Railfanning Merced - 3/18/18
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
- In continuation of my railfanning outing along the BNSF Stockton and Bakersfield Subdivisions, I headed over to Merced after finishing up at Turlock - Denair earlier on this Sunday. However a surprising and rare turn of events transpired upon my arrival, further explained in detail below. Anyhow, the Merced Amtrak Station is one of the more interesting stations along the San Joaquin route mainly because it serves as a crew change point for Amtrak engineers. In order to maintain one engineer in the cab, Amtrak engineers originate/terminate at Merced to keep under the Amtrak’s six hour requirement agreement, while the rest of the train crew, including conductors and onboard staff, work the entire route from Bakersfield to Oakland / Sacramento. (6+ hours of engineer operation necessitates two engineers in the cab). The station is also rather decent with Amtrak staff and amenities, in addition to the longer station stop compared to other stations, due in part to the crew change. The station is also situated just south of a turnout for the siding in addition to multiple crossings just to the north of the station, thus providing for plentiful action with meets and horn action. It is worth noting that the surrounding areas around the station are somewhat poverty stricken, but nonetheless, Merced is still a good place to railfan the busy BNSF Central Valley traffic that passes by !
Detailed Activity Information :
After grabbing some lunch and heading over to the station, I was surprised to see that Amtrak 710 was still stopped at the station, only to then back up northward and then proceed south past the station on the siding track. After finishing up lunch and setting up on the platform, it became clear that the M-RICBAR1-18A I caught earlier at Turlock - Denair had suffered a bad railcar wheel set and was holding the main to address the issue. Further compounding the issue was the fact that the local switching activity, R-CAL3831-18C, had the siding and yard tracks occupied as well ! Additionally, Merced consequently only has one platform that is adjacent to the mainline !!! Thus, when Amtrak 710 arrived into Merced, it was stopped in its tracks ! The switching crew would then clear the siding after 710 arrived into Merced, where 710 had to back out north and then proceed onto the siding to pass M-RICBAR1-18A. After 710 had passed, the switching resumed, and the siding was occupied once again. Once Amtrak 712 showed up, the switching crew received priority to continue and finish up their activity, where they are seen switching while 712 waited at the station. After completing the local activity, the switching crew headed south out of town and soon cleared the siding. 712 followed suit and backed out north and then proceeded onto the siding, following behind the switching crew. Through this ordeal, Amtrak 715 was also held out for a short while. 715 would also have to use the siding and back into the station, via the turnout to the north. Finally, not too soon after 715 departed Merced, M-RICBAR1-18A had resolved the issue and proceeded southward, thus finally clearing the main as well. From here, the train activity would normalize, with a full functioning main and siding. All of which could be considered as either surprising coincidences or just a case of pure bad luck !
Train 1 : Amtrak 712 with CabCar #6961 & F59PHI #2007. Nice horn action coming into Merced and a nice engineer as well !
Train 2 : BNSF R-CAL3831-18C with ET44C4 #3749 & #3763. This train would do switching activity in conjunction with the Amtrak activity and the stopped M-RICBAR1-18A. (Detailed information listed above) (Additional locomotive information not visually spotted are not listed)
Train 3 : Amtrak 715 with F59PHI #2001 & CabCar #8309. Another nice engineer on this train !
Train 4 : BNSF H-BARSTO1-18A with ET44C4 #3745, ES44DC #7744, #7706, #7776, #7778(DPU), & #7775(DPU). Amazingly awesome horn action from the engineer !!! He definitely let the horn blast !!!
Train 5 : BNSF S-LPCOIG7-16A with ES44C4 #8084, C44-9W #4407, & #5446. This train will hold out until Q-RICALT6-18A passes on the main.
Train 6 : BNSF Q-RICALT6-18A with C44-9W #5215, #4547, ES44DC #7880, #7862(DPU), & C44-9W #776(DPU).
Train 7 : Amtrak 714 with CabCar #8308 & F59PHI #2009. Nice engineer and a very friendly conductor as well !
Train 8 : BNSF X-RICLAC1-18A with C44-9W #5270, ES44C4 #6866, ES44AC #5959, & SD70M #2630(NS). Another friendly crew. This train will take the siding and meet up with Q-MEMRIC6-17A.
Train 9 : BNSF Q-MEMRIC6-17A with ES44C4 #6973, ET44C4 #3776, ES44C4 #6707, & ES44AC #8895(CP).
Train 10 : Amtrak 717 with F59PHI #2012 & CabCar #8301.
Train 11 : BNSF Q-CHISTO6-16A with C44-9W #4124 & SD70ACe #8515. Not too often do you get to get up close to an idling BNSF SD70ACe !
