Tim, I hope the spproaching train is like magic fingers on a hotel bed. And you don’t even have to pay 25 cents to make it work! 100’ it’s close. How active is the line?
Guys, thanks for the info about ASARCO. Found out they took down the smoke stacks in 2013.
@JPTRR, Hi Fred - wow! That’s quite a picture! If you tried it in photoshop nobody would believe it was real!
I went out on the bike again today, but to the south, into the Port of Oakland which is maybe five or six miles from where I live. There is a really big UP yard in this area, and as I have shown before, a BNSF yard about 15 miles to the north. There is a mainline running between the Port of Oakland and the BNSF yard in Richmond, but it also runs past the BNSF yard and well into the Central Valley, and eventually eastward, as it serves UP and Amtrak - and evidently sometimes BNSF. I don’t know what the track protocol is 
as I see mostly UP and Amtrak on this line, but sometimes BNSF!
This morning I saw two sets of BNSF power at the Port of Oakland, one waiting for containers and the other with auto racks:
The reason the container train is here is obvious enough!, as you’ll see below, but I’m less sure about the auto racks, as most of the auto loading happens at a big BNSF yard in Richmond, that appears to be dedicated to this purpose - but, who knows? It’s all fun for me to see as I’m riding along. And, yes, the Port of Oakland:
Wow - things here are huge. As the Port is geographically very large, it’s hard for me to estimate how many of these ships might be tied up at a given time, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a dozen or more.
On a weekday the Port is buzzing with life, and it is not a good place for me on a bike to be - just dangerous riding in a few places, but on a weekend, it’s very quiet and easy to ride. There are a few dedicated bike lanes which are in remarkably good shape, but some big intersections that on a weekday are scary to get through on a bike! and speaking of a bike:
Ahh yes…I had to laugh because the guy in my local bike shop told me with a straight face that this is a vintage mountain bike! 
No it’s not! I bought it new…in 1995 How about that graffiti sparkle over the handlebars! 
Cheers
Nick
1.6 miles to UPs main line over the Sierras. 2900ft from the line that runs to Stead,NorCal, Oregon, points north.
I live quite a way away for any trainline here in Australia, but for several months I stayed with a friend in their home in Milan, Italy - it is in the circle zone:
Yes, surrounded by very active train lines.
How old is the guy in the bikeshop? Over or under 30?
I got a reality check once from a configuration manager (documents) in one of the first IT-projects I worked in. When she heard which year I was born she said “Same year as my brothers oldest son, I changed his diapers a few times”
So then I knew …
Ha! the bike might be older than him! So, I guess it might well be considered vintage…but following that logic, it seems you and I might be considered vintage too!!
But it’s a hard tail. What’s old is new again.
Absolutely!
61 and counting, my kids joke about me having had a dinosaur as pet …
@Stickframe Nice ‘day in pictures’ thanks for sharing.
Perfect placement to get that sparkle right over the handlebars. I still have my 1985 Cannondale. It was the lowest model in that year’s series bikes but handled fire roads well. Now it has slicks for road riding. 
