Dedicated to all the hard-working railroaders who have ever hogged an engine, thrown a switch, walked a train, welded a rail, pulled a tie, fixed a circuit, replaced a knuckle, poured fuel or sand, repaired, hostled, cleaned or cursed at a locomotive or a car in the dead of night, in the rain, in the snow, in the glazing heat. You keep America moving, now more than ever.
Mid-February, I chanced to re-visit the Roseville Yard on my way to Nevada in order to take a high-elevation vacation in the snow with my bountiful and beautiful wife, the love of my life.
I have already documented one prior visit here, on the blog. This yielded some interesting views of the highly unique and exclusive SD-59MX, of which there are only three extant.
I also revealed the above aerial view of the Roseville Yard, taken by myself from a law enforcement helicopter a few years ago, because I have worked for various LE agencies for roughly 40 years.
During this visit, I found Roseville's J.R. Davis Yard to be remarkably settled but -- yet -- concealing a major revelation. See the below photos to disclose this new discovery, with captions.
The problem with posts such as this revolve around the time required to monitor the proper uploading and accurate portrayal of posts such as I would demand. Two or three photographs, on my current provider, require a good half hour. With ADD as I have, that tasks me completely. Which is why I don't post here as much as I would wish. Because I, frankly, haven't the patience, primarily.
Here, an elder EMD GP-38-2 unit, 587, is hooked to a younger EMD SD-70M.
An actual UP, former SP, rotary plow numbered SP MW 211, weighing in at 265,740 thousand stated pounds, not counting the tender behind.
Close-up, a rotary plow unit, co-powered by steam and diesel.
Cab view of a GP38-2 unit in perfect working condition.
The J.R. Davis Yard main building on Atkinson Street in Roseville, CA
Looking west, with a warning sign that still creates chaotic union reactions.
UP 3583, a former 8000-series EMD SD9043AC unit. Embiggen the photo and then try to deduce the original number. Can you do it?
UP 3660 and UP 3583.
Harbor mist grey. Armor yellow. An updated yellow rectangle easily replaces an entire locomotive repaint, does it not, in terms of overall cost?
This Roseville siding holds some major techno updates that, in reality, didn't quite pan out for the manufacturer, EMD, and the locomotive purchaser, Union Pacific.
The great line of the classic intro SD-9043AC units. They shipped with only 4,300hp prime movers.
The massive line. Once-respected EMD SD-90MACs now diminished in terms of primacy and in terms of numbers.
It's no secret that Fornicalia isn't getting a lot of rain whilst -- simultaneously -- the rest of the nation is getting sopped, socked, soaked and snowed-upon. (Click on the photo to embiggen.)
My Unalaska friends on The Deadliest Catch have to put up with this in the Bering Sea:
That said, living in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at the 4,000-foot level, I've only received one snowfall in mid-December of 2013, and it was somewhat pedestrian. Not that my back or my shovel are complaining, mind you.
This video was made just before my December snowfall as the #6 California Zephyr left Colfax and gained track speed of 30 mph on its way towards the Long Ravine bridge and then Cape Horn. One point I love: listen to the horn as the train passes: a clear example of the Doppler Effect.
[ Please click on the video above and then enlarge in HD. Its original URL is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0r4bwFCzdg ]
Two engines, nine cars, some very bruised clouds and a vocal crow in the background.
Colfax can be a tricky place for trains and engineers, as it sits in a bit of a depression. Approaching Colfax, an engineer must not let the train run away and exceed the speed limit as you are traveling downhill by a few degrees. Leaving Colfax, there is a bit of a climb and, if stopping, one must ensure sufficient braking energy so the train does not begin to back up. This is a challenge for engineers who must spot bad order cars or move to a siding in Colfax.
An interesting point: at a time when most diesel-electric locomotives have transitioned over to AC driven power, Amtrak's fleet consists primarily of DC locomotives. This, frankly, speaks volumes about the durability and efficacy of GE's original Genesis fleet and their reliability.
