Issue No. 7
August 3, 1995
Southern Pacific DL721 number 4000, on the point of an eastbound freight
waiting to leave West Oakland's Homestead Yard in June 1974. Gee, if these things had lasted longer they might have made it into UP colors.
(Steve Sloan photo)
On July 3, Amtrak train 572 now leaves LA Union Stations five minutes earlier at 8:35AM, and departs Commerce five minutes earlier as well. The remainder of its schedule is the same. The Amtrak announcement states that this schedule change is to allieve pressures on the schedule due to freight train interference.
Current San Diegan, San Joaquin, and Capitol schedules are available on the web at http://pisces.ucsd.edu/www/railroads/railroads.html.
Ron Lehmer
The widening of Highway 4 has begun. Work is in progress, between Hwy. 80 and the Santa Fe overpass at Collier, to expand to four lanes. As the right-of-way being graded is going underneath the Santa Fe bridge, hopefully this means that Caltrans has discarded the idea of re-routing Hwy. 4 along the Santa Fe on the north side.
So far nothing has been done east of Collier.
Eric Blasko
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Trackwork on the San Bernardino Sub west of Fullerton continues. The week of July 10 should see the cutting in of the sidings at Norwalk for the new Metrolink station. There is already a Norwalk interlocking for the east end of the sidings and the west end is controlled at the Santa Fe Springs cross overs.
A few weeks after removing the team track at Los Nietos, the old wooden dock was removed the week of July 3. The large lumber was stacked nearby and all of the foundation material ended up in a dumpster.
New SD75M's from the second order are starting to show up here... the SCHLA arriving Hobart on 7/8 had 950-227-203-642 FFBB.
Ron Lehmer
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The date for the ICC's decision on the BNSF merger has been moved up to July 23rd, YES THIS (Last-sorry-Steve) MONTH. The two railroads are expected to act within hours of a favorable ruling. According to an inside source at Santa Fe Robert Krebs disclosed to Santa Fe upper level managers that Schaumberg, IL will be the headquarters of the merged company. Of course the operations center doesn't have to be at the same location, but it usually is there.
John Beaulieu
AN OFFICIAL ROUMER...
According to a reliable source at BN:
A single SD70MAC is being sent to VMV for application of the new merger paint scheme, which will be unveiled on August 24th. Cliff, are you listening? Nobody seems to know exactly what this scheme is, but knowing BN, I would assume the WORST (i.e. that lovely executive scheme).
Furthermore, at present, nobody inside BN is saying exactly what the new railroad is going to be called, or what the new corporate logo will look like. (Amazing how UP never seems to have this problem, isn't it ?)
Finally, BN is supposdely negotiating with both EMD and GE for 6000hp locomotives to be delivered in about a year. These are to be used in northern tier intermodal service, with two units per train. Reason given for this is capacity constraints at Northtown and Seattle diesel shops, both of which are at capacity. Who knows, we might just live to see BN place a GE order yet!
Jim Gilley
The Latest July 1995 Railway Age has a artists rendition of the SD90MAC on pages 31-32
SD90MAC features:
Also there is a shot of the twin-turbo GE-Deutz MWM prime mover intended for GE's new AC6000CW.
The article also mentions that GE is currently testing their radial truck at the Transportation Test Center in Pueblo,CO.. There is also a photo of the back end of an AC6000CW.. AWESOME LOOKING!! The batwing is the largest ever; quite reminiscent of the MLW M640 -- CP 4744!! :-)
Harry K. Wong
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Hope you had a great weekend celebrating our Nation's 209th or whatever anniversary...
(I DID! I spent the 4th watching the most awesome fireworks show I've ever seen in Boston Harbor. The vacation in New England was way cool. Chased FL9's. F-units in regular passenger service in the Hudson River Valley. --Steve)
...Here's some news passed to me from Arved Grass from Compuserve concerning EMD's proposed new manufacturing facility in New York..
Cheers, Harry
FORWARDED MESSAGE - Orig: 30-Jun-95 15:54:53
The lamp light is dimming ...
... on the possibility of Schenectady-built EMDs.
GM's Electro-Motive Division and its joint venture partner, Super Steel Products of Milwaukee, have now run into the very real threat of a NIMBY lawsuit from local residents and property owners if they move ahead with plans to build a new facility within the Schenectady Economic Development Zone. The proposed plant, to be located on a 22-acre site in the Town of Glenville, would be used for the assembly and testing of the 23 locomotives now under contract from the Long Island Rail Road.
