Western Railroad Discussion > Vegas to Burbank, from up above

Another fun hobby store convention in Las Vegas this past week.    My hotel room at the Orleans had a great view of the UP LA&SL mainline cutting through town.   

1)   Had a nice talk with Horizon Hobbies and Walthers about train products.   R/C cars were also a part of the deal, so here's how Traxxas rolls.

2)   Taking pics through two, thick panes of glass made things a bit blurry for the camera.    Saw a great mix of stacks and manifests for the duration.   Didn't see one pig trailer though, although I know they did slip by.

3)    Return trip, it seemed we followed railroad tracks the entire way.    Somewhere between Sloan and Barstow.    There were t-storms to the east and north, and a massive marine layer to the west.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/15 02:25 by Fizzboy7.

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4)     Mojave River and the BNSF/UP main, looking west toward Helendale.

5)     Palmdale Junction.   There is a train down there peeling off to the east, but it doesn't show up here.

6)     Finally breaking out of the marine layer above Northridge and turning east for final approach.    Below is the spot an SP westbound derailed under the Nordhoff overpass (the curving concrete structure to the left of the wing tip) during the Northridge earthquake of 1994.

 

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7)     East end of Gemco Yard on UP's Coast Line.   Woodman is the main street passing under.

8)     Coast Line triple track just before touching down at Burbank.    

Thanks for coming along on my journey!

Jason Eminian
Smith Brothers Hobby Center

 

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I think the 3rd pic is Erie summit. Was it taken soon after leaving the LV metro area?

Bob

chuchubobnv Wrote:
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> I think the 3rd pic is Erie summit. Was it taken
> soon after leaving the LV metro area?
>
> Bob

Yes, that is definitely Erie Summit.  You can see the dark line (railroad tracks) cross the lighter line (interstate).  That is right at the north or timetable east end of the siding at ERIE.  Sloan is barely out of view to the upper left.

Fizzboy7 Wrote:
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> ... My hotel room at the Orleans
> had a great view of the UP LA&SL mainline cutting
> through town.   
> 2)   Taking pics through two, thick panes of
> glass made things a bit blurry for the camera.  
>  Saw a great mix of stacks and manifests for the
> duration.   Didn't see one pig trailer though,
> although I know they did slip by...

That train looks like it has two auto racks, then I can't make out what's after that.  If it went by between 1300 and 1500, it should be the ZLADV with double stacks and most of the time it has a few trailers.  Otherwise not a lot of trailers on the LA&SL.  They're on the ISCLB and occasionally on the KG1LA and KG1LAC.

mapboy

737 wing. Guess I'm a plane geek too! ; - P

There's a train in thse photos? Where?

CrudPunko Wrote:
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> There's a train in thse photos? Where?

He would have preferred to have ridden the CITY OF LOS ANGELES or the DESERT WIND, but circumstances are such that it was not possible.  If you want to ride from Vegas to Southern California by rail, you have to be a hobo.

The fact that Amtrak chooses not to serve the largest tourist market in the U.S. (Las Vegas) blows me away.  Oh wait.  They do serve it by bus from L.A. and van from Kingman, AZ.

CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
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" The fact that Amtrak chooses not to serve the
> largest tourist market in the U.S. (Las Vegas)
> blows me away.  Oh wait.  They do serve it by
> bus from L.A. and van from Kingman, AZ"

They tried. Not enough paying customers to justify the cost.

Bob.

I used to ride the Desert Wind.   I often wondered how the train would had faired as a turn around versus part of the three legged zephyr.....it never seemed like the Vegas bound passengers meshed well with the Utah and beyond folks.......   

If I remember correctly, the train left Fullerton around noon n/b and s/b Las Vegas around 7-730am which made for a three day weekend or a Vegas turnound (only did that once!) 

chuchubobnv Wrote:
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> They tried. Not enough paying customers to justify
> the cost.
>
> Bob.

So are we to presume that the "not enough paying customers to justify the cost" argument must also apply to the commercial airlines since they, too, require massive taxpayer subsidies?

So the DESERT WIND lost money and required a taxpayer subsidy.  Big deal.  

News flash:  Passenger trains require taxpayer subsidies.  Commercial air transport requires taxpayer subsidies.  Highways require taxpayer subsidies.

Specifically, how do you prefer the manner in which your tax dollars are "wasted"?  

Would you rather have your taxpayer dollars going to subsidize college tuitions for illegal aliens where they're allowed to pay the same amount as out-of-state residents?  An endless war on the other side of the globe, perhaps?  

Why is Amtrak held to a different standard and expected to operate free of taxpayer subsidies?

I'd really like to know.  I'm dying to know.  Is it a socio-economic / racial thing wherein a bunch of rich, white people fly, thereby justifying taxpayer subsidies to the airlines, versus a lot of poor, non-white people riding trains, and the sooner we can leave them "high and dry", the better?

I'd really like to know.      



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/15 14:39 by CA_Sou_MA_Agent.

chuchubobnv Wrote:
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> I think the 3rd pic is Erie summit. Was it taken
> soon after leaving the LV metro area?
>
> Bob

I think this could be Sloan, where the mining and old tunnels (?) used to be before winding down into the desert valley...

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JohnM Wrote:
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> I used to ride the Desert Wind.   I often
> wondered how the train would had faired as a turn
> around versus part of the three legged
> zephyr.....it never seemed like the Vegas bound
> passengers meshed well with the Utah and beyond
> folks.......   
>
> If I remember correctly, the train left Fullerton
> around noon n/b and s/b Las Vegas around 7-730am
> which made for a three day weekend or a Vegas
> turnound (only did that once!) 

The DESERT WIND did very well in linking people from the eastern and midwestern states to and from Las Vegas.  The Southern California market would be served best by a schedule similar to the LAS VEGAS HOLIDAY SPECIAL that UP used to run.