Rail-fanning on The OGR Forum 🚂 Welcome: Pictures YOU have taken! • Hope to see you out rail-fanning.

Scanners are useless here because all the cops and fire department are on trunking systems and  I don't want to buy a scanner that picks up those frequencies. Plus Radio Shack is gone and that was the only place to buy them.

@DennyM posted:

Scanners are useless here because all the cops and fire department are on trunking systems and  I don't want to buy a scanner that picks up those frequencies. Plus Radio Shack is gone and that was the only place to buy them.

Denny,

Radio Shack is not out of business, but has indeed closed most of its stores.  It has migrated to a mostly-online business model.

It still has a nice assortment of scanners however.  You'll just have to shop online, or call in your order, instead of visiting the local store.

Mike

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

Denny,

Radio Shack is not out of business, but has indeed closed most of its stores.  It has migrated to a mostly-online business model.

It still has a nice assortment of scanners however.  You'll just have to shop online, or call in your order, instead of visiting the local store.

Mike

I found one about fifty miles from me. Maybe I'll drive there the one here in town closed.

@DennyM posted:

Scanners are useless here because all the cops and fire department are on trunking systems and  I don't want to buy a scanner that picks up those frequencies. Plus Radio Shack is gone and that was the only place to buy them.

Hi Denny & Members

Sorry to hear that you do not like scanners because the frequencies in your area do not meet your objectives and Radio Shack Scanners do a better job. Please re-read my overview and watch this video from the number one rail-fanning channel on YouTube. He shows what this scanner can do.

{1} The Uniden Scanner & BingFu Antenna

{2} This scanner can be program my by hand using the keypad on the scanner. I did a few channels this way but the process is too slow. A faster method is to use a PC computer, this will not work on a Mac. Use https://www.radioreference.com/ and https://www.bearcatwarehouse.com/ You must set up an account with Uniden / Bearcat. The scanner comes with a USB cable that is used to program the scanner & charging the 2300 mAh - (2AA) NiMH batteries.

{3} This is a roof mounted BingFu Antenna with a magnetic base.

{4} During the programing process a Alpha Tag is assigned to each channel. This is showing the Amtrak Police & Channel 160.3650

https://youtu.be/VXDYgbQehv4

There is NO EASY BUTTON for scanners but a learning curve that is worth the time to get great results when we are out rail-fanning, Plus it also has a 24/7 weather channel. All for about one hundred dollars.

Take care & Happy New Year: Gary 🚂

Don't get me wrong. I don't dislike scanners, but I don't want to spend the money and I'm not going to raise another antenna. When I lived in Chicago, I could hear everybody. My antenna was 60ft in the air. Height is might. I'm also a Ham Radio operator and CBer.

Here's my first train photos of 2022, of Amtrak 11 heading south on New years day between Tenino and Bucoda, WA

Real nice Lee. And it’s all in “scale’ too!

Some recent edits and captures trackside

ZDENCHI at East Roggen CO

MGJNY at Leyden, CO

S-OMATAC at Keenesburg, CO

Loaded coal bucket at Merino, CO

S-OMATAC again at Corona, CO

UP 4014 at Pecos Jct Denver 11/19

I thought I'd post this here, there are some photos in the article that are pretty amazing. Back in June the Lava fire in Northern California at the foot of Mount Shasta, burned the Dry Canyon bridge cutting off UP's root from Portland, Oregon to Roseville, CA, but UP repaired it in record time. Here's a link to the article on UP's website.

https://www.up.com/aboutup/com...dge-repens-early.htm

Eric, it's clear why you're such a good model train photographer, as you just do what you do for full size trains!

Wow, Erik’s outstanding photography work is such a tough act to follow.  Magnificent as always!

Here are some iPhone photos and videos I grabbed this week along the Providence & Worcester Railroad (now a member of the Genesee & Wyoming family).  We haven’t seen the sun here in eastern MA for what seems like a week.  I suppose the gloominess is somewhat appropriate when your photographing a railroad going about its daily routine in its dirty, cramped-quartered, city yard environment!

Tuesday, December 28th.  P&W #4007 & #2006 are switching cars near the south end of the Worcester city classification yard…

Friday, December 31st.  Some shots around the P&W engine terminal in Worcester, MA…

Happy New Year everyone!

During the first eight or so years I went trackside in Pittsburgh, by force of habit I largely stuck to NS's Fort Wayne Line,  and neglected trips further afield. Now that my time as a resident is coming to a close, and now that I have a little more free time, I have been making efforts to hit up lesser-known lines that give the region its unique flavor.

