Passenger Trains > Old Friar Readies for Retirement

   The San Diego Sub double tracking project has resulted in several control points, such as Craven and Elvira, being removed as sidings are extended and connected. CP Friar, which is just RR west of the Old Town Transit Center, is also set to disappear. Although it has not always been called Friar, this location has been the end of Double Track out of San Diego since the days of steam powered San Diegans. Being both the end of double track and a station platform, this is a frequent meeting spot for trains. The tracks cross the San Diego River just west of Friar. Over the past few years SANDAG, the local planning agency, has been constructing a double track bridge across the river. This project is rapidly coming to a close, and will result in nearly a mile of new track connecting Friar and Tecolote, the CP controlling the RR East end of the next siding. 

1) Looking RR West towards CP Friar. Unsurprisingly, this is a major source of delay for passenger traffic and a location where freights can expect a long wait. The second track, which will alleviate these issues, has been laid across the bridge and up to the point where it will be cut in. As I was taking this picture Amtrak 777, NB to San Luis Obispo, pulled into the platform at Old Town, about to experience one such delay. 

   Amtrak 777 was late out of the gate. The SC44 Charger assigned to the train had failed, and the Protect unit in Downtown San Diego had to be put on the point. To do this they have to use a set of CTC controlled crossovers at the depot's control point, CP Ash. The the dispatcher wouldn't line anything until Coaster 648, still 15 minutes away, got in. By the time the protect engine was added and passengers were aboard the Coaster set was nearly ready to turn north. Surfliner's use one main from SAN to Old Town, and Coaster's use the other. 777 departed five minutes ahead of the Coaster, but when they got to CP Friar they found themselves looking at a red, and a clear on the Coaster track. 

2) Coaster 645 pulls out of Old Town on time, running around a now later Amtrak 777. The intermediate signals that will replace CP Friar are standing on both mains bagged, and employees were hard at work in a signal house adjacent to them.  

3) After a 10 minute stop in Old Town, a now 50 minute late Amtrak 777, led by the San Diego protect unit, follows closely on the yellow of Coaster 645. 645 will have to make commuter stops that 777 does not, further delaying the Surfliner. The double track will be cut in during one of the upcoming work windows. After that, when a situation like this arises again the Dispatcher will have 7 miles of double track to work with. Eventually the dispatcher will have over 14 miles of double track to work with, stretching from Downtown San Diego to Miramar Summit. While this will be a massive improvement for service, I for one will miss watching the spectacles that old Friar provided. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/20 20:18 by suvart.

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Thanks for the update.
I've been trying to follow developments on this and on the San Diego light rail extension to UC San Diego but the most recent Google Earth photos are from late 2017. Any more recent aerials around that are public domain?