Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF-UP Rheem Connector Update - Richmond, CA

There have been several mentions of the new connector track that will link the UP Roseville Sub to the BNSF Stockton sub, just north of Richmond, CA. Info of late indicates that the connector is projected to go into service sometime in July. This line will primarily be used by BNSF stack trains to and from Oakland bypassing the street trackage through Richmond.  A lot of work has been done on the connector the last few months. The switches are in place on the UP side and the rails are laid all the way up to the BNSF side. Here is a visual update of the connector on the BNSF end, plus a few other items of interest.

For the last several weeks, cloudy days have been more prevalent on the days I was able to get out.

Photo #1:  Back on 05/07 I find myself at Christie, CA on the BNSF waiting for a short MFRSRIC, when three low flying planes appear first. One is this very old Ford Tri-Motor plane that travels a circuit offering rides at a price$$. It had been at Buchanan Field in Corcord, andit appears it was now flying off west toward a new venue.

Photo #2: Three minutes later, the westbound BNSF 787 MFRSRIC appears from round the corner at Christie with a high-wide load tucked back in the consist.  The train had a slow order for tunnel #3 because of the load.
 
Photo #3:  On 05/08 at Collier (Hercules, CA). The 011 roadswitcher is running with two almost matching warbonnet GP60M’s. It has been awhile since GP60M’s have been used on the job and been a really long time since a pair has worked together. The grasses have turned brown, but the noxious weeds and bushes still hold a yellow-green appearance.

Continued.......

Gary
 

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Photo #4: On 05/15 at Richmond, we see the Richmond Pacific pulling a cut of tank cars over the old SP yard hump. The old “hump tower” and signal are visible to the right side of the train.


Photo #5: On 05/15, we find ourselves at the East end of the BNSF siding of Rheem. Gepgraphically speaking the siding mostly in the City of Richmond, although I may be standing in the unincorporated area of Giant, CA. To the left of the tracks beyond the overpass is the City of San Pablo.  The borders are not marked in this area.  There is actually a lot going on in this photo, with regards to the construction of the cross-over.  The new connector track can be seen dead center to the right of the tracks, just beyond the overpass.  This area on the BNSF is Track warrant Control, but the connector will require the installation of a CTC “Island” to make this work with the UP. The new lower “diverging” signalhead has just been added to signal post 11851. The original eastbound signal for the main track is just to the right and a couple hundred feet down the tracks. The “new” eastbound main track signal has just been installed (probably within the last hour), and is still leaning a bit, at least three hundred feet (if not more) further west to account for the space needed for the new much longer higher speed switch that will be installed.   The distances in the photo are hard to judge, but the fouling point of the current siding is just over 1000 feet from the John Ave Street crossing that is seen in the distance.   The siding is still stick rail, but new sections of welded rail are laying just out of sight. The old siding did not always look like this. About a year ago they raised the roadbed under the siding up about a foot to make it even with the main track and totally rebuilt the John Ave street crossing.  Unfortunately, this connector is not in an area that lends itself to photography. This going to be just about one of two open spots on the BNSF side (the UP side is nowhere near public property viewing) and the light is not very good except for morning eastbounds coming off of the connector. The adjacent land is for sale, so you can expect fencing to go up along the connector track.  There is no viewing from the overpass. There is no sidewalk on the very long over pass that is intended for vehicles only that has heavy truck traffic, plus there is a built in sound wall blocking the view on the BNSF end.


Photo #6: 05/15. A view of the frog for the new East siding switch Rheem (it is facing the opposite direction at the moment) with the new diverging switch from the siding to the new connector laying along side.

Continued....

Gary
 

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Photo #7: 05/15.  A closer look at the switch from the Rheem siding to the connector.  The large front end loader in the background is making work of the huge pile of ballast. The ballast is being dumped on the top of the connector track.
 
Photo #8: 05/22. A view of the new East Siding switch Rheem, waiting to be installed.
 
Photo #9: 05/22. A view of the new connector from the John Ave crossing.  The switch points for the connector will be really close to the crossing. The crossing was totally rebuilt last year when the siding was raised up. It was a bad crossing where many trucks risked getting high centered, despite the warning signs. It is better now that the tracks are at the same height.  The front end loader can be seen dumping ballast over the rails in preparation for the final track surfacing.

Continued one more time:


Gary
 

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Last one:......


Photo #10: 05/22. A closer view of the new connector.  By now, both the signal for the east end of the connector and eastbound siding signal have been set in place.   There is a small creek just beyond the new signals that necessitates a bridge. On the siding beyond the bridge where the track drops down is the end where the Rheem siding trackage was upgraded for the project.  This about the only other public spot where you can catch photos of trains coming off of the connector (but from the leftside of the mainline).
 
