Western Railroad Discussion > LUM48 'The Henderson Local' 1/1/25

Another Southern Nevada post. This time it's railfanning the LUM48, also known as the Henderson Local. The Henderson Local was covered about 6 years ago by spider1319, so I guess it was time to update the current state of the local.

LUM48 - LOCAL JOB
So the Henderson Local still follows the same schedule, usually departing Arden Yard between 8 and 10 AM. They serve the usual industries, that being (in no particular order) the chemical companies at the Henderson Industrial Park, Thatcher Chemicals, Ergon Asphalt, BB Recycling, and on Wednesday Polywest and Berry Global.
The local also does equipment moves for the museum. In 2024 the LUM48 moved a CA-7 Caboose from Arden Yard to the museum's trackage a little past E Paradise Hills Dr, and I assume is also going to do equipment moves for the upcoming Great Western Railroad Roundup in 2026. 

LUM48 - POWER
As of recent the power for the local has been SD70Ms, but ACes, GEVOs, and AC44s are not unheard of. The local set is in Arden on the east side of the yard by the yard office. Sadly the days of the SD40Ns and SD60M Triclops are gone, but atleast that era was well documented by many folk both on and off TO. 

Anyways, as stated by the title, I did railfan the LUM48 on Wednesday, Jan 1st, 2025. Whenever I go railfanning this job specifically, work usually limits me to railfanning post 1 PM, so I miss alot of the travelling to Henderson. I was able to catch them at Polywest starting their hour long process of cutting cars, pulling ahead past Nevada State Dr, then shoving back. 

1) LUM48 pulls a long cut of plastics hoppers towards Nevada State Dr.
2) Two 4750 hoppers trail among the cut, these cars are picked up from the Henderson Industrial Park. 
3) LUM48 shoves a cut of cars into place, the Strat is seen 16 miles away. This spot has always been my favorite for that reason, really showing just how close stuff is in Las Vegas compared to other places like LA. 

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The crew of LUM48 tackle the single track and little runaround room very efficiently. Tackling Polywest first at the end of the line then shoving back to Berry Global a little over a mile away. They do this to maximize space when they eventually switch leaders and head back up to Boulder Junction. 

1) LUM48 finishes with Berry Global, heading back up the line to Polywest to runaround their train. Their train can reach up to 30 cars long, mostly being plastics hoppers by this point.

Finishing the end of line at Henderson takes them about three hours. At the end, they run around their entire train, and couple up.

2) Under purple skies, LUM48 passes College Dr, almost done finishing their day. By this point they pick up a cut of cars at the Henderson Industrial Park, then eat lunch/dinner at one of the local restaurants. 

I hope to see more Southern Nevada posts. While traffic here is laughable compared to the BNSF Transcon just an hour away at Ibis or Kingman, Las Vegas provides such a unique urban setting for trains. 

I hope yall enjoy!

BrandonRC
Henderson, NV. 

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Good coverage, always amazed at the number of cars at PolyWest. They've been there 20 years and are
as busy as ever, Berry as well. 

Out 

I was down there this past summer, and heard the trains, but never saw them.  

I'd love to be in the STRATOSPHERE tower during a big lightning storm--imagine the views!

I see on GOOGLE EARTH that there are a number of warehouses this branchline has spurs to.  Do any of those warehouses still get boxcars / use rail?

coach Wrote:
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> I see on GOOGLE EARTH that there are a number of
> warehouses this branchline has spurs to.  Do any
> of those warehouses still get boxcars / use rail?

I have seen boxcar on the branchline headed towards the Henderson Industrial Park, but I have no clue about who uses them. I suspect they're used as spacers for chemical loads. 

callum_out Wrote:
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> Good coverage, always amazed at the number of cars
> at PolyWest. They've been there 20 years and are
> as busy as ever, Berry as well. 

Thanks! 
Polywest always amazes me, the fact that it was built modern day and still takes 40 carloads once a week is amazing. As I heard, the BMI branch is probably UP's most important non-mainline in Southern Nevada. 

Berry is also really busy, they both get served quickly and efficiently. 

BrandonRC Wrote:
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> I hope yall enjoy!
>
> BrandonRC
> Henderson, NV. 

Very nice chase in your backyard!

I chased the return trip 11+ years ago, with SD40-2s powering the LUM48. Nice to see flared SD70Ms assigned to the local.

cchan006 Wrote:
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> I chased the return trip 11+ years ago, with
> SD40-2s powering the LUM48. Nice to see flared
> SD70Ms assigned to the local.

man I like the 70Ms, but when I see old nscalemike and Ken Carr pictures and it makes me wish the 40-2s and 40Ns were still on the local.