Railroaders' Nostalgia > How to Save Money, SP Style

Back in the early 90s, the SP was looking for ways to save money, when someone in San Francisco came up with the idea of closing the Modoc Line and running the two or three lumber trains, and their corresponding empties per day via Dunsmuir, Roseville, and Sparks, instead of via Wendel, Nv.

The Modoc Line ran East from Klamath Falls Or. to a connection with trackage rights on the former WP at Flanigan Nv.  Two crews were used, one between K Falls and Wendel Nv, a little over 200 miles.  The second crew ran between Wendel and Carlin Nv, about 260 miles.  The first crew was home at K Falls and away at the Milepost Inn and Restaurant in Wendel.  The second crew was home in Sparks and got a 2 hour call to go to work at Wendel, and was away at the mods in Carlin.

The Modoc line was dark territory, and had few grade crossings, so there wasn't much signal department budget savings.  Although the Sparks crew ran about 260 miles, less than 100 of that was on lightly used SP maintained track, as Flanigan Nv to Winnemucca Nv was on WP trackage rights.  From Winnemucca to Carlin was on "paired track" with the SP and the WP, so it didn't matter where the train originated.

I understand that a heavy train out of K Falls needed a helper, which was cut out enroute, whether it went towards Wendel or Dunsmuir.  This meant a Modoc train used four SD40/45s, TWO crews and one short helper, between K Falls and Carlin, while traveling about 460 miles.

The same train via Roseville used the same four SD40/45s,  FOUR crews, the same short helper, AND a through helper, with SIX SD 40/45s, for 139 miles one way, while traveling about 729 miles, or a distance increase of about 269 miles!.

K Falls to Dunsmuir, is about a 100 mile run.  This crew is home in Dunsmuir, and away in the mods at K Falls.
Dunsmuir to Roseville is 210 miles, the crew was home in Roseville, and away in the mods in Dunsmuir.
Roseville to Sparks is 139 miles, requires a helper terminal to terminal, the helper engineer is in the pool along with the road engineer, and they are away in the mods in Sparks.
Sparks to Carlin is about 280 miles, the crew was home in Sparks, and away in the mods in Carlin.

Looking at roundtrip locomotive miles, with a four unit consist, via Wendel, equals 3,680 miles.
Via Roseville, 5,832 miles, plus the RV/Sparks 6 unit  helper,  1668  miles,  equals 7,500 miles.

Crews: Two via Wendel,
Four  plus a helper engineer via Roseville, per train.

Per diem/car hire/delay on loaded cars?  About 24 hours additional per train per direction.  My reasoning for this is the trip from Carlin to Sparks or Wendel takes approximately the same time.  The trip from Roseville to Dunsmuir takes approximately the same time as the trip from Wendel to K Falls.  This leaves the time between Roseville and Sparks, and the time between Dunsmuir and K Falls.

Savings?  Track maintenance on about 300 miles of track used by about 6 trains per day, and a train order operator's position at Wendel.   No savings in closing the Wendel Milepost, because instead of lodging a maximum of three crews per day in Wendel, we are lodging 12 1/2 crews in K Falls, Dunsmuir, Sparks, and Carlin. 
Added track wear on 280 miles of SP maintained track between Winnemucca and Sparks, because the trains turned off at Winnemucca to go via Wendel.  (Yes we had to pay the WP for trackage rights.)
G

The Modoc was originally shut down by the Sacramento and Oregon Divisions in 1986.
The lumber business out of Oregon did not produce enough tonnage to justify the equipment required to handle it (Locomotives).
With the expensive crew balance problems at Wendal it computed out that the remainder of the lumber traffic could be run to Roseville and be used for fill tonnage on Overland Route east 
 bounds and put this traffic in Ogden sometimes shorter than 18 hours delay it suffered on the Modoc.
It was also vvery discouraging tp see some time 8  or more good serviceable units sitting waiting at Wendal when we were holding as high as 12 trains at Rosevoille for power. 
The service to Susanville and all of the business between Carlin and Sparks was handled by the 6 day bulletined "Alimony Local" crewed by the Carlin-Wendel Pool at Carlin.
Mr Phil Anchutez  himself upon the D&RG takeover reinstated the Modoc line.
There was certainly no profit in letting loads sit at Eugene, K Falls. or Wendal waiting for tonnage or crews. 
After 1988 I did not pay any attention  to the route but it must not have been profitable as I believe it is now gone.
.Maybe Mr. Conductor can enlighten us as where he acquired his Modoc expertise ,
 

If I remember right PF Anschutz had something else in mind besides lumber loads east out of Klamath.  Something about coal export traffic?  The route between Alturas and Wendel was definitely in a hopeless state of neglect in the mid 90's with the I5 corridor flood reroutes on the Modoc.  