Local officials are saying openly that the new plant and its estimated 200 jobs will move to another State-sponsored economic development zone if those threatening the suit keeping pushing toward court. Representatives of EMD and Super Steel, the officials say, have received calls from at least a dozen other EDZ areas offering everything -- including the kitchen sink -- to play host to this project. One of the areas incorporates the old Brooks Works in Dunkirk.
EMD and Super Steel announced last month that an alternate to their original proposal of using ALCo's old Schenectady Works was under consideration because that facility wouldn't be big enough to handle more than the LIRR business already in hand. Other Northeastern heavy-rail commuter operations are reportedly looking into adding similar EMD motive power to their fleets.
The $70-million LIRR deal carries an option for an additional 23 units, as well as a 15-year commitment to locally manufacture and stock a complete range of spare parts for maintenance and repairs. The contract and its options have mandatory "Made in New York" content and construction clauses, which effectively precluded production taking place outside an established state-sponsored economic development zone.
Arved G. Grass, 05-Jul-1995 via Harry Wong
July 17, 1995 saw the beginning of service from Irvine to Los Angeles. The morning train, #681, runs between Amtrak #571 and Metrolink #605. It met #570 at East Anaheim. In the evening, the consist of the eastbound is stored east of the Irvine station on the north track of the two track storage yard. This track has a chain link fence around it and a plastic oil/fuel retention pan laid down where the engine is expected to be spotted.
I was unable to verify the operation of the Irvine-Riverside trains.
Metrolink schedules on the Southern California Railroad Resources page will be updated shortly. See http://pisces.ucsd.edu/www/railroads/railroads.html.
Ron Lehmer
Lashup of 190-191-200 on Tehachapi...past Bena as of 3:50PM with an e/b coal train CPKTC!!! Via the Flimsies Hotline.
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The CPKTC arrived at Dolores on the morning of 7/6/95 with 199-191-200 FBF with about 83 cars of coal for Kaiser Terminal. The train arrived at Dominguez Junction about 8:30AM, worked its way down to Dolores, and then continued to the Harbor Belt and Kaiser Terminal. The train was mostly made up of DRGW hoppers from the Great Steel Fleet, although there were a number of ex-UP CTRN hoppers and a few DRGW 40000 series and BN hoppers in there as well.
As the first SP AC's I've seen, I can say that I was very impressed with their smoothness of their operation. The engineer was able to apply power more gradually than I'm used to seeing with a coal train. The conductor hopped off the train at Dolores, letting me know that "they are new power!" Pretty cool! Too bad I couldn't see them grinding over Tehachapi the afternoon before.
Ron Lehmer
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Modelers Note: While photographing Southern Pacific AC4400CW's 199, 191 and 200 today, I noticed something unusual. Units 191 and 199 had two (2) struts at a 45 degree angle on all four truck sideframes. Unit 200 only had the struts on two (2) of the four (4) truck sideframes - the struts were on the front engineer's (right front) side and the rear fireman's (left rear) side.
I closely inspected the truck sideframes that were not equipped with the struts on unit 200. Not only were the struts not there, but the assembly that holds them in place was not there as well. It appeared to me that the missing struts and assemblies were not on unit 200 by design and they weren't something left off in rush to get them out the factory door only to be added later. I thought this distinction between brand new units unusual and worth noting.
As of 3:30 PM July 06 PDT, three (3) Southern Pacific AC4400CW's were at Dolores Yard in Los Angeles. The units were 199, 191, and 200. They were located in the rear fueling area. Technicians from GE were on hand to inspect the units.
Brian P. Kreimendahl
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New AC's started showing up in Roseville Jul01. They will run west on the ARKTC and CPKTC unit coal trains.
Tony Johnson
Union Pacific Corp. has agreed to buy Southern Pacific Rail Corp. for $5.4 billion, forming the largest railroad in North America. Earlier this year, Union Pacific failed to complete a hostile takeover of Santa Fe Pacific. That company is now being acquired by Burlington Northern Inc. in a $4 billion deal.
Union Pacific did make a successful bid for Chicago & NorthWestern Transportation Co. for $1.2 million, after the Santa Fe attempt failed.
The Southern Pacific acquisition would make Union Pacific the largest railroad in terms of revenue. Based on 1994 results, combined revenues for Union Pacific, Chicago & Northwestern and Southern Pacific are nearly $9.5 billion, compared to $7.7 billion in revenues for Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Pacific.
Harry K. Wong, Brian P. Kreimendahl
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QUESTIONS
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At 4:00 p.m. CDT Thursday Union Pacific announced that Union Pacific Corp. and Southern Pacific Rail Corp. have reached agreement providing for the merger of UP with SP for $5.4 billion. It was approved today by the UP and SP boards, subject to execution of a definitive merger agreement, and would create the largest U.S. railroad (larger than BNSF) with 34,000 miles of track in 25 states. The first step will be for UP to make a "first-step cash tender offer" of $25/share for up to 25% of SP stock.
