Western Railroad Discussion > UP's I-5 Corridor...and Modoc Line

It's getting late, but before I knock off for the evening, I have a question concerning the UP's I-5 Corridor, and one relating to the Modoc Line as well.

Traffic levels nowadays (on the I-5 route) seem to be about where they were when the SP had that line, at about 15-20 trains a day on average. Have the traffic numbers on that route ever been significantly higher than that in the past, or is 15-20 a day about the average for that line? I was wondering if the number of trains running via the I-5 route might have been significantly higher back in the '60s/'70s due to the large amounts of lumber traffic being run south to California, and conversely, the number of empty manifests running north to Oregon for reloading.

How about train numbers on the Modoc Line when it was last in operation? One each way a day was what the SP was running at the time of the UP/SP merger (not counting the '97 flood detours); how about back in sixties/seventies on that route -- was the number of trains running via that corridor quite a bit more than 1 each way a day or was it about the same as the SP was running at the time of the UP/SP merger?

Looking at train order clearance books from the late sixties, yes, traffic levels were much higher, but train lengths smaller too. I counted on most days about 24-30 trains a day, including the Cascade and Weed Local. That little owl in Oregon and Washington had a lot to do with the number of trains coming south. Let's see, in the late seventies, there was the BRLAT, BROAT ( usually just a lumber and empty autorack drag and a EUOAY if there was a lot of Bay Area lumber), EUASY, EUHOY, EURVY (usually 2), EUWCY, PTCIY, PTLAY, EULAY, MERVY, maybe a KFRVY for good measure. Northbound:
LABRF ( 3X a week and then as a section of the LABRT),LABRT, OABRT, OAEUY, RVEUY ( two sections) RVKFY, RVMEY, WCEUY, WCEUE ( two sections of it or the "Y" or both). So boomer, that's about 22 freights right there.
Modoc before it really started to shut down was good for two eastbounds and westbounds.

Thanks for the info, WAF.