A lot of folks probably heard about the Cumberland Mine Railroad for the first time when it was featured on the cover of Trains last year. I heard about the line through Instagram a few months prior, but never found the time to check out the route until last week. Here, the westbound run charges toward the short twin tunnels under Polecat Hollow Road and I-79.

The Cumberland is one of two roads in the Pittsburgh area that currently roster SD38-2s, a type that is slowly becoming less and less common as Class Is auction off more surplus SD40-2s. Number 22 shows off its model railroaders' dream light package (Mars light, class lights, beacon, and ditch lights) at the barge loading facility in Alicia. I received permission and signed a waiver to visit the property for the day.

The other SD38-2, number 1, drags the unit train past the mine tipple loader. Number 1 was built new for the Cumberland Mine, unlike 22, which was originally built for Yankeestown Dock. The road also rosters an ex-Southern Pacific SD40R, held as reserve power because of mechanical issues.

Trains almost always run with units on both ends, with one loco running long-hood forward up to the mine and the other leading short hood-forward to the transload. Assuming no mechanical issues at either facility or with the train, the road usually runs one train for each shift. Number 1 is seen preparing to depart for its return to the mine after emptying the afternoon's load.

The other road rostering SD38s (for now) is the Bessemer and Lake Erie, which, seventeen years after the Canadian National takeover, still rosters a rotating cast of the 2000-horsepower units for the sporadic miscellaneous run. Here, ex-DM&IR SD38 862 leads a late misc. underneath the signal bridge at Russelton. Not shown are about seven local and out-of-state railfans (one guy in my car came from New Jersey), all in their teens and twenties, who charged up the embankment to form a photo line.

Currently the only unit on the property still in Bessemer paint, SD38-2 868 pauses at Harmar while the crew resets the switch to the mainline and prepares to reverse across the Allegheny River to clear the block. SD40T-3 905, an ex-SP tunnel motor, is offline for repairs. Usually, the train switches  Bennett Supply before heading to the North Bessemer yard to pick up meager carload interchange with the Union Railroad, but on this day, in addition to being late, the crew ran back north to the shops at Greenville instead.

Rail-fanning with B&W Film

From my stock files, April 2003, Detroit, Michigan • Home Darkroom

{1} The first step is to make a test print. This process will determine the correct exposure time for the enlarger. A 8X loupe is used to check the grain structure and contrast. 25 seconds is the correct exposure for this print.

{2} Using a Beseler 23CII Condenser Enlarger to make the print. The negative is in the negative carrier and light will travel through the negative a cast an image onto the photo paper. I use a #4 contrast filter to give the print a high contrast finish.

{3} I use Kodak Polycontrast RC Paper and develop the print in Kodak Dektal for one minute.

{4} The print is now in the stop bath.This will take about 30 seconds to stop the developing process.

{5} The fixer will harden the emulsion so it is no longer sensitive to light.

{6} The print will be washed in running water to remove all the chemicals.

{7} The print will be squeegee dry to remove water spots.

{8} Hang up to dry.

{9} Final full frame print. Schaefer Switch Tower.

Hopefully you found this helpful & interesting.

Every model railroader started out rail-fanning!

Hope to see you out rail-fanning and posting your images on “Rail-fanning on The OGR Forum”. Any day and time. 😎

Gary

Took these yesterday-

Tenino, WA, Coast Starlight # 11:

Remember the '501' crash at DuPont, WA? This is where that line comes off the BNSP/UP/Amtrak main line at Nisqually, going Northbound, the opposite direction that train went when it went on the ground:

Rail-fanning At Sunset

Yesterday January 7, 2022 • 20ºF • With No Palm Trees 🌴

CN Yard at Pontiac Michigan. These photos show the light from a sunset reflecting off the locomotives. The last photo was taken by Train Room Pam & shows Train Room Gary using a GoPro Camera. After we finished this rail-fanning adventure we stopped at Wilson’s Pub ’n Grill and brought home a pizza. In Commerce Twp., Michigan. 🍕

The video below was shot with a “GoPro Max” in 360 Degree Mode.

Every model railroader started out rail-fanning!

Hope to see you out rail-fanning and posting your images on “Rail-fanning on The OGR Forum”. Any day and time. 😎

Gary

@trainroomgary posted:

Rail-fanning At Sunset

Yesterday January 7, 2022 • 20ºF • With No Palm Trees 🌴

Thanks for braving the frosty chill Gary (and Pam)!

