Western Railroad Discussion > More on UP 1989

From cchan006's last post, I finally got around to processing my shots of the KOASCX with UP 1989 leading on the Benicia Bridge.

Enjoy!

Ron

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Well done, UP 1989 Rio Grande Heritage at Suisun Bay, California.

Very nice.
- Eric B.

I remember when they were building that thing off to the left, real interesting construction! Not quite the bridge
over Hoover Dam but close.

Out

That must have been a "monster"  stack train, with three lead locos and 2 mid-train DPUs.  By chance did you count the cars?  From my observations along I-80 in WY, the stack trains normally have less that 5 locos with DPUs at the end - maybe 100 cars or so.  However I have seen several mixed freights in WY with about 160 cars in a 3+2 loco configuration with the DPUs about 100 cars back in consist with 60 cars trailing.  But the WY trackage is flatter.  

I curious about the length of stack trains over Donner and through Dunsmuir.

I'm watching the new BNSF intermodal service on the Joint Line through Denver - mostly JB Hunt containers.  The trains are short - 2 locos with about 10-15 cars, but I understand interest is growing.  

Joe - on the Joint Line in Castle Rock, CO.

Great photos! I do wish the UP would paint that bridge... SP kept it rust black, and UP has allowed it to simply become rust. I think silver would be a nice color... Any thoughts from the group??

Hope everyone enjoys the Christmas Season and the build-up to the big day...

ShastaDaylight

The Saturday (Sunday in this case) KOADU or KOASCX usually runs 100 to 130 platforms. Over 100 platforms, there is usually 2 DPU's; over 120 platforms, the DPU's are cut in mid-train about 90-100 platforms deep. Your mileage may vary depending upon the consist. Oakland trains, both UP and BNSF, usually don't get any larger because they get unwieldly in the yard and single track operations in Nevada (UP) and Central Valley (BNSF and UP).

Ron

ShastaDaylight Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great photos! I do wish the UP would paint that
> bridge... SP kept it rust black, and UP has
> allowed it to simply become rust. I think silver
> would be a nice color... Any thoughts from the
> group??
>
> Hope everyone enjoys the Christmas Season and the
> build-up to the big day...
>
> ShastaDaylight

Was thinking about that; but the permitting process to paint over the Bay is probably prohibitative as long as the existing SP paint is sufficient for corrosion protection.

Ron

rdlehmer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From cchan006's last post, I finally got around to
> processing my shots of the KOASCX with UP 1989
> leading on the Benicia Bridge.
>
> Enjoy!
>
> Ron

Even if there was a quicker way to get to that location, KOASCX would have still beaten me there. Great shot!

Was thinking about that; but the permitting process to paint over the Bay is probably prohibitative as long as the existing SP paint is sufficient for corrosion protection. 

Ron

Ron, you've made an excellent point.

The oppresive weight of Calfornia's massive bureauocracy elevates your statement from one of conjecture to one of truth.

The bureaucratic beauty of it is that the presumed prohibition of repainting the bridge can be lifted only after the corrosion protection of the SP's long-ago paint application has become insufficient. This discovery might occur because an inspection detected structural cracks. Or it could because of the structural failure of the Carquinez Strait Bridge itself. 

Can this happen? Of course it can. It already has.

The catastrophic, fatal collapse of the I-35 bridge over the Mississippi River in the Minneapolis- St. Paul area was a consequence of that sort of "discovery."

Pray that it can be fixed before it fails .

Nice catch.  I lived on the Cal P in the mid 2000s, just after Rio Grande units became scarce on the SP.  

re: bridge collapse, the 35W bridge had plenty of visible, documented structural issues.  MnDOT just didn't repair or maintain the bridge.  The fatal combo was: jammed expansion rollers, plugged storm drains, and an automatic deicing system.  A jammed expansion system cracks the steel gussets, dribbling corrosive liqued accellerated it.  Structural collapse is a predictable outcome of this type of neglect.  

The Benicia Bridge is a much older, beefier structure with more conservative tolerances for structural strength.  I hope the UP is doing a better job of maintaining the bridge's mechanical systems than MnDOT did with 35W.   

Ted in OR

Nice shot! 
- Duncan

Nice work, Ron! 

Cheers,
Harry

California regulations are only a part of the issue.  That is a a navigable water of the USA.  The Coast Guard and maybe the Army Corps of Engineers would get to play too.

Matt Winegar