Western Railroad Discussion > Yellow markers between the rails at San Juan Capistrao

So i was biking past the San Juan Capistrano, CA depot today and noticed these markers installed between the rails, running the length of the plaform. Probably installed in the past week, or two at most, as I tend to ride by there regularly.   Is this a new standard system wide across the Metrolink lines?  Is it used in other parts of the country?  I have never seen it previously.  

Frankly its hard to understand how these are really helpful to a train crew.  Anyone who is qualified  on a territory knows where the stations are.   And they don't seem like they would be very useful in terms of actually spotting a train for a station stop. And at night it would seem like they would just create a lot of glare that would make it more difficult to see other hazards. 

So question for the professionals:  how are these markers beneficial?

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Could they be to discourage tresspassers taking photos on the tracks?

ONE benefit is, this area CAN get very foggy. I have run this territory when you could barely see the ground from the cab let alone any distance ahead. This is just ONE benefit that probably was not even taken into consideration.
JB

6088 Wrote:
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> Could they be to discourage tresspassers taking
> photos on the tracks?

Ha ha.  Not trespassing, amigo.  I am in the clear, standing in the path ofo the "at-grade" pedestrian crossing which is protected by the gate visible at the right in the photo. 

Unlike most Metrolink stations, there is no room to build a subway or an elevated crossing here, and there is constant foot traffic around the area.  The Mission and old town is on the east side of the ROW and the Los Rios historic district is on the west side of the ROW.  So this has been a pedestrian only crossing for decades and in recent years is very well protected with crossing gates, etc. 

I can imagine this area keeps the BNSF freight crews on their toes, as the ROW is narrow, the approach to the station is a long, gradual curve, and eastbounds have been on a descending grade for the last 6-7 miles.  But the ROW is pretty well fenced through the city.

 

Hotrail, this was not a shot at you at all, but I have been up there several times and seems like every time there have been people taking photos there, wedding, whatever.

Is it possible that these are the same type of markers utilized to lay asphalt and
that control the depth of the pour and its levelness ? That's what they look lime to me. 
Are there plans to cover the roadbed close to the station ? Would the "new" asphalt
aid passenger access in any way. Let us know if you get a final answer as I imagine
that I'm not the only one curious.
 

hotrail Wrote:
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> So i was biking past the San Juan Capistrano, CA
> depot today and noticed these markers installed
> between the rails, running the length of the
> plaform. Probably installed in the past week, or
> two at most, as I tend to ride by there
> regularly...
> So question for the professionals:  how are these
> markers beneficial?

The yellow markers were there two years ago-  https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,4577027,4577032#msg-4577032
The consensus was to discourage people on the tracks for photography.

mapboy

They are lane markers, used after relaying new asphalt on a on a street to deliniate the lanes, before the road gets its permanent lane lines. 

They are NOT to mark the location of fire hydrants.  Those are blue.

Yes, the consensus is they were to discourage the "take my wedding/graduation/engagement photos on the tracks" crowd.  They were first installed two years ago but since then they have basically worn out and became very dirty, so much so they blended into the background.  It would seem that Metrolink has replaced them with new ones within the past week.

mapboy Wrote:
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> The yellow markers were there two years ago-
>  https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?
> 4,4577027,4577032#msg-4577032
> The consensus was to discourage people on the
> tracks for photography.
 

I read somewhere, this is a project to double track from San Juan Capistrao, south a couple of mile  Maybe this has something to do with it??
 

BNSF 6400 is right on to keep idiot photographers from taking wedding pictures and other on the tracks. I called the city after the old ones were covered with grease from the trains and they replaced them all.


Chris.

They were formally called "Botts-Dots" after the California Highway Department official who designed them for Freeway lane markers.

James R.(Jim) Baker
Whittier, CA

No, Not Botts-Dots...Botts-Dots are round dome shaped plastic about 3 inches in diameter used to mark the lanes 
on the freeway and city streets, and by the way Cal Trans has been removing them the past year or so and painting
the lane markings on instead.

Scott

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/20 21:57 by sfdrrfan3.

Might be Bott's Dots -- don't recall if the
guy's name was Bott or Botts.

The first photo...maybe two flying saucers near 'Area 51'!

Trainman41 Wrote:
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> I read somewhere, this is a project to double
> track from San Juan Capistrao, south a couple of
> mile  Maybe this has something to do with it??
>  
In the area in front of the photographer there is absolutely no room for a second track. There was a hand-thrown siding just behind the photographer, and there is the siding of Serra around the corner. Once the track reaches the ocean at Capistano Beach, there is also no room for a second track with Highway 1 on one side and Doheny State Beach on the other. I suppose they could legthen Serra a bit, but I can't imagine any advantage to doing so. 

It looks like they can add a second track south of the station but only if they realign the current track. This would require the line to be shut down for several days, right?

There is a project currently underway to extend the 2MT further south from the Laguna Niguel Metrolink station, but it will not go as far as San Juan Capistrano.  There is a bridge over Trabuco Creek that is single track. 

Also as noted, there is a small set out track that begins just behind the photographer in the original photo.  It is short and infrequently used for a bad order car or some MOW equipment.  That could theoretically be extended south, but there is another bridge 1/2 mile south of the station.  The next CTC siding begins immediately south of that bridge.

This will be a very challenging area to add much more second track.   

Why didn’t ATSF build all these bridges wide enough for a second track? This shows an incredible lack of foresight on the part of ATSF back in the 1930’s and 40’s.

It would have been easy to build the bridges wide enough so a second main track could be added at a later date.