UP Manifest at night

Caught this Roseville-bound Union Pacific train last Friday night on my way home from Emeryville where we saw Wall-e, the new Pixar flick. The manifest was idling beside the parking structure when I got back to my car and it soon throttled up. I waited at the Cedar Street crossing where the power would be working hard to accelerate the train having cleared the crossovers at Emeryville.

I decided to video the train to see how it came out.  Here’s the clip.

About 80 cars. Not bad for two units. Mostly empties I suspect. I wish I knew how to fully recreate the impact of a big passing freight train at speed using miniature trains. Nothing really captures the mass and force of such a large object in motion. It’s fun trying though!