Prototype Railroad Galleries > UP's Cal-P line - Hercules & Pinole (05/10/07) (66)
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This view is looking southeast over the UP’s doubletrack Cal-P mainline in the foreground. This track sees about thirty trains a day, an interesting mixture of UP, Amtrak and BNSF trackage rights trains. This spot is very pleasant for watching trains. On this hill, which is easily accessible from the street, you can see trains comin up from Point Pinole all the way around to Rodeo as the rails closely follow the shoreline.
The BNSF can also be heard from here and seen from the track as its Stockton Sub line briefly nears the water at East Swith Gately.
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This is the view to the Northwest. The white tanks in the distance are at Rodeo. The UP line has a crossover in the foreground with a bunch of CTC controlled signals. The line makes a nice lefthander and passes through one more S-curve before making another right-hander around the far bluff to Rodeo. Track speed here is about 40 mph due to the curves.
Note that the land in front of me is destined to become a retail development in the not too distant future. The plans apparantly include a new Amtrak station.
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Weeds are quite long on this patch of land. Note the colors in the vegitation. Other modelling details include the line of fence posts near the water which is quite shallow.
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There are five single-mast signals at this crossover. This signal actually controls the east switch of the storage siding that usually holds LPG tank cars and sometimes holds a collection of hoppers, box cars, gondolas, flats etc.
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There’s not much tangent between Point Pinole and Crocket as the line follows the gentle curves of the shoreline. Crossovers are located on straght track here at Hercules and behind the camera at Pinole.
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Looking toward Oakland, the line curves around to Pinole. Visibility is generally good on this part ot he line. Trains can be seen approaching from a couple of miles away in both directions.
Modeler’s note
- Main tracks are superelevated, siding is of course not
- Siding is at least a foot lower than the main tracks
- There is a generous access road to the left of the track that is almost as wide as the dobule track.
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Closeup of the ties on the main.
Modelers note
- New ties are dark creosote color
- Older ties are faded
- Tie ends are very even - within a inch of each other
- Ballast is very evenly spread level with the top of the ties
- Tops of the ties are free of ballast
- Very little streaking or brakeshoe dust along the line of the track
- There are at least five different colors in the ballast: light and dark grey, white granite, pale orange, buff
- Rust from the rails and tie plates does not extend onto the ties
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Here’s the view east toward Sacramento and Roseville from the track. The right hand signal displays ‘diverging clear’ indication. The next train, an Amtrak will transfer from the eastward main to the westward main using this crossover. Track speed through here is 40 mph for Passenger and 30 mph for freight.
Modelers notes
- The signals are well wide of the track
- The switch motors are painted pail green instead of the more common silver
- Only the roof of the building in the background is visibile
- The trees along the top of the hill could easily be painted on a backdrop.
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View at rail level gives a pretty good indication of the vertical variation along here. Basically very flat and beautifully flowing lines. The ballast shoulder has a very shallow slope and spreads several feet from the tie ends to the right. Note the variety of tie colors.
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Looking east to Sacramento and Roseville along the westward main. The closest signal on the left side of the track controls eastward movements through the CTC plant. The switch to the siding has it’s own signal controlling movements from the siding to the main. The siding signal is located behind my position on the left side of the siding.
Eastward movement on the left hand main to the signal ahead protecting the crossover is controlled by the signals behind me, around the curve at Pinole. If the siding switch is thrown for the siding, the signal at Pinole will go red protecting movements toward this siding switch.
Why not just control the siding by moving the crossover signal closer to the camera to the other side of the siding switch where I am standing? The most likely reason is signal visibility. By controlling eastward movement on the main over the siding switch with the signals at Pinole, the Hercules crossover signals are located further away from the curve behind my position and crews have more time to see and respond the crossover signal.
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The siding track is less maintained than the main. The ballast at left is mixed with dirt. Newer ties are darker and longer. Note the dirt on thee base and side of the outside rail.
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Siding signal and derail control stand.
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the other side of the derail control stand. Taggers are everywhere.
Note the absence of ballast around the control stand. Most modelers would ballast this entire area. Secondary track is often lacking in basic ballast coverage.
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Derail and control stand.
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Here’s the derail control stand. It’s rusty but not the same color all over. A detail like this would often end up sprayed all the same color.
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Here’s the derail itself. Cars rolling toward the main are diverted by the casting to the left side of the track. The siding signal would be at risk to damage but by pushing the cars away from the main, the main is protected. Since the siding sits below the level of the main, cars would need to be pushed or be rolling to come in contact with the derail.
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There are many examples of poor ballast condition on the siding. The dirt is level with the tops of the ties. The ties tend to be older and more faded than the main line ties. There is more sand colored dirt to discolor the ties and rail too.
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This shot shows the siding dropping below the level of the mains which are superelevated at this point. The siding is about 12 - 18” below the level of the outer main. The siding ballast is in much better condition here than closer to the derail.
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View toward Pinole. The siding is not smooth and flowing like the mains. The small hill with vegetation to the right of the track is a nice feature to add.
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Here’s the siding a little further around the curve to illustrate the variation, or lack of it, in ballast condition.