Train 12 : Amtrak 716 with CabCar #8310 & F59PHI #2015. Great crew with a nice engineer and friendly conductor !
Thanks for Watching !
You sure hit the jackpot on this one. Normally on Sundays the BNSF Stockton Subdivision is dead.
I could sit there all day and watch the trains come and go
Wow! First of all, I never thought the freight traffic would be biting that much on a Sunday to the point they couldn't even fit them all on the mainline. Especially the maneuvers BNSF and Amtrak had to take at beginning of this footage.
dispatcher probably headed to the nearest bar after work after that day lol
VERY NICE. I grew up in Merced and take Amtrak from B.F. to Merc ed couple times a year. I've never seen that much action when I'm trying to video trains at the station. Like the reflection in the window. I never would have thought of that.
zarniwoop42 Thank you ! Yes, the action was unexpectedly and surprisingly good for a Sunday. I’m glad you noticed the window reflection shot ! It was rather improvised but looked very interesting when I was walking towards the locomotives, so I’d figure it would be worth filming !
That first Amtrak was having a bad horn day it sounded like a bad trumpet player! Lots of freight, lots of logistics...kewl vid!!
Tweety Swauger Thanks !
Hey! I happen to like that horn. Don’t be trash talking my CDTX 6961. 😜
Nice, great job explaining the process
SDRAIL Productions Thank you !
Wow, 6961 has a great horn! Sounds like the old 6904!
Wow, Merced doesn't have enough "track" to be a switching "yard." This should have happened at either Fresno or Riverbank. Both BNSF and Amtrak lost a lot of money with these moves!
Nice vid! I plan on revisiting the area this summer. Hopefully the action is as good as it was on my last visit.
Amtrak and AWVR Fan Thanks ! It’s definitely worth revisiting for sure !
Doing great man!
Tyrell Hall Thank you !
Awesome Video man!!
TrainSF Thank you !
The Amtrak Northern California 8310 is my favorite cab car and Saw the cab car in the very end of the video
Amazing vídeo
Rafael Santos Thank you !
Went to this place earlier today. Apparently, there are only two tracks in the station now. The track used for switching was replaced with a brand new platform and there is a fence between track 1 and track 2 now.
I only stayed there for an hour to catch two SJ trains. Was not lucky enough to spot any BNSF activity today🤦🤦🤦
Nice Video!
Rhett Ross Thanks !
Nice Vodeo!!!
Caltrain 920 Thanks !
38:30 AWESOME CATCH!!!!!
Corona Railfan Thanks !
Great video, and yeah nobody with money lives in Merced or chowchilla, too bad cause there is great mainline action along the 99. Don't know how those people sleep with their homes right next to the tracks with the horns.
spacecalander Thanks ! The housing across the tracks and near the crossing were evidently low income. While waiting around, it was clear that it was typical behavior of a low income area. Amazing to think how close they live to all the horn action.
Sometimes people got used to sound of horn and they enjoy it. I’m deaf and i live right next to the track with a really nice place and cheaper than most houses. Maybe it’s not for everyone
Possible Railhead.......🚂🚂
Awesome Video:) What a wired day for Amtrak if you ask me:D
Copper Cruz Thank you ! It sure was !
Great video 👍 and why is Amtrak trains towards Bakersfield is changing from track 1 to track 2 and why is Amtrak trains coming from Bakersfield is changing from track 2 to track 1?
Thank you Robert ! The details are a little complicated regarding the train movements, but I have a full explanation of what occurred that you can read in my description under the “Detailed Activity Information” section. Hope that helps !
San Joaquins
7:54 why was the cab car still activated when the train was going forward?
That train (Amtrak 712) was actually reversing after making its station stop at Merced. The main track south of the station was still blocked by a freight train when Amtrak 712 arrived into Merced and required the crew to reverse and then proceed to go around the freight train using the siding track. When trains reverse, the engineer is still in control of the train (this example being the CabCar), and where one of the conductors is riding in the locomotive to spot the rear of the train and using the horn for the crossings.
21:57 Did that train really just pass the station? Why would it not be scheduled to stop?
svscared The train did pass on the siding, however it would then back into the station on the main track to board passengers as scheduled. Please consider reading the video description as it provides all the details into the train activity.
Yes the train passed the station because it was on a different track and it will cause a hazard for passengers to walk across the track
2012's bell was failing.
you should do Fresno sometime in the future.
Jacob Champion Luckily, the good news is I have just recently railfanned Fresno as part of this trip. The next video will be Hanford and then finally Fresno.