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  • stored trains on the San Bernardino Sub?

  • Discussion related to BNSF operations. Official site: BNSF.COM
Discussion related to BNSF operations. Official site: BNSF.COM

Moderator: Komachi

 #1276419  by MBTA3247
 
While riding the Southwest Chief last week, I noticed on the San Bernadino Sub between Riverside and Fullerton that there were a number of doublestack trains apparently being stored on the northernmost track. None of them were coupled to locomotives, and at least some of them were hooked up to stationary air compressors. What's the point of this?
 #1276461  by Backshophoss
 
2 possabilties,1.The yards at Hobart(Downtown LA),or Thenard(Port of Long Beach)were plugged,the cars were
"stored" in a relitively safe area where access is not easy for theft.
2.The containers were empty,brought in from storage sites,to be loaded with out bound freight,
what shows up at X-mas starts moving to Distrabution Warehouses in late July.
 #1279695  by karldotcom
 
Those are "staged" trains. Spot 0 is 11,000 feet, Spots 1-4 are 6 miles long. Some loads are taken out of the Port of LA/LB and move there for storage until a full train can be made up. They are connected to air so it won't take forever to move them out when a train is finally made up. Yes, there is 24/7 security and sometimes BNSF police monitoring the area (and I would imagine cameras)

Those tracks have also been used to store empty well cars in the past, with the BLACLAC road switcher going to fetch a string and return to Hobart yard when needed.
 #1304404  by ljpierce1965
 
And another reason they would have air connected is that if a car, or cut of cars, is off air for more than 4 hours, they have to have a "Class 1 Air Brake Test". This can be a little time consuming. So by keeping them on air for however long they are left there, all the crew has to do is knuckle in, switch air sources to the locomotive, knock off the hand brakes, and be gone.