Passenger Trains > MUNI LRV Oversize Load on I-680

Check this out... Wednesday morning, I came across an oversize load on I-680 in San Jose, CA. It was a MUNI LRV, and I managed to get some shots with my iPhone while driving. Does anyone know where it's being transported and why?

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Maybe heading to the same place. Where Muni is having their PCCs and other Street Cars rebuild at?

Which way was this truck heading?

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

No clue, but I'm curious why it's not wrapped. The historic street cars are being rebuilt in PA, there was a post on the Market Street Railway blog showing one of the cars on a trailer heading east on I-80 near Park City, UT. So maybe this is going on I-680 to I-80 in Fairfield, CA to then head east.

Nathan

Breda has a plant in the Contra Costa Industrial Park on Loveridge Road in Pittsburg and Muni has been sending its LRV's there for several years now. They presently have a contract to repair seven wreck damaged cars as well as life extension upgrades to the rest of the fleet. For whatever reason(high/wide, weight?) they avoid the toll bridges for the S.F. to Pittsburg run.

I guess they are too "wide" to be put on a train consist to Pittsburgh? I too am surprised they are not covered in some fashion.....

At least you weren't talking on your cell phone.... :-)

Tom Y

jp1822 Wrote:
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> I guess they are too "wide" to be put on a train
> consist to Pittsburgh? I too am surprised they are
> not covered in some fashion.....

Non-compatable couplers and brake systems are two good reasons why they got trucked.

PHall Wrote:
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> jp1822 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I guess they are too "wide" to be put on a
> train
> > consist to Pittsburgh? I too am surprised they
> are
> > not covered in some fashion.....
>
> Non-compatable couplers and brake systems are two
> good reasons why they got trucked.

I was thinking more on the lines of putting them on a freight flat car of some sort rather than actually trying to put them "in-line" with regular freight or passenger cars.

jp1822 Wrote:
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> I was thinking more on the lines of putting them
> on a freight flat car of some sort rather than
> actually trying to put them "in-line" with regular
> freight or passenger cars.

I pondered the same thing. Siemens do that in Sacramento (near Florin), putting their light rail cars on flat cars, then shipping them east. Here's a satellite view of their facility conveniently located right next to UP's Fresno Sub, and it answers why they probably do it:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=siemens+sacramento&ie=UTF8&hq=siemens&hnear=Sacramento,+California&ll=38.48749,-121.392631&spn=0.001523,0.001534&t=h&z=19

MUNI, on the other hand probably don't have their facility next to a freight main line, so before they can transfer a LRV to a flat car, they need to truck it anyway. Besides, San Francisco is no longer a convenient place for freight trains.

As for Nick's photos, the truck is travelling north/eastbound, by looking at the hills in the background, and the sequence of street exits posted on the sign, so it's heading toward the location shed47 mentioned earlier. Nice pacing shots without the rails!

For a cell phone cam great shots, looks like it was on quite a SPECIAL as the headsign reads!

There is an "industrial lead" near the Muni "Metro East" facility, but there's a certain "you can't get to there from here" aspect to trying to move the cars to Mare Island (if indeed that's where they are going) by rail. It probably could be done, but the routing hassle, and the possibility of the car being left overnight in an unsecured yard would make a "good ol' boy" say "that dog won't hunt."