Western Railroad Discussion > UP 1989 and the IG2OA (Northern California)

Thanks to jmf1910 for the great driving and the brains. Also thanks to those who posted headsups, and provided additional reliable info on the train's whereabouts. We did this chase on March 1st.

I was alerted to this train the day before, but I was out of town, about 500 miles away. I made some calculations and decided to hop on an earlier flight next morning, hoping to catch the UP 1989 somewhere between Lathrop and Oakland. I let jmf1910 know of my plans, and he decided to join in.

Before PSR, my calculations would have pinpointed the train with a margin about an hour or two at most. In today's environment with a 14,000+ long stacker, my calculation was off by almost half a day, about 8-10 hours? Unprecise, Unscheduled, and Unimpressive train velocity... but as my critics will remind you, I'm just a stupid foamer. :-)

After we got together in Santa Clara, jmf1910 and I drove to Roseville via the Central Valley, staying alert for activities on the Oakland, Fresno, and Martinez Subs as we made our way east and north. Once at Roseville, we noticed that the Valley Sub was totally dead. We were close to giving up, until a Eugene-bound manifest stuck in Roseville toned up Dispatcher 57.

In that coversation, we found out that DS 57 didn't want to send the Eugene manifest out yet, because a 14,000 footer was at Binney Jct., on its way down the Valley Sub. Makes sense - all the sidings between Marysville and Roseville are ~8000'. With the location of UP 1989 confirmed, we headed north out of Roseville to improvise a chase along the Valley Sub, then to chase the train on our way home.

Locations in order are the following: Brock (VP 122), "Rainbow Bridge" near Roseville (VP 107), between Swanston and Elvas (~RV092), and Jahant Rd. (between Galt and Acampo, around SP067).

At Jahant Rd, the entire 14,000'+ train is shown, with one mid-train DPU.

That's it for the report.

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Nice work, major sized train. I didn't catch this train but remember them running a mid-train, probably went through Dunsmuir after dark. They were experimenting with the power set up for quite a while, either having too much power, or isolating an axle, or moving around tonnage, etc.

Any idea what their plan is to leave Roseville? I've heard them say to figure on it at Tehama/Gerber at 3 pm.
t4p.

Nicely done video, Charles! I'mglad our efforts finally paid off and we went home with some good catches of this PSR monster. Here are my shots from the chase:1) UP1989 leads the massive IG2OA through Brock siding, a little south of Sheridan, CA.  2) Crawling under the Rainbow Bridge in Roseville on an approach signal, about to enter the Martinez Sub from the Valley Sub.  3) Accelerating out of the crew change at Antelope (West Roseville).

Three more...

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4) Passing Johnston, approaching the American River Bridge in Sacramento. 5&6) Jahant Rd. on the Fresno Sub at sunset, north of Acampo.

5&6) Jahant Rd. on the Fresno Sub at sunset, north of Acampo.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/20 16:21 by jmf1910.

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Great stuff..!!  Thanks...

oh yea, great video.

it is interesting to compare how the u.p. configures their 15K' trains 4x1 as opposed to bnsf's 15K' trains in a 3or4x3or2x2or1 configuration.

thanks for posting............

66

Great civerage, John & Charles. Nice stills and video. Glad there are still some railfan events out there!

I'm also just a dumb foamer, but it's hard to believe these monster trains where you have to hold opposing traffic and then patch the crews are saving anybody money.

Jim B

Nice shot at Jahant Road. I go through there every time I go to my friend's property in Jackson. Have gotten some nice shots in the area. Like your guy's angles..