Western Railroad Discussion > Rail Train in Westwood on BNSF Inside Gateway

I found this rail train tied down in Westwood, CA today. As far as I know, almost all of the rail between Keddie and Lodge Pole is now ribbon rail so I'm curious where this new rail will be installed. With the relatively light traffic on BNSF's Inside Gateway, I doubt that they will replace any of the ribbon rail installed here in the last 6 or 7 years.

Does anyone know where this rail will be installed and does anyone know what BNSF's plans are for work on the south end of the Inside Gateway this summer?

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Nice class engine on the point! How many Oakway engines did the BNSF get rid of? I know some are on lease to the NS.

Nice catch with them Oakways!

Posted from BlackBerry

According to the track chart, it's jointed rail (except welded rail on most curves) from Keddie to Greenville and Almanor to Clear Creek Jct. It's jointed rail from Westwood, beginning north of the curve that ends at 3rd St., close to where you took this pix (track chart is off?) to Robbers Creek and from Norvell (10 miles south of Lodge Pole) to Halls Flat.

mapboy

While riding the Northern California Explorer on June 4th we saw a lot of tie plates unloaded along the line, IIRC north of Westwood.

Here are a couple of shots, but I don't have anything with the tie plates showing.

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mapboy Wrote:
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> According to the track chart, it's jointed rail
> (except welded rail on most curves) from Keddie to
> Greenville and Almanor to Clear Creek Jct. It's
> jointed rail from Westwood, beginning north of the
> curve that ends at 3rd St., close to where you
> took this pix (track chart is off?) to Robbers
> Creek and from Norvell (10 miles south of Lodge
> Pole) to Halls Flat.
>
> mapboy

How recent is your track chart? I don't know about the rail between Keddie and Moccasin but from what I've seen, there is welded rail from Moccasin, past Greenville and Westwood and probably to at least Norvell. Beyond Halls Flat, the BNSF installed concrete ties several years ago so that is welded rail too. The BNSF has done a lot of track work in this area the last few years.

Know of one track worker that is heading to Bieber this next week to work. Maybe around that area.

Track charts aren't updated as quickly as the rails gets replaced, it could take a while before it is updated.

George, we will be starting at Fall River Mills working our way south and the further south we go, we may stay at Burney.

By looking at those pictures, I can't wait to be there, a change of scenery and pace.
Maybe someone down there could pick me up and show me around to do some railfanning after work?

BobL Wrote:
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> How recent is your track chart? I don't know
> about the rail between Keddie and Moccasin but
> from what I've seen, there is welded rail from
> Moccasin, past Greenville and Westwood and
> probably to at least Norvell. Beyond Halls Flat,
> the BNSF installed concrete ties several years ago
> so that is welded rail too. The BNSF has done a
> lot of track work in this area the last few years.

Track chart is "Revised 9/08", so you are seeing newer welded rail. Google Maps' Street View at the Hwy. 36 crossing north of Westwood shows welded rail, but the chart shows jointed rail. Just a guess, they are going to fill in the straight sections between welded-rail curves, Keddie to Greenville and Almanor to Clear Creek Jct?

mapboy

Same train was in Spokane 2 weeks ago putting down rail between Sunset Junction and Overlook. That's in Washington.

mapboy Wrote:
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>
> Track chart is "Revised 9/08", so you are seeing
> newer welded rail. Google Maps' Street View at
> the Hwy. 36 crossing north of Westwood shows
> welded rail, but the chart shows jointed rail.
> Just a guess, they are going to fill in the
> straight sections between welded-rail curves,
> Keddie to Greenville and Almanor to Clear Creek
> Jct?
>
> mapboy

Well a lot of the straight sections used to be vintage 1945 or 1946 rail but much, if not all, of that has been changed out to welded rail in the last couple of years. Last year I saw a work crew in the siding at Norvell working north and I suspect that is where they stopped for the year unless they worked up to Halls Flat. My guess is that all of the rail between Moccasin and Norvell (maybe Halls Flat) is now welded rail and they will be working further north this summer. Sounds like the work will be centered out of Bieber which makes me wonder why they brought the rail train all the way south to Westwood.

From the NCE trip we were on lots of jointed rail near Bieber and north.

Having worked the rail pick up trains and working as a hogger down there I can tell you the only jointed rail south of Scarface is from Halls Flat to Poison Lake and some sidings still have it but thats all. The plan is to do 10 miles every summer until its all gone. MP 131 to Westwood was the last big chunk they did the last couple summers as well as the Crescent Mills to Greenville section. I was the hogger on the work train picking that stuff up as well. Dave L recorded yours truly at the throttle and the rest of the guys at work picking it up. Its kind of a neat operation. They send it to Laurel rail welding plant then reuse it all over. I believe some of it even makes it back to the Gateway. My guess is this train is staged for that last stretch from Halls Flat to Poison Lake. Some of the ribbon rail BNSF did after taking over operations south of Bieber is 10 years old or older. My guess is its for that area. I am kind of out of the loop now as I am working up in Vancouver these days. There is another ribbon rail train enroute its on the Fallbridge as I type this. Too bad it dont have Oakways on the point though.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/11 23:09 by GN599.

That rail train has both #141 and #136 on-board, they are dropping it around mp199.

Dave....editing the video .....see later thread.

BobL Wrote:
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> does anyone know what BNSF's plans are for
> work on the south end of the Inside Gateway this
> summer?

Beginning mid-July, a steel gang will work between MP 202 and 169. Late July, they'll start between MP 133 and 97, including a solid stretch of 115 lb. second-hand rail between MP 133 and 124. That will eliminate 1942 and 1943 bolted 112 lb. rail.

First of all, there was a second rail train that went by us at Lookout and it went south, it had second hand and new rails.
It was interesting to see 115lb CWR between SSS Scarface and as far as MP 72