Western Railroad Discussion > UP chasing its own tail

Here's something you don't see every day. This stack train was built yesterday on the LAXT loop on Terminal Island (Port of Los Angeles, California). After the lead engines (UP 8901 and 4088) and the single DP (UP 7874) were added, the train was nearly nose-to-tail on the loop. I don't know the train's symbol but it departed the port eastward yesterday evening.

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Now that is interesting.
JB

Real life imitates my old HO scale oval (with a caboose)

Sphogger



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/16 15:45 by sphogger.

Now THAT is cool. Not sure why, but it is.

the Eddystone Rail Co. crude oil unloading facility had a 2 track double loop and the trains passes itself coming in and leaving ... here's an inbound train getting ready to split into 2 cuts using both units of the train with the headend on the inside loop in the 1st photo passing the rear of the train and the rear cover car passing the train in the 2nd photo ..

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For those wondering, the LAXT (Los Angeles Export Terminal) loop was originally constructed to support a large rail-to-ship coal terminal. It was commissioned in 1997, well after I left the UP, but IIRC the tracks were made to hold appx. 120-car long coal trains. The terminal was a financial disaster and ceased to operate in 2003 and was demolished in 2008. All that remains is the 3-track loop and some of the original access roads, including an underpass on the southwest portion of the loop. It does not have public access, only port, railroad employees, and contractors.

Here's a thread from 2008 showing the demolition underway.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1624904

Here's a current satellite view of the property.

https://goo.gl/maps/x75N5hin2az



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/16 17:37 by trainjunkie.

Did it ever catch up with itself?

trainjunkie Wrote:
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> For those wondering, the LAXT (Los Angeles Export
> Terminal) loop was originally constructed to
> support a large rail-to-ship coal terminal. It was
> commissioned in 1997, well after I left the UP,
> but IIRC the tracks were made to hold appx.
> 120-car long coal trains. The terminal was a
> financial disaster and ceased to operate in 2003
> and was demolished in 2008. All that remains is
> the 3-track loop and some of the original access
> roads, including an underpass on the southwest
> portion of the loop. It does not have public
> access, only port, railroad employees, and
> contractors.
>
> Here's a thread from 2008 showing the demolition
> underway.
>
> http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1
> 624904
>
> Here's a current satellite view of the property.
>
> https://goo.gl/maps/x75N5hin2az

Don't forget the lawsuits.

The "loop", as it is commonly know as, is also used for car storage and on a regular basis, to "balloon" trains (or even power) so they can be shoved into the different terminals around the port of L.A. There is also a setout track to the north of the loop where UP services engines for various trains around the harbor. Been around the loop way too many times to count.-BMT

What BMT said is correct. The loop serves multiple purposes. Here's a couple shots of the ready track he mentioned that UP uses to stage outbound power.

In addition to the LAXT loop, there is also a control point named for the place (CP LAXT), which is where CTC begins when you come off the island, and, as mentioned, a power storage and fueling pad area consisting of two tracks the BNSF uses called the LAXT Tie-Ups, which is adjacent to the TICTF support yard. Back in the day this was called Brighton Beach yard, and was mostly there to store cars going to scrap at National Metals. Today it's a busy intermodal facility for NYK and Evergreen. Much has changed there in the past couple of decades.

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sphogger Wrote:
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> Real life imitates my old HO scale oval (with a
> caboose)
>
> Sphogger

That made me smile!  Tried that a few times as a kid.

Nathan

OOS
I immediately thought of that oil unloading loop when I saw this post!
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