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:

Here are photos from CSX River Line (West Shore) at auto 17, Norwood NJ and CP22, Blauvelt, NY, and CP10 Bergenfield, NJ.

Chris Healy snapped a better picture of Piermont FD pumper 13-1001 and SB CSX train I010-14, as Honoring First Responder locomotive CSX 911 leads this high priority Chicago-Port Newark intermodal train down the mainline.

Some new loot from over the weekend. Amtrak Winter Park Express made its return to the slopes and some new powder always makes for a fun day along the Moffat Road.

Near tunnel 18 and South Draw in the tunnel district. 1/15/22

Near East Portal 1/17/22

Below are some frames from the last few years.

1/18 at Leyden

1/20 at Pinecliff and tunnel 29

1/18 at tunnel 1 and Coal Creek Canyon

2/20 at Winter Park resort and West Portal.

Like much of the south and northeast, Pittsburgh got hit with about six inches of snow earlier this week that is slowly melting away. On Wednesday, I took the opportunity to try and get some wintertime shots of my favorite local shortline, the Allegheny Valley Railroad, on its run from Glenwood to Washington.

I started my chase at Bruceton, PA, instead of waking up early and going closer to downtown. This CDP (some new suburban McMansions and light industry) is the over-under crossing of the former Pittsburgh & West Virginia and the Baltimore & Ohio, today the Wheeling and Lake Erie and AVR. Behind the bridge is the interchange track for the two roads.

Approaching the Country Store, Venetia, PA. As I am sure I have mentioned, AVR spent the summer upgrading the ballast on the line, allowing six-axle power and a track speed of 20 MPH instead of 10-15, though today's crew was likely running at 25 (I had perhaps 3 minutes of a lead on them).

Tuesday's turn was unusual in that the train had eight frac sand hoppers in addition to the normal boxcars and plastics hoppers. With the cratering of oil prices in 2018, among other (nonpolitical) factors, Range Resources in Wylandville stopped receiving regular shipments of sand, which shrunk AVR-3 by a good twenty cars.

There does not seem to be a rhyme or reason to what powers the turn; earlier this month a two-car train drew a sole GP59, while a 5-car train drew two SD60Ms. Today's power was a return to form, in some ways, with the return of GP40-3s to the train. 4001, rebuilt and repainted in 2019, sported a K3 series horn that gave the day a pseudo-Canadian feel.

The conductor rides the stirrup of the two boxcars being switched to International Paper at Wylandville. The train left with just one plastic hopper, and I mistakenly assumed they were going all the way to Washington, PA (they did not).

Dan, nice job getting those great photographs right before the temperatures plummeted!!  I just don’t get down your way to see the AVR!

Rail-fanning at Imlay City, Michigan • January 15th, 2022 • 17ºF

Imlay City is about 70 miles north of my train room. It is a historic city with a lot of historic homes & businesses. I arrived at 12:30 PM and stayed for five hours. This BNSF is a rare catch in Michigan and it was the lead locomotive in a fast mixed freight. Outside the train station is a GTW Caboose & Passenger Car.

Track side is a grain elevator. Inside the station is a model of a GTW Steam locomotive built by Jim Gilkson in 1931. Scale 1/16 to the inch.

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 🚂

While returning from a trip out west with the family in September 1973, I spotted this little train that was stopped on the tracks that ran parallel to the road. I don't remember exactly where this was, but I think somewhere in Wyoming.

Wondering what was on the other side, I drove across the tracks on the crossroad in front of the locomotive. Looked like they were cleaning up the aftermath of some sort of wreck.

I saw this train passing through Puyallup WA before the model train show on Saturday...

6 truck, 24 wheel heavy duty flat car, unloading in Naperville, IL.  390,000 lb transformer is being transferred to an equally heavy duty, muti-wheel highway trailer. The transformer is raised with hydraulic jacks and yellow rails are placed underneath the transformer to facilitate the move. Conditions were quite challenging for the riggers, as it was 5 degrees above zero - - pretty tough guys ! 

shots from Harrisburg, PA yesterday.

