BNSF 3929 • Fullerton CA • 06/04/24

            How NOT to Run a Railroad…

Passing through Fullerton Junction, where Metrolink's Orange Sub diverges from BNSF Railway's San Bernardino Sub, is BNSF Intermodal Stacks train S-LPCLHG1-30L, which originated at Logistics Park Chicago IL and is heading to Los Angeles Harbor CA (GGS).  This is one of those "monster" trains, stretching for 14,402-feet … or just about 2½ miles!  On the headend are BNSF 3929, 4674, 7054 and 7264, and in the middle are BNSF 6685, 5947 and 7602 (all GE locomotives, of course).  This train is, in fact, two intermodal trains joined together to allow the railway to save a little money by eliminating a crew (it’s the American way these days:  Cut jobs to increase bonuses for management).  But this evening, this move will bite the railway in the ass, as this westbound train is meeting eastbound train U-WATAXT7-04A, another train that should be two trains, as the first half is loaded well cars and, behind the mid-train DPUs is the latter half, comprised of empty ethanol tank cars … not exactly a unit train in the "classic" sense.  The dispatchers in Fort Worth, thousands of miles away, were not on their game this evening as the eastbound is crossing over at Basta, a mile west of here, and the westbound cannot get past it and will stop … blocking the crossover controlled by the signal here at Fullerton Junction.  Even a moron like me can do that math here:  Each train is over one mile in length, and the crossovers needed are one mile apart.  The DS placed the eastbound on Track 3, which ends here (for the BNSF) and each train has to stop so as not to create a devastating collision.  The time is now 19:50 (7:50 pm), and there is an Amtrak Pacific Surfliner following the eastbound on Track 3, but not due until 20:41 (8:41 pm), with another Surfliner due on Track 1 at 21:18 (9:18 pm) – but that train needs to cross Track 2 here to get to Track 1 as it exits Metrolink's Orange Sub.  So, what we have here is a classic clusterf***.  Or, as railroaders call it, these two trains got "frogged".  If only the DS had run these trains on Tracks 1 and 2, rather than using Track 3 that, for the BNSF, ends here, this could have all been avoided.  The westbound's conductor had to walk to the rear of his train before it could make its reverse move, and with these extra-long trains, that takes about thirty minutes … plus the time it took to get permission to consider this move (another 15 minutes).  One hour and twenty minutes after this all began, I departed, and the westbound had still not started its move backward.  And this whole time, there was no traffic at all on Track 1.  If the dispatcher had simply used Tracks 1 and 2 for these two freights, there would have been no problem.  But he got cute, and overthought the situation rather than utilizing the simplest path for each train …  possibly because he couldn't do grade-school-level math.  I felt bad for the crews (although they were heads-up enough to not collide) and the passengers waiting for, and riding in, the southbound passenger train that was now sitting still on the mainline somewhere in Los Angeles County.  *sigh*  (Fullerton, California – June 4, 2024)

Taken in: United States / California / Fullerton (show map)

Taken on: June 4, 2024

Tags:

Burlington Northern Santa Fe

BNSF Railway

BNSF 3929

ER44C4

GEVO

General Electric

GE Rail

Fullerton California

Fullerton CA

Fullerton

California

Fullerton Junction

Fullerton Jct.

BNSF San Bernardino Subdivision

BNSF San Bernardino Sub

San Bernardino Subdivision

San Bernardino Sub

BNSF S-LPCLHG1-30L

train S-LPCLHG1-30L

BNSF S-LPCLHG

train S-LPCLHG

BNSF 3929-BNSF 4674-BNSF 7054-BNSF 7264//BNSF 6685-BNSF 5947-BNS

Intermodal Stacks

Logistics Park Chicago IL to Los Angeles Harbor CA (GGS)

freight train

train

railroad

railway

diesel

locomotive

Class I

intermodal train

double stack train

COFC

container train

stack train

stacks

intermodal

double stack

container

railroad station

railroad depot

railway station

railway depot

station

depot

passenger station

commuter station

commuter depot

sunset

evening

dusk

twilight

nightfall

half-light

sundown

eventide

gloaming

vesper

last light

crepuscular

night

BNSF 3929-BNSF 4674-BNSF 7054-BNSF 7264//BNSF 6685-BNSF 5947-BNSF 7602 « less

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Camera: Nikon Z 7, f/6.3, 1/250 sec, 200mm (=220mm), ISO 900 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon Z 7
Lens:	NIKKOR Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR
Aperture:	f/6.3
Exposure Time:	0.004 sec (1/250)
Focal Length:	200mm (35mm equivalent: 220mm)
ISO:	900
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Not Defined
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 22.1 (Macintosh)
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