America’s Obscure Industrial Railroads: Deseret Western Railway & USG’s Plaster City Gypsum Railroad
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- In this video, C. Vision Productions visits two obscure private railroads operating in the western and southwestern United States. First, we’ll tour USG’s 26-mile narrow-gauge rail line between Plaster City, California and the company’s gypsum quarry at Split Mountain, south of Ocotillo Wells. In this segment, we’ll see a Bombardier DL-535E handling both loaded and empty gypsum shuttle trains across the Sonoran Desert. Next, we head to western Colorado and eastern Utah in search of the Deseret Western Railway (now the Deseret Power Railway). This isolated railroad operated with a fleet of GE E60C-2 electrics, hauling coal from the Deserado Mine in Colorado, to the Bonanza Power Plant in Utah. Come along with videographer Dan Hadley, as he explores two fascinating industrial operations in remote areas of the United States.
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Boy that US gypsum track those things were rocking and rolling. It's almost like they need to redo the road base put concrete ties in there
Yeah. It’s tough for short lines to maintain tracks.
The USG diesels are very unique! And the Deseret electric locomotives stand out in hauling coal!
Ex white pass
We absolutely agree. That was the main reason we chose to put this video together. It’s nice to see some of the more obscure operations from time to time. Rare diesels and electrics are an added bonus. Thank you, MJ!
The little m5h sounds rough but a welcome change to the current day chimes❤
Yes! If only those horns were more common today. We’d love to hear them on modern locomotives. Thank you for appreciating that M5.
I usually prefer longer videos but sometimes it's good to watch a short one like this.
We completely understand, Bill. Our general preference is to release longer videos to give you guys more “bang for your buck”, but it’s nice to take a little break from those monster projects from time to time. Thank you for the comment. Your feedback is appreciated.
I enjoy seeing footage of the Deseret Western and Black Mesa & Lake Powell isolated electric coal railroads. There's also the Navajo Mine Railroad, although footage of it is scarce online. Especially since they recently dieselized with two ET44ACs.
Interesting news on the Navajo Mine Railroad. Thank you for sharing it with us. All of those coal-hauling electric railroads were fascinating. We appreciate the comment.
UA-cam algorithm offered this up to me today. Hey there, C!
We’re happy that it did! Thank you for checking out the video.
Amazing! Never heard of these two unique railways before.
Thank you very much! We were hoping to share a couple of the more obscure railroads in the United States. These two operations certainly fit the bill! We appreciate you watching the video.
Indiana harbor belt is another great one
Great video! Shot the US Gypsum last summer, heading back again next week. Adding the DPR to my list this year too.
Thank you very much! We hope that you have some enjoyable trips. Definitely a worthwhile endeavor.
US Gypsum still exists? That's great to hear!
@@LongIslandRailfanner still going strong.
I love these narrow gauge railroads and have been researching them so much, I need to visit here and explore one of 2 freight narrow gauge railroads left in America.
Usg and the second one is?
@@wavesnbikes the csx-owned narrow gauge railroad in the Toledo Ohio harbor run by former C&O 55 toners that are still in YN1
Narrow-gauge railroads are fascinating, especially the ones that have survived the test of time and still exist today. Thank you for watching the video, and good luck on your expeditions!
Very cool footage. The USG clip was in pentrex film “those incredible alcos volume 3”
Yes, you are correct! And thank you for the kind words. Mr. Hadley was capturing footage for Pentrex during his visit to USG. Thankfully, he retained the rights to the raw footage. We appreciate you watching the video.
Love seeing the obscure and rarely seen Rail Road companies out there... Great video bro.!!
Thank you so much! Obscure, and rarely-photographed rail lines have a special appeal to them. We appreciate the comment.
That is super cool and interesting. Even a random hopper sitting on its side in the desert 😊 great video
Thank you, Matthew! And yes, it was interesting to see the aftermath of that derailment. From the way it looked, they were in no rush to clean it up. We appreciate the comment.
Looks like plaster city is deferring track and roadbed maintenance, guess they don't remember what happened to the disaster that was the penncentral.
The track did look a bit shaky back in those days. We’d guess that it’s been improved since then, as this footage was captured in the 1990s. We don’t need the Penn Central returning in the 21st century! Your comment is appreciated.
Nice Video's Of USG!
Thank you, Jeffery! We’re glad that you enjoyed the USG segment.
I don't really understand why they built narrow gauge in the flat desert. Really, the only benefit of narrow gauge is that it costs less to build bridges and tunnels. Everything else is more expensive, as it has to be custom-built just for you, and everything is lower capacity, so you need more cars and more trains.
