Late yesterday afternoon I was driving southbound on Interstate 5 just north of Mt. Shasta when I noticed a southbound string of shiny new tank cars. It was getting dark and I could not identify the locomotives on the lead. I was going to Dunsmuir anyway and thought I'd stop by the UP facility there and wait for the train to arrive. Dunsmuir is normally the place where a crew change is made. About half an hour later I heard the horns and another 5 or 10 minutes later the train arrived, and stopped to change the crew. When the train resumed its travel there were four diesels in the lead. First was a very dirty UP unit followed by two Canadian Pacific units and then there was a Nofolk Southern, which I've never seen around these parts. Behind the lead locos was a single hopper car followed by 97 tanks; and then, much to my surprise there was another hopper car with a Canadian Pacific loco at the rear! I suspect it was there to help going up grades and for added dynamic braking as the train descended the route along the Shasta River Canyon. Too dark for photos. Sorry.
We see the CP and NS up here on BNSF. Which is most likely where this train originated, from the Bakken.
Last weekend driving home from the train show in Richmond (SF Bay) I heard on the radio that there is more Bakken crude coming into the refineries in the Richmond area. Right now it’s only about 1 train per week but it is supposed to be increasing. Brad Myers Peninsula Ntrak / AsiaNrail My Blogs: http://www.n-scale-dcc.blogspot.com/ http://www.palisadecanyonrr.blogspot.com/ http://tokyo-in-nscale.blogspot.com/
Huh, I thought most crude trains were coming over Donner. This is a new routing. Must be originating off of Canadian Pacific. The rear unit was a DPU. It probably wasn't added. It probably ran through all the way from Bakken with it. I assume it ran on CP most of the way, probably to Vancouver, then south on BNSF trackage rights to Portland where it probably picked up the UP unit and headed south. That DPU would have been needed to get over the Rockies and then over the Natron in the Cascades as well. Unit trains run with them all the time. Still 4x1 is a unique config. The NS unit is probably repaying horsepower hours. I see them often enough in Roseville though I see more of em on BNSF trains.
From the Bakken via Alberta and BC would be an odd routing. It would be difficult to see them giving up the revenue to short haul crude that way. Even for a detour, they'd more likely send it west via MRL. BNSF has been leasing CP power due to being way short of engines.
BNSF isn't the only player in Bakken you know, But if it were a BNSF train it would run via inside gateway then trackage rights through Sac. It would have never been on the ex SP Valley sub....Well, it could have been if there was a reroute for some reason, but it would not have needed to be to get where it is going. We're also assuming it's Bakken. It could also be Tar Sands. CP and CN are sending a lot of oil to the coasts via train. CP taps Bakken in Saskatchewan and North Dakota and of course there's the Tar Sands Heavy Crude. Why would a train originating on former DME/SOO hand off to MRL or BNSF when it could run via CP?
I am quite well aware of the Bakken. The largest part of it, what has been tapped the most, is here. It is the Elm Coulee Field, the majority of which is in northeast Montana, Richland County- And only served by BNSF. (BTW- This is not the first oil boom in Montana.) The second largest portion lays within North Dakota. What is elsewhere, is around the edges and so far minor in comparison. We also know all about tar sands issues, with huge environmental fights ongoing and in our news here weekly. It is essentially a separate issue, long ongoing pre-Bakken. The Bakken is why BNSF is chronically power short, and leasing from other sources trying to plug the gaps. At this point in time, other railroads are playing what is a very minor role in the entire affair. However, CP has been making noises about building directly into the major deposit areas of the Bakken. Their closest would be far western North Dakota. Alberta has long been a petroleum supplier to the USA, Canada was our largest source of oil import! Having owned C-stores with gas, our fuel was regularly trucked in from Alberta.
Being here in Glendive, MT, I can tell you that there is a LOT of foreign power running around here on all trains. Wednesday when it was blizzarding here (and I forgot my camera!) there was a grain train here with 4 different roads on the head end! A BNSF -9 on point followed by Soo, CSX and and old ATSF red n silver thing. CP units are on every kind of train, coal, manifest, grain and oil. As far as the oil out of the Bakken, it is in very high demand. The refineries will pay extra to get it because it is a very pure red or yellow in color that requires very little refining compared to the oil sand stuff or any of the black common stuff. Hence we will continue to see more of these trains as the refineries demand more of this good crude.
