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Spring in Placer County brings April showers, May flowers and lots of interesting railroad action on Union Pacific Railroad's Valley Subdivision. Aside from dodging the occasional rain shower, spring weather is the perfect time to enjoy mainline railfanning on the Valley Subdivision!
Photo: It's 09:28 on a beautiful spring morning, Friday, May 01, 2026 and here comes grain train GMP2FO west, led by U.P. #6524 at Sierra, M.P. 107.1, where both legs of the wye come together. The switch at Sierra is where Union Pacific's Valley Subdivision heads north - timetable east - into the northern Sacramento Valley and over the Cascade mountain range to Oregon, and beyond. My vantage point is on Sierra Blvd., at the extreme east end of the Roseville, CA yard complex, and I'm on what the locals call the "Crooked Bridge," which is a unique, 100 year-old bridge that still carries traffic. This bridge offers a great photo location, as it's an old-school concrete bridge and offers an unrestricted view for photography, as it hasn't been retrofitted with "vandal fencing." Photo is with extreme telephoto, and although the day is still quite cool - about 70 degrees - heat rays distort the photo, along with the exhaust from the units.
Photo: GMP2FO reaches the switch at Sierra, and will be in the Roseville yard soon. Well, sooner or later, as the train entered the yard in various stages, and it took nearly an hour for the yard to complete the job. This train originated in Portland, Oregon and would later be making it's way south down the Fresno Subdivision to it's destination, Famoso, located in Kern County.
Photo: The head end power waits to enter the yard. The track in the background is the Roseville Subdivision, which heads east over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, over Donner Pass. The large building in the background is the former Roseville Telephone Company headquarters and equipment building, which is no longer a telco building and is current undergoing remodeling to begin a new life as a condo complex.
Photo: Three DPUs in the middle of the train. This was a fully loaded train and it called for a lot of power.
Photo: As GMP2FO waits to get in the yard, train MRVGR heads east on the Roseville Subdivision, with the destination as Green River, WY, but will make a stop in Sparks to unload several carloads of military cargo, which will be shipped to the U.S. Army base in Hawthorne, NV.
Photo: At 10:25, the grain train was finally in the yard. Unit #8917 brings up the end of the train.
Photo: Later at 10:50, MHKRV west showed up with #8030 on the point. The track makes a curious turn about a half mile east of Sierra, and from my vantage point on the "Crooked Bridge," it looks like there was once a siding east of Sierra.
Photo: MHKRV meets the signal at Sierra and prepares to enter the Roseville yard. This train originates at Hinkle yard, at Portland, OR, and is a regular on the Valley Subdivision.
Photo: As MHKRV waits to enter the yard, Amtrak #6 rolls by on the Roseville Subdivision, headed east toward Chicago. It's 10:54 on this beautiful Friday morning, and #6 leaves Roseville on time.
Photo: The DPU at the end of the train enters the yard at 11:02 in the morning.
Photo: Tuesday morning at 09:07, April 28, 2026 finds the "Rocklin Rocket" heading east, just past the spur track at M.P. 109.4 that leads to "L.B. Construction," which receives loads of plywood a couple times a week. The "Rocket" is a local turn that works the Valley Subdivsion as far east as Oroville. The train is called most weekdays at 08:00 at J.R. Davis yard in Roseville, works the local industries, and ties up each night. Check out the article I published about the "Rocklin Rocket" working Sierra Pacific Industries in Lincoln during the month of April, 2026.
Photo: Back on Thursday, April 09,2026 I photographed U.P. #6253 east at M.P. 121.0 leading an empty grain train. I have no idea the symbol of this train, but I do know the time is 13:07 on this early Thursday afternoon.
Photo: Less than an hour later, at 13:58, #6367 west, leading a merchandise train with lots of empty auto racks, passed me by in a hurry to get to Roseville. Due to the manifest and the time of day, I'd say this train was MPDRV.
Photo: The last car passed the rural crossing at Chamberlain Rd., about five miles east of Lincoln, CA, heading toward the J.R. Davis yard in nearby Roseville. Union Pacific Railroad Copyright(c) 2026 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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