Fallon-Fernley Train Spotting
We got pretty much the maximum use out of that suite in Fallon. We were able to check in early yesterday afternoon, and we checked out just before noon (and could have stayed another hour if we wanted to do so). Because I woke up at 5:30 (which is still sleeping in by my standards) and went to the breakfast bar right after it opened, I essentially got two breakfasts. Lisa slept in later (she didn't sleep that well last night, so I let her sleep until 8:30), and I went down and brought her breakfast as well as some more for me. We stuck around in the room and watched more videos on the big set in the parlor, I used that double-headed shower (although one shower head was clogged, so it wasn't the big deal you might imagine), and we took our time. It was nice not being in a hurry.
After we checked out, Lisa asked if we could go have a look at the railroad activity on the Fallon Industrial Lead, and we more or less hit the jackpot.
Just a short distance from the hotel, we found the Fallon Job — a Union Pacific local train operating on the Fallon Industrial Lead, a stretch of track that branches off the Mina Subdivision just south of Hazen — switching cars. Lisa got out and photographed the two locomotives coupling to each other (they had been on separate tracks when we arrived).
A short distance away, motorists on a Fallon street fumed as cars that the Fallon Job were assembling to take to Sparks sat blocking a grade crossing at Venturnacci Way. This didn't bother us, though. We left lots of space for other drivers to get fed up with waiting and turn back while the UP locomotives coupled up to their train and pulled clear.
Eventually the UP crew were able to pull clear of the crossing they were blocking, the conductor and brakeman walked up to the head end, and the train slowly began to pick its way west down the Fallon lead. Lisa and I elected to go ahead and make for home rather than to pace the slow train back to Hazen and the junction with the main line. It's a short trip home (I've rarely stayed in a hotel so close to my own home), and we can make much better time to Fernley than the train could due to the slow nature of the Fallon lead.
Around two hours after we left the Fallon Job behind and after we got home and unpacked from our one-night mini-vacation, the UP train came through Fernley at speed. We had some warning of its approach from hearing the dispatcher authorize them to re-enter the main line at Hazen and when they hit the defect detector located a few miles east of Fernley. The other locomotive visible in this photo is sitting on the Fernley House Tracks idling away until a crew comes out to collect it.
The train passed through and headed for Sparks. Yes, they're running "backwards." I'm surprised the crew of this job, who have been using this pair of locomotives for the past few days that I've noticed, haven't made an effort to wye one of the locomotives and run them tail-to-tail for more convenience, but I don't know what their operational constraints are.
It was a really nice winter day. Not exactly warm (around 8°C), but certainly not freezing. Conditions for watching trains were just fine.
I'm glad it did not get too cold last night or today, because of course the fire in the fireplace had died out. That's not such a bad thing, because while the fire logs are very efficient, eventually there is enough ash that you need to clear the firebox, and this was a good opportunity to do dig ash and clean around the fireplace before restarting the fire and warming the house back up.
We enjoyed this little trip to Fallon. If it weren't for COVID and for her tinnitus, Lisa says we would come out and do this hotel thing more often, as the hotel has a dual pool (indoor/outdoor) and a hot tub. She does say that she'd enjoy the whirlpool bath more if the water was like that in Reykjavik, with the mineral-bath feel and smell caused by using the geothermal municipal hot-water supply they have there. OTOH, given the cost per unit area of hotels in Iceland, I reckon a room similar to what we had last night in Fallon would have cost roughly ten times as much in Reykjavik. I agree that it would be nice, though.
After we checked out, Lisa asked if we could go have a look at the railroad activity on the Fallon Industrial Lead, and we more or less hit the jackpot.
Just a short distance from the hotel, we found the Fallon Job — a Union Pacific local train operating on the Fallon Industrial Lead, a stretch of track that branches off the Mina Subdivision just south of Hazen — switching cars. Lisa got out and photographed the two locomotives coupling to each other (they had been on separate tracks when we arrived).
A short distance away, motorists on a Fallon street fumed as cars that the Fallon Job were assembling to take to Sparks sat blocking a grade crossing at Venturnacci Way. This didn't bother us, though. We left lots of space for other drivers to get fed up with waiting and turn back while the UP locomotives coupled up to their train and pulled clear.
Eventually the UP crew were able to pull clear of the crossing they were blocking, the conductor and brakeman walked up to the head end, and the train slowly began to pick its way west down the Fallon lead. Lisa and I elected to go ahead and make for home rather than to pace the slow train back to Hazen and the junction with the main line. It's a short trip home (I've rarely stayed in a hotel so close to my own home), and we can make much better time to Fernley than the train could due to the slow nature of the Fallon lead.
Around two hours after we left the Fallon Job behind and after we got home and unpacked from our one-night mini-vacation, the UP train came through Fernley at speed. We had some warning of its approach from hearing the dispatcher authorize them to re-enter the main line at Hazen and when they hit the defect detector located a few miles east of Fernley. The other locomotive visible in this photo is sitting on the Fernley House Tracks idling away until a crew comes out to collect it.
The train passed through and headed for Sparks. Yes, they're running "backwards." I'm surprised the crew of this job, who have been using this pair of locomotives for the past few days that I've noticed, haven't made an effort to wye one of the locomotives and run them tail-to-tail for more convenience, but I don't know what their operational constraints are.
It was a really nice winter day. Not exactly warm (around 8°C), but certainly not freezing. Conditions for watching trains were just fine.
I'm glad it did not get too cold last night or today, because of course the fire in the fireplace had died out. That's not such a bad thing, because while the fire logs are very efficient, eventually there is enough ash that you need to clear the firebox, and this was a good opportunity to do dig ash and clean around the fireplace before restarting the fire and warming the house back up.
We enjoyed this little trip to Fallon. If it weren't for COVID and for her tinnitus, Lisa says we would come out and do this hotel thing more often, as the hotel has a dual pool (indoor/outdoor) and a hot tub. She does say that she'd enjoy the whirlpool bath more if the water was like that in Reykjavik, with the mineral-bath feel and smell caused by using the geothermal municipal hot-water supply they have there. OTOH, given the cost per unit area of hotels in Iceland, I reckon a room similar to what we had last night in Fallon would have cost roughly ten times as much in Reykjavik. I agree that it would be nice, though.