UP 7732 East, & Another Train Meet

In a still from the video, UP 5646, a Distributed Power Unit (DPU or "dupe") pushes in Run 8, sanding like crazy (watch the video as this unit passes) as UP 3798 West rounds the curve from the left, in time for a perfect locomotive-to-locomotive train meet.

I'd like to write that capturing this train meet involved nothing but skill, but that would be quite inaccurate. It was predominantly luck and timing:



Again, this HD Flip Slide video is best enjoyed fully expanded in YouTube, and with headphones.

A bit more information for you:

I followed UP 7732 East up from Colfax, and decided I'd try to capture it from a long, distant curve to a straight at an open crossing.

I had yet to purchase my Flip HD with image stabilization, and instead shot this on a Flip Slide HD cam, which has a small tele option. I'd not used it before, and decided to "zoom" slightly to capture the initial approach. As you can see, this was a pretty bad idea, as the Flip Slide doesn't provide an actual optical telephoto option (small as it is), but instead uses the cheaper route: it merely enlarges the pixels and blurs the image. My bad.

On point is UP 7732, a 2007 GE C45ACCTE with 4,000 hp. In second position is UP 2492**, a 2009 SD59MX with 3,000 hp (more on this unit later). Third in line is UP 9445, the elder statesman of the group, a 1991 GE C41-8W with 4,135 hp. The train itself is a mixed manifest. Pushing at the rear is UP 5646, a 2004 C44ACCTE with 4,390 hp. As this unit passes, note the brown swirl as the sanders work heavily. Clearly, the train has slowed down and all locomotives are maxed in Run 8.

At the 5:00 mark in the video, directly after I had panned left to capture the passing DPU, UP 3798 West comes into view, the engineer hitting its K5LLA dual-chime air horns for the unprotected crossing where I'm standing.

Heading downhill on the #1 track, UP 3798 West is, these days, a very unique locomotive consist, as it's comprised of all-EMD SD70M DC (direct current) power.

On point, UP 3798 is a 2004 SD70M, one of 94 such DC-traction motor-powered units purchased by UP, with 4,000 hp. Second is UP 4079, one of 141 such SD70M DC units purchased by UP in 2000 with 4,000 hp. Third in line is UP 4340, one of 420 such SD70M DC units purchased in 2001 with 4,000 hp. This is a double-stack train with no rear units.

**Finally, a note about UP 2492, one unit in a very limited and unique rebuild program supported by Union Pacific.

UP 2492 is a former EMD SD60M C-truck DC 3,800 hp unit (introduced in 1984), which was upgraded in 2009. These units were resurrected for continued (and slightly cheaper) power with more eco-friendly diesel prime movers, slightly degraded in overall horsepower but compensated via more efficient software and an upgraded/appropriate diesel motor with the fewest modifications required to achieve that emissions goal.

Union Pacific calls this unit a SD59MX, and EMD calls it the SD59M-2. Part of the UP SD-32ECO program, these are upgraded units with 12-cylinder diesel engines in compliance with Tier 2 environmental/air mandates. Their horsepower, however, has been downgraded to 3,000 hp. The bottom line rules: this is an attempt to see if upgrading older units with newer prime movers and electronics/software, on an older chassis, will yield greater efficiencies as contrasted to brand new units. From TrainsMag.com in 2010:

LONDON, Ont. — Electro-Motive Diesel has received 10 out-of-service Union Pacific SD60Ms for its 710ECO repowering program. Industry sources indicate they are to be designated SD59M-2s, and are being fitted with a 12N-710G3B-T2 engine.

The locomotive will be rated at 3,000 traction horsepower, meaning they'll generate enough horsepower to apply 3,000 hp to actual pulling. Upgrades will include the EM2000 microprocessor and crashworthy fuel tanks.

The units, sent to London at the end of 2009, are expected to be delivered to Union Pacific's Proviso Yard in Chicago this summer. Their road numbers have yet to be determined.

One captured, by my video, in service.

MP154

In The Cab: Moving Along With UP 9533

UP 9533 is a General Electric (GE) C41-8W. This particular unit was manufactured by GE in 1993, with 4,135 hp, featuring a wide cab, C-trucks, and desktop controls and analog gauges.


Here, there are lower gauges, which control light and cab HVAC systems. The round, red metal piece is activation for the horn via the foot. Engineer's seat is thick, adjustable black vinyl.

