Western Railroad Discussion > extra pnw-roseville train question

earlier today i saw what i assume to be an rvhkx symbol train south of salem (5501 leader if anyone wants to correct the symbol) made up entirely of grain hoppers, cp/soo/adm/etc.
my question...was this a unit train from eastport via hinkle and if so where does the majority, if not all of the commodity terminate? it doesn't seem like that long ago when these unit trains ran weekly/bi-weekly south through portland.

Probably a unit grain train. They do run those kind of grain trains to California every so often.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

If it was an RVHKX, it would be going North. UP 5501 South today is hauling over 7,000 feet of loaded grain cars to Fresno, California. The train is most likely from either Seattle, Hinkle, or somehwere in Idaho. Currently it is sitting in Eugene ready to depart later this evening. The symbol for this would probably be GL__TR or GL__FR.

The MRVHKX which is an extra train from Roseville to Hinkle (in addition to the daily MRVHK) is running about once a week now and has a mix of traffic. One time it could be a manifest, the next time it could be all empty grain cars.

Aj

The train would have originated on the ex-SOO line in North Dakota or Minnesota and traveled over CP's Crowsnest Pass to the UP interchange at Eastport, ID. There the train would become the GLETTR or GLETFR (Grain Load EasporT to FResno). The trains run through Spokane, Hinkle, Portland, Eugene and Roseville to Fresno. The trains off the CP are readily identifiable because they are a mix of CP, SOO, and Milw cars. The CP trains to California are not nearly as common as the CP trains to the export Elevators in Oregon and Washington, which average 1-2 loads per day.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

It's a GMETIV-15 - 99 loads, 13039 tons. Word is that Eugene is going to get "creative" with this train; instead of making it a simple 4x4 DP train they're rebuilding it as a 3x3x2 train - but nobody knows when it'll actually get called (they even called an extra yard job to do this).

significant typing mistake on my part, sorry guys...5501 was southbound and my intention was to present it here in question as the hkrvx not the northbound counterpart. thanks for correcting me aj.
railbaron can you explain that symbol, i don't recognize the IV destination.

494 Wrote:
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> railbaron can you explain that symbol, i don't
> recognize the IV destination.


Don't ask me where they come up with these symbols. In this case "IV" = Fresno

RB

Any9one know waht the symbol was for a M train SAturday over the
Cascade Summit with the 5406 leading 82 cars, and some other power of course.

Rob

^X2!

UP 5406 was on the MRVPT 14 with 82 cars, passed Cascade Summit around 9am in the morning Saturday. UP 5406 came south on yesterday's (Sunday's) QPDRV 16 and should be down in Roseville now. That was the only North train I could find with 82 cars, so hope that helps.

Posted from iPhone

Odd that they run this through Portland instead of Bend. Is it a connection problem at South Wishram/Deschutes Junction? Or a "We'd rather use 4 extra crews and run it through Eugene than pay the BNSF a couple bucks to use the Inside Gateway" problem.

Just curious. Interesting to learn about this move -- a roundabout way to get from Minnesota to Fresno. I wonder why the feed lots in Fresno can't choose to buy from an elevator served by the BNSF or UP in Minnesota, then they'd get a much shorter route via the Overland Route or the Transcon.

But, hey, it adds to the sparse traffic for foamers in the Cascades, so I'm all for bringing it through here...

Ted in OR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/11 21:49 by gobbl3gook.

thanks for the replies, does anyone know if the up serves customers direct on this move or should i assume the train gets handed off to the sjvr?

Ted, It's a connection problem, a length problem, and a weight problem. The OT features short sidings (~5000'), Steep Grades (1.5%) and the trains have to reverse direction at OT Jct because the connection is to the west. UP has given up running over the OT for now because traffic on the I-5 corridor is way down and everything can easily be run via Eugene. If and when the sidings get lengthened and traffic is busy again, will the UP even consider running over the OT again, let alone building a eastward connection like they had talked about at merger time.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

funnelfan Wrote:
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..., let alone
> building a eastward connection like they had
> talked about at merger time.


Huh??

gobbl3gook Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Odd that they run this through Portland instead of
> Bend. Is it a connection problem at South
> Wishram/Deschutes Junction? Or a "We'd rather use
> 4 extra crews and run it through Eugene than pay
> the BNSF a couple bucks to use the Inside Gateway"
> problem.
>
> Just curious. Interesting to learn about this
> move -- a roundabout way to get from Minnesota to
> Fresno. I wonder why the feed lots in Fresno
> can't choose to buy from an elevator served by the
> BNSF or UP in Minnesota, then they'd get a much
> shorter route via the Overland Route or the
> Transcon.
>
> But, hey, it adds to the sparse traffic for
> foamers in the Cascades, so I'm all for bringing
> it through here...
>
> Ted in OR

Some other thoughts...

The Inside Gateway route uses the exact same amount of crews as the Portland routing. The only money saved would be fuel.

IV is a symbol for a grain elevator just south of Fresno at Calwa.... (I believe, not 100% sure)

How heavy is the train? That may be the reason for the 3x3x2. Only 2 dpu's are allowed on the rear of a train on the Black Butte sub.