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

Sitting in the pasture watching a loaded unit train creep by. It was getting late and the sun was setting.

Greg P

www.youtube.com/trainbros89

Rail-fanning with a Fisheye Lens & Tiny Planet

We are rail-fanning at the Troy Michigan Transit Center, on May 9, 2022. It is a sunny spring day as we watch an Amtrak Siemens Charger enter the station.

We all know that trains do not run on a bending track. The photographic process “Tiny Planet” bends the horizon line.

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 🚂

On the way back from Strasburg 2-rail gathering today, this was west of Gap, Pa., on ex-PRR trackage. Edit: first pix were from jpgs straight from the camera to the phone. Adding toned versions from the raw - makes reading it a little easier (I think), and more detail in the sky.

If you blow it way up, there's a decal on the nose - New York Central System.

David

In June, I chased a Providence & Worcester road freight (NRWO) from Plainfield, CT, to Worcester. The train was led by B30-9E 3905 and B40-8W 4006, both ex-Santa Fe units still wearing the pre-G&W buyout paint. Remarkably, despite an average speed that for my chases was pretty high (probably about 30 mph) and traffic, I managed to stay ahead of the train all the way up, after which I headed north to see what Pan Am was doing.

Crossing the bridge at Danielson, CT.

The R.C., P & E crossing US Rt 14 in eastern South Dakota on a recent summer night

Went back to Gap today....not much of a pic (under-lensed and heat shimmer), but westbound (left) and eastbound Amtrak Pennsylvanian trains meeting this afternoon. Oh, Locomotive No. 125 was back on the eastbound with the New York Central System decal on the nose.

David

The second half of railfanning at Chicago's Roosevelt Road, mainly starring the former ATSF GP35 serving as a coach  

D'oh - I deleted a post after realizing my....uh....oversight. Yeah, that's a nice way of putting it. This was the pic, yesterday in Royersford:

At first, after showing to friend yesterday, looked sorta like engineer's side windows were blocked (above 1829). Then, almost immediately after posting - slap to forehead - realized it was reflections in the window.

David

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

@ScoutingDad,

Here's a tidbit you may not know: Grand Haven was not PM 1223's first display site after it was retired.  It sat prominently on display for many years at the State Fairgrounds in Detroit before is was moved here.

Mike

@Mellow Hudson Mike,  Mike, if what you are saying is true then as a very young boy I've played around in the cab of this engine while it was on display at the old State Fair Grounds.  I recall distinctly being in the cab and checking it out.   

Thanks for posting.

May memories on the Rocky Mountaineer between Vancouver and Kamloops, BC.

Along the Frasier River where the CN crosses the CP:

Who ever thought that a photo of a hot-box detector could be interesting?

Why the HEP connectors were interesting is beyond me other than it was a fun abstract photo.

The Rocky Mountain Explorer in the high desert of western BC.

I lied, this photo is east of Kamloops of a lonely SD40-2 sitting in Revelstoke, BC.

This is the Canadian looking forward from the Park observation car on one of the rare occasions a CN container train was actually sitting in the passing siding instead of the Canadian.

Jonathan, those are some very dramatic photographs!  Bravo!

@pittsburghrailfan posted:

The second half of railfanning at Chicago's Roosevelt Road, mainly starring the former ATSF GP35 serving as a coach

Dan,

Thanks for posting. May I ask a couple questions? The video has no shake. Is the bridge that solid? Is there some sort of stabilization in camera or in post? I'm used to bridges shaking when vehicles, particularly trucks, cross.

Thanks,

David

We hurried the dogs out the door this morning as I heard a horn from the east.  The 4-engined RCP&E train however just eased up to the crossing and shut 'er down as they were outta time.  Most of their train is stretched across the dip in the prairie east of here so care will be needed by the next crew not to pull things apart.  6+ hours later the train is still waiting on a fresh crew.... Rich in SD

Sweet paint job on those.  Very nice livery.

Mike

Managed to do some railfanning in late June and early July in central Missouri and Chicagoland.