Central Washington Railroad/Columbia Basin Railroad 2282 crossing the YVT Selah route.

@Apple & Orange Line posted:

Central Washington Railroad/Columbia Basin Railroad 2282 crossing the YVT Selah route.

Haven't been out there since my Army days. Been wanting to get out there to ride the trolleys and watch trains someday...

A little four-wheel "yard goat" shunting engine in the rail yards at Bad Kissingen, Germany in May 1984.

Straßenbahnen in Mühlhausen, Germany in 1984.  The "H" sign signifies a Haltestelle (streetcar stop).

New and old technology existing side by side in 1984.  Electric locomotives await departure while a railroad employee trims wicks and refills end-of-train marker lanterns.  I think all of these shots were taken in the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) in Stuttgart.

Amtrak 505 today, at the crest of Napavine Hill, near Evaline, WA

I was surprised by a bright shiny diesel on my way home Wednesday.  The cab says:  Brownwood Texas, "Feels like Home."  It is so shiny that I think I can see the reflection of my white car just over the front axel.

- Nathan

Very neat, Nathan!  Can you tell us anything about TNW Logistics??

Here’s some CSX action over the past couple weeks…

January 21st @ the CSX yard in Framingham, MA.  The yard crew is busy shifting cars around. I was standing on the shady side of the train, but I liked the look of the sun shining on the yellow end of the long hood.  Check out the cool snow flanger in the background…

Here are a couple more shots of the flanger taken this past August.  I love the little “Got Snow?” bubble.  It’s probably going to be put to good use after this weekend’s big storm!

Back to more recent action.  Here’s a video of the yard job pictured above shuttling cars to the westbound departure yard…

January 27th @ North Grafton, MA.  A very short (one car!) local freight heads east on the CSX/MBTA mainline on its way back to Framingham, MA.  Just ahead of the locomotive is a trailing-point switch that leads to the Grafton & Upton Railroad’s North Grafton yard…

Here’s a video of the same local as it passes though the MBTA’s North Grafton passenger station…

@Mark Boyce posted:

Very neat, Nathan!  Can you tell us anything about TNW Logistics??

Nope.  It just happened to be the middle engine in a BNSF mixed train heading down Frisco's hilly southwest line toward Springfield MO and points beyond. 

-Nathan

@neuefruhling posted:

Nope.  It just happened to be the middle engine in a BNSF mixed train heading down Frisco's hilly southwest line toward Springfield MO and points beyond.

-Nathan

I thought that may have been the case!  Thank you

I captured this photo off the internet. This engine is battery operated with 4,400 HP. Built by Webtec the engine was recently tested in California between Barstow and Stockton.

Union Pacific SDs at the Riverdale Yard southeast of Ogden, Utah.

Since Vern mentioned Ogden, Utah I'll follow suit.  From Golden Spike 125, at Ogden Union Station, 5/9/1994:

    >>  See Map

For the full narrative follow this link:

   Flashback No. 1 – Golden Spike 125, Prelude including Related Events, Ogden Union Station, Ogden, Utah; May 9, 1994 | Mellow Hudson Mike

Mike

Awesome photos, Mike! We attended the Spike 150 on May 10, 2019. The UP Big Boy came over to Ogden from Cheyenne. Then we went out to Promontory for the commemoration and got up close and personal with the replicas of the Central Pacific's Jupiter and the Union Pacific's #119. It was a great rail fanning day.

Alaska Railroad rotary snowblower at the Potter Section House, Mile 115.3 on the Seward Highway, in 1987.  The historic section house is now a state historic site and museum.  To estimate the size of the rotary. it may be helpful to note that I'm 5' 8" and my head comes nowhere near the hub of that blade.

These were spied in 2017 from the highway as I was driving to South Dakota from Wisconsin. I have no specific information on any of them.

Tuscola & Saginaw Bay Railroad (TSBy) locomotives 390 & 391 leaving Cadillac and heading south to Clare, Michigan on former Ann Arbor Railroad tracks on May 4, 2005.

