Western Railroad Discussion > MRVSP at Verdi, NV

I spent a good portion of the morning of Sunday, June 28th, on the east side of Donner Pass between Truckee, CA and Verdi, NV. Things seemed to be busier than what I've observed on Sunday mornings when I've been up there off and on over over the past few months. I've been playing around with ATCS Monitor (on a Macbook Pro using Wine as a translator, which was straight forward to set up) using data from the available servers, and while the coverage is spotty, especially around the summit west to Shed 10, it has provided additional insight to get a sense of what's coming up the hill. (Huge thank you to the individuals that are grabbing data and hosting servers.) Coupled with the Truckee Webcam, my Yaesu VX-170 radio, and RailroadRadio's Truckee feed, there are some great resources to keep on top of a not-so-busy railroad.

I was alerted by the ATCS Monitor to an eastbound train at Shed 47. I was headed over Donner Summit to Truckee when the detector at MP 203.9 went off, and I caught the train between Truckee and Boca. I heard the detector at 203.9 go off a second time on Track 2, so I knew there were two eastbounds to shoot. I headed to Verdi, NV and set up to catch them at the 4th crossing of the Truckee River about an hour after sunrise. Unfortunately I needed another 5-10 minutes for the light to be right, but it worked out perfect for the second train.

Below is the first train featuring UP 5258 leading the MRVSP at Verdi, NV, on June 28th, 2020. Tomorrow I'll post the photo and video of the empty unit train that was following it after I finish editing.

Sean

 

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In the first photo, where the graffitti is, it looks like the portal of a tunnel.  Is that so?  Abandoned?

It's an old bridge abutment. There was a rickety wooden bridge that spanned the track there. I'm not sure when it was removed, but it was still there when I was there shooting in summer 2007.

Sean

coach Wrote:
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> In the first photo, where the graffitti is, it
> looks like the portal of a tunnel.  Is that so?
>  Abandoned?

  Been over that bridge many times.  Nice photo.

JB - Omaha

A beautiful photo, with a lot of depth to bring out those trees on the mountainside.

Rich

That train already seemed quite big.  So is UP adding that train at Sparks to another North Platte train to make a 400 car or so train to go to NOP?!?!

I asked this question in a post last week when I shot the MRVSP through Truckee. https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,5049839,5049839#msg-5049839

I didn't get an answer, but I did find a note on a web page listing UP symbols that indicated both the MFRNP and the MRVOG work Sparks on their way to their destinations.

wyeth Wrote:
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> That train already seemed quite big.  So is UP
> adding that train at Sparks to another North
> Platte train to make a 400 car or so train to go
> to NOP?!?!

Had to do a doubletake, I thought that lead motor belong NS. Do U P even bother to wash their power anymore.

Posted from Android

wyeth Wrote:
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> That train already seemed quite big.  So is UP
> adding that train at Sparks to another North
> Platte train to make a 400 car or so train to go
> to NOP?!?!

Others on here could provide better info, but some of that traffic on the MRVSP is actual Sparks bound traffic and will certainly be switched out locally. The rest is likely added to the MFRNP or MRVOG.