Western Railroad Discussion > Drama in the Blues Part 3

Almost as soon as I got on I-84 Saturday morning I heard that a eastbound train was in the hole at Huntington, OR waiting on a westbound Z train. Since westbounds are running away from the sun the morning, I didn't want to waste a good eastbound train. As the highway drops down to the Snake River in the Farewell Bend area (Oregon Trail History in that name), I jumped off and waited for the eastbound train which turned out to be the MHKGR running 4x2. The tracks are across the river and the west switch to Cobb siding wasn't far away. Both the siding at Cobb, ID and Lime, OR are currently filled with Tboxes and a couple of new UP Cheeseblocks in storage. Shows just how much the housing market has collapsed, and the market for 8' studs, plywood and OSB board along with it.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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After catching the MHKGR I jumped back on the freeway and headed west. Even with the slow speed trackage, it wasn't until Durkee that I caught up to the tail end of the ZG2BR. So I jumped onto the old highway and went up to Oxman to see what I could do to get some decent side light on the westbound train. This meant shooting across the freeway where the Z train was trying to give the truckers a run for their money. Beyond that the best I could do was a going away shot of the train heading down to Quartz. It overtook a westbound stack train at Encina.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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The stack train at Encina (IG4SE) came out hot on the heels of the Z train, so I didn't have much time to figure out the next shot. There are a lot of possbilities in the short stretch between Encina and Quartz due to the number of curves, but it's still a "work in progress" location as I explore what access and angles I have to work with. Thanks for the comments everyone. Hope to be up that way again before long.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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Thanks for taking the time to post all of these beautiful shots, Ted.  You give excellent coverage to a railroad that has so much beauty to offer!

Jerry
ATSF5669

I really like the going away shot in #6 Ted, well done.

Nathan

Excellent series Ted with so many beautiful shots!

Larry

Ritzville Wrote:
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> Excellent series Ted with so many beautiful
> shots!
>
> Larry

 Huntington had some history too there was a hotel where many of the crews stayed. The last people to operate it were friends of my parents and yes I missed out on the auction that took place there of items it contained. 

Nice photos!  

Locations, for anyone interested in following along from home: 

Cobb, ID (seen from the Oregon side of the Snake River, along Highway 201)

https://www.topozone.com/map/?lat=44.260&lon=-117.13676
https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?x=-117.1585918&y=44.2580877&z=16
https://opentopomap.org/#map=15/44.25915/-117.13391 (Click on the square box with an opening in each side to get full screen view, and use + and - buttons to go from 1:24,000 to 1:100,000 topo series maps)
https://www.openrailwaymap.org/?style=standard&lat=44.259861528595394&lon=-117.1690821647644&zoom=15
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.2603501,-117.1356502,1442m/data=!3m1!1e3
https://goo.gl/maps/vK7GzxRZUywJ4du18
https://goo.gl/maps/Vy8zhBQgff7mgfbd7

Oxman, OR (located at the uphill side of the Horseshoe Curve)
If you drive I-84 without stopping much, you might recognize Oxman because of Old US 30's mismatched bridges over I-84 and the UPRR -- northern of the back-to-back bridges over the RR tracks is of much older construction than the newer bridge over the freeway) 
https://goo.gl/maps/7n3Av4K6ANCeZPk56 (featuring a K-Liner in this 2015 Google Streetview photo)

https://www.topozone.com/map/?lat=44.630&lon=-117.51476
https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?x=-117.5143385&y=44.6281618&z=16
https://www.openrailwaymap.org/?style=standard&lat=44.62815300479645&lon=-117.5120723247528&zoom=16
https://opentopomap.org/#map=14/44.62682/-117.51260
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.6285267,-117.5145349,1433m/data=!3m1!1e3
https://goo.gl/maps/Bj4VGpynRrxEkXHJ6