I'm well aware of this, All the railroads are power short right now though BNSF is suffering the worst. CP currently wishes they hadn't leased those units out, but I'm simply looking at the odds here. You say that BNSF handles the bulk of Bakken Crude. This is true, but CP does handle Bakken Crude. Look at the facts at hand. We have a Train on UP tracks for which BNSF does not have trackage rights and does have a parallel route We have a train with exactly zero BNSF locomotives on it, but it does have a UP in the lead and appears over powered since 4x1 is not a typical DPU consist. The most likely scenario is that this is a CP train that ran on CP with 3 units up front (2 CP and one NS) and one on the back and had the UP unit put on wherever it was interchanged in either Idaho or Wa. It travelled to Portland and made it's way down from there. A BNSF Oil train bound for Richmond would most likely travel on BNSF trackage all the way down the Columbia, Cross over to the inside gateway and not get on UP rails until Keddie at which point it would run to Stockton on former WP (BN Trackage rights) and then pick up BNSF rails again. Or alternatively it would move to Denver and use Trackage rights on UP all the way over DRGW tracks to SP tracks and come over Donner. I've Seen UP Oil cans come over Donner, never a BNSF train though. The set of happenstances needed for this to be a BNSF train seem pretty steep don't you think?
No. Not at all. BTW- There don't need to be trackage rights involved, if there is a haulage agreement in place. The only place it could come from CP to UP would be via Kingsgate, BC-Eastport, Idaho onto the old SI. There have been oil trains via that route. But not a lot of them. There is no place in Washington where the two companies can contact. If anyone can give me the lead unit number, I may be able to trace it. That could require a bit of time, as my resource is unavailable until perhaps late next week.
I decided rather than argue the point, I'd do my research. 99% likely it is Canadian Oil interchanged in Idaho and heading for Bakersfield. A CP/UP train. Routing described in article. http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/transportation/article4331978.html Ca gets oil trains over BNSF, This UP train (which caused a lot of Controversy a few months ago) and a UP train from Colorado.) and of course the Phillips Operation that was, last I checked using the Tank Train cars that originally were for the Bakersfield to LA Tehachapi crude trains.
Up here in Alberta I've been seeing a lot of UP power mixed in with CP over the last couple of months - and mostly on trains that seem to be east west consists.
Caught this train heading back north. Lead Unit is UP 3594 an SD90. One of the ones they are keeping. Couldn't catch the CP numbers. Saw it in the yard, but couldn't get a picture then my son and I chased it a mile or so when it left just now. Alas it was dark. Those are the new tank cars. There are end panels for impact protection.
Apparently this is an almost brand new train, hence my not knowing about it. However, having first hand personal experiences with both print and broadcast forms, I prefer to learn about these things form better resources than any form of media. While they do get things right, (an exception, not the norm), they are not at all trustworthy. Interesting reading the car counts the detectors report. It varies many times from 96 to 102. As there were 99 cars and four to five engines, those numbers need explanation. It looks like the AEI system still has bugs, much like when I recall our struggling with those labels long ago. Routing was what I had guessed. And, it does in one area even operate both coming and going as a BNSF train. I need to update my BNSF symbols. My list is a couple of years old and does not show some destination/origination points.
I'm confused, what routing do you see for this? It started up in December after legal troubles. It's the Plains All American Train. Confirmed to be coming out of Canada (not sure if Tar sands Heavy Crude) heading to the new transfer terminal in Bakersfield. Which is reinforced by the fact that the PPRX tank cars are all brand new. Canada required all new tank cars. US has not yet. That terminal will handle Bakken as well, but this train is for sure coming from Canada and I know it is coming through Eastport via conversations with Roseville shop. In fact, the SD90 is a dead give away since as they get repaired in Fresno, they've been sent to Hinkle and service up to Canada. The Alon transfer facility which isn't finished yet is handling Bakken exclusively and is on the BNSF in Bakersfield. I think the Trains currently into Richmond are BNSF. Not sure the routing, but I don't get why this would be symboled for BNSF. UP does have trackage rights on the Inside gateway so I suppose they could have run down it to K-falls to avoid population centers.
Confirmed by Gentlemen on Trains.com that lives near the tracks from Eastport that this train is coming through Eastport.
Here's a Railway age article from 2013 about the CPR/UPRR partnership with trains coming through Eastport. http://www.railwayage.com/index.php...-forge-canada-to-california-cbr-corridor.html Note the article does mention 2 BNSF trains of interest. 1: They also have an Oil train heading to Bakersfield over BNSF (Inside Gateway) this is a different train and different refinery/transload. 2 that the BNSF train to Clatskine Oregon on Portland & Western almost all originates on CP.
This is one of the horrific screwups made by BN management some years ago. It created that massive bottleneck known as "The Funnel". UP dumped their SI line Spokane to Sandpoint, for rights on BN. After BN also stupidly dumped the GN between Spokane and Dean, what had been three main lines between those two points were chopped down to one single track. Trains through Sandpoint don't generally hustle through there. El Cloggo. With increasing BNSF, UP and MRL train counts. These are operating across BNSF as F-OACCA trains. The one mentioned at Eastport departed Spokane at 1225pm today, southward.
Ah, I see, it's a shared trackage situation like Tehachapi. It would leave Spokane on UP rails presumably Not via BNSF further south. F is a foreign train though, so it's not a BNSF train as such.
