Ya'll Railroader Listen Up Here.

It's a little warmer today in Dallas but the gloom is still hanging a couple hundred feet off the ground. At the 10AM reading, the fog and mist layers were at 400 and at 11AM it was overcast and some broken was reported at 2400. It has been a good morning to get some work done but right around 10:30 I went to the Truckee channel and watched a good 'ole Sierra snowstorm start accumulating quickly. By 11:30AM (9:30) their time, it had pilled up about 4-6 inches with another 3-5 due tonight and 3-5 due tomorrow (at least I don't have to shovel this snow storm.)

 Then, it was a bit of railroading at the crossing at Donner Pass Road and Bridge Street in downtown Truckee,Ca. Wow, with the mountain passes down to one track, the east bounds have to stop and wait for the west bounds to come through, then it's reversed. There has been a Union Pacific pull a consist of near to 100 cars west. Fifteen minutes later, A west bound Union Pacific sat on the east bound track waiting for the BNSF to come east. Both those consist were about 60-70 cars.

Low and behold, there pulled up a beast of a Union Pacific. He had six engine/power units poised like a patient pointer dog. When he got the clearance, he pulled out and made the crossing car after car after car. About three-quarters way down the line of cars he had a boost engine (#7 if you are counting power unites to pull through the passes and the High Sierra). Behind him continued the consist with inter modal units single stacks and double stacks. There were some inter modal frames that were all shinny and yellow fresh out of the factory unloaded and in transit. Most likely, they will carry their first full loads on the return trip from the west coast.  And-- at the end was engine #8, in the number of power units, gave push power from the tail end. All total, eight great and mighty diesel power units to get a 100--maybe 110 cars nearly a quarter mile up the mountains.

All this in a snow storm hitting the bend between the California state line with Nevada. The snow units to clear the tracks and mountain passes sat ready in Truckee. They will be heading out tonight most likely. The snow that those units can move is amazing. Railroading in this part of the world of the United States Rocky Mountains and ranges across Sierra Nevada to the California High Sierra takes a lot of equipment for maintenance, safety, just to bring the ocean cargo across America from China and Korea and Japan. Even Australia and New Zealand  ship their products via ocean containers to the west coast and then the inter modal ride carries them all across America. Seeing inter modals like CSX (the old Seaboard Coast Line) based in the Carolina's and running side by side tracks with the Florida East Coast Railroad is just amazing that commerce is moving from coast to coast and half way round the world as we shelter in place.

Just for reference: Reno is 4,506 feet above sea level. It is 35 miles from Truckee
                              Truckee is 5,817 feet above sea level.
                              Lake Tahoe is 6,224 feet above sea level. It is 14 mi south of Truckee
                              Donner Pass  is 7,239 feet above sea level and is 9 miles west of Truckee.

From Reno to Donner Pass Summit, that's 2,733 feet in elevation in as little as 45 miles.
As you can see... The western approach to Donner Summit and Pass is steep, while the eastern approach if gradual. Between Reno and Donner Pass Summit requires an enormous amount of power to push a massive train up the western approaches. Hence, the 8 engines needed for the Union Pacific with the 100-110 car train I just wrote about. Some of that weight being pushed are loaded and unloaded cars.

Another thing about Truckee that I like is that the Pacific Crest Trail crosses there and some of the most beautiful scenery can be found in this stretch of the Sierra Nevada Ranges. Some of the hikers come into town for supplies, a bath or shower and a good bed for one night over their sleeping bags. They also like a good sit down meal once and awhile on the trail. Needless-to-say, you see a lot of backpacks walking around downtown Truckee.

The Old Big Boys of the Union Pacific are still around in museums and one the UP still runs on tours around the west. These original big wheels were designed especially for this terrain. All steam, too!

A Union Pacific Big Boy...One of the Originals

Being moved from Fair Park to the Railroad Museum in Frisco.

Being pulled out of Fair Park, it's home for 50 plus years by a BNSF on its way to Frisco. Not the Sierra of  Nevada or California but it's seen the scenery many times.

A Surprise From the Sierra Navada

Fishing on the Rock again.

Ducking the main sail in low quarters!

Even since the Osprey flew the nest at the end of summer, I set out to find a new action web cam. There has been a previous post about this. Yes, one was found and it was mentioned "in part" in that same post.

Watching the daily dose of 2-mile-lone freight trains being pulled through town several times a day by Union Pacific locomotion has been a trill for a big kid. Me! On the other hand,  Amtrak is also amazing as their  daily consist has gone from the normal of 12-cars down to 11 after the holiday. Plus, three or four times, the old private cars are pulled from west to east or east back to the west. Either way, the freight trains are general freight and always one of straight containers. There has been some freights with as many as 8 engines. Some pulling. Some pushing. Yesterday, there was one that was made up of 10 locomotives. That is the most that I have ever seen in any trains consist. Ever! And I have watched trains ever since I was a kid walking home from school.

At the same while,  I have watched the weather systems move over the Sierra Nevada range and dip down arriving in North Texas a couple of days later, On Monday, it was raining with freezing rain on the web cam. The nights have been in the low 20s--even dipping to the upper teens a couple of time.

When I clicked on the cam this morning.....I gasp from the beauty of snow capped mountains that came over the night.  The gold of the Aspen trees leaves below the snow caps just sent chills of excitement and joy through my soul. I remember the old Lutheran and Methodist hymn: "For the Beauty of the Earth" by Conrad Kocher in 1838, and I give thanks.

