Davis Interchange
Sunday, February 22, 2009 at 12:24AM The California Northern connects with the UP at Fairfield and at Davis, both between the Bay Area and Sacramento. At Davis, the Cal Northern links to the UP at the Davis Amtrak Station right near downtown Davis.
(You can zoom in and drag this map to follow the tracks. You’ll find the interchange cars on the interchange track to the east of the wye.)
The Cal Northern connection with the UP features a wye which brackets the Amtrak station on the UP main. The wye has CTC searchlight signals protecting each of the switches on the wye. The Cal Northern interchanges with the UP on a pair of tracks which are located east of Davis on the north side of the UP main. Here’s the track arrangement for the connection:
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Cal Northern Interchange
We passed through Davis last night on our way back from Lake Tahoe. Davis is a great place to stop for eats on the way back to the Bay Area. After dinner, as we headed back to the car, an Amtrak horn caught my attention and a Capitol was soon throttling up and heading for the Bay Area. As the Capitol was heading out, the Cal Northern showed up in Davis, blowing for many of the grade crossings on it’s line into town.
Here’s the sequence of moves for the California Northern to set out cars for the UP and collect the cars the UP set out for the Cal Northern. With the westbound Capitol on it’s way to the Bay Area, the Cal Northern was able to swing around the west leg of the wye and occupy the UP main.
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Once on the UP main and clear of the switch, the Cal Northern makes a short eastward backup move along the UP main.
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The Cal Northern backs past the Davis station and transfers onto the interchange track.
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The siding near the east end of the interchange track provides a means of swapping the Cal Northern cars for the UP cars.
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With the air line charged, the Cal Northern returns to home rails via the east leg of the wye without needing to re-enter UP track.
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The wye and a couple of sidings provide a simple arrangement to allow the Cal Northern to easily exchange of cars with the UP. Davis is a good example of a shortline connection with a class I that would be easy to model and provide interesting operation. There are many possible permutations for such a plan, and the balance between shortline and mainline could be skewed in either direction, though I think the best plans would provide for live operations on both the UP and the Cal Northern to each make set outs and to collect cars at the interchange.
- Coxy
Reader Comments (1)
Coxy,
What software do you use? It looks awesome.