Western Railroad Discussion > Today's Theme: Bridges

Bridges ended up being the theme for today's chase of the Friday hauler from Guadalupe to Van Nuys. The train, affectionately known as The Guad, featured three locomotives and 39 cars today.

In the first shot, the Guad crosses the Santa Ynez River at the Pacific Ocean in Surf about 4 p.m.

In the second shot, the Guad is heading across the trestle at Gaviota. The storm-damaged Gaviota Pier can be seen in the background.

And in the third shot, which I took from the Montecito Street bridge above State Street, the Guad slices across State Street as the American flags at the wharf flutter in the wind.

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wow awesome shots. guess the floods on the san ynez river aren't that bad or that bridge would be gone every year.

Theres a series of dams on the upper Santa Ynez to the east, the largest, Bradbury dam, which forms Lake Cachuma catches most runoff during the winter and its primary purpose is to provide drinking water to the Santa Barbara and Carpinteria area. Every 6 or 7 years enough rain will fall that they will release some water at Bradbury but no the flows never get too high below the dam. I read somewhere recently that since last summer Cachuma's water level has dropped to its lowest point since 1990.

sliderslider Wrote:
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> wow awesome shots. guess the floods on the san
> ynez river aren't that bad or that bridge would be
> gone every year.



Fine set, Brian. The Montecito Street pic is a really nice touch.

What city is the location of pic 3?

MEKoch Wrote:
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> What city is the location of pic 3?

Santa Barbara, California

Your first photo, at Surf, reminds me of an incident that happened there in 2001. We had a young woman working as a biologist on the fiber optic project that I was a Condr/Flagman that I was on. She was there to keep a watch on the Snowy Plover, and did she ever. One afternoon one of the Kiewitt contractor's employees came over to me and said the young woman would not let anyone cross the bridge because she saw a Plover out on the sandbar you see in the first photo. So, I walked down to where she was standing, watching the bird, and asked her why the workers were not being allowed to walk across the bridge. She said "look out there, you will see a Snowy Plover". And what is the problem with crossing the bridge, I asked her. "The workers may disturb the Plover" she replied. "Well, in that case I'd better call the dispatcher and have him stop all of the trains until that bird decides to leave, because the trains will make a lot more noise than the workers". Needless to say she relented and decided it was okay for the guys to cross the bridge.


V

SLOCONDR

Great pictures, really like #3. I had forgotten how close the wharf was to the railroad in downtown Santa Barbara.

Rich

SLOCONDR Wrote:
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> Your first photo, at Surf, reminds me of an
> incident that happened there in 2001. We had a
> young woman working as a biologist on the fiber
> optic project that I was a Condr/Flagman that I
> was on. She was there to keep a watch on the Snowy
> Plover, and did she ever. One afternoon one of the
> Kiewitt contractor's employees came over to me and
> said the young woman would not let anyone cross
> the bridge because she saw a Plover out on the
> sandbar you see in the first photo. So, I walked
> down to where she was standing, watching the bird,
> and asked her why the workers were not being
> allowed to walk across the bridge. She said "look
> out there, you will see a Snowy Plover". And what
> is the problem with crossing the bridge, I asked
> her. "The workers may disturb the Plover" she
> replied. "Well, in that case I'd better call the
> dispatcher and have him stop all of the trains
> until that bird decides to leave, because the
> trains will make a lot more noise than the
> workers". Needless to say she relented and decided
> it was okay for the guys to cross the bridge.
>
>
> V
>
> SLOCONDR


Yeah, sometimes those Grad Students do lose contact with reality every now and then!

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SLOCONDR Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Your first photo, at Surf, reminds me of an
> > incident that happened there in 2001. We had a
> > young woman working as a biologist on the fiber
> > optic project that I was a Condr/Flagman that I
> > was on. She was there to keep a watch on the
> Snowy
> > Plover, and did she ever. One afternoon one of
> the
> > Kiewitt contractor's employees came over to me
> and
> > said the young woman would not let anyone cross
> > the bridge because she saw a Plover out on the
> > sandbar you see in the first photo. So, I
> walked
> > down to where she was standing, watching the
> bird,
> > and asked her why the workers were not being
> > allowed to walk across the bridge. She said
> "look
> > out there, you will see a Snowy Plover". And
> what
> > is the problem with crossing the bridge, I
> asked
> > her. "The workers may disturb the Plover" she
> > replied. "Well, in that case I'd better call
> the
> > dispatcher and have him stop all of the trains
> > until that bird decides to leave, because the
> > trains will make a lot more noise than the
> > workers". Needless to say she relented and
> decided
> > it was okay for the guys to cross the bridge.
> >
> >
> > V
> >
> > SLOCONDR
>
>
> Yeah, sometimes those Grad Students do lose
> contact with reality every now and then!


LOL... sometimes??


V

SLOCONDR

I like all of those angles, but especially the last shot!

mapboy

I LIKE Pic 2!!!