Here I am in this GE cab, after having transited quite a number of miles, under direct supervision, on the Roseville Subdivision. Conveniently, I cannot recall the time, the date, the season or the specific details. Suffice to say: it was quite enjoyable. Some scenes have been changed to protect the innocent.


Detail of this early GE desktop unit. After engineers had gotten used to numerous pedestal cab controls on the left, desktops confused them. Before the digital era burgeoned, the analog era beckoned. Reverser handle removed. It was in my pocket when I took the photograph.


Back panel of this early GE desktop unit, to include start/stop switches and breakers. Precursor to desktop displays situated here. This panel sits directly behind the engineer, right side of the cab.


Conductors desk, left side of the cab. Pretty spartan and ridiculously filthy, having seen almost 20 years of continuous use. Emergency brake application, radio microphone, refrigerator down on very lower right adjacent steps to nose of cab. Clear absence of speedometer.


Brake pipe analog gauges. Explanations below. CFM indicator on far right. Sanding switches in blue.


Overall and above view of engineer's seat, right side of GE cab. Fire extinguisher back of seat. Engineers complained, initially, of having to lean over desktop in order to make input to controls. This is before the cabs got really complicated with digital input and readouts.

Whilst I monitor the comings and goings in the area of the Sierra Nevada mountains where I live, I happen -- now and then -- to come upon various trains that have stopped for various and sundry reasons.

Because I tend to be ubiquitous at medium-to-high elevations, I make contact with any number of cab personnel who, mostly, don't wish to be identified. At all.

With that in mind, here I sit in an older UP unit, a GE C41-8W, with 4,135 hp and manufactured between 1990 and 1993. A bit of irony: I'm wearing an EMD hat.

From a stop, after much conversation and commonalities, I was allowed to drive this unit from roughly Emigrant Gap to Sparks. I did so safely and with input and monitoring. This happened sometime between 1998 and 2011. Oddly enough, I forget precisely when the event occurred.

This was an elder but current unit still assigned to the Roseville Subdivision. It is commonly utilized in adjunct but not point power these days, because I've seen it time and again.

Whilst I line up posts for new GE and EMD cab shots, I hope this one will do, with some detail that may satiate my readers for a time.

Thanks to the cab personnel who made contact with me. Some are past and current friends. And thanks to their anonymity. I am not a terrorist. I am just a railfan who happens to have some items in common with the bulk of cab personnel, whether they be UTU or BLET members.

MP154

MP154 - UP 7435 East Close-Up

In the middle of a rather searing summer last year, I happened to catch UP 7435 East, a double-stack train, passing the stopped UP 7405, just past Gold Run:



I shot this with my older Flip Slide in HD but this particular cam, as you can see, lacks any form of image stabilization. That heat + my age = fairly unsteady. Also note that you can hear UP radio traffic. Listen closely. As always, if you open the video in YouTube, expand it and listen with headphones, the experience is enhanced.

The situation is this: UP 7405 (a GE C45ACCTE, 4,400 hp, built in 2009, known by GE as their ES44AC), a westbound (downhill) grain train, hit the detector at MP 154.4, which activated. The engineer stopped his train prior to the Gold Run crossing.

I was examining the EOT device when I heard UP 7435 coming uphill. UP 7435 is likewise a 2009 ES44AC with 4,400 hp. Directly behind was UP 5651, a GE C44ACCTE built in 2004 and rated at 4,390 hp. Pushing in DPU status at the end was UP 7637, a C45ACCTE built in 2007, rated at 4,400 hp.

Go ahead, hit me. I can hear the comments coming already.

MP154

P.S.
I still haven't found the time to upload the newer cab shots. Even with DSL, the number of photos I want to post will consume the better part of an entire day to upload. And I have two posts of equally gigantic size to make. In lieu of that, I'll be making a quick-grab post about another excursion in an older UP locomotive shortly.

UP 5770 At Carpenter Road

I was recently -- just in January -- invited into the cab of two new UP units representing the best of the two major American locomotive builders: GE and EMD.

I first visited a GE ES44AC unit, which features 4,390 hp. I next visited an EMD SD70ACe unit, which features 4,300 hp.

