Re: Why doesn't the UP abandon one of the parallel lines in NV?
Author: Jeff Moore
Date: 03-06-2020 - 22:03
One big reason I could see is that UP still generates substantial mining related traffic in this part of the world, and that business is distributed between both lines between here and Winnemucca. Abandoning one of those tracks would mean relocating a lot of businesses or retaining certain stretches as branchlines. As things now stand UP still uses the two mainlines for bidirectional running between Alazon (Wells) and Weso (Winnemucca), that's about 175 miles of not having to think about passing sidings. There are enough crossovers that it's not uncommon for them to send certain trains against the normal flow of traffic to allow faster trains to pass slower ones. It also makes it possible to shut only parts of one line down for work windows and the like.
One other factor is the increasing train lengths, as things now stand the monster trains being run through here don't fit into most passing sidings on the single tracks east of Wells and west of Winnemucca, which is one of the big reasons why the old WP is used almost exclusively for westbound traffic. If UP did abandon one of the lines through could built passing sidings long enough to accommodate the longer trains, but I wonder given all things considered how much they would really end up saving if they did single tracks the lines.
Jeff Moore
Elko, NV