My most sincere apologies for not having posted in a brutally long time.
I have had an insane time with Google not being kind, and/or myself not being smarter than Google -- likely the second part.
That said, a video up for grabs:
My videos are still being created by the original Cisco Flip HD -- a camera no longer created or supported by Cisco. In the above video, I learned how to briefly edit internally per scene, which is how I was able to bring out solely audio from the detector at Milepost 154.4 at the end.
The first locomotive is a GE P42DC in Amtrak livery on the Roseville Subdivision's westbound #1 track. This is the California Zephyr heading towards Auburn, Roseville and then Sacramento.
I missed the lead unit on the freight train, heading uphill on the #2 track. You can see, however, that UP 5279 -- a GE C45ACCTE -- is working as a mid-train helper, with UP 5148 (an EMD SD-70M) and UP 7476 (a GE C45ACCTE in UP parlance, and ES44AC in GE lingo) pushing at the end.
It's Christmas week, so time to make a hit-and-run post. Now that I've made peace again with Google and Blogger, more to come.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and God bless us all in the potentially contentious New Year.
Below, an overview of UP's Roseville classification yard (taken by me from Star 6, a LE helo):
And then, on another day, I chanced to encounter a wonderful triumvirate of SD59MX locomotives on a side track whilst I bopped around the Roseville Yard:
The SD59MX -- of which there are three -- the 9900, the 9911 and the 9922 -- was originally built as an SD60M. Three units were converted to the newest enviro-compliant strictures and then re-named as SD59MX -- SD for its three-axle trucks, 59 for its similarity to an SD60, M due to its comfort cab, and X for experimental.
That said, there is this photograph:
As well as any number of Union Pacific 59X photos:
Oddly enough, Union Pacific features three former SD60 locomotives as UP 9900, 9911 and 9922. In intervals of 11?
The EMD SD59M-2, more commonly referred to as the SD59MX, is one of the rarest locomotives in the Union Pacific motive power fleet. SD59M-2s are remanufactured SD60Ms.
Spotting features:
Wide-nose, so far only the later two-window wide nose rather than
the earlier three-window "tri-clops" wide nose and none of the
traditional 40 Series cab SD60s have been converted.
Slightly slanted air intakes.
High-adhesion HT-C trucks, reused from the "donor" SD60M, rather than the newer "radial" or "bolsterless" trucks. Nearly all SD40-2s and SD50s used the same truck.
Safety fuel tank like that found on current SD70Ms.
That said, my tour continued, as documented here on video:
This was an active day at the Roseville Yard.
Amtrak's #5 westbound pounded through the yard, and any number of other freight locomotives were featured in and around the locomotive maintenance sheds and the drop pits.
Here, new and older traction motors await installation or repair. It is interesting to note that the listed weight on a typical traction motor set, here, is 11,000 pounds or 5.5 tons.
Here, a D90 traction motor awaits replacement for an EMD SD70M.
And that the discoveries are rated and beyond.
Here, another D90 traction motor waits for installation into an EMD SD70M locomotive, again rated at 11,000 pounds.
Below, a GE locomotive reveals its under-cab under-HVAC-and-air guts:
Below, an EMD SD70ACe reveals its clear cab isolation from the rest of the frame.
And elder GE unit just west of the J.R. Davis office building.
And it's all because of unions, wages and profitability.
Let there be no mistake: for whatever reason I have somehow favored EMD locomotives over GE locomotives. Perhaps because of the historical issue or perhaps because I watched more EMD locomotives in my area? I'm not sure.
However, why was it that General Electric believed that it had to open a new manufacturing facility in Texas, as opposed to its former and historical plant in Erie, Pennsylvania?
Because of margins.
