Western Railroad Discussion > Sunset Route Double Tracking Update - 4/28/08

These two were taken from Gene Autry Rd, in Palm Springs, CA.

1) Looking West, at the West switch of Salvia on the Yuma Sub. You can see the beginning of a new signal bridge going up, on the right. (Sorry for the bad pic, It's a little out of focus.

2) Looking East, at Salvia. Not sure what that machine below is..?

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Here's some links to my other updates, on the same project:

**April 13th
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1649227,1650568#msg-1650568

**April 5th
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1643706,1644207#msg-1644207

Thanks,
--Robert

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The existing two main tracks in Beaumont,CA got updated last week.

Pic: Looking East from Sunset Ave.

--Robert

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cabcar Wrote:
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>
> 2) Looking East, at Salvia. Not sure what that
> machine below is..?
>
> ---
>
> Thanks,
> --Robert

That's the track laying machine (don't know the exact name). The concrete tie cars are coupled to the opposite end and it is pulled by a tractor between the two new rails that are laying on each side. It then drops the new ties into place, pulls the rails together, places them on the ties and the rail is then clipped down.
FYI we'll be down at Thousand Palms starting the 30th with the T-R-T machine and everything else that goes with it. The other day, Fredo and I had go down to Ferrum to dig out some special "epoxy" ties that they'll be experimenting with at 1000 Palms.-BMT

Thanks for the info, Brian. Do you know if the TRT will be working down there this Sunday?

Thanks,
--Robert

cabcar Wrote:
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> Thanks for the info, Brian. Do you know if the TRT
> will be working down there this Sunday?
>
> Thanks,
> --Robert

It should be. Fredo and I spent all day yesterday, at the Ice Deck, switching power and ties for the T-R-T. It'll be at the Ice Deck until the end of the week when they take everything out to Thousand Palms.-Brian

I'll swing by the "deck" thursday on my way off the hill, just to taunt you guys ...


TCS - hot hot heat

From the placement of the new signals in the first photo, it appears that the siding will remain in place. Good move on UP's part.

BNSF6400 Wrote:
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> From the placement of the new signals in the first
> photo, it appears that the siding will remain in
> place. Good move on UP's part.

No the siding will be torn out. The old main will become #1 and the new main will be built on the left as #2. The double signals you see are the approach signals for the crossovers at Garnet.-BMT

UPNW2-1083 Wrote:
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> It should be. Fredo and I spent all day yesterday,
> at the Ice Deck, switching power and ties for the
> T-R-T. It'll be at the Ice Deck until the end of
> the week when they take everything out to Thousand
> Palms.-Brian

Cool, Thank you.

--Robert

UPNW2-1083 Wrote:
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> No the siding will be torn out. The old main will
> become #1 and the new main will be built on the
> left as #2. The double signals you see are the
> approach signals for the crossovers at Garnet.-BMT

What I see is three signals for westbound trains going in...there is the one on the far left for the new main while a cantilever will go on the tower to the right...since cantilevers are usually for two or more signals it would provide signals for the old main and siding. Further there is a dual aspect signal for eastbounds visible beyond the siding switch...since intermediate signals for both directions usually share the same masts per UP standards, it looks like a Control Point setup. Furthermore the new signal on the far left my have signal heads for both directions (hard to tell for sure). Am I seeing things wrong here?

BNSF6400 Wrote:
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> UPNW2-1083 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > No the siding will be torn out. The old main
> will
> > become #1 and the new main will be built on the
> > left as #2. The double signals you see are the
> > approach signals for the crossovers at
> Garnet.-BMT
>
> What I see is three signals for westbound trains
> going in...there is the one on the far left for
> the new main while a cantilever will go on the
> tower to the right...since cantilevers are usually
> for two or more signals it would provide signals
> for the old main and siding. Further there is a
> dual aspect signal for eastbounds visible beyond
> the siding switch...since intermediate signals for
> both directions usually share the same masts per
> UP standards, it looks like a Control Point setup.
> Furthermore the new signal on the far left my
> have signal heads for both directions (hard to
> tell for sure). Am I seeing things wrong here?

The cantilever is being torn down. There are temporary pot signals for both the main and the siding right now. Just went through there on a train on Saturday, in fact we stopped there and Fredo and I were discussing how it would be set up when they're finished. The crossovers are being assembled at Garnet, which is west of here. The next set of crossovers are going to be down by Rimlon.-BMT

Thanks for the clarification...without actually being there to actually see it from different angle it appears to be something different. Thanks for the info.

So are the new Garnet crossovers east of the depot around the overpass or west of the depot? Also will the passenger siding for the depot remain? Thanks for all the information. Railroad expansion construction always fascinate me.

BNSF6400 Wrote:
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> Thanks for the clarification...without actually
> being there to actually see it from different
> angle it appears to be something different.
> Thanks for the info.
>
> So are the new Garnet crossovers east of the depot
> around the overpass or west of the depot? Also
> will the passenger siding for the depot remain?
> Thanks for all the information. Railroad
> expansion construction always fascinate me.

The Garnet siding will remain for Amtrak (and probably for helper positioning). The way it looks, there will be crossovers at the east end of the Garnet siding. They had the concrete tie switch kits layed out next to the end of the siding which is east of the overpass.-BMT