06-10-2010, 01:10 PM
A couple of years ago I saw a caboose on a BNSF train in between Riverside and Corona, Ca. I remarked about it on the So Cal Railfan Forums, and someone told me that was the San Jac local. It runs from Corona to San Jacinto and back. The "J"in San Jacinto is pronounced like an "H", but I think the railroad pronounces the local the "San Jack." Anyway, the caboose is on that local because the train goes East from Corona about 15 miles into the middle of Riverside on the BNSF mainline and then takes the San Jacinto branch another 10 miles or so up the hill. There is no place to turn the train, so there are long backing moves. I think they can make a run around move at the end of the branch so the caboose is always on the rear of the train when it is on the mainline, but it will be on the front sometimes on the San Jacinto branch when they are switching industries up there.