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Special Track Work
Jun. 15th, 2019 10:42 pmThe small yard across from our house in Fernley is known as the "House Tracks," which is a term used for tracks associated with a freight house or station. The Fernley station is long gone (it's actually been relocated away from the railroad) but the two house tracks retain the name. The house tracks are accessed by switches off the main line. Such switches need special care when being replaced, and the rail replacement project moving through the area is no exception.
( Switch Building )
The idea with this construction is to build the entire switch as one large assembly, after which the crew will then cut out the existing switch and use a crane to move the old switch out, then drop in the new switch, then connect everything together, minimizing the total time the line has to be out of service. It's sort of like installing model railroading "snap-track," but at 1:1 scale.
Yesterday evening, after the crew building this assembly had left but before the crew came to do last night's work on this stretch of track, Lisa and I walked over and had a closer look.
( Full-scale snap-track )
The rail assembly gang were out this morning continuing to assemble this switch. Lisa and I had errands in Reno today, so we missed out seeing what additional work they did. I thought they might have gone ahead and installed the switch while we were gone, but it's still sitting there awaiting completion.
After Lisa and I got home from Reno, a procession of rail maintenance equipment came through.
( Plain Track Maintenance )
All of this work disrupts train traffic, of course. In places like Fernley, traffic can be routed (slowly) through the siding, but on the single-track sections it shuts everything down. It's necessary work, but it's a headache for the dispatcher and for the operating crews. I don't know if UP has been re-routing trains through the Feather River Canyon, but Amtrak has still been going by. One of these days there will be a planned Amtrak diversion through Feather River, and if I get wind of it soon enough, I will take some quick days off and drive to Winnemucca to take the trip through the Canyon. I may never get the chance, however, as word of such planned detours tends to spread so fast that by the time I hear about it, the relevant trains are all sold out.
( Switch Building )
The idea with this construction is to build the entire switch as one large assembly, after which the crew will then cut out the existing switch and use a crane to move the old switch out, then drop in the new switch, then connect everything together, minimizing the total time the line has to be out of service. It's sort of like installing model railroading "snap-track," but at 1:1 scale.
Yesterday evening, after the crew building this assembly had left but before the crew came to do last night's work on this stretch of track, Lisa and I walked over and had a closer look.
( Full-scale snap-track )
The rail assembly gang were out this morning continuing to assemble this switch. Lisa and I had errands in Reno today, so we missed out seeing what additional work they did. I thought they might have gone ahead and installed the switch while we were gone, but it's still sitting there awaiting completion.
After Lisa and I got home from Reno, a procession of rail maintenance equipment came through.
( Plain Track Maintenance )
All of this work disrupts train traffic, of course. In places like Fernley, traffic can be routed (slowly) through the siding, but on the single-track sections it shuts everything down. It's necessary work, but it's a headache for the dispatcher and for the operating crews. I don't know if UP has been re-routing trains through the Feather River Canyon, but Amtrak has still been going by. One of these days there will be a planned Amtrak diversion through Feather River, and if I get wind of it soon enough, I will take some quick days off and drive to Winnemucca to take the trip through the Canyon. I may never get the chance, however, as word of such planned detours tends to spread so fast that by the time I hear about it, the relevant trains are all sold out.
