You are thinking “more trains? Oh please, please no!” When we visit the Southwest we almost always stop in at La Posada hotel in Winslow, Arizona – a mere 1,590 miles away on the very same rail line just 3/4 of a mile from Andrew and Henriët’s house.
The BNSF trans-continental (Transcon) rail line terminates at the Cicero rail yard which lies just a couple of miles east of Riverside and there is lots of coming and going.
The weather has been relatively mild – lower 30’s with light winds and no precipitation. Picture taking trackside is easy and yields some nice views so I just had to get over there.
Because this is the Transcon you are likely to see more than just BNSF motive power. There is plenty of other roads’ power to see. Amtrak and Metra use the lines for passenger traffic while Norfolk Southern and Canadian National are common freight carriers (if my experience holds over time). Here’s a picture where four different rail lines are represented
I don’t know if BNSF is leasing the power from the other railroads or if those roads have trackage rights. I’ve seen quite a few oil trains coming and going.
Here an oil train and an Amtrak eastbound pass one another
Here we see a westbound Amtrak train passing a Chicago bound Trailer on Flat Car.
Even if nothing else is happening you can count on a Metra commuter every 20-30 minutes on a weekday
Container trains are another common site here. I think the Cicero yard is a big intermodal transfer point.
I even saw a small Union Pacific train today.
There are overhead signals about every mile or so. By looking up or down the line you can can an idea when something is coming. If a track has a red light looking down one end of the line a green on the other you know something will be coming by in a few minutes.
Sunday night was slow but I was rewarded for my patience as the sun was going down along with the temperature. Citirail locomotive headed into Cicero yard.