In Tenino, WA, I'd just caught the NB container train when two Sherrif deputies pulled up and asked me what I was doing there. Before that they sat there for a few minutes, I assume for checking my plate.
You should have seen the looks on their faces when I showed them the camera bag. They clearly expected something different (and more interesting to handle). No meth here, I told them.

I even opened up the camera bag.
Ironically there was a train coming and I really think they waited to see if I'd take photos of it. That's the last photo here.
I'd never saw the Sherrif stop there before. If they'd been jerks, I would have told them the local police always drive by and wave at railfans, and that the mayor has come to talk with train fans in the past as well...

I took these views in the Skagway, Alaska terminal yard of the White Pass and Yukon Railway in September 1989.

@Bill of the Paha Sapa Lines RR posted:

I took these views in the Skagway, Alaska terminal yard of the White Pass and Yukon Railway in September 1989.

Great to see photos Bill and the best way to post photos as attachments to be opened  not a long string of large photos.

@Denny T posted:

Great to see photos Bill and the best way to post photos as attachments to be opened  not a long string of large photos.

Correct, although he means post/add the photos within the main body of your post.

@Hot Water posted:

Correct, although he means post/add the photos within the main body of your post.

Ya

Sometimes one gets lucky. 😜Big Boy      
Nov 8, 2019 Navasota Texas

There's prototype hope for all of us with too many locomotives and not enough track...though I definitely don't advocate trying to take a photo while driving on a divided highway.  Near Corning, NY today.

New Hope and Ivyland RR #40, 1925 Baldwin 2-8-0 Consolidation. Image captured likely summer of 2013.

I didn't video this, but here's a video of the restoration of Southern Pacific 1744 2-6-0 at the Brightside Yard in Niles Canyon Railway SF Bay Area, CA. The video shows the volunteer team removing the driver tires for replacement. Dirty and heavy job! They don't have the buildings or resources that some other historic railways have, so they are out in the yard in the cold and damp Niles Canyon. NCRY depends on donations and volunteers for these restoration efforts. Behind them in the tent is Oregon's Skoocum #7 2-4-4-2 compound and articulated locomotive that pulls excursion trains on occasions. I posted photos of the Skookum running on the Niles Canyon tracks back in this thread back in October 2021. Here's the link to the video.

Rail-fanning at the Amtrak Maintenance Yard • Pontiac Michigan  January 26th, 2022 • 14ºF

Like for you to meet Elizabeth an Amtrak Employee. Her duties include many as part of the maintenance crew.

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 the Amtrak Maintenance Yard • Pontiac Michigan January 26th, 2022 • 14ºF

Like for you to meet Elizabeth an Amtrak Employee. Her duties include many as part of the maintenance crew.

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 🚂

We have ridden the Autotrain and NE Corridor many times. I have always been greeted by a smiling  Amtrak employee. 😁

@p51 posted:

Haven't been out there since my Army days. Been wanting to get out there to ride the trolleys and watch trains someday...

Were you at the Firing Center?  You should come check out the YVT, Merci Train and NP Museum (2 steam engines).

Winter is like that....

Finally got out today with the kids after more than a month… it has been cold here..

Was able to catch an westbound CN freight headed to Port Huron (no pics) and the CSX locos headed to pickup cars in the CN yard in Sarnia.

Is this railfanning? Friday night I spent a bit of time on CNW 411 at IRM. We had to remove the roof rear hatch to access the HEP plant for some work. At left is MILW 33C and dome Silver Pony. At right is a UP doodlebug. Ahead is E9 BN3.

It was a fruitful afternoon between Bucoda and Centralia, WA today.

Note these three shots, those are all different trains, in the same spot:

Norfolk Southern eastbound between Elkhart and Goshen, Indiana on March 12, 2006.

At Harrold, Texas, I took these two photos in 2013.  The Bolton GP7 is still there, faded a bit but appears to be in decent operating condition, and is still in use.  Bolton receives unit trains of grain, and switches them, in small cuts of cars, to an auger pit, loading directly into trucks.