I'm afraid only USG knows the answer...
very easy to tell. Back in these days, narrow gauge was common, special if you have not the money to bring all the ballast and material for a standard gauge railway with the much heigher weight of engines and loaded cars. And then you need to maintain. So clearly narrow gauge was the option, special as this was a isolated railroad.
We absolutely see your point. Standard-gauge operation brings many added benefits. If this line was hugging the side of a mountain, it may have made more sense to keep it as a narrow-gauge operation. At this point, it’s probably cheaper to keep things as they are, at least in the short term. As always, we appreciate your comments.
What is the reason for USG choosing narrow guage instead of standard?
At the time the line was built, it was common for these types of mining railroads to be built narrow-gauge. And most likely, the cost of converting to standard-gauge has prevented anything from changing. The current setup seems to work for them. We appreciate the question.
That USG narrow gauge certainly needs some evening out. Wobbling back and fourth the whole way; at 6:11 one of the hopper cars is on it's side spilled with gypsum! Fantastic video, great shots and nicely edited and narrated. Great info. However, why is it uploaded in HD yet it looks like 480 SD at half resolution? Accounting for the horizontal artifacts that can be seen indicating half a field of interlaced video is only showing, like preview mode in some editors. I see the rest of your videos on channel are similar, 4:3 SD yet uploaded HD.
Thank you for asking. We are taking SD footage and putting on a HD timeline as to retain much of the quality and play in accordance to many TV's and devices that are 16:9 without cropping any of the footage.
There is an error in the description of the Bombardier and the order from the 80s. White Pass never had financial problems. They refused delivery when the Anvil Mine service shut down. And since these engines were funded by Canadian taxpayers, they were not allowed to sell them elsewhere. Later, USG purchased two engines through a special firm. One extra Bombardier (111) was later acquired because Engine 113 had a major accident. White Pass received Engine 114, as it became clear that a new engine was needed for work trains. Now, Engine 114 was recently sold to the Chumbres & Toltec Railroad in California.
We appreciate the additional information, but there is no error. The White Pass & Yukon lost their main source of revenue in 1982 after a significant drop in metal prices, which resulted in the closure of mines served by the railroad. “Hopeful of a reopening, the railway ran at a significant loss for several months, carrying only passengers. However, the railway closed down on October 7, 1982.” That also prompted the White Pass & Yukon to cancel their order for the final four DL-535E locomotives. Thank you for your concern.
@@CVisionProductions1 In your written comment you are correct, but not the comment in the video. They never had no money to pay for these engines. That's the error. You try to tell an inside the story. That can go only wrong.
Nowhere did we state where the money would have come from to purchase the locomotives, we simply provided the reason that the locomotives weren’t delivered. There is a difference between a summary of events and a detailed analysis. Our job is to condense as much information as possible into a very short segment of video. There is no way to explain every detail of history in these videos.
Such an awesome video. Would it be alright if I used some of this footage for a tribute video? You will absouletely be creditied for your wonderful work.
Unfortunately, our agreement with the owner of the footage does not allow that, but thank you for asking.
@@CVisionProductions1 alright thank you for responding and i understand!
Great video
Thank you very much, Andrew! We appreciate you watching.
that look like it could tip over anytime
I was thinking exactly the same. And then 6:12.
And we’re guessing that’s happened a few times… At least those narrow-gauge cars have a lower center of gravity! Derailing one of those trains is probably less of a headache compared to a standard-gauge train. Thank you for the comment.
As usual great videos!
Thank you very much, Mark! We appreciate you checking out the video.
Man is it just me or does that Bombardier smoke like it's running on coal?!
I thought at first that the Bombardier DL535Es are built by either General Electric or ElectroMotive Division because their cabs have those features.
Yes, their cabs do look similar to those of the other builders. An interesting group of locomotives, for sure. We appreciate the comment.
why is there a tippoed over car in that 1 shot
We noticed that too. It looks like a little derailment may have occurred there. Thanks for pointing it out.
Do you have any footage of the Brooten Line?
Unfortunately, we do not. That line had very little coverage throughout its history. Thank you for asking.
Never understood narrow gauge. Why not use standard gauge so you can get equipment easily???
You make a good point. Your options are limited on a narrow gauge railway. We’d guess that the cost of converting the operation to standard gauge is prohibitive. It’s still surprising that it never happened. We appreciate the comment.
6:12 oof