Western Railroad Discussion > A meet in Downtown Eugene OR

On Saturday, Sept 17, we happened to see Amtrak train #11 stopped in Eugene.  Drove down to the tracks to investigage, got there in time to see a UP northbound frieght meet #11.
#11 hiding under the Washington-Jefferson street bridges.  Some hopper cars are spotted at Wilbur-Ellis on the left.  Actually Grain Millers, per post below.
UP #5312 north going over the Lincoln Street crossovers.
The actual meet. 
More to follow.
Todd Montgomery
Springfield OR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/16 13:00 by coosbaytoday.

---

---

---

#11 gets a red over flasshing yellow, now that the crossovers are lined for them to go from the main to the WP siding to make their station stop.
The head end passing me at Lawrence St.
Just coming to a stop, with the Silver Smith and Silver Solarium on the rear.
One more picture to follow.
Todd M.
 

---

---

---

Two nice looking cars on the rear.
Todd M.

---

What's the deal with the two cars on the end? Are those private, who or how do you get to ride in them?

Steel_Rails Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What's the deal with the two cars on the end? Are
> those private, who or how do you get to ride in
> them?

Silver Solarium:

http://www.calzephyrrailcar.com/California_Zephyr_Railcar_Charters/Welcome.html

SIlver Smith:

http://lowellsmith.net/tours/

An almost identical meet and consist occured on Aug 23 except that Silver Rapids was there in place of Silver Smith.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/16 20:51 by jmonier.

Odd that the dispatcher would route the freight train on the passenger siding, when AMTRAK could have taken that track farther back via a crossover, thus avoiding this conflict, which would have allowed the freight to use the main.

Also, those hopper cars are spotted at GRAIN MILLERS plant / elevator, most likely unloading more oats for processing.  I deliver packaging materials to that plant each week via my LTL truck line.

Coach

coach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Odd that the dispatcher would route the freight
> train on the , when AMTRAK could
> have taken that track farther back via a
> crossover, thus avoiding this conflict, which
> would have allowed the freight to use the main.
>
As near as I can tell, there is NO crossover farther back (north).  The "passenger siding" is actually a yard track north of the crossover that leads to the station. That is confirmed by the timetable which lists the Eugene siding at 1986 ft.

The first two sidings south of Eugene are only about 5200 ft and the freight would probably be longer than that.  So if  the dispatcher did not put the freight in at Dougren (15 miles south), he would be stuck with the situation as it unfolded.

Since (as I said above) the same thing happened to us two weeks before, this may be a common problem.  At that time the dispatcher actually said that he screwed up and I'm guessing that the screwup was not putting the freight in at Dougren.

jmonier Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> coach Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Odd that the dispatcher would route the freight
> > train on the , when AMTRAK could
> > have taken that track farther back via a
> > crossover, thus avoiding this conflict, which
> > would have allowed the freight to use the main.
> >
> As near as I can tell, there is NO crossover
> farther back (north).  The "passenger siding" is
> actually a yard track north of the crossover that
> leads to the station. That is confirmed by the
> timetable which lists the Eugene siding at 1986
> ft.
>
> The first two sidings south of Eugene are only
> about 5200 ft and the freight would probably be
> longer than that.  So if  the dispatcher did not
> put the freight in at Dougren (15 miles south), he
> would be stuck with the situation as it unfolded.
>
> Since (as I said above) the same thing happened to
> us two weeks before, this may be a common
> problem.  At that time the dispatcher actually
> said that he screwed up and I'm guessing that the
> screwup was not putting the freight in at Dougren.

The DS could've parked the northbound at Judkins, even if it didn't fit.  There's no crossing there to be fouled.  Amtrak could've taken the siding there, and once clear the northbound could've gone on its way north to Eugene yard.  Natron, the next siding south does have road crossings, so that might have been a problem.  This move is not unusual in railroading.

Coach..thanks for catching my error on the name of the company getting the hopper cars.  
Thanks for looking and the comments.
Todd M.