2nd Street Job

It’s around 8:30pm and the Richmond Pacific afternoon shift crew is taking a break.  The Cutting Lead appears to have been switched already and the train seen here on the Cutting lead will go to the 2nd Street Lead once the crew returns.

My little compact digital camera is challenged by these low light conditions but it does capture the mood of the place after dark.

The street in the foreground is Cutting Blvd.  Apart from the occasional car, the place is deserted and eerily quiet. Even the locomotive has timed out and shut itself down. (Note: Take care in this area, especially after dark. Like a lot of locations near railroads, it can be dodgey at times and help is not nearby.)

Modeler’s Notes

From a modeling perspective, it does raise some interesting questions about effectively simulating the after dark look. Most of the light comes from street lamps and a little from cars and the Burger King in the distance.  Even in the darkness, it is apparent that the road surface is a very neutral grey color though not at all evenly toned with subtle feathered light and dark areas corresponding to wear and oil stains. Note also the line markings are faded and not especially prominent as features, having also been subjected to fading from the sun and the same wear and stain marks as the rest of the road.  The manhole on the right is a simple yet interesting feature that adds realism. Lance Mindheim recommends using decals made from real pictures to simulate them.

The RPRC Afternoon Shift Job

The Richmond Pacific runs a night shift crew six days a week Mon-Sat. Around 9:00pm the crew takes a break and the locomotive and cars are usually spotted on the street trackage in Wright Ave near the RPRC offices.  The crew works the Cutting Lead early in the shift. Work here includes switching out tank cars at the IMTT plant.  The IMTT spur branches at right angles from the Cutting Lead and has two parallel sidings, both of which are usually full to capacity with tank cars.

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The IMTT plant can be seen in the center of the satellite view with two lines of tank cars on the right side (east) of the building.

The Cutting Lead also serves Channel Lumber. Lately Channel receives a couple of loaded centerbeams each week, down from 6-8 per week twelve months ago.

Later in the shift, the crew moves to switch the 2nd Street Lead. Both Cutting and 2nd Street leads are reached via the BNSF’s Siberia Lead, so permission from the BNSF Richmond Yardmaster is required first before the RPRC crew rolls onto BNSF rails. The train seen here at Cutting Blvd tonight is fairly typical of the cars bound for 2nd street with one tank car and five boxcars.

The boxcars are destined for Impact Transportation which is a mile to the right in the above picture and the 2nd street lead is behind our position about a block back.  To reach the 2nd Street Lead, the train will pull forward onto the Siberia Lead then back over Cutting Blvd and onto the 2nd Street Lead in a simple facing point move.

The tank car may be destined for the BOC Gas plant at the end of the 2nd Street Lead or may be spotted behind the gates near Impact where it can be unloaded to trucks team track style. The tracks behind Impact are in a concrete pad so other railcars, such as covered hoppers, are also spotted there for unloading.

The last boxcar in the train is about where the IMTT spur branches sharply into the plant.

The afternoon shift job is interesting to watch, especially when switching the Cutting Lead. With the right lighting, this could be the basis of an interesting scene.

- Coxy