Although the old geep is still there, the grain silos are not.  We were driving down to visit family in the Dallas area a few years ago, in stormy weather, and, as we approached Harrold, there were emergency vehicles on the access road, as well as BNSF vehicles.  (Harrold is between Wichita Falls and  Childress, on the ex-Fort Worth and Denver route of the Texas Zephyr.)  A tornado had just attacked the silos 15 minutes earlier.  A corrugated steel one was warped badly, and the riveted steel ones, plus the other corrugated one, had completely collapsed, blocking both the BNSF main track and the CTC siding.  There was some grain on the ground, about enough to make a 15-foot high pile, but I suspect that there had been more, sucked up and spread all over Wilbarger County by the tornado.  Since Bolton no longer has silos, they have adapted that hopper to auger to truck method of doing business, using the rail cars for storage.  Apparently the tornado did not damage the locomotive, which was a few hundred feet west of the photo location.  Good thing we did not leave home 15 minutes earlier or we would have been very close -- too close -- to the tornado.

Got these this morning:

“Don’t worry Mike…pretty sure it’s just a passing fancy…” 🚂😉😺

@p51 posted:

Got these this morning:

Lee, looks a little hazy or foggy there, but a nice clean GE ES44C4!

@Number 90 posted:

At Harrold, Texas, I took these two photos in 2013.  The Bolton GP7 is still there, faded a bit but appears to be in decent operating condition, and is still in use.  Bolton receives unit trains of grain, and switches them, in small cuts of cars, to an auger pit, loading directly into trucks.

Although the old geep is still there, the grain silos are not.  We were driving down to visit family in the Dallas area a few years ago, in stormy weather, and, as we approached Harrold, there were emergency vehicles on the access road, as well as BNSF vehicles.  (Harrold is between Wichita Falls and  Childress, on the ex-Fort Worth and Denver route of the Texas Zephyr.)  A tornado had just attacked the silos 15 minutes earlier.  A corrugated steel one was warped badly, and the riveted steel ones, plus the other corrugated one, had completely collapsed, blocking both the BNSF main track and the CTC siding.  There was some grain on the ground, about enough to make a 15-foot high pile, but I suspect that there had been more, sucked up and spread all over Wilbarger County by the tornado.  Since Bolton no longer has silos, they have adapted that hopper to auger to truck method of doing business, using the rail cars for storage.  Apparently the tornado did not damage the locomotive, which was a few hundred feet west of the photo location.  Good thing we did not leave home 15 minutes earlier or we would have been very close -- too close -- to the tornado.

Cool bit of history Tom, thanks. Tornados, that's why I live to the west of the Rockies!! ;-)

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

Lee, looks a little hazy or foggy there, but a nice clean GE ES44C4!

Yep, every morning has been foggy here for a while. I'm hardly complaining, I love any winter day when it's not raining like mad or windy!

Crew change at the Amtrak Yard • Pontiac Michigan.  January 26th, 2022 • 14ºF

This is the crew change at 5:05 PM, train number 355 to Chicago. Notice the green arrows show the “Wheel Chocks” being removed by a Amtrak Yardman. The rest of the photos show the train crew preparing this Siemens Charger for a run into the “Wye Turnout” to turn the locomotive around.

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 🚂

Those are great photographs of the Amtrak, Gary!  You don’t see that around here!  Once again your photo journaling is exceptional!

@Mark Boyce posted:

Those are great photographs of the Amtrak, Gary!  You don’t see that around here!  Once again your photo journaling is exceptional!

Thanks Mark: I live about ten miles from this station. I shot these with my iPhone 11 Pro. On the back of my phone I have the schedule for the Amtrak Pontiac. We have three trains departing & arriving per day. Along with CN freight trains.

I would also like to thank all the members for submitting photos. The best camera for rail-fanning is the one that we all have in a pocket. Camera phones. 📷

Gary 🚂

Some oldies from Fostoria and Rochelle railroad parks again... new oldies though............