So nice to see 4930 still in her Grand Trunk colors.  Not that I don't appreciate CN, and the continued good work they do on the ex-GTW here in SE Michigan, but a little reminder of the past is always a good thing.

Mike

Eastern Idaho Railroad (EIRR) GP35 at Rexburg, Idaho, December 23, 2021. It stopped right there and wouldn’t come any closer. So I just clicked it and got back into the warm car. 😉

CN power on the old DMIR

Nice looking shots guys; some new edits and recent stuff, finally some snow!

AMTK 5 at Wiggins, CO at sunrise lifting the snow at trackspeed in minus 12 temps. 1/2/22

Canadian Pacific leader with sand near Boulder at Valmont, CO 1/2/22

HPVODEN 1 at Crescent, CO in October 2019

4014 at Pecos in Denver November 2019

MNYGJ at Fire Clay (Eisele) at sunrise 12/26/21

BNSF Coal bucket in the sag at first light at Crest, CO 1/1/22

sunrise at Tampa, CO 1/1/22

Lafayette local at Broomfield, CO 12/8/21

AMTK 5 with P42 heritage unit 184 at Tolland, CO 1/2/22

AMTK 5 at Coal Creek near Tunnel 1 on 1/6/22

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

Thanks for braving the frosty chill Gary (and Pam)!

So nice to see 4930 still in her Grand Trunk colors.  Not that I don't appreciate CN, and the continued good work they do on the ex-GTW here in SE Michigan, but a little reminder of the past is always a good thing.

Mike

Hi Mike: Thanks for checking out our photos from the CN Yard in Pontiac, Michigan and the very kind comment. Below is one more photo of the GT 4930.

Gary 🚂

I saw the EMPIRE BUILDER come through Tenino, WA this morning!

The passes are so screwed up, they routed it via Spokane and Vancouver to Seattle. This was called train number 7/27

Going Loco in the South Pacific:   

I first met Tim, a person whom I consider to be the ultimate railfan, in the early 2000’s while visiting our son who lives in the Cook Islands. How our son ended up there is another story but for simplicity, we'll credit the Peace Corp.   Tim, a gentleman lawyer on the Island of Rarotonga, purchased a 20 ton Polish 0-8-0 narrow gauge steam engine and had it shipped 15,000 miles to this tiny island with a land surface area of approximately 25 square miles.   In February of 1992, the #1741 was off loaded onto the Avatiu Wharf.    For the next 10+ years, Tim in his spare time and almost single handedly, restored this machine and gave it life again.    The boiler of the engine was found to be in excellent condition but in order to be fully inspected, all the tubes had to be cut away and replaced with new ones.   New bearings were forged and machined also by Tim and he even constructed a wheel drop pit for later repairs if so needed.   Many parts have been renewed or replaced, scraped clean and repainted.   Finally, in February 2002, the engine was back in full steam.   Tim’s train depot featured tea and cookies, a pictorial display of classic steam locomotives and several rides back and forth over 170 meters of track in his backyard.   He also, on occasion, lets you take the wheel, so to speak.   On an environmental note, the 0-8-0’s firebox consumes old buildings and other junk burnables the island offers.       

Last I saw, he was in the process of constructing some carriages so people could ride in comfort instead of sitting on the tenders bleachers.     

Enjoy the pictures,  Cheers, Dave

Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Tim with his pride and Joy!

Outside the back shop!

The Depot:  Get your tickets, hot tea and a biscuit for the ride!

Train shed and photo display:

Two rail-fanners in the South Pacific!

We got Steam!

The back shop!

Fuel stop with a little help from your's truly!

My turn at the "wheel":

All aboard!

We got the High-Ball!

Tim working on the new carriages!

Our three grand kids enjoyed the ride!

@darlander- so now we know where your avatar photo was taken.

Very cool Dave, thanks for sharing.

@RSJB18 posted:

@darlander- so now we know where your avatar photo was taken.

Very cool Dave, thanks for sharing.

Yes. the secret is out!   Now you have the rest of the story.   Bob, you're a good detective!

Cheers, Dave

Some of this morning’s loot

The first warm glow of a January sunrise under the Great Divide in full Alpenglow softly illuminate a venerable Warbonnet warrior at East Portal, CO 1/9/22

Snow impact! 1/9/22

Other shots I got today...

