BNSF's SanJac Local running on the Historic Riverside & San Jac Branches! 10/31/2024

Today I got my first try at chasing the BNSF San Jacinto Local, commonly known as the SanJac or simply the Jac. Today's run featured a rather interesting workload, with two industries needing to be switched out in Riverside. I started off my chase on the SCRRA Perris Valley Subdivision mainline (aka San Jacinto Branch) just south of the Riverside Hunter Park Station at CP Marlborough, at the historic station of Lily Cup. Here the train passed slowing down, with 3 loads for Sigma Stretch, and 4 loads for Lehigh. They then reversed off the mainline onto the UP Riverside Industrial Lead. Once part of a historic PE, and later SP branch that went from San Bernardino to Corona, the remnant UP branch from Colton to Riverside was abandoned roughly 10 years ago, where the small remaining portion of containing the three online industries became isolated and connected to the Metrolink trackage, where BNSF gained the rights to serve them despite being a UP industrial lead. I then got them leaving their 3 loads of plastic pellets hoppers at Sigma, before the train headed to Lehigh. Here, I caught them making a tight run-around, before the train picked up 3 empties, and then dropped the 4 loads. From here the train then quickly headed back to CP Marlborough, where they waited for a pair of Metrolink Perris Valley Line trains, before proceeding to shove through the junction. The train then rocketed up the mainline, where they took on the challenging Box Springs grade. I caught them twice going up the grade, the latter of which was near the railroad location of Box Springs. The train continued south where I caught it again off an exit on the I-215 freeway. The final shot was the train pulling into the sidings near March Field, where the train would tie down, where the nighttime crew would take the SanJac to service the other industries on the historic San Jacinto Branch. Train ID: BNSF R-CAL0151-31I Head End: BNSF 133~GP60M-3 BNSF 172~GP60 BNSF 190~GP60 Metrolink M713 Head End: SCAX 643 Rear End: SCAX 928~F125 Metrolink M708 Head End: SCAX 936~F125 Rear End: SCAX 650