press
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JAN 20-UP SUPERBOWL SPECIAL---The consist will be the 3 E units and 8 cars. The schedule should be close to the following:
DP Council Bluffs 0800 1/23 DP Cheyenne 1700 1/23 AR Salt Lake City 0400 1/24 layover DP Salt Lake City 0830 1/26 AR Las Vegas 1845 1/26 layover DP Las Vegas 0900 1/27 DP Colton 1600 1/27 on SP AR Tempe 0300 1/28 DP Tempe 1000 1/29 (deadhead move) DP Colton 1630 1/29 on UP DP Milford 0700 1/30 DP Salt Lake City 1145 1/30 DP Rawlins 1845 1/30 AR Council Bluffs 0950 1/31,
Consist:
UP 951 E-9 locomotive UPB 963 E-9b locomotive UP 949 E-9 locomotive UP 207 power car Cabarton staff car Omaha sleeper Wyoming sleeper Powder River sleeper Walter dean dome lounge Selma business car Arden business car
Train spots to west end Tempe run-around next to depot. Power can be cut from train to clear street crossings. Must be near water supply. Will have 4 private cars spotted on run-around off [Amtrak] #2.
Train will be occupied by the Union Pacific executive department. Mr. Drew Lewis, Union Pacific Chief Executive Officer, in charge of train. Will have invited guests on board. Train will [be] occupied until departure. Union Pacific's police department have made arrangements with Southern Pacific to provide security. Captain Taylor of U.P. will be in charge. Vendors for fuel and concessions have been arranged and water will be trucked in.
Return of this equipment will be as a deadhead train, Jan. 29, 1996. On board service crew will ride train. As no turning facility is available train will be towed Tempe to Colton rear car first. Will run around train at Colton before interchange [to UP].
Paul De Luca, Locomotive Manager, via RAILROAD@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU & Bill Farmer, all via Bill Farmer
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JAN 18-As part of the general improvements spurred by the operation of Metrolink trains, at least two industrial spurs and mainline switches have been removed between C007 (Vail Ave) and C009 (Pico). Similar spur removal has occured on the former SP line between Burbank and Chatsworth and on the Santa Fe's line between Hobart and Fullerton.
Ron Lehmer
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JAN 14-At Proviso IL, 1-12-96 was UP AC6000CW 7036 thru 7040. 7038 thru 7040 has a white plastic radome on the top of the cab, while 7036 and 7037 did not. I think that the units with the radom did not have regular VHF and UHFtransit style antennas, while the other 2 did.
My question is: Is this just a housing for the collection of radioantennas that are growing on locomotives, or is this for the new 900 MHztrain control system, or a weird looking AC unit?
RAILROAD%CUNYVM.TAMUNJE, via L. G. Ruback [ On Track Ltd ]
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Hey guys, Just saw the Lashup of the Year; pretty amazing since its only January 15th. The Extra North Pedro on the UP's San Pedro Branch had the lashup:
MKCX9902 - CR6857 - EMD7022 with 81 coal empties
I shot it at South Gate and again just sort of Hobart Tower. The train arrived about 3:45PM and was called out of East Yard for 5PM.
Ron Lehmer
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NPHO 3563,3438,2456
2CHMXZ 3414,3172,3445
While chasing all the activity at Hearne, UP was running all this activity through Valley Junction approximately 4 miles away. 1CHMXZ, LDCB, NLSA, GLNPHO, FWMX, FWSP, HODEZ, OAGOG, plus 3 other freights that I did not hear a symbol for.
I also heard at least 7 freights on BNSF Santa Fe Main about twenty miles to the west of Hearne. That main goes through the town of Milano, TX. 3 of the freights were the empty coal with BN9607 on point, GNKCHO, and HOBA.
If that wasn't enough, when I was first going out I heard the BNSF dispatcher talking to 3 freights on BNSF BN mainline approximately 25 miles to the east of Hearne, TX.
It's activity like this that makes it a tough decision on where to spend your time at.
Jerry Storrs Jr.
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JAN 7-Job 204 at Hobart had a bit of a problem on Sunday, January 7. While shoving a cut of cars back into one of the tracks, it sideswiped a UPS trailer that was improperly parked, ripping open the entire front of the trailer and scattering the contents along the row of trailers. Needless to say, there are going to be a few unhappy UPS customers whoseboxes are going to come with a note: "Sorry, this was hit by a train!"
Ron Lehmer
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Hi Y'all,
Here's the answer to that mysterious attachment on the roofs of UP 9141 and 6337..
