Western Railroad Discussion > Standard Cab SD60 & Unpatched SP in CA

Until the Labor Day weekend, I hadn't chased trains in a while, and neither did jmf1910, so on Sunday before Labor Day, we got together to do a typical chase, intercept the ZLCBR, then try to find the MRVSJ (Roseville to San Jose manifest) on the Fresno Sub.

Earlier in the week, Heritage Units UP 1982 (MoPac) and 1988 (Miss Katy) loitered in Oakland and Lathrop respectively, but they ditched us before we had a chance to hunt them down. UP 2010 (Boy Scout Unit) and UP 7400 (Breast Cancer Awareness Unit) were still in Fresno, so we were gambling to see if one or both of them will head north, so there were more reasons for us to be near the Fresno Sub besides the Z and the RVSJ

We heard a UP 2194 call approach near El Pinal on the Fresno Sub, and guessed correctly that it was the MRVSJ. Cool! Score a standard cab SD60!

The train beat us to the Diamonds, but we got to see it take the connector to the ex-WP side of the yard, so we knew which way it was going to head out, and waited at the other end of the yard accordingly.

On cue, the ZLCBR showed up few minutes later, and we got one of our targets (video recorded, but not shown here). This one was a bit different with a Boeing parts car, and several tanktainers, which have started to appear on The Brooklyn in recent months.

We were ready to do a full chase of the SD60-led MRVSJ through Altamont Pass back to San Jose, but jmf1910 decided to contact Ryan (Cajon92) about the UP 2010 and UP 7400, which changed our plans - Ryan told us he nabbed both the BSA and SGK units on the MFRWC already, and gave us a very valuable heads up on an autorack repo heading north on the Fresno Sub led by unpatched SP 187! Thank you very much, Ryan!

Here's his report from that day:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3509607

So now, we were going to chase the UP 2194 and the MRVSJ just to Altamont Pass, so we could catch the SP 187 later. In the first clip, the MRVSJ is departing out of Stockton Yard at Hunter St./McKinley Ave. In the second clip, we catch it cruising along just north of the Lathrop Intermodal Facility. In the third clip, we catch it running near track speed between Wyche and Lyoth, and the entire train is shown here. We then nab it near Midway in the fourth clip, then finish our chase at the "Summit Trestle" on Altamont Pass.

- UP 2194 leading the MRVSJ out of Stockton Yard, on the ex-WP side.
- Video, as described above.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/14 22:15 by cchan006.

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Our chase of the UP 2194 to the Summit Trestle cost us the Plan A to catch the SP 187 somewhere near Merced. It was also a bad call on my part to underestimate the Kansas City-bound autorack (AMLNSR-30), thinking that the crew and dispatcher would treat it like a low priority train. When we stumbled upon the train near Livingston while going the wrong way on Hwy 99, we found out firsthand the crew wanted to run this autorack repo like a Z train, killing our two planned intercept points near Merced and Delhi just like that! Ugh.

We quickly regrouped, took advantage of the slower track speed through Modesto, and nabbed the SP 187 just south of Salida, first clip, an insurance shot to make sure we didn't end up empty-handed in case we royally screwed up, or Hwy 99 traffic killed the chase. Those who have tried a Fresno Sub chase should know what I mean.

We were going to be too close for an intercept at N. Lathrop, so we stayed on Hwy 99 and pulled a flank move to the Stockton Diamonds for our next intercept, second clip, clickety-clack, clickety-clack. We tried desperately to catch it at Eight Mile Rd. next, but the AMLNSR accelerated too quickly and hit the hotbox detector at 78.5 too early, so we headed straight to Jahant Rd. between Lodi and Galt next, third clip. You can see here that the hogger was serious about going for an early quit!

We reached the south end of Elk Grove about the same time as the AMLNSR, but I noticed that the SP 187 was slowing down for the double track at Elk Grove! I asked jmf1910 to do a quick map app lookup on his cell phone for the best way to reach the north end of Elk Grove double track, and when we got there SP 187 was stopped, waiting to meet a train.

We guessed that Amtrak San Joaquin #704 was the first meet, but SP 187 kept waiting, and we got two more southbounds, Rogers Turn and MRVFR, fourth and fifth clips.

To end the video and the chase, the SP 187 and the other GEs (C44AC and a C40-8W) accelerates out of Elk Grove, turbo whine audible through the smoother-sounding 16 cyl GEs (instead of the loud, pavement-pounding 12 cyl GEVO prime movers), sixth and final clip.