In today's Class I rail fanning paradigm, where standard cab and interesting power from the 1980s and 1990s have steadily been overtaken by the same two widenose cabs, any sort of deviation from the norm, such as a horn show, inspires happiness for railfans. Some horn shows, such as those given by one engineer on the Norfolk Southern Pittsburgh District from 2019 through mid-2021, were truly exceptional. In this video, I compiled clips from the times when I was fortunate enough to be trackside for them.

The thumbnail and picture are from the last of these shows, when the engineer ran an extra NS move hauling retired SD70ACUs from Altoona to Progress Rail.

Traveling in style to the Super Bowl on 02-10-22 !   Tacked on to the SW Chief was the private car "Hollywood Beach". The car was built in 1956 and all the glass work was as built,  in lieu of a dome car, which would not meet clearance limitations.  Originally Seaboard Air Line Railroad.  Naperville, IL station.

The horn shows are really neat, Dan!

Took these today near Winlock, WA

@p51 posted:

Took these today near Winlock, WA

P51, Wow, beautiful day in southern Washington, great photos! You managed to catch the moon over BNSF 6525 ES44C4, very nice. Amtrak too, busy morning on the rails for a Sunday.

October 15, 2012, near Brooten, Minnesota, on the former Soo Line (now Canadian Pacific) route from the Twin Cities to Winnipeg.  When was the last time you saw one of these CITX locomotives?

Been quite a while (10 or 15 years?).  Presume Citicorp did not make money on that venture. Perhaps like Railbox !

@mark s posted:

Traveling in style to the Super Bowl on 02-10-22 !   Tacked on to the SW Chief was the private car "Hollywood Beach". The car was built in 1956 and all the glass work was as built,  in lieu of a dome car, which would not meet clearance limitations.  Originally Seaboard Air Line Railroad.  Naperville, IL station.

I've seen this car on the VRF cameras through the mid-west. Couldn't make out the name on the drum head.

It's early evening in summer, as BNSF 5218 West slows to 50 MPH, in order to take the crossover from Main 1 to Main 2, at Zita.  This location is at the geographic south (railroad west) edge of Amarillo, Texas.  As soon as the rear end clears, the exhaust from the big GE's will darken and the train will accelerate to 70 MPH, in its quest to get the trailers and containers to Hobart Yard in Los Angeles.

Some Powder River Basin action from 2005.

Two different takes on 145...the Phase III heritage unit leads the westbound Regional 96 this past weekend at Airport Road in Williamsburg, with a ham for a conductor (click the photo to see it full size).

This evening, I tried out full manual mode (focus, aperture, shutter speed) on my camera and did a long exposure of the unit leading the southbound train. Not bad, but I need to fix the framing, focus, and timing of the shot.

It's an O-Gauge model of UP6915 DDA40X (not a real train). There is a real train in the background though.

Pere Marquette 1225 excursion out of Howell, MI.

Snow Day - Rail-fanning has been cancelled for today.

But never say never. Today February 18th, 2022 • 12ºF

1 The day started out by eating breakfast and watching the deer eat breakfast from my kitchen table.

2 Went out to get my F150 and had to remove the snow off the truck & driveway.

3 The main roads where snow covered, so I turnaround & came home to the man cave.

4 This is from last winter from the Detroit Windsor Railroad Tunnel. I would like to go back again this winter. I usually have my wife drive because parking is an issue. She drops me off and I go on foot.

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 🚂

We don't have as much snow as you, Gary, but the temperatures did plummet last night.  Not today, but the deer do visit our feeders too.  That is the first I knew there even is a Detroit Windsor railroad tunnel.  I assumed they used a bridge.

@Mark Boyce posted:

We don't have as much snow as you, Gary, but the temperatures did plummet last night.  Not today, but the deer do visit our feeders too.  That is the first I knew there even is a Detroit Windsor railroad tunnel.  I assumed they used a bridge.

Hi Mark: This tunnel opened on July 26, 1910 and it goes under the Detroit River to Windsor Ontario, Canada. It is owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway and it only has freight trains. The tunnel on the left was made taller in the 80’s to handle the taller auto racks.