Cheers,
Harry
Sean Graham-White(alasgw@interaccess.com) posted this:
John Bromley of UP public affairs was kind enough to answer the question regarding the I-beams on the roofs of UP SD60M #6337 and UP C40-8 #9141. ##### The two locomotives, UP 6337 and 9141, are part of an experiment to improve the safety of maintenance personnel working on top of locomotives. The "I" beam actually is a track for a small trolly to which a safety belt is connected. The two units were equpped to test the idea and to help develop costing estimates. No decision has been made to implement the concept. John Bromley, UP Public Affairs
There is a much cheaper (and probably just as safe) and certainly quicker way to achieve the same result without using very large chunks of spare bridge beam. The method that springs to mind is what is known in Yachting circles as 'JACKSTAYS'. This is a wire running the length of the locomotive attached to ring bolts at either end. Stainless steel wire is commonly used - 7x19 is the spec that springs to mind - and seems to last a lifetime on a yacht. The worker wears a harness and uses a lifeline with carbine hooks on either end to attach himself to the wire and if he falls his drop is limited to the length of the lifeline, not how far off the ground he is!!
Gavin Hamilton et. al., via Harry Wong
JAN 10-BIG DADDY'S COOKHOUSE, along the former WP First Subdivision in the Niles District of Fremont, CA, has cooked its last cheeseburger. Sometime during the first week in January, 1996, it abruptly closed. Its owner was reportedly bankrupt. The only notice was a sign taped to the door. It was not the Health Department's doing, either. The owner of the property, gasoline refiner TOSCO, would like to develop the site as a service station.
Located at the corner of Mission Blvd and Niles Canyon Road, this eatery had railroad models on trackage lining the walls and was a favorite beanery of Feather River Rail Society members when in the area to attend "First Sub Club" meetings at the restored SP Niles depot nearby.
WP apparently had some sort of "food service" contract with BIG DADDY'S until prior to the UP takeover, as eastbound train crews would radio the train dispatcher in Sacramento and order sandwiches/meals by "number." BIG DADDY'S apparently had a scanner in the kitchen to monitor these radio calls. A BIG DADDY'S employee would then drive to the nearby Clark Road grade crossing at the mouth of Niles Canyon and hand up the food order to the engine and train crews as they rolled toward Stockton.
Matt Vurek
Railroad Stock Report for Thursday, 25 January 1996
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Market Data from Wednesday, 24 January 1996
Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 5,242.84, up 50.57 on Wednesday.
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Big Board (NYSE)
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Line Symbol High Low Close Previous P/E
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BNSF BNI 81.500 79.125 79.750 79.000 13.90
CSX CSX 45.625 44.625 45.375 45.000 16.10
Conrail CRR 68.375 67.625 68.125 68.750 12.90
Norfolk Southern NSC 79.000 77.625 78.500 77.375 14.60
Southern Pacific RSP 24.250 23.875 23.875 24.000 25.70
Union Pacific UNP 67.000 66.375 66.750 66.375 15.30
Canadian Pacific Ltd CP N 18.500 18.250 18.375 18.500 23.20
Illinois Central IC 37.250 36.000 37.250 36.000 12.30
Kansas City Southern KSU 43.375 42.625 43.125 42.625 25.10
Florida East Coast FLA 69.000 67.875 69.000 67.750 22.30
Sea Container SCRA 17.125 16.875 17.000 16.750 1.90
XTRA XTR 41.875 41.750 41.750 41.875 12.10
Greenbrier GBX 10.875 10.750 10.750 10.750 9.60
Wabash Natl. Corp. WNC 20.500 19.750 20.125 20.375 15.70
Trinity Ind. TRN 31.875 31.000 31.000 31.625 12.60
Ameri. President APS 21.250 20.750 20.750 21.125 9.50
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NASDAQ
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Line Symbol High Low Close Previous P/E
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J.B. Hunt JBHT 16.000 15.875 15.875 15.937 39.10
Wisconsin Central WCLX 78.000 77.000 77.000 77.250 25.30
RailTex RTEX 21.000 20.875 21.000 20.875 27.30
RailAmerica RAIL 3.875 3.687 3.687 3.781 12.30
Providence & Worc PWRR 7.250 7.062 7.062 7.062 10.90
Delaware Otsego DOCP 9.500 9.500 9.500 9.500 7.20
MK Rail Corp. MKRL 4.125 4.000 4.000 4.000 NA
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Pioneer Railcorp PRR-M 3.375 3.250 3.375 3.000 46.40
Yesterday (1/2/96), I went out to test that new 300mm Mamiya lense (180mm for you 35mm folks). Here is the scorecard.