I haven't posted here because I don't really railfan; however I do see trains.  Friday, I took a few shots of the CN (former B&LE) train going past the Cleveland Cliffs (former Armco) plant as I was going into the Rite Aid pharmacy just south of Butler, Pennsylvania.  There were two engines on the point, and two engines pushing.  This is the end of the train, and all the hoppers are still lettered BLE.  I finally got photographs that show road numbers of some engines to look up what they are.  I can't tell one modern engine from another.  These are both SD70M-2, engine numbers 8804 and 8827 on the end.

Two weeks ago, I finally got an opportunity to get a photograph of the Cliffs switcher just south of where I photographed the CN engines.  I do not know what engine this one is either.  I wasn't able to read the white markings on the photograph when enlarged.

@darlander posted:

Going Loco in the South Pacific:   

Enjoy the pictures,  Cheers, Dave

Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Dave,  Are these photos current or from 2002?  It would be interesting to see an update if the photos are from the early 2000s.  I have been studying the battle for Guadalcanal that my father fought in.  These photos of the island, the saw grass, and jungle give me a good idea of the difficult terrain that our Navy and Marines faced in the South Pacific.    

Tim is the ultimate model railroader to import his own railroad from Poland.  Thanks for sharing.  NH Joe

@New Haven Joe posted:

Dave,  Are these photos current or from 2002?  It would be interesting to see an update if the photos are from the early 2000s.  I have been studying the battle for Guadalcanal that my father fought in.  These photos of the island, the saw grass, and jungle give me a good idea of the difficult terrain that our Navy and Marines faced in the South Pacific.    

Tim is the ultimate model railroader to import his own railroad from Poland.  Thanks for sharing.  NH Joe

Greetings Joe,  

Some of the photos are from 2004 but current pictures would look much the same.   Our last visit was February 2020, just prior to the start of the Covid closures.   It's a lush and beautiful island.   Rarotonga is very rugged and has several high peaks and lush tropical jungles.   The Cook Islands are about 500 miles southwest of Tahiti and comprise a group of 15 islands (6 in the Northern group and 9 in the Southern group).   The northern group of islands are basically coral atolls - elevation of 1-2 meters.    Our son served two years in the Peace Corp on Rarotonga.   In his first letter home he stated that it was soooo beautiful he didn't know how he was going to leave.   That letter was delivered 30 years ago.  The rest is history.   We have made 15 visits to the Cooks over the past many years.   It is a long flight and as we get older, the flight gets less appealing but, it feels like a second home to us since we have family living there so I am sure we have a few more trips in our future.   It has been a few years since I have seen Tim and the train.    His original plan was to set up a tourist line that would run over a kilometer of track.   The small land area and the difficultly negotiating Polynesian land rights probably provided the major road block.   Will check on him when we next visit.    

My father also served in the South Pacific during WWII.  He was a naval medical officer and also served on Guadalcanal, but his time there was after a secured base hospital was established.  He also spent time in New Caledonia.    Many Cook Islanders served in the New Zealand military during the war.  The US did establish a naval air base on the island of Aitutaki and was ready to mount a defense but the Japanese army never got that far west to pose a threat.    Today, all that is left of the base is an unused runway!  

Thanks for your response and the note about your father's service.    Nice to know we have more in common than just the love of trains!  

Cheers, Dave  

This ARR box car was posed beside the railroad headquarters in Anchorage early in 1983.  In 2001, MTH released a RailKing model of it, which was missing the telephone number that was a dominant feature of the car. When I emailed MTH customer service about the omission, I received a response saying, with an obvious degree of shock, "We would never put someone's phone number on a car!"  When I pointed out that the real railroad had done so, the curt reply was "I'll pass it along to our design team."  I doubt that my observation was ever passed along to anyone.

Headquarters of the Alaska Railroad in Anchorage in 1983. As I recall, the historical (and diminutive) locomotive on the pedestal was finally removed after repeatedly falling victim to vandals. I don't know its ultimate fate.

@Bill of the Paha Sapa Lines RR posted:

This ARR box car was posed beside the railroad headquarters in Anchorage early in 1983.  In 2001, MTH released a RailKing model of it, which was missing the telephone number that was a dominant feature of the car. When I emailed MTH customer service about the omission, I received a response saying, with an obvious degree of shock, "We would never put someone's phone number on a car!"  When I pointed out that the real railroad had done so, the curt reply was "I'll pass it along to our design team."  I doubt that my observation was ever passed along to anyone.