Sphogger  

SP always seemed willing to spend a dime to save a nickel.

Anschutz used the Modoc to tell Oregon shippers things are changing for them wit the merger, a faster way to move lumber. It only lasted about 18 months before
things returned to its usual self Did run 4 trains a day, a Chicago and GrandJct trains Until about 94 or 95 when  the SP shut it down again



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/22 14:25 by WAF.

WJL,

My experience with the Modoc line starts in 1988 when I transferred to the Sacramento Divn.
Shortly after that time, and that would be 28 years ago now, we started getting the EURGM from Dunsmuir to Sparks on a daily basis.  The EURGM  (Eugene-Rio Grande) manifest was a good train to catch from Roseville to Sparks due to its being a hundred cars and about 9000 tons.  With 4 units on the point, and a six unit cut in helper, we made good speed uphill from Rocklin to Norden, and ran the train down the other side in dynamic brake, without any air.

You can certainly tell us the exact mileage from K Falls to Wendel to Flanigan, but the mileage numbers, and the crew and locomotive utilization numbers I have presented stand!
G

The EURGM started with the closure of the Modoc in 1986 and lasted unti Oc, 1988 whn it was reopenned with the EUASM in two sections. The ASEUM caarried a short block of TOFC from SLC to Portland which was another selling point to Intermodal shippers, but tha traffic disappeared by 1993



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/16 08:36 by WAF.

What would the Maintaince of Way costs be all about?

I believe the idea was to save money by not running trains from Klamath Falls Or East thru Wendel Nv to the junction with the WP at Flanigan Nv.
By  taking the line out of service, they would save money on track maintenance, that appears to be their thought?  Although the two crews are paid about 450 miles to make the run, the maintenance of way savings were only about 300 miles worth, as the last 150 miles or so were on trackage rights on the former WP.
 
JLY's comment above says that they were also trying to save money on locomotive availability, which I just can't see.  As you can see from my original post, I considered all of the cost factors, including miles run by locomotives, cars, and crews.

Running a train from Klamath Falls to Carlin via Dunsmuir, Roseville, and Sparks took four train and engine crews, plus a helper crew, instead of two crews, and the helper crew ran a six unit set over Donner to Sparks where it was cut out.

Let me ask a question about semantics!  What is the difference in locomotive availability between 6 units sitting in Wendel, and 6 units running in a helper set between Roseville and Sparks that wouldn't be needed if it went via Wendel?
The answer is that the units sitting aren't burning fuel or incurring wheel wear like the running helper units!!  But, the sitting units are in a different status code, and don't have an engineer on board earning hours and miles! 
G

ExSPCondr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I believe the idea was to save money by not
> running trains from Klamath Falls Or East thru
> Wendel Nv to the junction with the WP at Flanigan
> Nv.
> By  taking the line out of service, they would
> save money on track maintenance, that appears to
> be their thought?  Although the two crews are
> paid about 450 miles to make the run, the
> maintenance of way savings were only about 300
> miles worth, as the last 150 miles or so were on
> trackage rights on the former WP.
>  
> JLY's comment above says that they were also
> trying to save money on locomotive availability,
> which I just can't see.  As you can see from my
> original post, I considered all of the cost
> factors, including miles run by locomotives, cars,
> and crews.
>
> Running a train from Klamath Falls to Carlin via
> Dunsmuir, Roseville, and Sparks took four train
> and engine crews, plus a helper crew, instead of
> two crews, and the helper crew ran a six unit set
> over Donner to Sparks where it was cut out.
>
> Let me ask a question about semantics!  What is
> the difference in locomotive availability between
> 6 units sitting in Wendel, and 6 units running in
> a helper set between Roseville and Sparks that
> wouldn't be needed if it went via Wendel?
> The answer is that the units sitting aren't
> burning fuel or incurring wheel wear like the
> running helper units!!  But, the sitting units
> are in a different status code, and don't have an
> engineer on board earning hours and miles! 
> G
A sitting locomotive did not make any money only a locomotive pulling revenue cars did. It is termed locomotive utilization.
It is the same as holding loaded cars at the origin or intermediate terminals to fill out a tonnage train as the lumber business had cut back to less than one train a day on the Modoc in 1968. This was causing sometime a 24 to 30 hour delay of the lumber products in interchange to the UP at Ogden.
When you are between 15 to 20  eastbound trains holding for;power at Roseville you tend to lose site of what you call semantics especially at a place like Wendel where it was almost impossible to balance train and engine crews in the Carlin -Wendel pool.
The Wendel to Carlin WP short cut started in early 1960's was a loser from the word go due to the train crews at Carlin and the Engine crews at Sparks. especially when dead heading from Carlin became part of the hours of service. There is an interesting  saga of how the Carlin train crews handled their special "Parlor Cabooses" from Carlin to Wendal ..

