Western Railroad Discussion > Getting a "No Fitter" to Fit

UP has been running them long in and out of Roseville. This morning a train entering the yard from the Valley Sub was too long to allow the dispatcher to take the signal at CP RV106 and align the switches to get the Capitol Corridor train from Auburn over to the platform at Roseville. (I believe the tail end of the inbound train was still on the 119 receiving lead. It didn't look very close to where the switch for the 119 and 120E tie into Main 2, but apparently it was close enough to cause a problem.) The conductor of the Amtrak had to take the switch in hand and flag through the CP. So it goes.

In a similar vein, slow moving PSR trains have become a challenge to fit within the video time and file size constraints on TO without trimming the clips and reducing file sizes. Some folks appreciate seeing the entire train for modeling purposes or other interests, so I've taken a different approach with this one. I've sped approximately half the clip up to 2x speed. Thoughts on this are welcome.

This train was a reluctant grab. After shooting the 5910 west at Switch 9 and Gold Run on Sunday, April 28, I stopped at the Indian Kitchen 80 food truck at Cisco for some dinner. While waiting on my food this manifest rolled east where the tracks wind above Cisco . (I think this might have been the same train I passed around 7:30 in the morning holding at Bowman due to a burning traction motor. I believe the plan was to set the bad unit out at Colfax.) I didn't make it to Norden in time to get a wider angle lens on my camera to frame the shot how I wanted to, but a cloud did make it to Norden just in time to thrust the tracks into shadow. So it goes.

Cheers,
Sean

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Nice vdeo, Sean!  I do like to see the whole train just to see what they are hauling.  Thanks for sharing.

texchief1

broken_link Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In a similar vein, slow moving PSR trains have
> become a challenge to fit within the video time
> and file size constraints on TO without trimming
> the clips and reducing file sizes. Some folks
> appreciate seeing the entire train for modeling
> purposes or other interests, so I've taken a
> different approach with this one. I've sped
> approximately half the clip up to 2x speed.
> Thoughts on this are welcome.

I've done the same before, editing in speed ups to make the video shorter. Fortunately contemporary video editing software can speed up sound without changing the pitch, which makes it less silly.

On almost all my reports in recent years, I've always kept train length and speed in mind while I chase. Not a difficult task on the Sunset Route, as there are distinct locations for slow (Beaumont Hill) and fast (further east past Palm Springs). Don't know if that's the subconscious reason why I don't go to Donner to catch trains anymore? It's a real pain to document PSR length trains under 30 mph, where speedy section could be hours away, Martinez Sub, or Nevada Sub.

Unfortunately, my whining about trying to improve my VSR (Video Storage Ratio) will fall on deaf years. Would love to find a Wall St. sponsor to pay for SD cards, extra gasoline and extra time I spend trying to document OR-conscious PSR trains. :-)

I like to figure out the differences between trains and their train symbols.  I like to count the various types of cars and look for special rare types that you see only on certain routes, like dirty dirt container cars.  Therefore I like to see the whole train.  I like to read the logos on lumber loads, if the load is from Canada or Montana/Idaho, it can help determine the symbol.  It was hard to read the logos on this train, but for that reason I have screen grabs of many logos.  Also, the quality didn't seem to be any worse speeded up or not, but I would have liked better readabilty for the lumber logos.  I know the quality depends on many factors, includig TO file limits.  Thanks for the video, and the many others you have posted!

mapboy

Given PSR size trains, and the lack of double-track on Donner from Switch 9 eastward, I wonder if UP will restore that section?  It could help keep things fluid....

cchan006 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> On almost all my reports in recent years, I've
> always kept train length and speed in mind while I
> chase. Not a difficult task on the Sunset Route,
> as there are distinct locations for slow (Beaumont
> Hill) and fast (further east past Palm Springs).
> Don't know if that's the subconscious reason why I
> don't go to Donner to catch trains anymore? It's a
> real pain to document PSR length trains under 30
> mph, where speedy section could be hours away,
> Martinez Sub, or Nevada Sub.

It amazes me how long some trains can take to move over the mountain. The AC units can just walk a train up Donner, so plenty of manifest or non-priority trains will be moving well under track speed. Then account for the single track sections from Switch 9 to Shed 10 and East Norden to Shed 47, plus the tunnel restrictions for stack trains on Track 2 from Bowman to Colfax, and it can make for a lot of hurry up and wait. Throw in the myriad mechanical problems, MOW work, and slow orders, and I frequently see crews dying on the law by the time they've made the Summit or Truckee. 8-10 hours to go ~100 miles. It'd be under 4 if they were making track speed unimpeded.