GE Plans to Cut 950 Jobs at 100-Year-Old Train Plant
By Thomas Black -
Apr 9, 2013 11:37 AM PT
General Electric Co. (GE) plans to cut
950 jobs at a Pennsylvania locomotive plant, wiping out most of
the site’s recent employment growth, as it shifts some
production to a lower-cost factory in Texas. Reductions at the factory in Erie, Pennsylvania, which is
more than 100 years old, are slated to start in six months
pending 60 days of talks with union officials, who oppose the
move. The new plant in Fort Worth, Texas, is about 20 percent
more efficient, said Lorenzo Simonelli, head of GE’s
transportation unit.
A file photo shows workers
assembling a General Electric Co. GE Transportation locomotive at the GE
plant in Erie, Pennsylvania during May 2009. Photographer: Doug
Benz/Bloomberg
“Cost is becoming more and more of a factor,” Simonelli
said in an interview. “We’ve got to match our competition and
that’s what we’re trying to do.”
GE had expanded its workforce at Erie by about 1,000 in the
past two years to 5,500 today as it increased output of
locomotives and mining equipment. The plant in Fort Worth, which
employs a fraction of that number, began some production in June
and started building locomotives in January.
Transportation and other manufacturing businesses like
health care and energy have been a focus of Chief Executive
Officer Jeffrey Immelt’s growth strategy. He’s shrinking the
finance unit after credit-market disruptions in 2008 jeopardized
the company.
Industrial sales accounted for more than 65 percent of GE’s
$144.8 billion in revenue last year, with $5.6 billion coming
from GE Transportation. The Fairfield, Connecticut-based company
is the world’s largest builder of locomotives.
Bigger, at this point, than EMD -- whom Union Pacific quite frankly saved in 2001 with its purchase of 1,000 EMD SD70M locomotives. In order to keep the domestic locomotive market competitive.
Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. traces its roots to the Electro-Motive Engineering Corporation, founded in 1922. In 1930, General Motors Corporation purchased the Winton Engine Co.
and Winton's primary customer of gasoline engines, Electro-Motive
Corporation (a gasoline-electric car manufacturer), combining the two to
form GM's Electro-Motive Division (EMD) on January 1, 1941.
In 2005, GM sold EMD to Greenbriar Equity Group LLC and Berkshire Partners LLC,
which formed Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc., to facilitate the purchase.
On August 2, 2010, Progress Rail Services Corporation completed the
purchase of Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. from Greenbriar, Berkshire, et
al. making Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of
Progress Rail Services Corporation.
But here's the smoking EMD gun:
In 1999, Union Pacific placed the largest single order for diesel
locomotives in North American railroad history when they ordered 1,000
units of the EMD SD70M.
Union Pacific's fleet of SD70Ms has since been expanded by more than
450 additional units. In addition, Union Pacific also owns nearly 500 EMD SD70ACe's, a number of which have been painted in "Fallen Flags" (acquired/merged railroads) commemorative liveries. All of these locomotives are 710G-powered.
That order, simply stated, kept EMD alive today.
Whilst EMD is on the mend, GE is taking hits in its profit margins.
However:
Union Resistance
The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of
America, which represents about 3,500 GE workers in Erie, said
the shift is unacceptable.
“We intend to resist this with every tool at our disposal
and to fight tooth and nail to retain all of the work that has
always been done there,” Chris Townsend, the union’s political
director, said in a telephone interview.
Let me note: Texas is a "right to work" state.
Texas is sucking up work from most Leftist states, to include my Fornicalia and, here, Pennsylvania as well.
GE and its unions in Erie failed to reach an agreement in June, which meant that GE will cut 950 jobs in October. It will also shift production of its profitable GE Evolution Series freight locomotives from Erie to Texas.
GE indicated the Ft Worth plant has a 20% productivity advantage over Erie -- and that, now, GE faces a new and stronger competition from EMD than ever before.
I can't help it: a nice video of a GE Dash-8 unit starting up.
And then, there it is. Once again Obama insists that the economy is back on track when -- in true statistics -- it is estimated that roughly 18% to 20% of the nation is unemployed or uninterested in looking for jobs.
