Railfanning Merced - 3/18/18

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 !