Pleasantly surprised by the below eastbound Missouri River Runner at Warrensburg MO on 6/23 having new cars replacing the Horizon stock. Very European looking, built by Siemens and marketed as "Venture" cars.Amtrak Midwest got 87 of them, again last year this train had Horizon cars behind that Amfleet snack bar car which should get replaced soon as well. The schedule is still down to only one round trip a day hence the longer consist, I'm not sure when they'll restore the second round trip back to service.

Huckleberry Railroad • Baldwin #152 & Photo Day

It is August 6, 2022 a hot summer day at 91 degrees. Today is railroad day at the Huckleberry Railroad. We are catching the 5:30 PM Photo Run Train. As it leaves the station with enthusiastic photographers & fudgies. A fudgie is a nickname for a tourist in Michigan. Most tourist will purchase and eat Mackinac Fudge. The train made 3 stops and the photographers got off and the train did two run byes at each stop.

Hope to see you out rail-fanning: Gary 🚂

@NKP Muncie posted:

Dan,

Thanks for posting. May I ask a couple questions? The video has no shake. Is the bridge that solid? Is there some sort of stabilization in camera or in post? I'm used to bridges shaking when vehicles, particularly trucks, cross.

Thanks,

David

Thanks for the questions David! In this case, because I had my tripod, I did not use any post-production stabilization.  Roosevelt Road is four lanes wide here, so the bridge did not bounce much with cars passing by, and fortunately, no many trucks went by when a train was passing underneath (the bridge did vibrate a lot then). The tripod itself doesn't have any sort of active stabilization, just the rubber feet to serve as a (very moderate) layer of cushion. That said, in the past there have been instances where I have been trackside, a good 10 or so feet away, on either tarmac or earth, and have had bad bouncing transmitted to the camera. I have yet to figure out what the common denominator is.

For today's video, I'm posting a somewhat cool catch from this past June. As I've mentioned before, the Allegheny Valley Railroad operates the remnants of the former B&O "Pike" line to Wheeling, serving its four or five customers with a daily out-and-back turn. The length of the consists vary, but are usually about 5 cars unless there is a string of 10 or so sand hoppers for frac drilling. On this day, AVR-3 had 101 cars, necessitating a consist of three big SD60Ms instead of the usual two (or occasionally three) Geeps. I followed the train from Streets Run to Bruceton, where most of the cars (a coal string, empty steel billet gons, and loaded LNG tanks) were interchanged with the Wheeling & Lake Erie. The turn then served the Covia sand pad and international paper, before tucking two engines in the middle of the train and heading south to serve the day's last customer, Penn Plastics.

Dan, thanks for the info. I may head there soon as part of a trip. Appreciate the info.

David

I moved to Winchester VA about a year ago.   On the edge of town I often see CSX engines - these pictures were taken last August.   I saw the Winchester & Western in action last week but was unable to pull over and get any pictures.

Went for a Sunday drive in the F150, yes “Red” is my favorite color.

August 21, 2022 • Hope to see you out rail-fanning. Gary 🚂

Just took these about 2 hours ago

A couple from Aug. 23 from Ohio. NS slowing before dropping some hoppers at a grain elevator. I'm thoroughly confused about what predecessor line.....Driving through the night before, thought I saw PRR position light signals. When I returned...realized they were more like N&W - CPL. There's also an Ashland Railway train that heads south at 8a or so from Mansfield. Its tracks were behind me when I was taking this. Erie, PRR and B&O served Mansfield, I think. Earlier I wrote NKP instead of Erie, but that appears to be incorrect.

And so to Willard and CSX. Hung out and looked around a bit west of Willard - Saw a few trains, then a LONG wait. They kept teasing me. A train would appear to be heading for the main.....then back into the yard again. Did that two or three times. Must have been a monster train. Eventually, after a couple hours with no trains on the main(s), three westbounds left in 14 or 15 minutes. This is from earlier in the day. EDIT: adding more info. One of the mains - what I think of as the eastbound - was out of service for track work. I couldn’t tell from some of my locations whether through westbounds were detouring through the yard or using the one main.

Oh, back to Mansfield - anyone know who built this switcher the elevator uses to move cars around?

David

Moving northwest…in Portage, Ind., this morning. A few blocks from motel where I was staying. Think the two tracks are from Willard.

And farther northwest. Thanks, Dan.

Adding a better-lit pic - went back in the afternoon after returning from Chicago.

