Western Railroad Discussion > UP's Hollister Branch Lives On

The recent embargo(track related?) of Union Pacific's Hollister, CA branch was apparently short lived as its been business as usual for the crew of the Hollister Local on the line recently. This job goes on duty in Watsonville Jct. in late morning and works shippers in Gilroy first(with as needed trips to serve a customer near Morgan Hill) before heading out onto the branch, usually by late afternoon. Poor track conditions limit speed to 10 m.p.h. San Benito Foods, located right next to the old SP Hollister depot, remains the only customer in town with empties in and loads out. All other industrial track in the city is either removed or disused. The only other customer on the branch is a chemical business at m.p. 3 just south of the Hwy. 25 grade crossing. They had about 20 tank cars in their plant on Tuesday. Both businesses appear to be steady customers and would probably oppose any attempts by UP at service abandonment.

Tuesday's northbound return run of the local on the branch is seen at m.p. 3 with UPY569-UP1524 for power and eleven cars--nine loads from San Benito and two tanks. The line's chemical shipper is seen on the left.

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UP renumbered the mileposts on the branch starting at 0 from Carnadero but this old SP marker survives about a mile south of the mainline junction. Tuesday's southbound run is seen at 14:00 wobbling down the line at 10 m.p.h. headed for Hollister.

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Tuesday's local drills the two spur tracks at San Benito Foods in beautiful downtown Hollister, CA.

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The SP depot in Hollister(built circa 1871) now houses several small businesses. The spurs into San Benito Foods are seen in the foreground. The plaque on the left recognizes the fact that the depot was built at a time when this line was projected as the SP mainline that would connect the northern and southern parts of the state via what would have been a grueling mountain crossing between Tres Pinos and Coalinga. Now that would have been a heckuva railroad......

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Despite some pretty heavy vehicular traffic, about half the grade crossings in downtown Hollister are protected with nothing more than crossbucks.

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The switching at San Benito Foods complete, the crew of Tuesday's local prepares to head back to the Coast Sub mainline connection at Carnadero--an 11.75 mile run that will take about 75 minutes.

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Tuesday's northbound Hollister Local is seen in late afternoon about a half mile from leaving the branch at Carnadero.

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Seems like a strange power lash-up... a GP15-1 and a GP40-2, but probably not for the present day of railroading. At least it doesn't seem like all that long ago that the GP40-2 would have been racing across New Mexico and Arizona while pulling an intermodal train.

I heard them heading out onto the branch just a week after the embargo was initially put in place. Like I said at the time, it isn't unusual for UP to just shut the whole thing down while MOW issues are sorted. Glad to see I was right.

Brian,

Glad you were right. Love it when I am wrong especially, as it applies to the Hollister Branch. Wish I had the money to pay for new ties under that old rail.

ROW,10 mph has been the standard for as long as I can remember.

Thanks for the pictures and update.

RickH

Thanks for taking the time to post these photos on a locals work. I enjoy following the locals here in Reno. That power lash-up is reminiscent of some lash-ups that worked out of Parr yard prior to that locals relocation to Sparks, except there would be 3 units.

Jim

WR-44 Wrote:
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> Seems like a strange power lash-up... a GP15-1 and
> a GP40-2, but probably not for the present day of
> railroading.

Agreed, but considering UPY569 lost its prime mover to become a road slug, it's quite logical..

Over the past several years, just about every UP branch line in the Los Angeles area has been rebuilt with a lot of tie replacement and heavy welded rail replacing light weight sectional rail. This included replacing a lot of rail with trolley bonds from the Pacific Electric days, on lines that see only a few cars a week at most (such as Sartori Ave in Old Torrance). Does anyone know of any plans by UP to similarly upgrade ex-SP branch lines elsewhere? While rebuilding the Hollister Branch may seem like a poor financial investment, it would be no different than similar actions already taken by UP in So Cal.

- Kit

False.

tvrha Wrote:

> UPY569 lost its prime
> mover to become a road slug

They've been trying to build a "big city" in the flood plain around the Hollister Branch for decades.

Uvas, Llagas and Pacheco Creek and Tequesquita Slough all come together between Gilroy and Hollister to form the Pajaro River. In wet winters, it's a big lake. The receeding water leaves behind rich sediment which makes the area ideal for farming and a big problem for development.

I think the UP is waiting for Caltrain or Amtrak California to pay for upgrades to the branch. The City of Salinas has been experiencing extortion over the last couple of years while trying to get Caltrain extended down there.

I don't think that the fertilizer plant at MP 3 actually generates any rail traffic. The tank cars, especially the ones on the west end, haven't moved for years and I suspect that they aren't for interchange service anymore; they are simply storage tanks. Anyone have information about whether this is an active railroad customer?

P.S. - Nice shots...I've been meaning to shoot the Hollister for a long time.

Ron

http://rlehmer.50megs.com/photos/

The local set out one car at the chemical plant at Bolsa when I chased them last year. I do agree that most of those cars never go anywhere.

mikey Wrote:
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> The local set out one car at the chemical plant at
> Bolsa when I chased them last year. I do agree
> that most of those cars never go anywhere.

Tuesday's run did pick up two tank cars at the south end as shown in photo arriving at Hollister(they made the roundtrip back to Carnadero). Looks like the cars at the north end are indeed "dead".

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mikey Wrote:
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> The local set out one car at the chemical plant at
> Bolsa when I chased them last year. I do agree
> that most of those cars never go anywhere.


They are not a "major player" but they do move a few cars in and out. The cannery in Hollister keeps things going in the harvest season and the lumber yards in Morgan Hill and whatever else in Gilroy keep things going as well. San Benito county has no money to buy the track and set up the much needed commuter service and we all know about the commuter expansion to Salinas requiring all sorts of stuff (sorta like the ACE trains from Stockton to San Jose but probably worse) The other day we drove over to Marina to our favorite deli to get lunch for a picnic at Point Lobos and I had a chance to observe the thoroughly rusted and decayed and etc. Monterey branchiin Marina up close which UP happily sold to the idiots at TAMC in Monterey county and which ends in the parking lot at Costco at Sand city. What a joke. What a travesty. What a farce. :-(
C.

Made many trips over that branch back in the 70s. It was like being on your own private railroad. Speed limit was 20 back then, but good for 35 if we were going for a quit. Definitely the days before licensing.