Western Railroad Discussion > So, where are all of these reroutes?

I took advantage of a necessary trip to the Salt Lake City airport on Saturday morning to just keep going west on I80 and see if I could find some of this reroute traffic that has been mentioned many times recently here on Trainorders. Supposedly the UP is rerouting a lot of traffic around the tunnel collapse in Oregon through Salt Lake City. Well, you could not prove it by me! I spent all of Saturday afternoon out at Lakeside on the Lakeside Sub right where the tracks reach dry land after crossing the lake. I endured intermittent sandstorms due strong westerly winds blowing across the salt flats; do you know that salt also blows off of the flats? It makes the sand taste salty! Anyhow, all afternoon yielded exactly one train; a westbound MHKRV-06 reroute. It is image #1 below and it mercifully showed up during a calm period; no blowing sand. Sunday morning found me out on Silver Zone pass around Arnolds Loop again hoping for a reroute or two but no such luck; 4 hours and no trains. All of this excitement caused me to head east for home a little earlier than I had planned. As I was nearing Delle, Utah on I80 I spied a headlight and quickly backtracked to the Lakeside exit and managed shot #2 of the CSVPF9-09 coal train out of Savage, Utah headed for Richmond, Cal. and export. At least 50% of the cars in this train were covered with graffiti. The shot was taken at Marblehead Jct. Utah. That lousy looking track on the left is the Marblehead spur leading up to a formerly large, but now abandoned dolomite rock quarry. While I was out at Cliffside, on Silver Zone Pass, I took image #3. The message was not there on my last visit a couple of months ago. I think maybe some UP wag did it to remind some rookie MOW guys how to get home!

Dick Ebright
Roosevelt, Utah

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Info on the detours has been somewhat sketchy but here's what I can surmise (Corrections are welcome).

Ave train freq on the Shasta Route is 10-12 a day.

A pair of manifests are going north via the BNSF/Bend.

All I-5 intermodels are going via the LA&SL (2-4?)

That would leave 2 pairs of Manifests (plus any infrequent grain/oil/ore trains) to go over Donner/FRC- WP/SP towards SLC. Not much of a traffic increase along those routes.

So what UP said is true, an increase in Traffic in SLC/Ogden (+6-8) when you combine the manifests and I-5 intermodel.

I doubt UP has the spare crews to route any more along the Central Corridor. I'm surprised they're not running more Oregon/LA traffic via the LA&SL and bypassing RV. Or maybe they are and we don't know it. :-)

We're seeing 2-3 freights a day in Dunsmuir, usually around 3 to 6 pm. They seem to get a SB lumber manifest 2x2 around sunset. Today had a SB Richardson grain train and there was a mostly empty center beam train going north. It had a few TBox cars, some covered hoppers and cement cars, which makes me think it's an RVHK, whichever way it's called.

Of course the stub Amtrak goes through at 01:00 and 04:00, plus or minus a bunch. Kinda dark and not quite as dramatic as the GSL.

Dick,
That first shot is especially nice. Thanks for braving the elements to get these shots.

Kent in CArmel Valley

I honestly do not know the increase in trains between Yermo Ca. and Milford Ut, I do know that it's rare to catch mandatory crew rest at those ends normally it occurs in Las Vegas, now the crews are tied up away for 72 hrs. Vegas is short of crews currently. Trains are still running in a semi-normal schedule 6-12 in the morning, with afternoon break picking up around 4 pm (PST).

here's a question for you all -- how would a northbound RVHK get to Hinkle from the BNSF Oregon Trunk Sub? does it cross the Columbia at Wishram and go via Pasco and Villard Jct? does it get onto the Portland Sub directly from the OT Sub on the south side of the river and then run the engines around? or...?

also, what are the northbound trains besides the RVHK that are being routed onto the BNSF OT Sub? thanks everyone

Brandon

Your photo #1 is a very fine one and I thank you for sharing it with us. Too bad about the rest of your long day out in the harsh elements.

It goes west on the Oregon side to the Dalles where the power swaps ends and is recrewed for Hinkle.



bbcc Wrote:
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> here's a question for you all -- how would a
> northbound RVHK get to Hinkle from the BNSF Oregon
> Trunk Sub? does it cross the Columbia at Wishram
> and go via Pasco and Villard Jct? does it get onto
> the Portland Sub directly from the OT Sub on the
> south side of the river and then run the engines
> around? or...?
>
> also, what are the northbound trains besides the
> RVHK that are being routed onto the BNSF OT Sub?
> thanks everyone
>
> Brandon

Posted from Android

bbcc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> here's a question for you all -- how would a northbound RVHK get to Hinkle from the BNSF Oregon
> Trunk Sub? does it cross the Columbia at Wishram and go via Pasco and Villard Jct? does it get onto
> the Portland Sub directly from the OT Sub on the south side of the river and then run the engines
> around? or...?

It doesn't. The MRVHK is currently going east out of Roseville, not north. They are routing it via Sparks and Ogden on the way east to Granger, WY where it finally turns back west.

> also, what are the northbound trains besides the RVHK that are being routed onto the BNSF OT Sub?

The MRVPT and MRVPW are currently going north out of Roseville and routing via the BNSF OT. The MRVPT had been the single northbound train going via the BNSF OT from the beginning of this ordeal, and since June 10th the MRVPW is also going north via the BNSF OT. Prior to June 10th the MRVPW had been going east via the routing the MRVHK is still using.