We also have a auto tunnel to Canada. When we go to Canada we prefer the Auto Tunnel because it is faster than the Ambassador Bridge. The Auto Tunnel does not allow trucks and both the USA & Canada Customs work fast to keep traffic moving. They do not want cars stopping in the tunnel do to carbon monoxide.

Negotiations are now under way between USA & Canada to run passenger trains from Detroit to Toronto. This is being promoted by the construction on the Michigan Central Station and the Ford Motor Company.

Gary 🚂

@trainroomgary posted:

Hi Mark: This tunnel opened on July 26, 1910 and it goes under the Detroit River to Windsor Ontario, Canada. It is owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway and it only has freight trains. The tunnel on the left was made taller in the 80’s to handle the taller auto racks.

We also have a auto tunnel to Canada. When we go to Canada we prefer the Auto Tunnel because it is faster than the Ambassador Bridge. The Auto Tunnel does not allow trucks and both the USA & Canada Customs work fast to keep traffic moving. They do not want cars stopping in the tunnel do to carbon monoxide.

Negotiations are now under way between USA & Canada to run passenger trains from Detroit to Toronto. This is being promoted by the construction on the Michigan Central Station and the Ford Motor Company.

Gary 🚂

Gary, Thank you.  I didn’t know there is an automobile tunnel either.  I can see a passenger run from Detroit to Toronto would be a good thing.  You might think living in Northwestern Pennsylvania I would have been to Michigan at one time or another; but no, the closest was Marblehead, Ohio

@Adrian! posted:

It's an O-Gauge model of UP6915 DDA40X (not a real train). There is a real train in the background though.

Adrian, that is no model, I know exactly where 6915 is displayed. It used to have a larger friend on display at the same museum, I wonder if anybody can guess what locomotive that was? ;-)

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

Adrian, that is no model, I know exactly where 6915 is displayed. It used to have a larger friend on display at the same museum, I wonder if anybody can guess what locomotive that was? ;-)

Oh yes it is definitely a model UP6915. It’s hard to tell with the other actual UP6915 in the background.

Inspect the porch area in the photo very closely. Yup I had to go all the way to Pomona fairplex to setup this photo.

Adrian, I see what you are saying. There are 2 DDA40Xs in that picture. LOL

Dan Weinhold

@Mark Boyce posted:

Gary, Thank you.  I didn’t know there is an automobile tunnel either.  I can see a passenger run from Detroit to Toronto would be a good thing.  You might think living in Northwestern Pennsylvania I would have been to Michigan at one time or another; but no, the closest was Marblehead, Ohio

Mark,

Yunz need to come out our way for a visit some time, if you're up to it.  We're fortunate to have a large array of rail-related and historical facilities and sites that are both common and unusual at the same time, like the tunnels.  All are definitely interesting regardless.  @trainroomgary does a good job of highlighting many of them.

But even better, and something else you may not know, is that we also have a large community of immigrants from southwestern PA who came here in a big wave nearly a hundred years ago now, when Henry Ford started offering a $5-a-day wage for assembly line workers.  The Warrendale community in the city of Detroit was/is heavily populated by these folks, including my late grandfather (from Dunbar, PA) and my late grandmother (from Footedale, PA), who never new each other back home, but met and married here in 1927.

There are many of us here with roots in your neck of the woods, and ties that still link us to what my grandmother always affectionally called "Pennsy".

Mike

@Adrian! posted:

Oh yes it is definitely a model UP6915. It’s hard to tell with the other actual UP6915 in the background.

Inspect the porch area in the photo very closely. Yup I had to go all the way to Pomona fairplex to setup this photo.

I have good eyes and I still had to blow up the photo to see the model on the front porch! Very clever Adrian. I've been to the Pomona Fairplex and visited the Railgiants museum and went to the Winter Nationals at the dragstrip, and I live in northern California. A bit of a drive! When I went 4014 was still at the Railgiants before UP took her away to Cheyanne.