ATCS was a big help when it was available, and I appreciate the new webcams that have gone up at Roseville and Colfax. The webcams provide an idea of what "might" be coming, but trains frequently fall into a black hole time vortex making their way up the mountain.

> Unfortunately, my whining about trying to improve
> my VSR (Video Storage Ratio) will fall on deaf
> years. Would love to find a Wall St. sponsor to
> pay for SD cards, extra gasoline and extra time I
> spend trying to document OR-conscious PSR trains.
> :-)

I have resorted to a couple of Synology NAS systems for storage at this point. I've been shooting with a high resolution full-frame Sony camera for a number of years now which lacks lossless compression raw capabilities. I'll use up drive space shooting 42MP raw stills as quick as or quicker than I fill it up with 4k video.

It seems to me this would be the easiest section to improve train movement on Donner.

I'd have to imagine it'd be cheaper and easier than increasing tunnel clearances on Main 2 from Bowman to Colfax. I know that section can create challenges when stack trains need to run up and down Main 1. It seems it would also be way cheaper than restoring Main 1 across the Summit. Numerous tunnels and snow sheds through that stretch that presumably wouldn't fit modern 53' double stacks.

coach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Given PSR size trains, and the lack of
> double-track on Donner from Switch 9 eastward, I
> wonder if UP will restore that section?  It could
> help keep things fluid....

What was the problem with the car toward the rearend with the "squeaking sound", or was that a "Bird of Somesort"?  Ha!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/24 20:03 by rrman6.

I don't know for certain, but I had noticed it as well. It was wheel or axle related, I suspect, given it's cyclical nature. I'm not sure if it was a wheel bearing giving up the ghost or something else.

rrman6 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What was the problem with the car toward the
> rearend with the "squeaking sound", or was that a
> "Bird of Somesort"?  Ha!

mapboy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I like to figure out the differences between
> trains and their train symbols.  I like to count
> the various types of cars and look for special
> rare types that you see only on certain routes,
> like dirty dirt container cars.  Therefore I like
> to see the whole train.  I like to read the logos
> on lumber loads, if the load is from Canada or
> Montana/Idaho, it can help determine the symbol.
>  It was hard to read the logos on this train, but
> for that reason I have screen grabs of many logos.
>  Also, the quality didn't seem to be any worse
> speeded up or not, but I would have liked better
> readabilty for the lumber logos.  I know the
> quality depends on many factors, includig TO file
> limits.  Thanks for the video, and the many
> others you have posted!
>
> mapboy

Same here with me; I thought it was interesting that there were those Canadian lumber loads on the head end of this train.  Wouldn't those cars have moved east out of Portland over the ORWN/OSL after coming down from Vancouver Canada?  I wonder if those cars were set out at Sparks for Reno area customers.  It does look like a small carload block was added to an empty grain train here.

This might have been the MRVSP with an empty grain train tacked on the back. In the prior several years the UP had been doubling them over the hill. Perhaps now they tack one onto the MRVSP and then double it with another going east from Sparks?

Ticeska Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Same here with me; I thought it was interesting
> that there were those Canadian lumber loads on the
> head end of this train.  Wouldn't those cars have
> moved east out of Portland over the ORWN/OSL after
> coming down from Vancouver Canada?  I wonder if
> those cars were set out at Sparks for Reno area
> customers.  It does look like a small carload
> block was added to an empty grain train here.

112 grain hoppers on the end of the train, maybe an empty Foster Farms?  I like 2x for counting, doesn't take as long.  I'm sure motorists stopped at crossings wish they could 2x a few trains, or 3 or 4x.     


broken_link Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This might have been the MRVSP with an empty grain
> train tacked on the back. In the prior several
> years the UP had been doubling them over the hill.
> Perhaps now they tack one onto the MRVSP and then
> double it with another going east from Sparks?
>
> Ticeska Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Same here with me; I thought it was interesting
> > that there were those Canadian lumber loads on
> the
> > head end of this train.  Wouldn't those cars
> have
> > moved east out of Portland over the ORWN/OSL
> after
> > coming down from Vancouver Canada?  I wonder
> if
> > those cars were set out at Sparks for Reno area
> > customers.  It does look like a small carload
> > block was added to an empty grain train here.