Banged #721 at Newark on the Centerville Line, then swung over to the UP at Fremont yard for a few hours, letting a CIBAT (X 8592) slip by (backlit anyway). Banged an OANP, a w/b COFC/TOFC (X 6181) and the LMM-44 (long hood forward GP15 1592, train no longer has a caboose!). While in the yard, a person driving a Toyota sedan plastered with media stickers came by and asked me about the location of a propane tank. He had the street address for the UP yard office. He checked the SP tracks at the Shinn Street crossing but could not find anything. I told him that Turns out that person(s) unknown had opened the valve on the tank, releasing the propane. Tank is used by M of W personnel for fueling welding equipment. A few trailers housing UP employees were nearby as well as the SD40-2 used by the LMM-38 (Fremont Roadswitcher). The idling EMD was reportedly emitting sparks and since the job was annulled for the holiday, it was not out and about. KCBS-AM reported that about 100 people were evacuated due to the mischief. Anyway, a UP special agent happened to be in the yard area and corralled the news media guy. The S/A later came up to me on the access road and I spoke briefly with him (although I did not have my UP hat with me, just my SP hat-wrong "colors"). The S/A (special agent) told me the guy just wanted to video the propane tank. I replied that the tank was the most popular in town now. The S/A then drove off.
Between 2:30p and 3:30p, SP in Oakland excreted the following trains on the Coast/Hayward Lines:
X 8283 (OASJM) X8541 (EUWSM) Amtrak #723 and the OAWSM (unknown power). I should have gone to Oakland had I known about this deluge (all dirty power per usual, though). I banged 723 and the OASJM (all headlights off for some reason) at Alviso and then drove to Santa Clara Tower. Shadows were lengthening ominously. The 1WCKFM-30 (X 7404 filthy) rolled in to make a set out. Usually, this train sets out in Warm Springs, but this move usually means that WS is plugged and with the EUWSM already in the yard by 4p, it would have been a mess. Instead, right behind the 7404 was the Hollister Local (X 9664) coming back from Gilroy (the early quit a result of no branch work today) and one of the San Jose switch jobs (X 4827) coming off the Milpitas Line. College Park would have been a nice place to catch this parade but the shadows would have been a problem. So I banged the 7404 off the De La Cruz overpass and headed to the Black & White photo lab to get the 300mm's work processed.
Matt Vurek
I'm wondering if any other railfans would like to meet up at the summit of Cajon pass to swap stories,photos,recipies(wifes addition) or just chat during the slow times on the hill? I can be emailed at jvikande@uci.edu
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Saw your home page and Western Railroads page; great! Do you know of any references, collectors, etc., of railroad tie date nails??? I am a collector/reseracher of date nails. Thanks!
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Just wanted to drop you a note to let you know that you have in my
opinion,the best and most informative page for rr info on the net with your
"Track Warrants". Please keep up the great work!
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Congratulations on TEN SOLID YEARS of FLIMSIESDOM! After finding FLIMSIES! #40 in Mountain View's San Antonio Hobby Shop in February, 1988, my railfan life really took off! Thanks to the proliferation of news I could use, I was and am still able to photograph trains and events that I would have otherwise just ended up seeing published in the SLICKEE BOYZ (full-size, professionally-produced railfan magazines). FLIMSIES! also allowed me to polish my own photography and writing skills. Most importantly, FLIMSIES! also introduced me to WINTERAIL and a trainload of new friends. Whether it was talking to Bill F. on amateur radio from the doubleheaded UP CANYON EXPRESS, meeting with Charlie and the SoCal bunch late night at Pomona Depot or finding each other among the ocean of humanity at the first LA Light Rail opening or cavorting with Bill S. at a Gridley gang slide show, FLIMSIES! was the vehicle that put me there.
CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN AND ON TO #300!!
BAD NEWS....The following addresses have had problems with transmission and are being deleted:
Flimsies
Mark Y Berman
Chuck Burns
MATT VUREK, proud owner of a "FLIMSIES! field reporter ID card!!!!"
9512221443.0KORE00@filebank.com, timh@PURCHASING.CALTECH.EDU, wmott@oboe.calpoly.edu, DU200@ACADEMIC.CALPOLY.EDU, Jeff_Stanton@fc1.glfn.org, rick.selby@attws.com, KIM_O_DAVIES_at_AWPOAKFSDO@mail.hq.faa.gov, 9512252106.AF00493@dpa.act.gov.au, ptupaczewski@attmail.com
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TRACK WARRANTS
This document was last updated January 26, 1996.
Steve Sloan, Sloan Family Webmaster stevesln@aimnet.com
TRACK WARRANTS
P.O. Box 720301
San Jose, CA 95172
USA