Mail Truck, a Pumper and a Zephyr

This is a story about a U.S. Mail truck. The same kind you see going up and down neighborhood streets, or parked behind the local post office branch in your town or neighborhood. Nothing unusual about that. The other is a full size red fire truck. The same kind you see at your local fire station and a historic Zephyr east bound (6) and west bound (5) from California to Lake Michigan. and the Windy City.

About a month ago, when all the nesting hawks, ospreys, owls and eagles had fledged their nest, most of the web cams were turned off for the balance of the year. The experts say that it only takes 30 days of doing something routinely before it becomes a habit. And, yes, after the birds were gone from the nest, it was more difficult to find a good web cam to watch. The resorts are rather dumb. The airports pan to much and don't focus on the action stuff. The scenic sites are no where near as good as a good IMAX movie so those are out. Then, I'm thinking, my  like for watching trains is still active. Why not look for live web cams of trains coming and going. It didn't take long before I had found  a link to some pretty neat train cams. Freight trains are good because they are made up of all kinds of cars. Then, there are coal trains that are hopper car after hopper car after hopper car for more than a mile. At least watching a container train you get variety. Twenty-footers, forty footers, red ones, blues ones, green ones, white ones, rusty ones and once  in a while a slip deck that is all open on the bottom except where the container sits on rockers.Those are unusual and can be rather interesting.

But, the best part was that an Amtrak came through twice a day. It runs from  Emeryville, California to Chicago. It's known east bound as the California Zephyr No. 6 and its known west bound as the California Zephyr No. 5. The little thing to remember here is that I have actually ridden this train. It was a delight years ago and I have a deep yearning to do it again. However, there is not an arrive time but there is a departure time. The reason for that is that Amtrak shares the Union Pacific  tracks through the mountains to Denver and shares the tracks with Burlington Northern Santa Fe from Denver to Chicago. And where that happens, one must remember that freight revenue over passengers is always Trump (nothing to do with the elections, thank goodness). However, being a good student of transportation, it didn't take long to get the system down to where you could be more accurate than the station boards.
 The west bound is always able to make up 7 minutes, so if the station boards say that the train is running 32 minutes late, he will actually only be twenty-five minutes late. You also learn that it takes on that section of track 1 hour to go from point A to point B. So when you do the calculations--which my train friends call "railroading", you can actually plan, go put away the dishes  or start dinner or load the dishwasher and not miss  seeing the cool blue and gray engines pulling  the 9 cars, sometimes, even twelve or thirteen. The eighth car is always the dining car. One of the coolest cars on the train. Amtrak does carry certified chefs on board that actually prepare the meals. The week before Labor Day, he was pulling 12 cars. Even had a  club car one day and a scenic vista car one day. He also had an old private Pullman car, which is the way to travel for sure. Those cars are fantastic and private. They are of the vintage of presidential campaign cars where you see the bunting on the back deck and the candidate waving to the crowds! A rather romantic version of a time gone by and most unfortunate it only survives sporadically. At one time, you could have the railroad pull your car anywhere for a dollar a mile. Still cheaper today than a private jet, flight crew, but certainly more  laid back and enjoyable than a jet.  That's for sure.

So, in this little town seen via web cam, there are two gas stations on a very wide and well planned out street corner just up from the rail station. The stations face the cross streets with their "C" store operations  and their pumps in this beehive California town.  The town is up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains  and is a typical vacation spot for camping, skiing, boating, hiking, back-packing, hotel and restaurant fans along with daily local activities.

So, a couple of days ago, this mail truck pulled into the one station that is more for the townies than the other one. The other:  a name brand station and people off the interstate. Travelers can use their brand credit cards there. But, generally, the business is pretty equal but weighted to the local station 3:2. It's  judged by the number of fill ups ordered up by the station more than anything else. I was a bit shocked to see a mail truck getting gas at a local gas station but when you think about where this is, it probably make more sense than maintaining a tank and dispensing facility at the post office. Plus, maybe you don't want that around the trucks or what ever.

Two days after seeing the first mail truck come in to get gas, a second mail truck came in to the station across the street. Being struck as funny, I said out loud, "Oh, look at that, an equal opportunity gas pumper!"  Two days later, the mail truck was in at the local station again.

Today, while getting gas at my Kroger gas station, I was pulling in to my regular side that had no one at either pumps, but the middle and far right pumps were full. So, not being a total jerk, I pulled up allowing someone to come in behind me normally instead of having to jockey around to get to the empty pump. As I was getting out of the car, this big red fire truck pulled in and was going around the station. Not to worry. He must be doing an inspection or something I though, until he pulled up right behind me. In my many decades of filling up my car, I have never had a fire truck pull up behind me, get out of the truck and do the same routine that I'm doing. The fireman walked up to the door of his truck after beginning his fill up. I said to the fireman, that," I had seen on a web cam that I watch trains on, a mail truck get gas at one station and then go across the street the next time to the other station and get gas and I had called him an equal opportunity gas pumper. When I saw you pull in it reminded me of that! I had to chuckle." He acknowledged the humor.

Upon leaving the station the thought occurred to me that no one is going to believe me that I had just gassed up at Kroger's next to a full size fire pumper. So I went back to get a shot. As I was driving on to the lake to see if the pelicans had arrived ( and they had)  another thought occurred to me that they shop at Kroger's and like anyone else, get fuel points too.  I wondered if they do, indeed, get full points for diesel. So, long story shot, I have seen another equal opportunity pumper for real and this one really was a pumper.

Equal Opportunity Fuel Points!

The Pelicans have returned and greeted by the turtles

100 cars of this is rather boring. Seeing 8 engines pull a mile long train over the mountains wasn't.

24/09/2016:edited for clarity