UP 5752 Moore, CA
UP 5752
Trains leaving
Primm have roughly the same miles to cover to Ivanpah as I do driving.
So leaving Primm when the train does is necessary, though they slow considerably
coming out of Nipton, which makes beating them to Ivanpah a snap. As you
approach the exit off I-15 onto Nipton Rd you have gained some considerable
elevation and can see all the way to Jean still. Well as I looked back
down the valley I saw yet another westbound train, though from this distance
I couldn't tell what. (Well over 30 miles at this point as the crow flies)
I was a happy camper I'll tell you. It was about 2 pm now and the day was
going to be winding down. I thought I'd catch these two trains coming up
the hill, maybe follow the second all the way to Kelso and call it a day.
Good plan right, well it got better.
Sitting at the top of
the exit looking at the 2nd westbound the scanner comes on with the DS
telling the train in the picture above to be prepared to meet 2 at Ivanpah
and to try and stay off the crossing there. I was jazzed now. 4 trains
in the next hour, right on, and off to Ivanpah I went. I made it
to Ivanpah in enough time to head toward the approaching MROWC and caught
them just a bit west of Moore. The clouds had built a little heavier, and
the one overhead only obscured the first 2 locos, and was gaining on the
front. Just a few more seconds and the nose would have been lit quite nicely,
but it wasn't in the cards...
I followed the train
into the siding at Ivanpah and we waited. Remember how the DS wanted them
to stay off the crossing? Well I don't know what how he wanted them to
do it, because they only had a few hundred feet to spare in the siding
and the crossing is in the middle, so staying off it is not an option.
I suspect this happens often as Ivanpah is the longest siding on the entire
eastern slope at almost 10,000 feet, with the others being less than 6,000'.
Those longer trains are always going to get held here. Guess the locals
are used to it, all 5 of them.
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