Whilst I line up those photographs (I took over 60 in each cab) and one video, I'd like to share the video below with you, of a mixed manifest train featuring five units; four in front and one DPU:



In detail, UP 5770 on point is a GE ES44AC (called a C44ACCTE by Union Pacific) manufactured in 2002, with 4,390 hp.

Next up is UP 6520, a GE C44AC manufactured in 2000, with 4,390 hp.

Third in line is UP 8222, a rather rare SD90MAC which UP labels as an SD9043AC with 4,300 hp and built in 1998.

Fourth place features UP 2327, another rare EMD unit, which is an SD60M with 3,800 hp, built between 1988 and 1992.

At the rear in DPU (Distributed Power Unit or "dupe") status is UP 5564, a GE C44ACCTE with 4,390 hp, manufactured in 2004.

As you can see here in a view provided by Google Maps, the train is traveling eastbound (uphill) from Colfax and over the Long Ravine bridge.


Here, the grade begins to get steeper, though the Ruling Grade over Donner is 2.4%.

NEXT UP:

Actual photos from the two new GE and EMD cabs. Simply uploading these photographs will take, for me, literally hours over my DSL connection. First will be the GE ES44AC cab, then the EMD SD70ACe cab.

Take care, be safe.

MP154

Get On Board: Another Cab Visit

I am conflicted, as you might surmise, when I board a cab interior whilst -- in direct contravention of various rules and regulations -- I am therein invited in.

I suspect it is because I am a representative of an elder generation and because -- logically so -- I present no clear threat to UP staff and personnel.

Because, in fact, I truly present no threat.

Any UP employee who invites any individual into the cab also invites their own dismissal, their own firing, and perchance their own prosecution under any number of TSA or Homeland Security edicts.

Despite this, I find myself invited into any number of locomotive cabs because, after all, I only wish to document the newer, upgrade cabs in real time.

More photographs coming.

From a modern cab unit.

MP154

Shed 10

Above, you can see the relationship of Shed 10 (concrete edifice on bottom) to Interstate 80 at the top. Click on image to enlarge. Linking the concrete snow shed on the left (west) is the trestle illustrated in photographs below.

Shed 10 connects one of two points on Union Pacific's east/west Roseville Subdivision where rail traffic is constricted, from a double track to a single track.


The line is currently single-tracked between these points:

1. Between Switch 9 (MP 171.2) to Shed 10 (MP 178.2), a total of 7.1 miles;
2. Between West Norden (MP 191.2) to Shed 47 (MP 196.6), a total of 5.4 miles;

Trains clog up going eastbound at the mouth of Switch 9 and Tunnel 41; trains clog up going westbound just prior to Shed 47 and prior to Shed 10 (historical article about the snowsheds here).

Shed 10 rests on the eastern end of one of these single tracks, with Switch 9 on the western end of the single track, over Donner Pass. This 7.1 mile section is a bottleneck that constricts traffic -- particularly now that UP can run double-stack traffic over Donner -- as illustrated here since 2009.

Track 1 and Track 2 over Donner Pass used to be continuously double-tracked, until Philip Anschutz purchased Southern Pacific in 1988 and ripped up portions of track in 1993 in order to distribute that rail to other lines (the Sunset Route, for one) without having to purchase new rail. That is when those two single-tracked choke points were created -- by the prior owner's short-sightedness and false thrift.

The current owner, Union Pacific, is considering double trackage again, along the entire route. Union Pacific may, in fact, be quite serious about laying back down a second track again, as it spent millions of dollars to open up its tunnels along Donner Pass so that double-stack container cars could be accommodated in November of 2010.

View of I-80 which is located just north of Shed 10. This shot is looking east towards the higher elevations.

UP 4184, an SD70M built in 2001, 4,000 hp, rolls westbound (downhill) on the single track that begins behind the locomotive in Shed 10. You can see the vertical red signals through the trees, just over Shed 10's western portal.

UP 5723 exits the western portal of Shed 10 over the trestle built in 1904 by Southern Pacific. This is a GE C44ACCTE. You can also see, on this shot, where there is clearance for a second track and, as such, where the second track obviously used to be.

The very last of its kind over Donner, CNW (Chicago NorthWestern) unit # 9776 (a GE C44-9W) exits the western end of Shed 10 as its train rolls downhill under maximum track speed of 25 mph.

In a broader view, the DPU for UP 7614 (another GE C44ACCTE) rolls over the western trestle of Shed 10 in dynamic braking. Here, you can see the access maintenance road for Shed 10 itself.

