Western Railroad Discussion > PABCO Exchange (Apex, Nevada)

The same week I was in Boulder City to ride behind Nevada Southern's UP 844, I went to Apex to check out the job that takes centerbeam cars between there and PABCO Gypsum facility 8 miles to the south.

I was in the area 3 years ago and stumbled upon the PABCO Gypsum job, but I was on I-15 and had to drive 3 miles to find an exit, then drive back, and missed the exchange itself.

This time, I was ready and documented the exchange between PABCO and UP's LUM 55.

First video has the ex-BNSF SD40-2 crossing the overpass back to the PABCO side, after having a job briefing with the LUM 55 crew on how to do things that day. LUM 55 does bulk of the work, by shoving the empties from the yard to the siding, then taking the gypsum loads from the siding back to the yard.

FYI, there are NO TRESPASSING signs with the fine print, "Right to pass by permission and subject to control of owner" so I did my best to be permissible by parking away from the crossing, giving room for trucks to go by without obstructing them, and as a consequence did some walking to get my shots. Both LUM 55 and PABCO crews waved at me, and seemed to have had no problems with my presence.

- Engine #6971 (ex-BNSF) at the I-15 overpass near Apex.
- Getting ready for the trip back to PABCO Gypsum with empties.
- Video of the exchange.

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Well, they took all the fun out of that piece of railroad. Years ago I used to run the NIS3838(exSP 3838) on occasion. Come off the horsehoe curve after leaving the plant and it was straight to 8 to the top of the hill, then some air and dynamic to the interchange. One day the UP should 29 mty centerbeams up the lead. That was a real treat, I had a friend along and video'd that run to the plant, kicked up quite a dust cloud along the way down. Looks like they added a siding on the lead, before it was a trip out to get the mtys, then a trip out with the loads. By the way, does that unit carry NIS reporting marks?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/18 22:21 by SP4360.

After the exchange was done, I chased the PABCO job briefly driving a Jeep Wrangler rental, a car rather over-equipped for the chase. My brother and I did some offroading the day before, hence the choice of the rental.

I kept my ears on the scanner and chased the LUM 55 to Moapa, then to the Mead Lake Subdivision where it goes under I-15. Sun had set, and I had a flight to catch, so that was my last intercept before flying home.

For people wondering, this was on a Tuesday.

- PABCO job, heading back, another angle.
- LUM 55 heading to Moapa (past Dry Lake).
- Video of the PABCO Job, and LUM 55 at the beginning of Mead Lake Sub.

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SP4360 Wrote:
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> Looks like they added a siding on the lead,
> before it was a trip out to get the mtys, then a
> trip out with the loads. By the way, does that
> unit carry NIS reporting marks?

Yup, the siding is just around the corner from the overpass, and the exchange took place there this time. Sometimes, the PABCO job picks up the empties from the yard side of the overpass, and same with the drop off of loads. I've seen the cars sitting there from I-15, when I've driven through there in the past.

There's a better look at the SD40-2 in the second video, and I spotted no reporting marks.

NIS ( Nevada Industrial Switch ) # 3838 at the Gypsum Plant, NV May 10th 1994

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Thanks for the really great photos and videos, Charlie! Always interesting to see industrial operations with interesting older locomotive.

miralomarail --
Thanks for the 1994 photo of the ex-SP 3838.

I've seen the cars at Apex on our drives along I-15, didn't realize it was an interchange, so thanks for posting. I'm surprised at how big of a train you could headed down the Lake Mead track. I have yet to see a train there. My roommate in college gave me grief the first time we drove through there - he said I should have gotten whiplash from trying to catch the track in both directions. After hours of no trains on our way to Vegas, that was a surprise to find.

Does the interchange with Pabco happen daily? And how about the UP job on the Lake Mead trackage?

Nathan

Hopefully that SD40 has air conditioning.

Very nice series on a little-known operation.

BB

This SD40 could also be a former Canadian unit BNSF purchased.

Yep, just to clarify, the ex-BNSF unit must be an SD40, not an SD40-2....shorter frame than a SD40-2, not much of an 'overhang/porch' at the hood end.

Really interesting find/photos/videos, by the way - thanks for showing!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/18 15:04 by exhaustED.

DFWJIM Wrote:
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> Hopefully that SD40 has air conditioning.

Doesn't look like it does.
G

The 6971 was built as Canadian National SD40 #5178. It was part of a group of 40 units rebuilt and upgraded to "SD40-2's" by GEC Alstom in 1999 and leased to BNSF as their 7300-7339. The group was renumbered 6361-6399 in 2006-08 (the 7305 left the fleet early, so only 39 units were renumbered). BNSF laid up the units in 2009 and returned them to the lessor in 2010.

Good documentation, Charles. "All the fun" isn't gone so long as trains are still running.