Passenger Trains > A Few [More] Metrolink

It's a new month. Time to post that small monthly allocation of Olive Sub shots here in Orange County. Except for perhaps Tehachapi or Cajon, where else you gonna find someone who has close to 1500 pictures of five miles of track?

Of course the downside is that there's really very little to speak of in terms of variety on the Olive. But I take what I can get.

1. Heads or tails? The "head end" of #854 looks menacing in this closeup at Anaheim Canyon Station. But thankfully it was pushing away from the photographer at the time. In case the turned off headlights and turned *ON* red lights didn't clue you in.

2. Rounding the curve at Atwood.

3. My customary "crossing" shot for the month: Northbound rockets through the Glasell crossing. For a short stretch of line that has two stops on it, these few miles do see some very fast trains come through.

Thanks for looking.

Good pix. Also a six-car train on that Inland Empire Line?

I recently rode a very overcrowded Oceanside-LA rush hour train with only three cars.

Any of you fans know schedule making? Metrolink needs you!

stone23 Wrote:
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> Good pix. Also a six-car train on that Inland
> Empire Line?
>
> I recently rode a very overcrowded Oceanside-LA
> rush hour train with only three cars.
>
> Any of you fans know schedule making? Metrolink
> needs you!

Many of Metrolink's trainsets run-thru between different lines, so the six cars maybe needed on another line that this trainset covers.

Metrolink has many runs that have tightly scheduled turnbacks or mid-day shop visits, and its equipment is being utilized to the maximum. Demand for service continues to outstrip the number of available cars, trains, or engines. And, by the way, Metrolink already has one of the best schedule gurus in the nation, along with a dispatching team that keeps multiple trains moving over crowded single track lines with a high degree of reliability.

wesroberts Wrote:
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> Metrolink has many runs that have tightly
> scheduled turnbacks or mid-day shop visits, and
> its equipment is being utilized to the maximum.
> Demand for service continues to outstrip the
> number of available cars, trains, or engines.
> And, by the way, Metrolink already has one of the
> best schedule gurus in the nation, along with a
> dispatching team that keeps multiple trains moving
> over crowded single track lines with a high degree
> of reliability.


I agree Metrolink operation is among the best I have seen. But a jammed packed three car Oceanside-LA train at 5pm and a following 5pm not so jammed Inland Empire six car train needs explaining. I have made many a schedule in my time and 500pm is ALWAYS the peak trip for ANY train set. This subject has nothing to do with size of mid-day trains!

stone23 Wrote:
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> I agree Metrolink operation is among the best I
> have seen. But a jammed packed three car
> Oceanside-LA train at 5pm and a following 5pm not
> so jammed Inland Empire six car train needs
> explaining. I have made many a schedule in my time
> and 500pm is ALWAYS the peak trip for ANY train
> set. This subject has nothing to do with size of
> mid-day trains!


I have to say I fully endorse WesRoberts' notion of what's going on. The 6-car train may not be needed at that second, but that trainset may run a busy train later, while that 3-car train doesn't. You'd still be crying foul either way. The difference is that the 6-car train may run two peak trains WITH the commuter rush (LA-OSD) while the 3-car train runs only 1 peak train against the major rush (meaning it would still be busy, but not with the larger flow of traffic). It also may be that the 3-car train is at the end of the federally regulated schedule rotation and has to go to the yard that night, while the 6-car train has another 3 days, so It's being sent out for a layover in San Berdoo while the 3-car train HAS to go to LA or Metrolink can't run it with ANY passengers the next day.

Railroad operations is an interesting game, and if you truly get down and dirty and try to schedule something while keeping in mind crew HOS and agreement pay, equipment restrictions (How long can a trainset be away from the main maintainance facility, fueling locations and times) and program it in with a schedule which best fits the needs of the passengers... Sometimes things click together, sometimes it takes some extra effort and tweaking. With an operation as complex as Metrolink's I think it's very rare something will just "click" together, so there's a lot of behind the scenes adjustments, quick turns, train cramping, and things you and I can't even think of just to keep the trains going over the road, much less with the right number of cars for the proper passenger counts on every train.

Anyway, not losing sight of the original inent of this thread, Des-Lab, great shots... Always enjoy the perspective on your little corner of the Railroad. Thanks for sharing!

Last thought on scheduling-

When I was a young transit schedule maker in the 1940's I had to remind some of the old streetcar schedule makers that buses do run out of fuel!