Western Railroad Discussion > Winterail Dinner Break (MRVPT + 1st UP SD70ACe)

Stockton, 2015:
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3691566,3691662#3691662

Corvallis, 2016:
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3990568

I may or may not have posted more TO reports of my catching trains during Winterail dinner breaks, but these 2 are the ones I found quickly using TO's search function.

SCUfoamer chose wisely when we went a brewpub in Corvallis to grab some dinner during the break. After a satisfying drink and meal, we looked briefly at a map and headed to the Brooklyn Sub about ~10 miles away to see if we can nab some trains.

A northbound showed up, led by UP 8309. When railfans had the capability to find out the whereabouts of a locomotive on the UP system many years ago, UP 8309 was one that I was always on the look out for, and I wanted to catch it while it still had the red sill stripes. That wasn't meant to be. So I lost interest, and forgot about it... until I reviewed the video after Winterail.

As mentioned in SCUfoamer's excellent report, UP 8309 is UP's SD70ACe "Class Unit", first one delivered to the railroad... which might be arguable since my research is somewhat shallow:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,5835526

The train is likely MRVPT, Roseville, CA to Lake Yard, OR, the yard on the west side of the Williamette River - the one on the east is Albina, with the symbol PD. Northbound I caught at the Calapooia River Bridge in 2016 was also the MRVPT.

I suspect the un-PSR-ness of the 2024 version of the MRVPT is due to the fact that the train had work in Eugene? Entire train is shown.

That's it for the quick report.

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Good to see you again and SCUFoamer at Winterail!  The MRVPT often has BNSF and CN cars to be forwarded by BNSF from Portland to CN Thornton Yard in Vancouver, and I did see two CN box cars.  I met a Portland Terminal engineer introduced to me by Arlen at Oregon Rail Heritage Center.  I don't know if he wants his name mentioned on TO or if he's on here, but he might know how to recognize the current MRVPT.

mapboy

Interesting operation. I'll bet a hint for the SB counterpart would be centerbeams loaded with Canadian origin lumber.

I'm up in Portland a couple-three times a year and I've never seen a UP through freight cross the Steel Bridge like this one must, only transfers to/from Albina.

Now I'm curious if UP has haulage rights into Vancouver, BC that BNSF operates out of Portland as a component of the large set of reciprocal rights granted to BNSF after the UP absorbed the SP.

Also if it is a BNSF haulage service why isn't this traffic rolling as a block on a Roseville-Albina train? Or transferred to BNSF from a Seattle/Argo train? Ahh, the inscrutability of railroad network ops.

pbouzide Wrote:
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> Interesting operation. I'll bet a hint for the SB
> counterpart would be centerbeams loaded with
> Canadian origin lumber.
I agree.  That's why I've made screen grabs of Canadian and American lumber company logos off railcams to make it easier to tell apart Canadian and American loads.

> ...Now I'm curious if UP has haulage rights into
> Vancouver, BC that BNSF operates out of Portland
> as a component of the large set of reciprocal
> rights granted to BNSF after the UP absorbed the
> SP.
> Also if it is a BNSF haulage service why isn't
> this traffic rolling as a block on a
> Roseville-Albina train? Or transferred to BNSF
> from a Seattle/Argo train? Ahh, the inscrutability
> of railroad network ops.
I'm fairly sure there's no haulage service, and no CN block.  The MRVPT would have BNSF cars for the Pacific NorthWest as well as CN, Tacoma Belt and MRL cars.  UP wants to get them off their system as soon as possible if they can rather than haul them to Argo.  Portland Terminal switches the MRVPT, and UP cars off BNSF for Albina.  I heard UP transfers from Albina make as many as three round trips in a day to PT's Lake Yard.  Along with the MRVPT, that should provide some phoro opps for UP freights on the Steel Bridge!

mapboy
 

A lot of BC lumber is trucked cross border to the transload at Sumas and sent around the US by BNSF
RB