Anticipation - a photo on Flickriver

Anticipation

            A train does not need to always be present…but a train will come.

Here are two very different railroads that move two very different type of commodities and both have a single monumental task - to move our world.  From above Sacramento Regional Transit's Gold Line LRT reaches skyward to cross the Union Pacific twice in the area of a couple hundred feet, first crossing the Fresno Subdivision you see before you, and again in the background the famed ex-SP Placerville Branch which runs for 13 miles beside the Light Rail line to Nimbus, CA.  

However, tonights real show is front and center.  In the two hours I sat at Brighton, CA, a neighborhood in Sacramento near the CSU campus, five trains passed by myself and my best friend, Jeremiah.  Two intermodal trains, a manifest, another "Z" train and finally Amtrak 703 which came by us at 80mph marking the end of a beautiful night.  Brighton serves as the gateway to the San Joaquin Valley to the south and is a staging point on the railroad for trains entering Roseville via the famous Elvas Wye, five miles to the north on the opposite side of CSUS.

This image was captured while waiting for the "Salad Shooter", an expedited perishable train that consists of 55 specialized mechanical reefer cars that run between Delano, CA and Selkirk, NY.  The "Shooter" took down the Clear seen on Track 1.  The Advance Approach as seen on Track 2 was being lined up in preparation for AMT703, the last San Joaquin Corridor train of the night.  By the time both trains showed up this was a show of double Clears and each train passed within minutes of each other, both heading northbound and disappearing into the night.  By this time SacRT had ended its night in the form of not revenue trains but deadhead moves to its yard on the North side of Sacramento which is also alongside the UP.

What is very interesting about this area is the fact that SacRT, while being 41 miles long is draped across each subdivision of the Union Pacific Railroad through Sacramento.  The Blue Line, which runs from the extreme north end of the city runs alongside the Martinez Subdivision, also known as the "Cal-P", crosses the Sacramento Subdivision just north of Haggin Junction, and joins the Sacramento Subdivision again for its nine-mile jaunt to Meadowview Road.  That totals to some sixteen miles in length.  

The Gold Line on the other hand, runs on the former Sacramento Valley Railroad RofW, California's first railroad, as well as parts of the former Central California Traction Company on R Street to what was Brighton Junction.  The bridge you see is 160+ years of history, as the SVRR crossed the railroad at grade.  Today a US highway, seen to the left, occupies that space, forcing RT under the highway, then screaming for the sky to cross the UP, then back to ground level alongside the branch.  That simple, but impressive structure is known as the Brighton Bridge which sees some 120 Light Rail trains a day.  From there it follows the original railroad alignment into downtown Folsom.

While Union Pacific is touring the nation celebrating its 150th birthday, Northern California celebrates some 160 years of railroading.  To this day the Capitol region of California is still a railroad town and its culture is alive and well.  Just stand anywhere in Sacramento, you're always within earshot of a flange or a horn.  Always.

© D. Felice Strong-Baker Photo, All Rights Reserved.

Taken on: June 28, 2012

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