Photo #11: 05/22 1024 hours, the BNSF 4927 west vehicle train passes by on the main track. Once the connector is open, the stack trains will be coming down the siding.  It will be a really interesting operation because it adds a new location for westbound trains to get held up waiting to enter the UP, and exit the UP. Long trains will still be blocking the UP if they can’t immediately enter the BNSF mainline east bound. With the roadswitcher constantly switching North Bay just about a mile up the track, it will be a juggling act.
 
Photo #12: With the new connector expected to be put in operation in July, there are plenty of rumors flying about eventually adding another San Joaquin passenger train pair per day. The added train pair will use the connector to access the BNSF through Franklin Canyon to help by-pass the crowed corridor up to Martinez on the UP.  Unfortunaley, the train will also bypass the Martinez station stop. If that really does happen, then the BNSF track through Muir will see it’s first scheduled passenger train in many years (not including the few Amtrak detour trains 2 years ago). Here is a shot from Muir Station Rd in Martinez, which was the site of the ATSF train station built on John Muir’s land around 1899.  Curiously, at the bottom of the photo is a remnant of whitish concrete in the dirt at the side of the road.  You can’t see it in the photo, but on the lower left edge of the concrete appears to be red brick or stone underneath. I can’t help but think that this could well be either part of the foundation for the old station building or part of the old walkway outside the building. Other than the base of the old water tower still partially visible further up the track (out of sight behind me), this would be the last remaing memory of what once was.   Maybe one day, passenger trains will again pass this way.
 
Thanks for looking.
 
Gary  
 
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/15 22:32 by SN711.

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SN711 Wrote:
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> There have been several mentions of the new
> connector track that will link the UP Roseville
> Sub to the BNSF Stockton sub, just north of
> Richmond, CA.

Make that the UP's Martinez Sub. The Roseville Sub goes from Roseville east over Donner Pass to Sparks.

Did you get any long shots from the Parr Blvd crossing of the UP to see the UP side of the connector? I'm curious how far from the crossing the new control point is.

Nice group of photos BTW.

I don't hang out a lot on the UP as much, so I haven't brushed up on all my UP subdivisions. The UP crossing on Parr Blvd is a very long way from the UP end of the connector. You can see the signals in the distance but is way too far away for any photos. The only real view of the UP side, is to look down from the Richmond Parkway overpass when passing overhead.  (Or from a passing amtrak train).

Gary 

terrific set of photos Gary. Thank you for sharing. 

Re: the UP side of the connector. The grading for the connector appears in google mpas satellite pic:

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.9744834,-122.3559031,663m/data=!3m1!1e3

Nice set, thanks for posting these. Looking forward to seeing more.

Nice series.  Thanks for sharing.

I like the look of Pic 3!!

ns1000 Wrote:
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> I like the look of Pic 3!!

Me too, great photos Gary, it's interesting to see how much things have changed since I used to chase trains around there.

Nathan

atsf121 Wrote:
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> ns1000 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I like the look of Pic 3!!
>
> Me too, great photos Gary, it's interesting to see
> how much things have changed since I used to chase
> trains around there.
>
> Nathan

If some of the other rumors are true, those could one day be yellow diesels switching the Collier Cononco Philipps Carbon Plant.

Gary

SN711 Wrote:
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> With the new connector expected to be
> put in operation in July, there are plenty of
> rumors flying about eventually adding another San
> Joaquin passenger train pair per day. The added
> train pair will use the connector to access the
> BNSF through Franklin Canyon to help by-pass the
> crowed corridor up to Martinez on the UP. 
> Unfortunately, the train will also bypass the
> Martinez station stop.

I see mass confusion on the horizon as a general public, who is too stupid to read or comprehend a timetable, will inevitably show up at the Martinez train station to catch a SAN JOAQUIN that is operating via Franklin Canyon. . .

This is what we're dealing with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOBAeaikFlM
 

atsf19455 Wrote:
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> Here's one more relevant pic. This is the coal
> drag to Richmond tonight seen from Parr Blvd.
> Shows the crossover, a new CP RV914 Richmond Conn.
> sign on the signal house and the view of the
> crossover from Parr. There is another signal house
> closer to the crossing with same signage. 

Excellent. Thank you for the picture.

Interesting that there is actually a crossover right there at the new control point. I hadn't even considered that. Based on the fact that the new westbound signal on the #1 track has two signal heads, I am guessing they are installing a complete set of crossovers at this location. I wonder if the plan is to replace the crossovers at RV015 San Pablo (which can been seen in the background) with this new crossover?