Western Railroad Discussion > Mexicali Action From Today...

Since I had the day off today from work I decided to head out and see if I could catch any trains on the former FC Sonora Baja California mainline south from Mexicali Mx. A block away from my home is Blvd Castellon which crosses the main line. A short 10 min drive takes me to the tracks.

I headed off and once I came to the tracks I noticed a train stopped right before the Blvd. The photos will tell the rest of the story.

Tony

1) FXE 3029 is the lone locomotive on this fairly long yard job.
2) One by one the crew would all jump off and head across the street to the Oxxo convenience store for soda & chips.
3) I was to find out that this train was to head south to perform industrial work along the mainline. High Ball !



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/11 18:36 by zuco74.

---

---

---

4) I get ahead of them and catch them a few miles down the road. Mega on the left is a big walmart type store.
5) After passing me at this spot. They would back up and switch the first industry of the day.
6) Backing across the main thoroughfare to San Luis RC Sonora. Here the crew members flag the crossing.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/11 18:38 by zuco74.

---

---

---

7) Work complete - Time to get back to the train which is on the main line.
8) Here you can see the main on the right with the rest of the train a few feet away.
9) After jumping in my truck - I would get ahead of them and catch them again a few miles down the road.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/11 18:39 by zuco74.

---

---

---

10) Next industry to switch looks like the Honeywell plant.
11) Work complete - Back to the train. At this point the engineer yelled over to me to let me know that the inbound intermodal/manifest train from the south was 15 min away. They were going to meet them at the siding in Pascualitos.
12) I jumped in my truck and headed back north into town so I could set up to catch the inbound FXE train. Here it is coming to the end of its journey about to enter the Mexicali FXE yard.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/11 03:20 by zuco74.

---

---

---

13) Cross this busy intersection lies the FXE yard at Mexicali.
14) Caboose bringing up the rear. Traffic gets back to normal.

And and all I was pretty satisfied with my day. The crews are really friendly and I got the chance to chat with a few of them. They seem genuinely proud to be railroaders on the FXE in Mexico. Thanks for looking !

Tony



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/11 18:42 by zuco74.

---

---

Nice series of shots from an area close to the states. Have been in El Centro and even across the border to Mexicali a few times while at NAS El Centro. Unfortunately didn't have my camera with me. Thanks for sharing. Ben

Nice stuff, thanks for sharing!

Dave Toussaint
Riverside, CA
SoCalRailFan.com

Thanks for the photo essay!

Dan Quiat

Thanks. We don't see enough of the action down Mexico way.

Someone on a recent thread suggest that a dedicated Mexican Railroads discussion board be established. Agreed. Maybe such a board would stimulate more postings.

mukinduri Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks. We don't see enough of the action down
> Mexico way.
>
> Someone on a recent thread suggest that a
> dedicated Mexican Railroads discussion board be
> established. Agreed. Maybe such a board would
> stimulate more postings.

I am all for a Mexican railroads forum! I'll admit I don't get out as often as I would like but I aim to change all that. I need to get out more to shoot the trains around Mexicali.

Tony



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/11 19:04 by zuco74.

Great stuff -- thanks for sharing. I need to get over there one day.

Great series of photos Tony!
Its been awhile, about 20 years since I've
been down there. Used to go a couple of
times a year to staff the PSRMA train
to Puerto Penasco!!
Great memories.
Mike

Tony.Yes we do need a Mexico T.O. Forum here and you are just the right person to bring one to us.Great pix.Keep them comming.Thank you.

Good Images! Thanks for sharing the story.
Need to head that way next time I head over to NAF El Centro.

Nice series of shots Tony. I wished the units were painted a little vneeter but tough times everywhere!


Chris

Nice Tony! Thanks for the action.

What time of day did you catch the northbound manifest train? I'm still trying to figure out a schedule/pattern of the mainline trains.

Posted from iPhone

natemuhl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nice Tony! Thanks for the action.
>
> What time of day did you catch the northbound
> manifest train? I'm still trying to figure out a
> schedule/pattern of the mainline trains.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Nate

It came in sometime around 3PM. One of the crew members was telling me that this is a pretty common time. Tonight there were going to be 2 southbounds. One leaving at 9:00Pm and the other an hour to 2 after that.

Tony

Good to see the photos of the railroad at Mexicali. With the paint on the locomotives and a train with a caboose (except the FXE reprting marks on it) it could have been in the FNM days on the SBC. Thank you very much for posting the photos and information.

Cliff

Love SBC stuff! I miss the old Mexicali Depot, and the trains that ran out of it.

Gracias, amigo!

Yes, a "Mexican Railroads" page would be great on TRAINORDERS!