Encina
Encina is the summit between Huntington (Burnt Creek/Alder Creek) and Baker City (Sutton Creek/Powder River).  Openstreetmaps-based maps show a wye, but the tracks are pulled up in Google aerial photos.  
https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?x=-117.6903129&y=44.6923256&z=16
https://www.topozone.com/map/?lat=44.700&lon=-117.69476
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.6916527,-117.6912208,358m/data=!3m1!1e3

Midway from Encina to Quartz
https://goo.gl/maps/CChq8txvxN3HvdZj9

Quartz
https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?x=-117.7754569&y=44.7204474&z=16
https://www.topozone.com/map/?lat=44.720&lon=-117.77476

Thanks again for sharing all these photos, Ted.  I drive this route 2 or 4x per year, and I always stop and linger in a few spots, but I've never learned all the place names, or gotten a full mental map of all the different segments.  I'm having a good time at my computer this week piecing together the locations and their relation to each other.  

Ted in OR



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/23 13:37 by gobbl3gook.

Very nice, especially photos 4 and 5.  - Eric B.

Ted,

Mind me asking about the ZG2BR that you chased; I'm curious if UP has changed their operating plans to provide better service (no laughing now!) and how UP is handling the Schneider National business they took from the UP?

1. Is the ZG2BR still the only westbound so-called "hot" Z-train on this territory?  Based on your chase being in the morning, that would be the more approximate time historically for the former ZG1BR (years ago it was the NPSEZ, and way before that, the OMN (in other words, what used to be the premier hot trains to the PNW on the UP)).  As recently as before UP's PSR binge, you could find three westbound Z-trains in this territory (ZG1BR, ZKCBR, ZG2PD), but after PSR, it all became just one giant ZG1BR.
2. Was this train you saw the "new normal" PSR huge monster train style, or has UP gone back to operating more manageable sized hot trains (I'd assume they would have to operate more than one now if they did shorten them up)?
3. Did you see any Schneider National on the trains?  Based on the volume BNSF had to the PNW, I'd expect to see a lot of this traffic on the UP now.

Thanks.

Ted, that was quite a links to click on. Thanks for your hard work in posting them.
Robert in Island City Oregon.

gobbl3gook Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nice photos!  
>
> Locations, for anyone interested in following
> along from home: 
>
> Cobb, ID (seen from the Oregon side of the Snake
> River, along Highway 201)
>
> https://www.topozone.com/map/?lat=44.260&lon=-117.
> 13676
> https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?x=-117.1585918&y=44.25
> 80877&z=16
> https://opentopomap.org/#map=15/44.25915/-117.1339
> 1 (Click on the square box with an opening in each
> side to get full screen view, and use + and -
> buttons to go from 1:24,000 to 1:100,000 topo
> series maps)
> https://www.openrailwaymap.org/?style=standard&lat
> =44.259861528595394&lon=-117.1690821647644&zoom=15
>
> https://www.google.com/maps/@44.2603501,-117.13565
> 02,1442m/data=!3m1!1e3
> https://goo.gl/maps/vK7GzxRZUywJ4du18
> https://goo.gl/maps/Vy8zhBQgff7mgfbd7
>
> Oxman, OR (located at the uphill side of the
> Horseshoe Curve)
> If you drive I-84 without stopping much, you might
> recognize Oxman because of Old US 30's mismatched
> bridges over I-84 and the UPRR -- northern of the
> back-to-back bridges over the RR tracks is of much
> older construction than the newer bridge over the
> freeway) 
> https://goo.gl/maps/7n3Av4K6ANCeZPk56 (featuring a
> K-Liner in this 2015 Google Streetview photo)
>
> https://www.topozone.com/map/?lat=44.630&lon=-117.
> 51476
> https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?x=-117.5143385&y=44.62
> 81618&z=16
> https://www.openrailwaymap.org/?style=standard&lat
> =44.62815300479645&lon=-117.5120723247528&zoom=16
> https://opentopomap.org/#map=14/44.62682/-117.5126
> 0
> https://www.google.com/maps/@44.6285267,-117.51453
> 49,1433m/data=!3m1!1e3
> https://goo.gl/maps/Bj4VGpynRrxEkXHJ6
>
> Encina
> Encina is the summit between Huntington (Burnt
> Creek/Alder Creek) and Baker City (Sutton
> Creek/Powder River).  Openstreetmaps-based maps
> show a wye, but the tracks are pulled up in Google
> aerial photos.  
> https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?x=-117.6903129&y=44.69
> 23256&z=16
> https://www.topozone.com/map/?lat=44.700&lon=-117.
> 69476
> https://www.google.com/maps/@44.6916527,-117.69122
> 08,358m/data=!3m1!1e3
>
> Midway from Encina to Quartz
> https://goo.gl/maps/CChq8txvxN3HvdZj9
>
> Quartz
> https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?x=-117.7754569&y=44.72
> 04474&z=16
> https://www.topozone.com/map/?lat=44.720&lon=-117.
> 77476
>
> Thanks again for sharing all these photos, Ted. 
> I drive this route 2 or 4x per year, and I always
> stop and linger in a few spots, but I've never
> learned all the place names, or gotten a full
> mental map of all the different segments.  I'm
> having a good time at my computer this week
> piecing together the locations and their relation
> to each other.  
>
> Ted in OR

