Updated 03/23/2000
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The job of tower
operator is a very busy one. I have seen him answer 2 phones,
talk at 3 different trains and throw the switches at one time!
(While printing out the train orders...)
This tri-target
signal greets trains south bound into the Elvas wye ( from Roseville
) The backs are cut away for train clearance. As the telegraph
wires are missing from that pole so are these signals as of October
1999.
UP style signals
are in place now, there are no little pot signals to control against
the flow traffic on the double track wye. When the tower was in
charge, these signals were displayed when the operator pulled
the handle for that signal in conjunction with handle combinations
for the switch movement.
Two legs of the
wye are now single track, only the west leg is double tracked.
All the track work was in conjunction with signal replacement
and enabled Roseville control to operated this junction remotely.
These signals were installed between 1959 and 1961 and replaced
semephore style signals.
Eastbound manifest
splits the targets at milepost 92.0 in winter of 1997. Elvas is
listed as milepost 92.1 on the Martinez subdivision and 38.9 on
the Fresno subdivision.
The Fresno subdivision
joins the Martinez at Elvas. The Martinez runs up to Roseville
where the Roseville subdivision begins.
In the late 90s
and still occuring, you could see at least one coal train each
direction through the east wye destined for Southern California's
export docks. Even in UP times it is always headed up by Southern
Pacific ac locomotives and pulling over a hundred aluminum coal
hoppers from LA to Utah.
When this train
passes over Donner from Utah full of coal, it does so in 2 or
3 sections. They bring one cut of cars up the grade, park it near
Norden and go back to Sparks to retrieve the rest. Once at the
summit it is combined and comes down into the valley as one train.
As evening falls
this is the view of the engineer crossing over business I80 at
the north end of the wye.
Fresno bound merchandise
train passes over the I80 crossing in the distance behind the
tower.
©2000
Digital Dimensionz
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