Altamont Press Discussion Board :: Discussion

Re: Winterail Railfanning

Author: Ted Benson

Date: 03-05-2007 - 12:57

Pre-Winterail Foaming depends on where you're coming from, Dave

If you're in Fresno at 7AM on Friday, SJVR's West Side job is worth a look. Take the Belmont exit, go west a mile or so, and turn south to the tracks at old Crayold siding on the ex-SP WS line. Friday is a good day to catch a run down the H&SL to Helm. Crew should be back to Fresno shortly after 1PM, allowing ample time to get up to STK. Not sure what to expect for power, but there's a good chance one of the two units working the job will be a GP28. SJVR crews tend to be pretty tight-lipped and in some instances, downright anti-social. If you get more than name, rank and serial number, you've done well.

Cal Northern's West Side line goes to work at 6AM Monday-Friday in Tracy and should be out of town between 7:30 and 8AM. As of two weeks ago, the power was CFNR GP15's 112 and 105. The bulk of their work is done at the tomato packing plants at Volta and Ingomar and they should be into Volta around 11:30AM. Work here can take upwards of 2 hours. Expect 20-25MPH running to and from Volta and you're never far away from Highway 33 until you get to Gustine ("Is dis Heaven? No, dis Gustine...") Arrgh--anyway, south of Gustine, the county grid roads will take you where you need to go--you're never out of sight of the train. CFNR has a very cordial crew. They'll be going for a quit on Friday, so plan on being back to Tracy around 3-4PM.

M&ET's currently still working on #1500. The 1501 tends to get assigned the 3PM job, but it's not a regular event at the moment. Don't get too worried about the EMD Era. M&ET management plans to run the 70-tonners as long as they can--and they're talking years, not months. Weekdays Monday-Friday there's a 7AM job, followed by 3PM, 3:45PM and 11PM. The Union Pacific transfer is normally handled by an 11:45PM that works Sunday-Thursday. Catching this job in daylight is usually an early-morning affair and Tuesdays tend to be the best bet for that. Following the "Met" is a lot more difficult that it seems, since most of their work is on private property or inside industries. Access is easiest along Yosemite Blvd and at Riverside Yard.

Happy foaming!

TB

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Subject	Written By	Date/Time (PST)
Winterail Railfanning	Dave Potter	03-03-2007 - 09:37
Re: Winterail Railfanning	Rock Basso	03-03-2007 - 17:02
Re: Winterail Railfanning	Dave Buccolo	03-03-2007 - 19:40
Re: Winterail Railfanning	Rock Basso	03-04-2007 - 21:10
Re: Winterail Railfanning	Ted Benson	03-05-2007 - 12:57
Re: Winterail Railfanning	Dave Potter	03-05-2007 - 14:09
Re: Winterail Railfanning	Spuds McCoy	03-05-2007 - 18:51
Re: Winterail Railfanning	Ted Benson	03-06-2007 - 10:42
Re: Winterail Railfanning	Sparks Telegraph	03-07-2007 - 18:20
Re: Winterail Railfanning	Sparks Telegraph	03-14-2007 - 10:55

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Ted Benson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Pre-Winterail Foaming depends on where you're
> coming from, Dave
> 
> If you're in Fresno at 7AM on Friday, SJVR's West
> Side job is worth a look. Take the Belmont exit,
> go west a mile or so, and turn south to the tracks
> at old Crayold siding on the ex-SP WS line. Friday
> is a good day to catch a run down the H&SL to
> Helm. Crew should be back to Fresno shortly after
> 1PM, allowing ample time to get up to STK. Not
> sure what to expect for power, but there's a good
> chance one of the two units working the job will
> be a GP28. SJVR crews tend to be pretty
> tight-lipped and in some instances, downright
> anti-social. If you get more than name, rank and
> serial number, you've done well.
> 
> Cal Northern's West Side line goes to work at 6AM
> Monday-Friday in Tracy and should be out of town
> between 7:30 and 8AM. As of two weeks ago, the
> power was CFNR GP15's 112 and 105. The bulk of
> their work is done at the tomato packing plants at
> Volta and Ingomar and they should be into Volta
> around 11:30AM. Work here can take upwards of 2
> hours. Expect 20-25MPH running to and from Volta
> and you're never far away from Highway 33 until
> you get to Gustine ("Is dis Heaven? No, dis
> Gustine...") Arrgh--anyway, south of Gustine, the
> county grid roads will take you where you need to
> go--you're never out of sight of the train. CFNR
> has a very cordial crew. They'll be going for a
> quit on Friday, so plan on being back to Tracy
> around 3-4PM.
> 
> M&ET's currently still working on #1500. The 1501
> tends to get assigned the 3PM job, but it's not a
> regular event at the moment. Don't get too worried
> about the EMD Era. M&ET management plans to run
> the 70-tonners as long as they can--and they're
> talking years, not months. Weekdays Monday-Friday
> there's a 7AM job, followed by 3PM, 3:45PM and
> 11PM. The Union Pacific transfer is normally
> handled by an 11:45PM that works Sunday-Thursday.
> Catching this job in daylight is usually an
> early-morning affair and Tuesdays tend to be the
> best bet for that. Following the "Met" is a lot
> more difficult that it seems, since most of their
> work is on private property or inside industries.
> Access is easiest along Yosemite Blvd and at
> Riverside Yard.
> 
> Happy foaming!
> 
> TB

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