Western Railroad Discussion > NS Pool Power at La Mirada, CA

Watched the Q-NYCLAC6-17L pass by the (site) of La Mirada, CA around 17:30 PDT today.

Train had NS 1043 (SD70ACe), NS 9447 (C40-9W), and BNSF 1040 (C44-9W), pulling 7800 feet of train to BNSF's Hobart Yard near Los Angeles, CA.

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BNSF's current (freight) train yard is down the lead to the East of me. The old ATSF passenger station was located across the tracks to the north of my photo spot. All that remains are some old Santa Fe era palm trees now that the site is used by the city of La Mirada for their landscaping dept.

Mr. MRL ~ fan safely

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Love that first image of the Alondra overpass.  Never seen that angle before!

Pool is cool!

great catch, especially with that ace leader.............

66

Ya know, I didn't even notice the track inspector walking the lead when I was taking the photos.

~ Mr. MRL

MrMRL Wrote:
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> Ya know, I didn't even notice the track inspector
> walking the lead when I was taking the photos.
>
> ~ Mr. MRL

Ha... but did he notice you?

Love the roller coaster effect in the first image.

erielackawanna Wrote:
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>
> Ha... but did he notice you?
>
> Love the roller coaster effect in the first image.

I bet he did spot me 1/4 mile away. He was probably more concerned about getting back to his truck though, parked on the other side of the passing train.

About that roller coaster effect... The topography around this segment of ATSF/BNSF's Southern Transcon is due to the RR's interaction with the extreme SW corner of the <500' West Coyote Hills, a minor southern spur of the larger Puente Hills to the north. La Mirada (now signaled Valley View) is the slight high point in the area with several (lower) natural drainages on either side including West and East Coyotes Creeks, La Mirada Creek and Brea Creek. Add to that the artificial undercrossing of Alondra Blvd. (cut in decades back by the ATSF) and you can achieve quite the undulating effect with a long lens.

One last fun fact... The BNSF crossing of (west) Coyotes Creek, located adjacent to the foundation of the 330' tall microwave tower seen in the going away shots, is the lowest natural elevation point along the 2,200 mile Southern Transcon. 87.3 feet above mean sea level.

~ Mr. MRL

Great series from my "home turf":}

MrMRL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> erielackawanna Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > Ha... but did he notice you?
> >
> > Love the roller coaster effect in the first
> image.
>
> I bet he did spot me 1/4 mile away. He was
> probably more concerned about getting back to his
> truck though, parked on the other side of the
> passing train.
>
> About that roller coaster effect... The topography
> around this segment of ATSF/BNSF's Southern
> Transcon is due to the RR's interaction with the
> extreme SW corner of the <500' West Coyote Hills,
> a minor southern spur of the larger Puente Hills
> to the north. La Mirada (now signaled Valley
> View) is the slight high point in the area with
> several (lower) natural drainages on either side
> including West and East Coyotes Creeks, La Mirada
> Creek and Brea Creek. Add to that the artificial
> undercrossing of Alondra Blvd. (cut in decades
> back by the ATSF) and you can achieve quite the
> undulating effect with a long lens.
>
> One last fun fact... The BNSF crossing of (west)
> Coyotes Creek, located adjacent to the foundation
> of the 330' tall microwave tower seen in the going
> away shots, is the lowest natural elevation point
> along the 2,200 mile Southern Transcon. 87.3 feet
> above mean sea level.
>
> ~ Mr. MRL

Cool "fun fact" about the lowest level on the Southern Transcon at 87.3 feet above mean sea level. Second photo is very interestind . All are nice.

SantaFeRuss

SP8595 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great series from my "home turf":}

+1   I grew up a couple miles from there and always enjoyed a ride in the car with Dad to check out the action. The depot was gone and before the city started using the land we would pull in there by the palm trees to look around.  Glad to see the area still has a busy little yard.   But its really sad to hear about the recent switching accident there.  The NTSB has a preliminary report out on it that lays out all the circumstances leading to the event.
 

Of course, up until the mid-1980s, Alondra was an at-grade crossing.  There was a two-track shoo-fly compass west of the existing track to allow them to make that huge excavation to lower the tracks under Alondra Blvd. 

MrMRL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> erielackawanna Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > Ha... but did he notice you?
> >
> > Love the roller coaster effect in the first
> image.
>
> I bet he did spot me 1/4 mile away. He was
> probably more concerned about getting back to his
> truck though, parked on the other side of the
> passing train.
>
> About that roller coaster effect... The topography
> around this segment of ATSF/BNSF's Southern
> Transcon is due to the RR's interaction with the
> extreme SW corner of the <500' West Coyote Hills,
> a minor southern spur of the larger Puente Hills
> to the north. La Mirada (now signaled Valley
> View) is the slight high point in the area with
> several (lower) natural drainages on either side
> including West and East Coyotes Creeks, La Mirada
> Creek and Brea Creek. Add to that the artificial
> undercrossing of Alondra Blvd. (cut in decades
> back by the ATSF) and you can achieve quite the
> undulating effect with a long lens.
>
> One last fun fact... The BNSF crossing of (west)
> Coyotes Creek, located adjacent to the foundation
> of the 330' tall microwave tower seen in the going
> away shots, is the lowest natural elevation point
> along the 2,200 mile Southern Transcon. 87.3 feet
> above mean sea level.
>
> ~ Mr. MRL

HarborHog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Of course, up until the mid-1980s, Alondra was an
> at-grade crossing.  There was a two-track
> shoo-fly compass west of the existing track to
> allow them to make that huge excavation to lower
> the tracks under Alondra Blvd. 


That's quite a dig, anyone know where the hauled all the dirt to? Just sluff it all to the side? Take it away? Or perhaps use it to build the east end Buena Park extension of the La Mirada Yard?

~ Mr. MRL

I heard it went to Terminal Island to help build Pier 300, but nothing to back that up. 


MrMRL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> HarborHog Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Of course, up until the mid-1980s, Alondra was
> an
> > at-grade crossing.  There was a two-track
> > shoo-fly compass west of the existing track to
> > allow them to make that huge excavation to
> lower
> > the tracks under Alondra Blvd. 
>
>
> That's quite a dig, anyone know where the hauled
> all the dirt to? Just sluff it all to the side?
> Take it away? Or perhaps use it to build the east
> end Buena Park extension of the La Mirada Yard?
>
> ~ Mr. MRL