The trestle's construction date is clearly marked underneath on one of its diagonal metal braces, round rivets plainly evident. In 2011, this span is 107 years old and still holding its own despite over a century of Sierra Nevada winters and the abuse of heavier and heavier trains.

The western end of Shed 10, ballast over the trestle, and CWR (continuous welded rail) held over the single track by newer clips and not spikes, with heavy metal ties underneath. Again, you can see there is clearance for another track on the left, should UP decide to add an additional line.

BNSF 4654, another C44-9W, rockets up Donner in resplendent new War Pumpkin paint on approach to Shed 10, with gorgeous silver trucks and fuel tanks. BNSF still has trackage rights over Donner when necessary, in order to satisfy various past FRA merger deals.

A view of the western trestle approach to Shed 10. In the spring, this draw is awash with the cascading snow-melt of the previous season.

Here, you can see the distance between Shed 10 to the east, and Switch 9 to the west. Interstate 80 parallels the rail lines because the hard work was already accomplished. The route of I-80 did nothing more than easily mimic the shatteringly-difficult work of the original Transcontinental Route over the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Shed 10 is one of the few active snowsheds still left over Donner, built with concrete and protecting a valuable transition point on the line. With the final removal of the original massive wooden timbers shrouding the western portal to The Big Hole (Tunnel 41), Shed 10 stands as a stark reminder that winter snows once easily occluded the rails over Donner Pass, and where Norden, in winter, was essentially a small town, buried under 40+ feet of snow.

Shed 10 still stands today in contrast to the bulk and the rest of its uncovered and unfettered trackage.

MP154

Inside The Cab, Part II

As I wrote in my January 2011 post "Inside The Cab, Part I," I have to admit that, from my very early interest in trains, my goal was to find out what happens in the cab of a locomotive on point.

And since my concentrated interest in 1996, it didn't take me long before I was invited inside.

Luckily, my interest coincided with the transition of the purchase of Southern Pacific by the Union Pacific. All the engineers, at that time, had great loyalty to the "friendly SP" as opposed to UP. And trust me -- SP was infinitely more friendly than UP. Former SP or retired SP employees will unanimously agree.

My first invitation into a cab came when a train was halted in Gold Run and shoved into the eastern siding, waiting for Dispatcher 74 to clear them. Snow was all around. The lead unit was a battered UP SD-60. And I do mean battered.

I went home and snatched a plate full of just-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies. Getting out of my car and trudging through about three feet of snow, I yelled up at the cab. The window slided open and I was invited into the cab -- for clear reasons.

I met an engineer whom I encountered many times on the road and has invited me into the cab for various rides since -- to the point where I was given the opportunity to operate the controls on a couple of very clandestine runs. Those were, frankly, the times of my doddering life, a few years ago. I think my age also helped: I'm not a kid (far from it) and I am customarily festooned with cameras.

Because of my fascination and interest in the locomotive cab and what happens there, I'm on the lookout for interesting videos and photographs. I'll be posting a few photographs of myself in the cabs of locomotives [such as the one of me above, in Burlington Northern #8039, an EMD SD40-2 built in August of 1979 with 3,000-hp, stopped near Switch 9], and other interior shots -- of SD70Ms, SD60Ms, SD40T2s, SD90MACs, C44-9Ws and more. I'm currently on vacation in Ft. Bragg, California as I write this -- and don't have my terabyte external drive with me -- or I could post some of my cab photographs now.

In the meantime, please enjoy some YouTube videos of what it's like "inside the cab."

Engineer Jim works for Metra passenger rail:



What's it like inside an SD60M?



Here is a Canadian National recruitment video for conductors. Embedding has been disabled on YouTube by CN's request. It's interesting to note the inclusion of the controversial Belt-Pak, which has eliminated a number of jobs for yard engineers.

Here's how to make your SD40 travel faster:



Not everything works perfectly in the cab:



Here, it's time to drive an EMD F7 unit:



Nice (and very rare) cab ride in an Amtrak GE P42DC unit, with subject of the video sitting in the co-engineer's seat (not the primary engineer's seat). Because there are actual conductors aboard a passenger train, there are two qualified engineers in an Amtrak cab. The person sitting in what would customarily be the conductor's seat in a freight cab is called the co-engineer.

More to come!

MP154