Bill Farmer
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In a surprise move by Union Pacific, at 10:00 PST, UP's Drew Lewis called Bill Shippen at Dunkin Donuts to inform Bill he could not accept Shasta Rail Group's offer to buy Union Pacific. Upon hearing the sad news, Bill ordered three more jelly donuts (real belly-bombers!) and went back to reading Garfield in the comic strips.
Details are a bit sketchy why exactly Union Pacific rejected the generous offer from Shasta Rail Group. An insider who wished to remain stupid told this editor that UP's first exclamation upon reading S.R.G's offer was "Who the Hell is this?"
Last week UP replied to S.R.G's offer by saying, "Did you guys make a mistake in the amount offered? The decimal seems to be in the wrong place." Bill assured them he would look into it after finishing lunch with a client. (Don Bain was buying the donuts... O.K. That's a lie. Don Bain has never bought anybody anything) On Monday, Bill gathered his crack staff of editors via e-mail to see what suggestions they could come up with. All of the Flimsies staff was out at Dunkin Donuts and could not be reached for comment.
Feeling the pressure that UP would soon purchase SP, Bill felt he had to act soon or SP would be just another "small fish" eaten by the UP "Big Whale." The plan was simple (like Bill), offer more money per share of UP stock. Bill offered $75 per share of UP's outstanding stock. UP agreed this was a generous offer and all seems well until Bill backed out of the deal. Seems he didn't know that there were millions of shares to buy. Union Pacific officials then went to Dunkin Donuts.
Had this merger of UP and Shasta Rail Group taken place, Bill Shippen says the name of the new railroad would have been Union Pacific-Yreka & Oregon, Utah Railroad Service (UP YOURS).
It is hoped a deal can be worked out so Bill will not have to change the title of the SP Review to Old Yeller.
Hassen Ben Sober, correspondent
Locations of some UP C30's and C36's on the morning of July 7:
C30-7's: 2405 San Antonio TX 8 AM 2406 Dupo IL (St. Louis) 8 AM 2407 Granger WY 8:18 AM 2408 Intchg. to BN 18th St. Yard, Kansas City on July 5 at 10 AM 2409 Van Buren Ark. 7:15 C36-7's: 9000 North Little Rock AR6:11 AM 9001 Salt Lake City UT, there since July 1 9002 Durkee OR 8:59 AM 9003 Lake City MO 10:37 AM 9004 Intchg.to "PTRA Railroad" Houston TX on July 5
A few random observations from another lost weekend in the Tehachapi Mountains:
(1) Coal Traffic: I have never seen so many unit coal trains (loaded and empty) running between Mojave and Bakersfield going back and forth over the hill. SP runs unit coal trains from via Donner Pass bound for the Port of Long Beach (for unloading and the exporting of coal to Asia). As you've no doubt read in postings in this Forum, SP has assigned some of its new AC4400CW's (usually three units per train) for this task. Additionally, ATSF picks up unit coal trains from the UP at Yermo/Daggett/Barstow and runs them to the central valley to a power plant. The loaded westbound ATSF unit coal train late Sunday shook the earth as it powered its way upgrade just north of Mojave featuring a MASSIVE lash-up of combined ATSF/UP power. As evidence of the "you tend to model what you see theory" I now have a previously non-existent desire to do a monstrous coal drag.
(2) Development: Each time railfan the Tehachapi area I note the fact that I am seeing more and more single family homes dotting the once pristine landscape. This is especially true of the area between the town of Tehachapi and the Loop itself. Although these homes are on very large lots and are not part of a subdivision, getting shots without a house in the background is getting more and more difficult. I am also aware that several large real estate development companies control some large tracts of land in the area near the Loop. If we have an upswing in the California economy in the future, will we see this land developed? I hope not. I think the area will lose a lot of its charm if we have to walk thru someone's backyard to get a shot of the Oil Can. Only time will tell.
(3) Egregious Behavior Department:
(a) Sometime in between 6:00 AM Saturday morning and 6:00 AM Sunday morning, some yahoo/slimeball/idiot dumped a big pile of refuse/garbage on top of the hillock at Sandcut. The entrance to the local dump is nearby and apparently this vacuous nimrod decided that he couldn't afford the dump fee so he defaced one of the best, one of the most glorious ralfanning spots in the Tehachapis. My only regret of the weekend was that I did not catch this clown in the act. I would have had some "fun."