So, I did a little Googling and that phone number still belongs to the Alaska Railroad; however, it appears to be the desk line for one of their real estate folks these days.

At the very least, if MTH didn't want to put the real number phone number on the car, they could have at least kept the area code and changed the prefix from 265 to 555. Would have been better than not putting anything at all.

It would be cool to see this modeled in O scale, but with a phone number this time.

Anyway, thank you so much for the awesome photos!

I wanted to share this with you all. If you haven't seen any of YouTuber Railfan Dan videos, he does videos of trains on the ground and by drone. The quality of his videos are sometimes breath taking as his videos are of Northern California, north of Sacramento, and southern Oregon. This area is a very busy route for both BNSF and Union Pacific. I wish I could claim fame for his videos! ;-) Here's a sample videoed in the Feather River Canyon. You'll also want to check out his videos up and around Mount Shasta. His videos are also great for unwinding after a difficult day at work! I hope you enjoy.

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

I wanted to share this with you all. If you haven't seen any of YouTuber Railfan Dan videos, he does videos of trains on the ground and by drone. The quality of his videos are sometimes breath taking as his videos are of Northern California, north of Sacramento, and southern Oregon. This area is a very busy route for both BNSF and Union Pacific. I wish I could claim fame for his videos! ;-) Here's a sample videoed in the Feather River Canyon. You'll also want to check out his videos up and around Mount Shasta. His videos are also great for unwinding after a difficult day at work! I hope you enjoy.

Thank you so much for the link. Beautiful video.

In addition to the SD38s that I posted about a few days ago, Pittsburgh is also home to 2 of the 4 remaining straight GP59s left in the US (NS retains GP59E and GP59ECO rebuilds; many of the former and all of the latter received significant carbody alterations). Both units are rostered by Carload Express, and have stayed almost exclusively on the company's Allegheny Valley Railroad, running with no rhyme or reason on road freights and turns.

On the day I went out to chase the road's AVR-3 turn to Washington, 4551 was the sole power on an usually short two-car train. Running long-hood forward, here the unit passes under PA 519 after passing by 84 Lumber's world headquarters.

AVR spent much of the summer reballasting their Washington & Pittsburgh sub to handle 25-mph trains instead of the usual 15 or so. With the completion of this work, recent months have seen SD60Ms handling trains as short as 5 cars for AVR-3, which used to be a haven for just four-axle power.

4551 crosses over the long bridge over the southern part of Washington, PA as it approaches its second customer of the day. Despite the ballast upgrades, the crew ran at 15-mph the whole way down, either because of the more limited visibility of the long hood or because of the two customers they had to work.

Returning from Penn Plastics, 4551 approaches downtown Washington. The unit retains its former Norfolk Southern 'unibrow;' its sibling, 4552, is in remnants of the older thoroughbred scheme, but retains its Operation Lifesaver graphics.

The train passes the former B&O station, now used as a restaurant. At this point, my chase got much more difficult, as the train accelerated to the new 25-mph track speed with no more customers to work.

I don't think stepping outside my mother-in-law’s back door qualifies as rail fanning, per se.  But it’s certainly convenient.  Maybe a “Lazy Man’s Railfanning.”  But still fun nonetheless.  This is a Norfolk Southern line running along the Monongahela River about 1/2 hour SE of Pittsburgh.  (This is where my avatar photo was taken.)

Lee Hall Depot, a restored 1881 C&O station, was a two-fer for me:  first, its freight room was a fantastic location to set-up our club's traveling layout and run trains for three Saturdays in December; and, second, being on the CSX mainline connecting Richmond and Newport News it allowed railfanning by stepping out the backdoor and getting snapshots of Amtrak and CSX trains.

So, as we were packing up the layout, CSX and AMTRAK provided a few more photo ops.

(Click on the image to view full size.)

Norfolk Southern rolling through Goshen, Indiana on February 16, 2005.

Rail-fanning At CN / Amtrak Yard Today January 14th, 2022 • 28ºF

Amtrak & CN Yard at Pontiac Michigan. These photos show the Amtrak Crew uncoupling the locomotive and moving it to the Wye Turnout. Along with CN track maintenance vehicles and my reserved parking spot at Wesson Street.

Every model railroader started out rail-fanning!
Hope to see you out rail-fanning and posting your images on “Rail-fanning on The OGR Forum”. Any day and time. 😎
Gary 🚂

505 southbound passing a freight at Chehalis, WA: