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.

Drag Races Between Two SD-70 Locomotives

Actually, if I had this image when I posted the 12/22/2016 post, "Perseption Is Everything, But..." this would have been a perfect image. It is impossible to show the reason why here in this image, but behind the Union Pacific engine are two more BNSG engines. The way I understand it is that the railroad that owns the tracks pulls a rerouted engine and cars for a train that is using those tracks for some reason. In short, they need an escort while on Union Pacific tracks. But, a case at first sight sure could be made that these two trains were racing.

We set another record today. While checking out the lake, and talking with  another lake goer, we pretty much decided that any scene at the lake today could be anywhere. Anywhere in the world. As Ali said, "we call it White Rock Lake". And I do believe that he captured the moment completely with that statement. He later said, we could use that as a tag line. We sure could, Ali. We now have it for the record and should we want to use it again....we are the only ones that can claim it from here on out.

"Look at that. It could be any place in the world. We call it White Rock Lake". copyright Ali and dallaspaparazzo, Tuesday, 10th January 2017.All rights reserved for us both!

"Look at that. It could be anyplace in the world. We call it White Rock Lake."

Train Drag Racing?

A beautiful little wren.

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

The "A" Train

When the connection between the Trinity Mills Station of the DART light rail and the new service to Lewisville, Lake Dallas, Corinth and downtown Denton opened up,  the service used the old BUDD-made rail cars. The ones that you see in movies in Chicago and New York are that BUDD made type. Last week, it was time to ride the new sleek European-style cars and they were super nice! The immediate difference that was noticed was the quiet ride and how smooth it was. Yes, the cars did rock like any train does, but that was at the bottom of the 'fix it' list if there were to be one.

The arrival at the downtown station was obviously the same, but walking the two blocks up the hill to court house square went well this time. The last time, my surgery was fairly new and my strength was not fully recovered. Plus, it was in the middle of summer and the heat and humidity didn't help. But, had I decided that I didn't want to repeat that physical strain again, there were plenty of bus routes this time that service the rail station. Most of the bus routes pass through court house square.

When up town, a walk around the square was an architectural tour. It is amazing how much history is in that square. The 1896 court house is a masterpiece. Texas, like many other states, have amazing county seats that are architectural wonders. One thing that weighs heavy on my mind is seeing a sign that says,"closing sale" and "closing after 54 years". Locals would know that it is the Ethan Allen Furniture Store. Others see it as another store closing with people out of jobs. Several years ago some one ask me if I thought the economy was getting better. My response was that as long as stores are closing and laying off workers, numbering in the hundreds, are still happening the economy isn't as well as it looks. And to enforce that Sears Holding announced this week that they would be closing 78 more stores; 68 K-Mart stores and 10 Sears stores.

 Lunch was had at a sidewalk table at Cartwright's. The sizzler and platter of thick fries was a delight that carried me through the rest of the day. My waitress was so nice and took care of my table service very,very well. Some would say that good service is reserved for the locals, but that was not to be found at all. She really impressed me in a small town kind of way, which is the type of service I was looking for when I chose Cartwright's. So, the next time I make a trip to Denton to the Jazz Festival or what every event interest me or my editors, Cartwright's is where I will dine!

When I got to the bottom of the hill on the return, a fast-moving Union Pacific freight train came sailing through town. It's been many years since I have seen a freight train at that speed through town, although I know that there are little towns that see it daily. I grew up in a small town where trains came 'tearing down the pike' like this one. It brought back a flood of memories. One guy was filming a video of the train. My camera was still out of the case and I got a couple of shots , too.

All-in-all, it was a long day on the road. I used public transportation from my door step end-to-end and it was fun. I had been complaining to my doctor that my legs just didn't have the strength that they did once. Well, I found muscles that I hadn't

Downtown Denton Station for the "A" Train

Ethan Allen Closing after 54 years in Denton

Union Pacific tears through the crossing.

used in months, obviously, because I am still working out the soreness in the calves of my legs from the walking and climbing the hill.

Another Great Commercial

Another commercial has hit the air waves that is attracting tons of viewers on You Tube or sites of special interest devoted to photography, graphic arts and film. There is no surprise in learning that it was produced for Union Pacific Railroad and it's 150th year in America. Bravo! Bravo!

Already, there have been over 25,000 views on You Tube with a 217 Likes to 7 ratio.  The last commercial to hit the charts was, of course, the Omega watch commercial and it has now spread to a great American railroad. The link: http://youtu.be/3Z9T_HBlyWg

Credits: This commercial is the property of Union Pacific Railroad and the music was commissioned by Union Pacific specifically for this commercial. Contact Union Pacific (http://www.UP.com) to let them know how you like the commercial. It is total class, and very well done.
Also credit: You Tube for the link to this commercial. 

The Procession of Good-Bye For Big Boy (Part II)

A Railroader for real.

A second shift of a real railroader

Coming into Irving under cover of darkness.A more dangerous trek for this real railroader.

A continuance of The Procession of Good-Bye for Big Boy.

The Procession of Good-Bye for Big Boy

While there are/were a lot of women who are/were as much railroad people as any, men are drawn to railroads and trains and its history. Here are images to that fact. There are several sub-post to this post

The smile says it all

Every one had a camera

The Procession of Good-Bye for Big Boy

The Fates Align in Tribute to the Big Boy 4018

I am not superstitious to much. Nor do I rule it totally out either. It seems to me that the fates are responding to the move of the Big Boy as a final tribute.Maybe. In case anyone  wondered, there is a full moon on the 20th. It probably would not come into play had the Big Boy moved last month or all the times beforehand, but, as fate would have it, it has been delayed almost every single time that there was  talk about a move being locked in as a "sure thing". It makes a good case for another dimension that lies neck and neck with the world that we know so well,or at least think we know so well.

The Big Boy did make it out of Fair Park. That is a fact. It didn't make it to Frisco. That, too, is a fact. Big Boy creaped  into Irving and firmly anchored on a siding under darkness. It was  a long day for the crew that didn't go far today. At approximately 10:50 this morning (Sunday,18th), the horn sounded and Big Boy with its braking units was slowly pulled out of Fair Park after a half century there. For the remainder of the day, it set in a freight yard off 175  and Scyene Road. Most of that time I sat in the Dallas,Garland and Northeast yard off Mockingbird. Three hours, in fact.Others came and went, mostly to check on the progress of a very much beloved piece of equipment once titled to the paper agent of the Union Pacific Railroad, created to hold such equipment as most transportation companies create. When certain types of equipment take on a life of their own, some see them as just a piece of equipment. Not so. The fates do control such life-like objects and things we humans don't fully understand. Those unexplained happenings are more real that we think. Once in a while, these objects play mind games with us humans. The Big Boy has an untold story to tell and it will tell that story in due time. Just wait and see.

Even the pictures of the departure from Fair Park had the Big Boy looking back on  Fair Park as it was pulled down the dead track to the main line of Union Pacific with a BNSF engine. True, it is the way that it had been put into the museum some 50-years ago, but it plays a part in the tale.

And to go neck and neck with another dimension,still, some will remember the young  motorcycle riders who shut down US 75 Central Expressway to honor one of their fallen cyclist a couple of years ago.

Big Boy looks back on Fair Park as it leaves it home of 50-odd-years.

They were seen on the road way above the Big Boy. Now tell me that there isn't fate at work here. I talked to my computer at work for years. I'd pat it on it's top and tell it how good it was. My computer always worked, while ever single computer in that office would need  a tech or geek or IT guy to get theirs working. Tell me equipment doesn't take on a life of its own.

As one of the breaking cars arrives in Irving with Big Boy, a near full moon looks down.

A group of young cyclist that shut down US 75 to pay respects to a fallan cyclist appears above the tracks where Big Boy weyes near Lamar Avenue.

 

Union Pacific 4018 Love Leaves Many Hurt Feelings

No.4018 Big Boy Outside at Fair Park

A non-reported derailment delayed the Big Boy's move.

The 4018 Big Boy was siting on the siding outside the Fair Park fence for the first time in 49 years. People were streaming into the outside parking lot to see the behemoth. What a beauty!

It's sad that Union Pacific predicts that it would cost between $3M to $7M  to restore the 4018 to full working order. There were only 25 built. Only 8 remain. To bad to museum has signed a deal with the devil rather than using some of the tools at hand to raise the funds to restore the engine.

 

The Trains at Fair Park Are Thinning

The next consist to move at month's end

The brakes are being rebuilt.

The Big Boy on the left. Over 1 million pounds of steel!

     The old trains at the former Museum are just about gone. The next big consist is being readied to move across the Union Pacific tracks out of Fair Park to the BNSF yard in Irving before being moved those final miles to the new Museum at Frisco. Looking at what's left, shows the years of neglect while on display at Fair Park.
     Of course, the Big Boy move will be the last to go. It is the biggest locomotive under steam that I have ever seen. I must say that. This is the one that everyone has been waiting to see on live rail again. The enjoyment of seeing an old steam locomotive under it's own power moving on the tracks is still exciting. To see this locomotive under it's own power will be an experience of a life time.
     Meanwhile--here are a few pictures from Fair Park. There are a couple taken from the other side of a chain link fence and the slight grey blur is the camera's reaction to the object in the lens. The Facebook page for the museum is saying that the move will be March 31. That's a Sunday and the TRE will not be running. That means that the trip should have live rail free from traffic to move to Frisco. It would not be expected to have this piece of equipment sitting on a yard siding at Mockingbird or Irving yard. It would be assumed that it will move non-stop from Fair Park to Frisco in one move. That is, of course, just an assumption. There is a little bit of politics being played out by a few and that always spoils the broth some.

The Old Katy Railroad Bed

Straight out of a James Bond movie, men were down in the drain pipe as it was covered over and new sections were added in the front. But, the history here lies in the railroad bed that the drain pipes are now below.
The Katy or the Missouri,Kansas,Texas Railroad (M-K-T) was the first railroad to enter Texas from a Northerly point. It was chartered on  May 23,1870. The railroad's stock symbol was K-T and soon, the railroad was know as the K-T. Later it was changed to Katy. Today the 3.5 mile long section of the Katy Trail has been  converted to a trail from the Park Cities area to the American Airlines Center downtown. There is a Katy Trail extension that runs through the M-Streets and connects with White Rock Lake. This new section is just North of Mockingbird Lane and runs South/Southwest to the Katy Trail Extension just before T and P hill. Following the railroad bed that has been removed, the former track parallels the water filtration building, is now an active finished trail that crosses Grand Avenue at Gaston and continues up the hill behind the golf course off Samuel Blvd., where it once tied into the Union Pacific track section that is live rail today. At this point, the trail turns and heads to Fair Park.
Going North from this point  the former rail bed travels along its present course crossing Greenville Avenue just North of Meadow Road, traveling along what is presently used by DART on the Red Line adjacent to the Royal Oaks Golf Course .

Looking North toward the Meadow/Greenville Crossing

A symphony of equipment working in unison to travel forward with drainage culverts buried under the old Katy Railroad tracks.