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Now we’re getting closer to the Pinole crossover. The LPG cars ahead are common occupants of the siding which can also be found empty at times. The signals ahead are only for the main tracks. The siding rejoins the main about a mile further ahead just before the Tennant Ave grade crossing.
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The view east. Nice flowing superelevation on the main tracks. The siding is level though the it looks a little banked in the photo.
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Sample view of the siding track. Ties are in pretty good shape. This line has been recently maintained so the ballast is pretty clean.
Note the many colors in the ballast. It is not uniform grey! To do this in N scale requires:
- Fine or extra fine ballast
- Subtle variations in ballast color
- Subtle weathering and blending with chalks and airbrush
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A recently replaced tie. Note the oil spill down the center of the track. The spill is the same color as the fresh creosote so shows up better on the older ties. The spill is slightly shiny too.
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Track level view of siding. Ties are pretty uniform at this point varying by about 1-3” in length.
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Rail and tie plate detail.
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LPG tank car end detail.
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Not a lot of space between the siding and the main. This siding is close to the shore of San Pablo Bay so the railroad doesn’t have a lot of room to move the siding further away from the main.
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Adjacent to the Pinole crossover is a hill about fifteen feet high which is a nice spot to watch the action from if you have time. There’s very little room between the standing cars in the siding and the side of the hill. To the right of the photo, the land falls off to the rocky shoreline.
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These cars have been here for a period of weeks. The salt air quickly corrodes any exposed steel surfaces. The afternoon sun really makes the rust glow. Note the rust on both the inside and outside surfaces of the wheels.
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Check out that flange. Not much more than an inch below the railhead. One inch in N scale is about .16mm or 6.25 thousanths of an inch. Take note MicroTrains, maker of the famous N scale pizza-cutter wheelsets!
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This LPG tank car is actually white! Note that the body of the car is heavily streaked with rust whereas the piping and handrails are much less rusty and are much more white in appearance.
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Stencilling detail on the LPG tank car. This car is actully white!!!
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Artsy sunburst over tank car. Couldn’t resist!
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Approaching the east side of the Pinole crossover.
Modelers notes
- Leave space for the dirt road at left
- Road parallels the ballast shoulder then veers around the signal
- Modern cantelever signal only covers the main tracks
- Plenty of trees adjacent to the signals.
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East signal at Pinole. The crossover connects this main to the one on the right in the direction we are facing. There are two signal heads over the left hand main so the diverging aspects can be displayed. The single head over the right hand main could also be accompanied by another dummy head below it only able to display red.
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Flange oiler pads on the right hand (eastbound) main. There are multiple curves on this strech of track.
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Flange oiler tank. Note the patchwork of colors on the tank. Grease lines are haphazard and blotchy in color.
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The whole flange oiler setup. Note the blackening of the rail webs with grease. This is the eatbound main and the usual direction of traffic on this track is away from the camera. Note how the grease stains generally spread along the direction of travel.
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This is the eastbound main looking west to Oakland. The switch points are long and slender, which is the look to replicate in model form. The mechanism has an additional point movement linkage down the left side of the switch and connected to the main throw through a crank on the left hand side of the head block ties. Note that the head block ties do not extend beyond the normal line of the ends of the ties. The entire area bounded by the points is blackened with grease.
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Here’s the additonal switch closure mechanism. This could easily be made up out of styrene and brass rod, even in N scale.
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Switch motor and switch point detail.
Modelling features
- Note the ends of the switch motor sparayed green
- Lots of tie rod detail to keep the switch blades in alignment and gauge
- Nut-bolt-washer detail may be lost in N but the places and rods are worth doing
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Looking east along the points. Note the beautifully even ballast level with the tops of the turnout ties.
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This is the guard rail, but it ain’t a rail! The ‘rail’ appears to have a rubber cushioning mechanism to apply even pressure to the back surface of the wheel. -
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My favorite, the frog. This guy has a replaceable insert to speed maintenance. I’m scratching my head a little on how to model this without sacrificing time to build or smooth operation. -
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The guard rails and frog as well as the rest of the crossover.
Modelers notes
- Bracing at tie level between the guard rails and the frog
- Continuous welded rail (CWR) bolted to the frog assembly for easy removal
- CWR welded to the outer stock rails. This is a smooth operator
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Notice the distinct kink on the curved stock rail at the tip o fthe point. This is a good illustration of the way the curved stock rail blends with the point, but is actually kinked as a result.
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The switch motor on the westbound track. This is probably best modelled using a resin or metal casting.
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On a small mound is the relay building. Unfortunately, the decorations are more and more typical of railroad property. The dudes even tagged the top of the underground cable marker! Even though I really love modern operations, graffiti, more than any other railroad factor, will likely drive me to modelling the 1980’s when tagging was much less prevalent. -
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Here’s a relay box and small cable trough. The cream colored overpainting of the graffiti is often quickly re-tagged.
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Cable trough. A small detail but adds realism to a junction scene.
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Signal bridge concrete base. It’s about two feet on a side and about a foot high. The cables travel up to the signals inside one of the leg tubes.
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Here comes a San Joaquin train headed for Bakersfield, a common traveller on the line. -
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