Western Railroad Discussion > Plaster City Narrow Gauge Winter 2018/19

I made a series of trips from San Diego out to Plaster City this Winter in an attempt to fully document the USG narrow gauge operations between the plant and the mine. While my main focus was to produce a video for Youtube, I did manage to take a few photos along the line.
12/26/18
Photo 1: View of the front of USG #112 as it unloads the early morning train at Plaster City.
Photo 2: A long shot of the northbound train at roughly milepost 15.
Photo 3: The returning gypsum train approaching the Carrizo Wash Bridge at milepost 15.5



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/19 16:52 by Dave.

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I returned on 1/2/19 with a friend. They were using USG #111 this day.

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1/2/19

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More 1/2/19

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Great Pictures!
Weird seeing LED on these things

What an interesting operation.That is a lot of Loco hanging over the sides of the rail.How often does it run,the rail doesnt appear very shiny on top.
Nice set of pics.
Regards,DK

A real snoozer.

Posted from iPhone

Sharp little (Bombardier) Alco.

TJY

DKay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What an interesting operation.That is a lot of
> Loco hanging over the sides of the rail.How often
> does it run,the rail doesnt appear very shiny on
> top.
> Nice set of pics.
> Regards,DK

It seems that they’ve been doing two round trips everyday each weekday. If it rains or drizzles the rail will rust quickly.

Posted from iPhone

Congratulations on getting both 111 and 112 running, including the nose door being closed.
GK

Where there ever steam locomotives on this line? Always wanted to see it in operation

Posted from iPhone

Yes including leased SP narrow gauge engines off the Laws to Keeler line.

Out

In those "top down" photos, it appears the big, ciruclar radiator fan is completely gone--remomved--and it looks like a big opening in the engine compartment above the main engine block.  I've never seen that before.  Any idea why these engines are set up that way??

Also, you have to wonder why in the world did they go with narrow guage?  It's wide open land.  Is this some tight, narrow canyon they have to squeak thru that we're not seeing??



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/19 21:45 by coach.

CPRR Wrote:
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> Where there ever steam locomotives on this line?
> Always wanted to see it in operation
>
> Posted from iPhone

Yes, several over the years. The line was completely steam operated from 1921-1945. As prieviously mentioned, SPNG #8 and #9 4-6-0's were both leased when the early diesel power was down. It was also rumored that Dan Markoff's 4-4-0 "Eureka" made several private trips over the line many years ago.

coach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In those "top down" photos, it appears the big,
> ciruclar radiator fan is completely
> gone--remomved--and it looks like a big opening in
> the engine compartment above the main engine
> block.  I've never seen that before.  Any idea
> why these engines are set up that way??
>
> Also, you have to wonder why in the world did they
> go with narrow guage?  It's wide open land.  Is
> this some tight, narrow canyon they have to squeak
> thru that we're not seeing??

These locomotives, designated DL-535E or RSD35, were originally constructed by Bombardier/MLW for the White Pass & Yukon in 1982. Unfortunately the line closed around the time these units were completed and they were never delivered. Due to the hot climate these units now suffer in SoCal, USG maintenance personnel have experimented with ways to increase oxygen flow and heat dissipation in the engine compartment, the exposed fan and engine compartment are examples. I've heard stories of these locomotives suffocating themselves and overheating forcing the crews to shut them down in the middle of a run in order to let them cool down and continue the trip.

As for the line being built as narrow gauge- No tight canyon. You have to remember it was built in the 1920's as a private mining company railroad and never intended to be a common carrier. At the time narrow gauge was significantly cheaper to build than standard gauge regardless of the terrain in ran through. The line would never have to interchange rolling stock as the gypsum ore would be unloaded at the plant for processing before the finished product was shipped out on the national railroad network. Additionally, there is not enough storage at the plant site for the raw ore to justify being transported from the mine in higher capacity, standard gauge cars.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/19 20:38 by Dave.

Dave Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CPRR Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Where there ever steam locomotives on this
> line?
> > Always wanted to see it in operation
> >
> > Posted from iPhone
>
> Yes, several over the years. The line was
> completely steam operated from 1921-1945. As
> prieviously mentioned, SPNG #8 and #9 4-6-0's were
> both leased when the early diesel power was down.
> It was also rumored that Dan Markoff's 4-4-0
> "Eureka" made several private trips over the line
> many years ago.

Their regular power was former Nevada County Narrow Gauge #8, which started out as D&RGW #283, and 1880 vintage 2-8-0, class 60 (or C-16).

Some years agp when we had the MRO contract at the plant we were asked to assist in a cost estimate to
replace the railroad with a long overland conveyor belt system much like the 9 mile unit in Valentine AZ. By
the time all the costs, the conveyor, the power upgrades, removal of the railroad, maintenance costs, etc
were compiled we were over $40M for the project. The railroad stayed.

Out

callum_out Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Some years agp when we had the MRO contract at the
> plant we were asked to assist in a cost estimate
> to
> replace the railroad with a long overland conveyor
> belt system much like the 9 mile unit in Valentine
> AZ. By
> the time all the costs, the conveyor, the power
> upgrades, removal of the railroad, maintenance
> costs, etc
> were compiled we were over $40M for the project.
> The railroad stayed.
>
> Out

Even after being built, that sounds like a costly maintenance nightmare! Sand getting in everything, off-roaders tampering with it, and if part of it breaks, the whole operation shuts down. If a hopper or two breaks on the railroad, they just set them out and keep going.

Posted from iPhone

Dave Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> coach Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > In those "top down" photos, it appears the big,
> > ciruclar radiator fan is completely
> > gone--remomved--and it looks like a big opening
> in
> > the engine compartment above the main engine
> > block.  I've never seen that before.  Any
> idea
> > why these engines are set up that way??
> >
> > Also, you have to wonder why in the world did
> they
> > go with narrow guage?  It's wide open land.
>  Is
> > this some tight, narrow canyon they have to
> squeak
> > thru that we're not seeing??
>
> These locomotives, designated DL-535E or RSD39,
> were originally constructed by Bombardier/MLW for
> the White Pass & Yukon in 1982. Unfortunately the
> line closed around the time these units were
> completed and they were never delivered. Due to
> the hot climate these units now suffer in SoCal,
> USG maintenance personnel have experimented with
> ways to increase oxygen flow and heat dissipation
> in the engine compartment, the exposed fan and
> engine compartment are examples. I've heard
> stories of these locomotives suffocating
> themselves and overheating forcing the crews to
> shut them down in the middle of a run in order to
> let them cool down and continue the trip.
>
> As for the line being built as narrow gauge- No
> tight canyon. You have to remember it was built in
> the 1920's as a private mining company railroad
> and never intended to be a common carrier. At the
> time narrow gauge was significantly cheaper to
> build than standard gauge regardless of the
> terrain in ran through. The line would never have
> to interchange rolling stock as the gypsum ore
> would be unloaded at the plant for processing
> before the finished product was shipped out on the
> national railroad network. Additionally, there is
> not enough storage at the plant site for the raw
> ore to justify being transported from the mine in
> higher capacity, standard gauge cars.

Great info! I lived in SoCal for a number of years but never visited the line, so on my next trip down I plan to.

Do you know if they’re planning to continue the narrow gauge operation for the long haul?

Well done, those are great shots of a really interesting/unique operation. As someone else commented there's so much overhang either side of the rails - as shown in the first photo.