(b) Saturday, when the SP had their simultaneous traction motor going haywire/engine water leak/broken switch catastrophe at Cliff, thereby causing one of the most incredible train traffic jams I ever hope to see, we were able to witness the very worst in railfan behavior. This behavior involved four (4) different people. John McGriff can give more details on this as he was at Cliff and I could only watch from Bealville thru a 300mm telephoto lens. One thing I saw (and McGriff has this on video) was some idiot scrambling up the side of the hill to get on top of the east tunnel portal of Tunnel 5 so he can look/photograph down on a eastbound train. He is up there in full view of everyone (including railroad employees) on top of the tunnel portal when he almost falls off on to the tracks/train below. You had to see this to believe it. John McGriff will have a full posting later on the "scene" at Tunnel 5 saturday afternoon. Its not pretty.
(4) Heard on the scanner Saturday: ATSF engineer describing the monstrous traffic jam at Bealville/Cliff due to the problems described above in note three
(3): "This is a real cluster ... !" (microphone goes off at the key point and we don't hear the final expletive which accompanies the phrase).
(5) SP- the more things change, the more they stay the same department: the relatively new SP SD70M's are starting to look a lot like their vintage SD45's, SD40T-2's and SD45T-2's. The lack of brushes at SP's engine washing facility is becoming apparent as those sparkling new SD70M's are already getting ugly fast. SP modelers note: stock up on your Polly-S Grime.
(6) A Funny moment from the weekend: Background - its summer in an agricultural area (southern San Joaquin Valley) and there are grasshoppers everywhere! We're talking biblical plague stuff. When I checked into my motel in Edison on Saturday night, I had to "herd" a bunch of the little buggers out the door so I could have the room to myself. Later, I'm sitting with Arved Grass, John McGriff and Harry Wong at this hole-in-the-wall restaurant next to our motel. Arved orders a salad and the waitress brings it to our table. Arved takes a bite or two of the salad and out of nowhere a big grasshopper lands on our table. Harry Wong then turns to Arved and says, "Gee, I don't think it came from your salad ... "
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The Mountain Crossing Restaurant
The next time you are in Tehachapi, stop in at the Mountain Crossing Restaurant located on Tehachapi Blvd. next to the Best Western Hotel. This local home style restaurant is the perfect stop for all rail fans!! The restaurant decor is done with train pictures and memorabilia, the menus have a train theme, there is a working HO scale layout of the Tehachapi Loop in the lobby and lots of booths with a grand view of the SP/SF tracks that run through town. The new owner is currently having all the booths elevated to improve that view.
Mountain Crossing's menu offers a wide variety of choices including American, Mexican, Italian & Seafood selections. There is a full salad bar available by itself of combined with entrees. There are always numerous Daily Specials offered and a full service lounge adjoining the restaurant so you may enjoy a drink with your meal. Breakfast is served all day. The food here is excellent with a lot of it being made within the restaurant and not processed or canned.
So, the next time you are in the area and need a meal, don't interrupt your rail fanning. Just stop at the Mountain Crossing Restaurant. There you will have the best of both!!!
THOMAS HERTTER
To subscribe send an E-mail to Stevesln@aimnet.com and say, "sign me up."
