Western Railroad Discussion > Looooong LOW20 (UP El Segundo CA 6/5/18)

The Union Pacific El Segundo Local LOW20 is honestly a very hard train to railfan. On the east end it goes through some tough areas that you don't want to spend too much time waiting trackside with expensive glass hanging from your neck. Unless it's switching, it is usually is radio silent. It's often short, so even though it's there, if you're driving around you won't find it. It runs through congested areas with major traffic so if it does get ahead of you, you will never catch up to it again. And it doesn't go the same places day to day.

Luckily a friend in the know (and all around good guy) gave me a text that the train was running long (40 cars out of LA) on June 5, and in that mix included about 20 LPG cars for Chevron. I decided with the traffic I'd just get the two shots possible in El Segundo. Of course when I arrive I hear them switching on the radio. I don't know if they are switching in Hawthorne (good, not here yet) or if they are switching in El Segundo (bad, they are past me). If I leave my spot though and they were in Hawthorne I'll never get them.

Light is perfect, so I assume they are already by me. Then the clouds suddenly appear and I realize they haven't reached me yet. For the first shot it was literally a race between shadow and train that the train just barely won!

Image one is of the LOW20 approaching Wise (those are BNSF tracks in the foreground).

Images two and three are nearly at the end of the line as the crew leaves cars for Chevron. Wound up waiting a couple hours more to see if Chevron's Savage switcher came out to get them, but it got dark and they were still working inside the refinery so no shots of them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/18 13:07 by erielackawanna.

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Great work Charles !

Posted from Android

Really nice catches.
JB

SD70M's doing switching work on an industrial branch--unreal.

55+ years ago, in another life, I visited Wise. There was still a manual interlocking tower there that protected the Santa Fe crossing.
The PE special instructions stated: "Pacific Electric crews operate signals in accordance with instructions on chart in tower".

We did this nightly while I was a brakeman on my first regular railroad assignment, PE's Night El Segundo switcher. Can't remember now exactly why we
needed to operate the signals but have to believe we were either delivering cars to or receiving cars from the Santa Fe at a location called Wise Transfer.
According to PE's timetable, Wise Transfer was 2 miles from El Segundo. I never did see what the place looked like in the daylight but somehow have to
believe it is different today. Everything's different.

In fact, today is there even such a place known as Wise Transfer?

Thanks, Charles for the memory.

Charlie



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/18 22:08 by cewherry.

Pretty sure the area just behind me in the first shot is still called Wise Transfer in the timbetable, but BNSF and UP don't interchange there.

Pardon me, but is this the RR that's short of road power? I guess if u sell off lots of your local power, and use road power on locals, that would result in the aforementioned..