Western Railroad Discussion > Recent UP 1996 and UP 1995 (NorCal and SoCal)

Thanks to TO members from Oregon and photobob, I was aware of UP 1996 leading a train into Roseville last week. I estimated that it would arrive at dawn Sunday at the latest, so unless the train ran into problems, I didn't expect to catch it coming in... and I didn't.

Once I spotted the SP Heritage unit in the yard Sunday morning, I kept an eye on it while watching the INPOA PSR Theater unfold. I saw a crew show up by the UP 1996, but was soon disappointed when I saw the engineer go to the other end (UP 4089) and controlled the consist from there.

Regardless of that, I followed it around and got some video, including the UP 1996 "leading" in the yard on its way to pick up the MRVPW (PW = Portland & Western at Eugene, OR). Entire MRVPW is shown at the Washington Blvd. underpass on the Valley Sub north of Roseville.

You must be a registered subscriber to watch videos. Join Today!

I lucked out on this one, but since UP 1995 wasn't leading, not that lucky.

I saw the tail end of an eastbound manifest train near the Palm Springs Depot Friday, and decided to chase it to see what the front end looked like. The train was running a good 50-60 mph, so it took about 12 miles to get ahead of the train with moderate I-10 traffic.

Due to visibility being blocked by the tamarisk trees, I took an exit to get better view of the ROW... and was pleasantly surprised to see the UP 1995 as the second unit facing backwards, on a 2x2 manifest train. I later found out the train was heading to Houston, TX (Englewood Yard).

Jumping back on I-10!

Years ago, I would have targeted the cantilver searchlights at Mecca to intercept this train, but they are no more. I committed to driving all the way to Salton Sea (16 additional miles) and got the UP 1995 at the SP bridge near Ferrum. Due to weekday traffic, I got stabbed by traffic lights on Hwy 86 near Coachella which would have cost the Mecca intercept.

That's it for some recent UP Heritage Unit action.

You must be a registered subscriber to watch videos. Join Today!

Nice video.

Did you get the roadnumber of the lead unit with UP1995?

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

Nice shots. I saw that manifest with the 1995 stopped at Mt. Vernon but elected not to chase it due to it not leading, glad someone managed to get shots of it.

-Zach

GP25 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Did you get the roadnumber of the lead unit with
> UP1995?

Yup. UP 6624 (C44AC).