Brian P. Kreimendahl
6/25/95
1225 w/b ATSF 666 890 157 FFB Pico Rivera
1240 MBALA ATSF 611 883 931 FBB Los Nietos
1245 e/b SP SSW9701 SPL9764 SPL7486 FFB light Los Nietos
1248 777 ATK 230 +7 214 Los Nietos
1252 e/b ATSF 828 930 687 530 864 811 873 4027 538 5804
FFFFFFFBBB Los Nietos
1315 578 ATK 220 +10 231 Los Nietos
1330 e/b SP SSW9646 GECX7487 7481 GECX7492 RG3101 FFFFB
Los Nietos
1400 --- SP SSW9647 SSW9639 SPL9755 SPL8693 7516 8027 FBBBFB
Dolores
1400 --- SP 8385 SPL9288 8045 8341 SPL9781 FBFFB Dolores
1400 --- SP SSW9659 SSW8075 8246 WC6598 SSW9274 ???? 7311
FBFBBBB Dolores
1400 --- SP 7440 7380 FB ICTF Switcher!! Dolores
1400 --- SP CSXT2032 in the facilities Dolores
1445 w/b SP SPL9772 9604 9620 FBB +58 Bell
1520 w/b SP SPL9778 SPL9790 9206 FBB LA Shops Yard
1520 LAWCZ SP SPL8151 2573 RG3022 CNW5099 4820 6359 FFBBBB
LA Shops Yard
1555 WCGUM SP RG5325 RG5340 RG5320 FBB +112 Glendale
1610 780 ATK 233 +7 237 Glendale
1627 w/b SP SSW8326 SPL7321 FB CP Dayton
6/26/95
0900 --- SP SPL8550 CSXT8474 CSXT5818 CSXT5939 FBFF Dolores
0900 BSMFF SP 8036 8014 SSW8077 FFB Dolores
0900 e/b SP SPL9734 8000 SPL8386 EMD749 CSXT5899 FBFFF
Dolores
0915 e/b SP SPL8527 8499 GECX7492 7481 GECX7487 SPL9758
SPL8595 8541 7354 FBBBBBFBBB light engines
Dolores
1934 606 SCAX 871 +6 Agra
1942 780 ATK 214 +7 230 San Onofre
2045 LBWCM SP SPL8621 7408 SPL8550 FBF Dolores
2045 LBAVT SP 8024 SSW8052 8286* CSXT5939 CSXT5818 FBBBB
Dolores
2050 --- SP SPL9720 SSW9626 SSW8049 7442 FBBF Dolores
6/28/95
0655 --- SP SSW9403 SSW9686 2462 FFF Dolores
0655 LBAVT SP 7489 SSW7786 SSW9650 FBB Dolores
0742 773 ATK 214 +7 CP Avery
2002 608 SCAX 880 869 FF +4 San Onofre
6/30/95
0636 303 SCAX 858 +5 LAUS
0636 601 SCAX 880 869 FF +4 LAUS
0645 570 ATK 233 +6 LAUS
0702 e/b ATSF 626 5844 628 FFB Eastern Ave.
0704 w/b ATSF 839 111 4028 347 FFBB Commerce
0704 603 SCAX 871 Commerce
0715 571 ATK 220 Buena Park
0727 w/b ATSF 5012 5084 5979 5977 FFFB Fullerton
0742 605 SCAX 877 861 FF Santa Ana
0752 773 ATK 238 +8 214 Irvine
0837 e/b ATSF 3437 2784 2821 FFF Fallbrook Yd.
1810 647 SDNX 2104 Solana Beach
1850 650 SDNX 2101 Solana Beach
1907 780 ATK 214 +8 238 Solana Beach
1914 651 SDNX 2103 +3 Solana Beach
2005 608 SCAX 880 869 FF +3 Las Plugas
7/5/95
0700 w/b SP SPL8589 8270 FB Dolores
0700 --- SP SSW9684 SPL7843 8037 CR5555 SSW9650
8331 7413 SSW9666 FBBBBBB DO
0700 --- SP SPL8252 BN5069 CR6181 SSW9631 FBBB DO
7/6/95
0800 --- SP 7504 SPL5352 FF ICTF Switcher! DO
0800 w/b SP 8271 SPL7332 9315 SSW9707 FFFB +40 DO
0815 e/b SP RG5384 7482 SPL8639 SPL8524 RG5373 SPL8592
FBBBBB DO
0830 CPKTC SP 199 191 200 FBF +83 DO
0840 --- SP SPL9721 SSW9647 SPL9752 SPL8616 FBBB DO
0900 HOLBT SP SPL8611 SSW8050 7368 SSW6887 FFFB +82 DO
7/7/95
0700 --- SP SSW8044 SPL8585 SPL8351 FFF DO
0700 --- SP 7460 7408 SSW9263 7439 7383 FBBFB DO
0700 --- SP SPL9773 SPL9282 GECX8015 FBB DO
2015 e/b SP 8569 SPL9723 SPL9226 SPL7873 FFBB DO
2015 --- SP 148 244 245 FBB DO
2015 --- SP 7310 RG5364 FB DO
2015 --- SP SSW9649 SPL8704 9256 9610 SSW9660 FBFFF DO
2015 AVLBT SP SPL8674 7510 7477 FBF DO
7/8/95
1550 QLANY ATSF 822 945 670 851 FFBB +84 Hobart
1600 PCHLA ATSF 7412 3839 3841 7438 FFFB Hobart
1645 X822E Los Nietos
1658 w/b ATSF 950 227 203 642 FFBB +67 Los Nietos
1725 LBHOT SP SPL7785 SPL8598 SPL9710 SPL9732 EMD7 FBBFF
Dolores
1725 --- SP SSW9676 CR544 SPL8573 SSW9644 FFBB DO
1725 --- SP 107 197 270 FBB DO
1725 --- SP GECX 8032 (red kodachrome next to 107 :-o ) DO
1745 e/b SP 8552 7526 8011 SSW9372 FFBB DO
Compiled by: Ron Lehmer
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This document was last updated August 3, 1995.
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