Omaha, Neb., July 23, 2013 –
Union Pacific Railroad today announced it reached an agreement with the
Southern California Chapter - Railway & Locomotive Historical
Society in Pomona, Calif., to transfer ownership of one of the world's
largest steam locomotives, Big Boy No. 4014, back to Union Pacific. Union Pacific plans to relocate No. 4014 to Cheyenne, Wyo., where
Union Pacific's Heritage Fleet Operations team will work to restore it
to operating condition. Details regarding those efforts will be made
public at a later date. Union Pacific donated No. 4014 to the historical society December 7,
1961. The locomotive arrived January 8, 1962, at its current display
location at the Rail Giants Train Museum in Pomona. No other railroad has retained its historical equipment or honored its American roots like Union Pacific. "Our steam locomotive program is a source of great pride to Union
Pacific employees past and present," said Ed Dickens, senior manager -
Union Pacific Heritage Operations. "We are very excited about the
opportunity to bring history to life by restoring No. 4014."
I commend Union Pacific for their strident support of our railroad heritage via various locomotives and concomitant passenger cars.
I am personally familiar with this static locomotive in Pomona, California, because it rests adjacent an area I visit yearly, where LASO tests cop cars at its EVOC facility, next to the Los Angeles County Fair and the NHRA Museum.
I submit that it is only Union Pacific that could have the strength, the commitment, the wherewithal and the dollars to bring an actual Alco Big Boy back to life.
Above is the Pomona locomotive on static display, kept in reasonable shape by the heat and the lack of humidity in the region.
And there I was, thinking I could possibly pull off another train meet on video. As immured here:
I knew that UP 4878 had already passed Alta and was on its way downhill towards my favorite spot under Interstate 80.
Here, UP 4878 West -- a priority Z Train -- heads downhill on the #2 track, an EMD SD70M with 4,000 hp manufactured between 2000 and 2004, one of 1,083 such units.
In number 2 position was UP 7920, a GE C45ACCTE with 4,400 hp, followed by UP 6398 in third position, an original Southern Pacific (and the last of this order) GE C44AC with 4,390 hp manufactured in 1995 and one of 202 such units. One of a very few units still displaying actual Southern Pacific colors on the UP main.
Because I anticipated a train meet, I kept my camera rolling on the downhill train. Yes, admittedly, perhaps a bit too long.
That said, UP 6448 East emerged around the same corner and screamed past me in Run 8, as a GE C44AC, one of 120 such units with 4,390 hp manufactured in 2000.
UP 6448 East on the nose.
EMD SD70ACe.
EMD units 620 (UP GP38-2, 2000 hp) and 1567 (UP SD40-2N, 3000 hp).
Look closely at the rear of this grain car. Riders.
Go here for the video on YouTube and, as per normal, click on the link, enlarge, and play with headphones for the best experience.
Except that, of course, when you actually examine the video, people will only count seven engines.
That is to say: up front. There is a DPU at the rear of this mixed manifest train -- which also hosts an intriguing set of new UP coil steel cars YouTube video here.
Above, UP 6471 West (a GE C44AC with 4390 hp manufactured for UP in 2000, one of 120 such units) leads six other GE locomotives:
UP 7452 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2009
UP 5280 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006
UP 5291 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006
UP 5290 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006
UP 5274 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006
UP 5261 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006
UP 6559 brings up the rear as a Distributed Power Unit (DPU), a GE C44AC, one of only fourmanufactured for Union Pacific in 1997, with 4390 hp.
As always, I recommend you click here for the YouTube link and expand fully whilst listening to the sound on headphones. The only true way to experience my train videos.
Note: you can also hear the westbound detector at 154.4 activate via my radio scanner, which I held up to the videocam.
