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Re: SD&AE: Pacific Imperial Railroad celebrates first interchange with UP
Author: Nudge
Date: 03-29-2016 - 14:02
Years ago, I was asked by the SD&AE General Manager if I would come down and teach their engineers how to operate on grade territory. The "GodFather" had certified them but they still needed some training. I knew him from when he was a dispatcher on the SP and then BNSF in the PNW.
It was winter up here and so I loaded everything up in the bus and headed south. We got there and stayed at DeAnza Springs clothing optional park down by the I-8 overhead .I rode over the hill from Jacumba to Campo and the track wasn't too bad. It was a different story from Jacumba down to Plaster City. All they hauled down the hill at that time were mtys to where they were loading sand and the loads back up to a trans-load at Campo.
The GM drove me down to Ocotillo where I met the crew for the up hill run. They had an mty next to the train that had to be set out in a storage track. Rather than spend all day running around the lds & mtys to set the car out, I told them to just drop it in the storage track, couple up to the loads and start back. They didn't know what a drop was. Well, I got down on the ground and explained it to them. I stayed at the switch and the brakeman rode the car back. I gave them a kick sign and then a pin sign but the brakeman missed the pin. We tried it again and we made it. Only by a car length but got it done. We got the loads and started up the hill. The brakeman could not stop talking about the drop, saying "That's the most fun I have ever had on this job." The track was only 10 mph but not really good for that. One nice thing was that I was able to take my wife with me for the ride.
The GM went ahead of us to flag a crossing where the equipment didn't work near a gas station or cafe. (actually most of the xing stuff was missing or knocked down.) We got on the grade and only had 8 cars and 2 units but it was steep. We got up on the side of the gorge and there were all kinds of half bridges built into the hill side and it was straight down to the bottom on the other. There were some wrecked cars from years ago half buried down the hill a bit and that long wood bridge. You could see where some old tunnels used to be but had slide down, almost intact away from the right of way. The tunnels were in terrible repair. Most all of them pumping mud and some you couldn't see the rail. This one was pretty long and you could see a kink in the rail going to the right and back up. You also had to make sure there were no new rocks on the rail from the roof. We got to the "kink" and were at walking speed and the engine dipped way down to the right and then back up again. I thought we would walk right off the rail. I asked the engineer about it and he said it had been like that for weeks. And they wanted to haul LPG over this track?
We came out of the last tunnel and here were a few old Atk cars torn up and sitting next to a hillside where they derailed and wrecked. They were just in the clear.
I had a long talk with the GM and it turned out the head of this outfit was an old SP officer from around the LA area, or so I was told. I called the Godfather and asked him what he knew and he squared me away. (We used to work the SLO-LA pool together back in the early 70s) On further investigation I found out he owed money to everyone. Any work I did would be on the cuff for awhile until he got some more contracts signed.
Thanks but no thanks.
I don't even know how much longer they stayed operating but it was a mess. He had some UP power leased and owed on it, the engines he had didn't run, one an old A or B unit didn't even have an engine in it. There were a bunch of old galley cars from a commute operation back east stored on a siding east of Jacumba. They had broken windows, etc. There was a BNSF covered hopper car that was only 6 months old, pushed into a storage track down by the RV park. It was missing a drawbar and the frame had been twisted. I guess the Atk cars and BNSF cars were scrapped on the spot.
Those Atk cars that were being switched up at Jacumba were left on the main line. Nobody tied a brake or ??? and that was their last trip when they ran away and wrecked on that curve where I saw them on the way up the hill.
The plant is in terrible shape and until they get that repaired, not by throwing a Band-Aid over it, I don't have much hope for it.
All the people that have run it took the money and ran.
Nudge
It was winter up here and so I loaded everything up in the bus and headed south. We got there and stayed at DeAnza Springs clothing optional park down by the I-8 overhead .I rode over the hill from Jacumba to Campo and the track wasn't too bad. It was a different story from Jacumba down to Plaster City. All they hauled down the hill at that time were mtys to where they were loading sand and the loads back up to a trans-load at Campo.
The GM drove me down to Ocotillo where I met the crew for the up hill run. They had an mty next to the train that had to be set out in a storage track. Rather than spend all day running around the lds & mtys to set the car out, I told them to just drop it in the storage track, couple up to the loads and start back. They didn't know what a drop was. Well, I got down on the ground and explained it to them. I stayed at the switch and the brakeman rode the car back. I gave them a kick sign and then a pin sign but the brakeman missed the pin. We tried it again and we made it. Only by a car length but got it done. We got the loads and started up the hill. The brakeman could not stop talking about the drop, saying "That's the most fun I have ever had on this job." The track was only 10 mph but not really good for that. One nice thing was that I was able to take my wife with me for the ride.
The GM went ahead of us to flag a crossing where the equipment didn't work near a gas station or cafe. (actually most of the xing stuff was missing or knocked down.) We got on the grade and only had 8 cars and 2 units but it was steep. We got up on the side of the gorge and there were all kinds of half bridges built into the hill side and it was straight down to the bottom on the other. There were some wrecked cars from years ago half buried down the hill a bit and that long wood bridge. You could see where some old tunnels used to be but had slide down, almost intact away from the right of way. The tunnels were in terrible repair. Most all of them pumping mud and some you couldn't see the rail. This one was pretty long and you could see a kink in the rail going to the right and back up. You also had to make sure there were no new rocks on the rail from the roof. We got to the "kink" and were at walking speed and the engine dipped way down to the right and then back up again. I thought we would walk right off the rail. I asked the engineer about it and he said it had been like that for weeks. And they wanted to haul LPG over this track?
We came out of the last tunnel and here were a few old Atk cars torn up and sitting next to a hillside where they derailed and wrecked. They were just in the clear.
I had a long talk with the GM and it turned out the head of this outfit was an old SP officer from around the LA area, or so I was told. I called the Godfather and asked him what he knew and he squared me away. (We used to work the SLO-LA pool together back in the early 70s) On further investigation I found out he owed money to everyone. Any work I did would be on the cuff for awhile until he got some more contracts signed.
Thanks but no thanks.
I don't even know how much longer they stayed operating but it was a mess. He had some UP power leased and owed on it, the engines he had didn't run, one an old A or B unit didn't even have an engine in it. There were a bunch of old galley cars from a commute operation back east stored on a siding east of Jacumba. They had broken windows, etc. There was a BNSF covered hopper car that was only 6 months old, pushed into a storage track down by the RV park. It was missing a drawbar and the frame had been twisted. I guess the Atk cars and BNSF cars were scrapped on the spot.
Those Atk cars that were being switched up at Jacumba were left on the main line. Nobody tied a brake or ??? and that was their last trip when they ran away and wrecked on that curve where I saw them on the way up the hill.
The plant is in terrible shape and until they get that repaired, not by throwing a Band-Aid over it, I don't have much hope for it.
All the people that have run it took the money and ran.
Nudge