Oh, it looks like they're replacing (maybe removing?) a bunch of switches leading to Union Station from the south.

David

A few days ago at the Cargill salt plant in Watkins Glen, NY

Thanks for posting, I spent a whole week in Watkins Glen and Hector in 2016 and failed to see any action on that track. What a great looking power set!

@NKP Muncie posted:

Oh, back to Mansfield - anyone know who built this switcher the elevator uses to move cars around?

David

It looks like a General Electric 44 tonner.

Thanks on the builder, Dave. I had no clue - what to look for. There are vents on the front and rear, but even searching for GE 44-tonner I see some with vents and some without.

David

Caught this eastbound R.C.P.&E this week in De Smet, SD near the old CN&W station.  Apparently my headlights on "hi-beams" wasn't enough illumination....put my front axle on blocks next, lol.

@NKP Muncie posted:

Moving northwest…in Portage, Ind., this morning. A few blocks from motel where I was staying. Think the two tracks are from Willard.

And farther northwest. Thanks, Dan.

Adding a better-lit pic - went back in the afternoon after returning from Chicago.

Oh, it looks like they're replacing (maybe removing?) a bunch of switches leading to Union Station from the south.

David

Those photos looked good, David!

For this week's video, I'm sharing an evening I spent along the Norfolk Southern Fort Wayne Line with a non-railman friend on the hunt for some interesting graffiti. The action was not extraordinary, but the two intermodal heading into the light both had Dash 9s in the older Norfolk Southern paint leading, and the C28 local also made an appearance.

And finally...on to the reason this trip started. NKP 765 on the Tri-State Scenic Steam Excursion. Started in Edon, Ohio, and went to Hillsdale, Mich., and return, with about a three-hour layover in Hillsdale.

Engine being readied in the morning:

Photo runby:

And some people looking it over after the run. As I write this, boarding should be taking place for the Sunday run.

EDIT: Well, if someone found a stepladder in Northern Indiana near NS or CSX tracks since Friday afternoon, probably somewhere near Albion, enjoy it with my compliments. Realized my goof when I got home.

David

After Missouri, visited family in Chicago-Land  conveniently close to the Lake Forest Station of the former CMStP&P racetrack to Milwaukee. "Hiawatha Land" to me, though now operated by CP and Metra, I set up to catch the afternoon Hiawatha service and some scoots when this CP northbound with solid autos/containers unexpectedly rolled by at track speed led by two AC4400CWM's, purchased new in 1998, rebuilt from AC4400CW's in 2017-18.

Including this mid-train helper SD70ACu below rebuilt by Progress Rail in 2017,  making for the usual monster length trains seen these days, this one at around 160 cars, and rolling at around 60mph plus, to "keep out of the way" of the passenger parade.

NS in emergency for three days near Cincinnati.

For this week's video, I squished together a pair of semi-rare Amtrak catches from Pittsburgh and Washington, DC. The first clip is Amtrak's eastbound Capitol Limited, running several hours late, popping out of the tunnel beneath Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood that it usually traverses in darkness. The second is a meet between Amtrak's Cardinal and a Northeast Regional with NS power on the approaches to the Long Bridge over the Potomac.

Dan, nice catch at Panther Hollow!!  Busy traffic in Washington!

Great video, that tunnel in Pittsburgh looks like some of our models with little space over the tunnel.

Rail-fanning Selfie • Using Watercolors

We are rail-fanning at the Huckleberry Railroad, Genesee Michigan, July 10th, 2022

The first photo shows what my iPhone Pro saw in selfie mode. The second photo shows what can be done using Adobe Photoshop, to enhance a photo using watercolors over an image.

Having fun with digital photography. Hope to see you out rail-fanning: Gary 🚂

Gary, looks like you forgot to use sunblock on a sunny day.  LOL. Nice job.

Hi Mark: More going wild with Photoshop Watercolors. In my last life I taught high school “Photography” and the students enjoyed this type of photography. The real good stuff we would enter in Art Shows and use in the Yearbook. Photography should never be “Plumb Bob & Square”.

   Hope to see you out rail-fanning: Gary 🚂

Gary, I think I recall you saying you taught that!  Interesting takes on the same photograph!!