Some screen captures from the video itself:
Timing is pretty much everything, and I capture what I can when I can. In this video, however, I managed to exhibit a train during one of the so-called Golden Hours of Photography -- the hour involving sunrise and the hour involving sunset. Here, it is sunset. Pure luck, but it does make for striking and radiant colors.
And what were the last six cars? Correct. They were the UP version of coil steel cars, now covered.
In the meantime, be safe around the tracks and keep your family close and secure in these tenuous -- and soon to be tumultuous -- times.
And not just any BNSF train; a BNSF train with the very newest GE power: two ES44C4s up front.
The story goes something like this:
I was coming back up to my cabin from having worked my week in Sacramento. I customarily cruise by Colfax, Gold Run and Alta to see what, if anything, is occurring on the tracks. I happened to catch a stalled BNSF train on the Gold Run siding, a mixed manifest. As I got closer, I noticed the nearby block signal went green, which meant an eastbound train was approaching from the west. I scurried back to the SUV and acquired my Flip HD camera (though actually my stupid Samsung Galaxy Note II frigging telephone takes better video), just in time to capture the below event (see it here on YouTube. Please expand and listen with headphones for the best experience):
On point is UP 7647, a GE C45ACCTE, one of 325 such 4400-hp locomotives manufactured between 2007 and 2008 and, if you look closely in the expanded video, you can see the friendly conductor waving to me as the train approaches and passes. In second position is UP 6214, a C44AC with 4390 hp, one of 167 such engines manufactured in 1995. Third place heralds UP 6600, a C44AC with 4390 hp, only one of which was built for UP in 1997.
There are two DPUs mid-train, UP 5262 and UP 5277, both manufactured between 2005 and 2006, both C45ACCTEs with 4400 horsepower, of 301 such units built.
After the UP train had passed, I was waved up by the engineer, who invited me into the cab. This was about to be a unique experience as I'd never been in the cab of any BNSF locomotive, much less a new GE ES44C4. I knew UP locomotive cabs were absolutely filthy; I was therefore curious about BNSF cabs.
The first two BNSF units are 6508 and 6563, two of 92 such ES44C4 locomotives manufactured by GE in 2013, both with 4400 horsepower. The third unit is BNSF 7680, an aging and fading GE ES44DC WarPumpkin with 4400 hp, one of 194 such units built in 2005.
Armed with my monster Flip HD and my phone, I placed my right foot on the bottom step, wrapped my hands around the white rails, simultaneously pushing with my foot and pulling with my hands. I felt an immediate, white-hot and excruciating pain in my right foot and almost fell backwards off the ballast and down about a fifteen foot drop.
It took me roughly a half hour to hobble my way over the three tracks and back to my Tahoe, only about a hundred yards away on a side road. The engineer thought I was kidding when I told him I believed I'd broken my foot trying to climb up. Until he saw the look on my face. I made my way, the next day, down to Auburn for a visit to a local doc-in-the-box who confirmed: yes. Foot broken. Hairline fracture adjacent the tuberosity of the 5th metatarsal. Stay off foot for at least two weeks. We don't have crutches. You can buy them next door. Stay off foot. No boot. Buy ibuprofen.
So how did BNSF 6508 move ahead? It called for ancient power. As you can see above in the video (again, after I'd fractured my foot, I still stayed to record this helper set), BNSF units 147 and 139 responded -- both being elder EMD GP60M B-truck units, two of 59 such 3600 hp units manufactured for Santa Fe in 1990. It was like watching a '59 Corvette respond to a 2013 Vette.
Before I fractured my foot, however, I was able to take the below photographs with my Note II:
A photo taken just before I attempted to climb up into the cab.
This is a new model whose purpose is to try to make an AC unit as affordable as a DC unit, with roughly equal traction. BNSF is, to date, the only major railroad to have purchased the C4. ES44C4 data sheet is here.
GE indicates that, in general, the ES44 locomotives are "powered by GE’s 12-cylinder diesel engine, with the Evolution Series producing the same 4,400 HP as its 16-cylinder predecessor — using less fuel. This 45-degree, 12-cylinder, 4-stroke, turbocharged engine provides efficiency, lower emissions and extended overhaul intervals. The engine also uses enhanced cooling and higher-strength materials that dramatically improve reliability and allow for future increases in power and efficiency."
4-cycle Model GEVO 12
GE also writes: "In North America, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway is using Evolution Series ES44C4 Locomotives as a cleaner, faster, safer and more reliable alternative to DC-powered locomotives. The advanced technology of Model ES44C4 reduces fuel use by 17% and emissions by 70% compared to existing DC locomotives."
The model indicates C4 because one axle -- the #2 -- is unpowered in each truck. The ES44C4 has a variable traction control system onboard, whose software adjusts the pressure in the air cylinders and linkages on the truck side frames (see photos above) in order to vary the weight on the four actual drive axles and yield adequate traction under various grades and traction conditions -- where wheel slip may occur. It is said that each center axle lifts for speeds below 15 mph so as to improve adhesion and get optimal tractive effort from the four AC traction motors.
GE mid-axle lifting linkage on ES44C4, close up. Note on truck photos above.
"My dad caught 3 of those here awhile back on a grain load, I've never
heard him bitch so much about a motor. Apparently they're slippery and
like all GE's, don't load worth a *. These were supposed to be a better
alternative to the ES44DC's, but what I'm hearing is most would prefer a
6 axle DC over these C4's."
What people may not realize, regarding AC locomotive power in general, is this: if one traction motor goes offline, more power can be applied to the other motors. DC traction motors can't handle the transferred load and aren't designed to do so.
This is, at least, the "argument" for producing double-truck, six-axle locomotive power with only four axles possessing traction motors.
EMD also began production of their own version of a C4 unit, called the SD70ACe-P4. As best I can determine, this locomotive (see photo of EMD Demonstrator #4223 by Karl Rethwisch below) likewise has two unpowered axles. However, instead of the mid axles being unpowered, the axles closest to the fuel tank are unpowered. Also, no axles will be physically lifted, as with the C4.
My question: did this BNSF train stall because the two locomotives on point failed to produce sufficient traction due to the design of the ES44C4s utilized? I simply do not know. I can't help but wonder, however.
In closing, one very interesting business point, from BizJournals.com:
GE locomotive plant plans to cut 950 jobs in Erie
GE Transportation is dealing a huge blow to the Erie economy, moving nearly 1,000 jobs to Texas with its AC locomotives and mining vehicle lines.
For GE Transportation, it apparently comes down to economics. The market
for locomotives isn't as strong as it has been and the two new plants,
in Fort Worth, Texas, is more productive. Plus, the Erie Times-News said
the Fort Worth plant, unlike the one in Erie, is nonunion. The Erie
employees earn about twice as much on average as the Fort Worth
employees and the workers at a competing Caterpillar Inc. plant.
Here's the unspoken fact as well: Texas provides tax incentives and reduced regulations that Pennsylvania doesn't. Or, on the other hand, is it simply the result of the purposeful decline of coal via onerous restrictions by the Obama Administration?
Thanks for reading, please weigh in, and be safe near the tracks.
Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, United States
I am a political junkie who works in the capital of California, and cannot wait to leave the daily bedlam of the valley for my rustic cabin at the 4,000-foot elevation in the Sierra Nevada mountains. My interest in railroads has led to a rekindled interest in photography, video and history. Few things are as impressive as having 15,000+ horsepower pass by my home in Run 8, hence my interest in the Central, Southern and Union Pacific Railroads.
One of the purposes of this blog is to display my photographic documentation of the Roseville Sub, specifically the Donner Pass area, as it exists now and in the past.
My current challenge is to provide you with views, photos and videos that few people would dare to proffer, placing me in frequent danger. On the other hand, after 6 decades, I'm ready for each and every challenge.
Unless otherwise credited, all photographs are copyright (c) 2014 by the blog author.
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