Ok, whilst actual out at the trackside I was becoming convinced I'd seen the same cars time and time again, like UP were just sending them round in circles, certain ones stick in your mind and you look through the view finder and think 'I've seen you before chummy boy'. I've not yet renamed, let alone processed, all the rolling stock images to their ident numbers but the drum flat is easy to find and lo I had seen it again.
Aha y'all cry it's going to/from San Bernardino loaded and coming back empty, not quite so quick young padawans.
The first sighting (previous image) was on the 28th April, the above image on the 1st May, ok so it's been back and forth a couple of times and you've missed it loaded...both images are empty.
Not so, the first image was going down hill toward San Bernardino on the Palmdale cut off, probably to West Colton classification yard, the second image is coming up the Palmdale cut off which would indicate it went in and back out as part of an onward journey.
Problem is the cutoff from Palmdale/Lancaster only goes that way, one way in and one way out, it's not a V or Y type of affair, past Palmdale is Mojave and then Tehachapi and Bakersefield. The only way you can deviate is at Mojave, but why come down past Mojave and all the way to West Colton, then go all the way back to Mojave, then reverse back from Mojave to Barstow from whence you can the divert to Las Vegas and points north at Daggett.
There is another option and that's the little used link between UP on the Palmdale cutoff and BNSF Transcon2 at Silverwood, Rob and I were very lucky to catch just such a movement and I'd seen only one before a few days earlier. Thus it is possible to come from Mojave down the cut off to west Colton then go back up the hill, take the connection to BNSF and run to Barstow that way, and thence Las Vegas; or the reverse working.
I'll never know but it's interesting to muse where it was going to and from as it's clearly in different trains on different days.
Regarding the drum fixings, a close up.
It looks like a steel plate on the outside and on the inside a wooden formed wedge affair, I've no idea what the flats are for, possibly for loading when traveling on more restricted lines, maybe where they load them there is a low bridge?
One thing is for sure, whatever the load, it is light and possibly only single or at most double wrapped, a double wrap of copper cable for wiring or such would just be too heavy. I've seen similar drums but made from steel spokes and the cargo is large diameter plastic pipe, possible for irrigation or new drainage/water supplies.
Regarding the height, yes they are high, I had no direct reference, but they didn't seem any higher than an autorack which are about the limit of most gauge 1 loading gauges.
I've seen wooden cable drums flipped on their side and turned into barbecue tables, these, would make massive tables