- Roster shot at Elk Grove. Friendly conductor chatted with jmf1910 while we waited for the meets.
- Video as described above.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/14 07:13 by cchan006.

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Great videos, Charles! You captured the EMD and GE sounds really well, especially in the Midway, Stockton, and Elk Grove clips. I love the flashing ditch lights on SP 187! It sure was difficult chasing SP 187 with no stopping for meets from Bakersfield all the way to Elk Grove (250 miles).

A huge thank you goes to Cajon92 (Ryan) for the heads up on this train. We definitely were not expecting to see an unpatched SP AC44 leading in California.

1) Our first shot of SP 187 in the Salida area.
2) The friendly conductor gives a wave as the autorack pounds the Stockton diamonds.
3) Jahant Road with some nice vineyards lining the tracks.

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4) As SP 187 sat in the siding at Elk Grove, the crew spotted a family playing in between the rails just north of SP 187. The conductor pulled out his binoculars to get a closer look. Thankfully the family moved before two southbounds barreled through Elk Grove, which is a quite zone. One engineer used his horn to ensure the family knew of the approaching train.

5) Highball the southbound Rogers Turn!

6) Highball the Fresno!

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7) After waiting for the three southbounds, SP 187 finally pulls out of Elk Grove siding and heads for Roseville.

Okay, now onto the chase of UP 2194, a great-looking standard cab SD60...

8) The MRVSJ departs Stockton after completing its setout.
9) The standard cab looks nice rolling alongside an irigation ditch in Lathrop (there isn't much "scenery" in this area).

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10) The MRVSJ rolls by some power line and palm trees between the cities of Lathrop and Tracy.
11) The standard cab SD60 works hard to pull its heavy train up the 1% grade at Midway.
12) Another view as UP 2194 enters a cut.

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Two final views of UP 2194 and the MRVSJ at Altamont Summit, one of my favorite locations...

13) UP 2194 slowly rolls across the old WP bridge which spans both the old SP ROW and Altamont Pass Road.
14) It's all downhill to Newark and San Jose from here!

Thanks for coming along with us!

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You guys nailed it! Excellent shots and videos from the both of you. Nice catch on that standard cab SD60 leading on the MRVSJ, picked some great locations for it as well, I really like the midway trestle scene. Glad you guys caught up with the SP 187, you certainly made up for my lack luster shots of the train down south, well done!

Thanks for sharing your day's efforts.

~Ryan

Hi, my favorites are #9, 11 and 13. The videos are great. Thank for sharing and I hope for more of Your next trip.
Phil

Hmmm...High Speed Rail would make chasing in the Central Valley easier! (yuk yuk yuk) You could board a train in Fresno, shoot off to Merced, get there before the heritage unit or whatever it is arrives, so on and so forth...Although I wonder if the entire Los Angeles-San Francisco with a prong to Sacramento line will be finished in my lifetime, and I'm just a kid.

Spectacular videos. What train is that in the background of 00:21 of the second video? I couldn't tell, it was too blurry.

Tor in Eugene

Cajon92 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You guys nailed it! Excellent shots and videos
> from the both of you. Nice catch on that standard
> cab SD60 leading on the MRVSJ, picked some great
> locations for it as well, I really like the midway
> trestle scene. Glad you guys caught up with the SP
> 187, you certainly made up for my lack luster
> shots of the train down south, well done!
>
> Thanks for sharing your day's efforts.
>
> ~Ryan

You're welcome, and thanks again for the heads up!

Although we stopped chasing it at Elk Grove, the story didn't end there. Ble692 had informed us (via headsupnorcal) that SP 187 might not lead after Roseville, since unpatched SP units lack cab signals needed to lead east out of Ogden/Salt Lake City on UP's Overland Route. I agreed with that, and in case we missed the Elk Grove intercept, jmf1910 and I had plans on making the final intercept near Citrus Heights (before Roseville). For whatever reason, SP 187 stayed the leader out of Roseville, and I believe our friend MetalMike nabbed it leading on Donner.

Here's a bonus video of another unpatched SP leader, SP 343 leading the MSCWC (Salt Lake City to West Colton manifest) way back in October of 2012. DRGW, oyw, erielackawanna, westernking, RSD5, and other regulars at Pepper were there to celebrate its arrival. I hadn't had the chance to edit the video until now, and the entire train is shown using time lapse, to shorten an 8 minutes clip to about 2.5 minutes.

Here's westernking's report of that day:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,2890487

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GREAT stuff...!!! Thanks for posting.