In 1968, the lumber business on the Modoc was very healthy, up to 6 eastbounds a day. Now, 1988 is a different aniimal, yes, only one train a day. Hardly worth the trip.

WAF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In 1968, the lumber business on the Modoc was very
> healthy, up to 6 eastbounds a day. Now, 1988 is a
> different aniimal, yes, only one train a day.
> Hardly worth the trip.

WES
1986 is when we started our Modoc and Siskiyou study.
By early 1987 we started the runing of the lumber business to Roseville to make the east tonnahge and expediate the UP interchange time at Ogden.
1988 is when I s;pent 2 days with Anschutz explaining the whole Modoc  mess on power and crews which he rejected as he had already commited the SP to the Oregon Lumber People to reinstate the Modoc.
Strqnge, my buy out followed shortly there after. 

JLY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WAF Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > In 1968, the lumber business on the Modoc was
> very
> > healthy, up to 6 eastbounds a day. Now, 1988 is
> a
> > different aniimal, yes, only one train a day.
> > Hardly worth the trip.
>
> WES
> 1986 is when we started our Modoc and Siskiyou
> study.
> By early 1987 we started the runing of the lumber
> business to Roseville to make the east tonnahge
> and expediate the UP interchange time at Ogden.
> 1988 is when I s;pent 2 days with Anschutz
> explaining the whole Modoc  mess on power and
> crews which he rejected as he had already commited
> the SP to the Oregon Lumber People to reinstate
> the Modoc.
> Strqnge, my buy out followed shortly there
> after. 

I guess he didn't see you as a team player, Bill. But no worries, you got your buy out, he got the Modoc which didn't live up to high hopes. Too bad he walked away a hundred times richer selling the SP to the UP

Was the Modoc ever considered as an alternate to a bad event in the Sacramento Canyon, or California itself?

I had thought the traffic had moved to the Sunset route, but lumber had already dried up in the Oregon area anyways. Thanks for putting dates and mileage on the whole concept.

Yes, in April, 1982, while Donner was closed to a blizzard for a week,half of the Donner traffic detoured via the Modoc

TCnR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Was the Modoc ever considered as an alternate to a
> bad event in the Sacramento Canyon, or California itself?

January 1997 (?) when there was severe flooding in the Sacramento River Canyon it was washed out the line was reactivated for some Eugene / Roseville traffic. Crew change points were: Eugene - Klamath Falls - Wendal - Winnemucca - Sparks - Roseville.

​And before somebody asks, as I remember the FRC was also washed out, which is why everything was going via Winnemucca.

​Carlin wasn't involved in the detours as I erroneously posted earlier.
 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/16 18:49 by Railbaron.

No one mentioned the Taxes paid on the ROW.

 

mundo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> No one mentioned the Taxes paid on the ROW.
>
>  
Don't be so quick to use this as a reason.  California values the railroad as a whole going concern entity and determines the value percentage to California and then will distribute this value to the track and right of way.  If one day, they abandoned a line, the value of the going concern would probably not change, and then the California value would be redistributed statewide.  There isn't really much tax savings.  HOWEVER, the moment that SP took the line out of service, it would then be considered non-operating property, not part of the going concern, and then would be valued and taxed in addition to the going concern.  So taking a line out of service could actually increase taxes on the railroad, and until the entire line was removed and sold, taxes would be greater than if the line had been left in operation.  Now, should the cost of the operating the line exceeded the revenue and transferring the freight to another line, as has been discussed above, it is conceivable that the railroad would make more money by moving the traffic and not using the line.  Well, then the going concern value could increase, increasing the taxes, and the now out of service line, declared non-operating would be an addition to that. 

So, it's much more complex that just saying, "what are the taxes paid on that track we're currently using", let's abandon it and save those taxes we paid.  Doesn't work that way.

Lee Hower - Sacramento