Ted,
That was a great series, all 3 parts were great. Thanks for getting out there and sharing it.
Robert in Island City Oregon 

wyeth Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ted,
>
> Mind me asking about the ZG2BR that you chased;
> I'm curious if UP has changed their operating
> plans to provide better service ....

From what I've gathered, there is just 4 intermodal trains on this route now, 2 east and 2 west. They are the ZG2BR/ZBRG2 and the ITAG3/IG4SE They all seem to run long, about 10,000' with one or two DPU units about 2/3rds back in the train or one the rear. The "I" trains are mostly international containers with some domestic on the head end. The Z trains are mostly all domestic containers with very few trailers, mostly UPS. The domestic containers are 90% EMP and Hub Group Containers, with the remainder various other carriers. Schnider and Swift account for a handful of containers on each train with Schnider being 3:1 more common.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Thank you for the reply; I wonder where all this intermodal business that UP picked up from the BNSF has gone?  Based on what you've said, it sounds like the train operations are still pretty much the same as a year ago, one Z-train each way and one I-train each way.

Fom what I've heard, one of the main reasons that Schneider National went to the UP was because they were tired of being "second fiddle" to JB Hunt at BNSF - always in Hunt's shadow.  Just speculating here, but I wonder if JB Hunt hasn't picked up a bunch of the former Schneider National business that was running on the BNSF?

funnelfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wyeth Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Ted,
> >
> > Mind me asking about the ZG2BR that you chased;
> > I'm curious if UP has changed their operating
> > plans to provide better service ....
>
> From what I've gathered, there is just 4
> intermodal trains on this route now, 2 east and 2
> west. They are the ZG2BR/ZBRG2 and the ITAG3/IG4SE
> They all seem to run long, about 10,000' with one
> or two DPU units about 2/3rds back in the train or
> one the rear. The "I" trains are mostly
> international containers with some domestic on the
> head end. The Z trains are mostly all domestic
> containers with very few trailers, mostly UPS. The
> domestic containers are 90% EMP and Hub Group
> Containers, with the remainder various other
> carriers. Schnider and Swift account for a handful
> of containers on each train with Schnider being
> 3:1 more common.

wyeth Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thank you for the reply; I wonder where all this
> intermodal business that UP picked up from the
> BNSF has gone?  Based on what you've said, it
> sounds like the train operations are still pretty
> much the same as a year ago, one Z-train each way
> and one I-train each way.

We discussed this a couple of months ago, but I think a lot of it is going on ITAG3 and IG4SE... I just checked the Chehalis cam, and there were quite a few Schneider containers on last night's ITAG3 (the cut of them was toward the end of the train this time rather than the beginning). Also INPSEs seem to be running from time to time.