Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF Train Schedule - Arrivals Departures Richmond Yard

Hey all,

Planning a railfanning trip to the North Bay Area to catch some BNSF action.

Does anyone have a timetable or symbols for the locals, main train departure / arrivals out of the BNSF yard in Richmond?

Also wondering what over great railfanning spots are out in that area.

Many thanks for the info!

MikeRail

Posted from Android

Mike,

The people on here that run the trains can probably be more specific about times for some trains, but as far as I can tell there is not much of a schedule except the Z trains. All the others can show up whne they show up. The eastbound ZNBYWSP9 departs North Bay about 0430 hours.  The ZWSPNBY9 shows up sometime after 1200 usually with in a couple hours to mintains its schedule, although it can be later on weekends and holidays (Z7 designation days).  On some days a short westbound Z8 will show up mid to late morning. I dont get out enough to remember which days, but maybe Monday & Saturday, at least. You can pretty much count on a eastbound baretable out of North Bay late Monday mornings (before the first Z train arrives) with all the excess power from the weekend (about 7 units) and another around noontime on Thursdays. Probably more on other days. Everything else shows up when it does. A baretable out of Oakland OIG will usually run close to 24 hours after a westbound stack train went into Oakland.  The trains with the most interesting power are the HBARRIC & HRICBAR's. They can litterally run with any BNSF or foreign powet in the consist or DPU, except that because of PTC, only the PTC equipped BNSF (newer) units can lead. The HRICBAR & HBARRIC can both spend 1-3 hours at Pittsburg picking up or setting out.  Their set outs & pick ups can be hindered by the pesky Amtrak San Joaquin trains. They tend to show up around anytime of the day as they can get tied down for hours when crews get short on time.

There are good spots along the line. If you want to send me a PM I can go into great detail. A scanner with a roof mount anntena helps a lot because of the hills. Here are some of the better spots:

Christie, off of Hwy 4 - Pretty much good all day somewhere along the road because of the curves. Best late afternoon.
Collier, Hercules off Hwy 4 - Best for morning Eastbounds or afternoon westbounds
Gately, Pinole - off the overpass afternoon westbounds
Glen Frasier is mostly back into shadows now.
Muir Trestle, Martinez - best for morning eastbounds, afternoon westbounds or okay (evening westbounds during the summer are great)  but the morning shots are easier to get to.
Bay Point, best for morning eastbounds, you get Amtrak san Joaquin trains as well.

If you go east of Bay Point, the train speeds get faster.  Bay Point is not quite as safe and I personally only go out there on weekday mornings for a shortwhile. There is eveidence or regular gang activity at my favorite crossing. Going west of Gately puts you into the Richmond area and is not as scenic or safe. Its possible to get trains at more than one spot along the line. I can go into more detail if you send me a PM.

Gary

SN711 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mike,
> The people on here that run the trains can
> probably be more specific about times for some
> trains, but as far as I can tell there is not much
> of a schedule except the Z trains. All the others
> can show up whne they show up. The eastbound
> ZNBYWSP9 departs North Bay about 0430 hours.  The
> ZWSPNBY9 shows up sometime after 1200 usually with
> in a couple hours to mintains its schedule,
> although it can be later on weekends and holidays
> (Z7 designation days).  On some days a short
> westbound Z8 will show up mid to late morning. I
> dont get out enough to remember which days, but
> maybe Monday & Saturday, at least...
> Gary

I have ZWSPNBY9 as arriving Wed-Fri and Sun.  ZWSPNBY8 as Sun-Tue.  ZWSPNBY7 as Sat Tue, not very punctual.
Eastbound ZNBYWSP9 leaves Tue-Thu.  ZNBYWSP7 is Fri Sat.  During Xmas season, they sometimes run a ZNBYWSP8.

mapboy

Didn't realize there were so many more westbound Z trains than eastbounds. In addition to the BARRIC/RICBAR there is also a daily (or near daily) vehicle train. The westbound counterpart seems to use the symbol V BIR/RIC most often, but also uses V CLO/RIC as well. The eastbound seems to use V RIC/CLO usually. Clovis is where vehicle trains swap blocks to mix and match for SBD (San Bernardino) PHX(Phoenix) and Richmond destinations. BIR is Birmingham, Alabama - not sure why this symbol is so frequently used except for perhaps the large number of assembly plants in the South.    

I'll add that westbound autorack, stack or combined autorack/stack trains can show up about any time of day. The combined trains can be a CLOOIG or CLORIC.  The eastbound baretables out of Oakland can be at anytime. The eastbound empty autorack train out of Richmond tends to be in the late afternoon or early evening. The shorter loaded autoroacks must go out overnight or just about sun up. Its been awhile since I saw one in the morning (RICALT?)

Over the last few years there was a time in the morning around 0800 (+/-hr) and in the afternnon about 1800 there was an even money chance to see a train. It might be headed in a different direction on different days, but it was good time to hang out. Now, there is no real semblence to a good time to wait trackside. You just have to wait longer. The big factor on westbounds during the day is the Amtrak San Joaquins out of Stockton. Not unusual for a westbound to depart Stockton westbound behind one of the westbound San Joaquins. The problem is that it might be behind 711, or 713, or 715 etc.  Might be two trains, or even three., but only one may show up in a timely manner. One may be a BARRIC that works Pittsburg for a couple hours and another may just get tied down somewhere for 12-24 hours. I've gotten a call from a freind in Stockton to tell me that 1, 2  or 3 westbouds just went through but remarkably one or two don't show up.  One of the last times, I was told a BARRIC headed west out of Stockton about 0900. I figure it would arrive Pittsburg about 0945, then because of Amtrak may have two hours of work. So maybe noontime through Martinez. I did later hear the dispatcher telling the crew to tie down the train at Pittsburg before doing any work. I just happened to see the train pass through Martinez at about 8:45 PM.  Not unusual for trains to be recrewed within the last 5-10 miles of Richmond either. 

Gary