Teen Railfan Place - Winter 2009

[Anonymous]

Just restarting this place because the old place was locked...

 

Old Thread

And an old photo to kick off the fun...

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1317508

Enjoy the new place everyone!

[selector]

Hello, everyone.  The thread has grown to quite a length in just over six months, and in keeping with our policy, I am locking it.  Shorter threads help the server to load everyone's computers that much more quickly.  This one will be visible for most of you for a few days, but you won't be able to add new posts.

I invite one of you to open another thread any time you'd like to.

-Crandell

[WCL]

 Hey Jordan.....I got them shots of that TPPX car and put them in the sim....What do ya think??

 

 

Loaded

 

 

Empty

 

I also did a story of LO11 and ya can see it here:

http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/t/156665.aspx 

[ns3010]

I have about 50 pictures to sort through and edit from yesterday. Most of them are sucky grab shots from onboard the train, so I won't even bother with those.

I'll get a trip report up later.

[EJE818]

Nice photos, Noah!

Now I'm hearing 4449 can't enter the south end of Union Station either, and that the engine is not allowed into Union Station at all. Looks like it may be cut off the train at the Amtrak Lumber Street Yard. It will then be put back on the train when it leaves Union Station the next day, probably again at Lumber Street. It also sounds like the day 4449 lays over in Chicago, they are going to move it from the south end of Union Station to the north end via a UP and CP routing. I would guess it would be stored at Weestern Avenue Yard and that is also where the 4449 would be put back on the train for the trip ro Milwaukee. It really seems like Union Station is going to be the biggest pain for 4449 crews.

[Noah Hofrichter]

I've heard the bit about the 4449 not being able to go in via the north end of Union Station too. I can't say I know the track layout around the area, but if it can't come North to South through Union Station, how is it supposed to get from South to North on August 2nd? Maybe there's a way, I really don't know. Like I said, my gut makes me think it will probably go down the BNSF as advertise. But there's still the possibility out there.

 

Anyway, I have pictures to share. Not the LS&I yet, but I'll get there. On Sunday I went after the UP's Operation Life Saver special at Adams, and there are less of those photos, so I edited them first.

 

They ran trains every two hours west out of Adams, with a round trip that took about an hour. We arrived in time to catch the 1100 train returning at Dellwood. The WP heritage unit was supposed to be on this end of the train, but it had a failure and was cut off a couple of weeks ago, so we were stuck with a dirty UP unit on the east end of the train:

 

 

Passing a part of the CNW's old telegraph line. It's neat to see the line still in place, but runs along the railroad like this for a loooong ways. It tends to get in the way of good photos an awful lot:

 

 

The Katy unit was on the other end, but I have better shots of it that shall come later.

 

We had picked up tickets for the 1pm on train on the way over, so we went back to await boarding and take a good upclose look at the train. The view from inside the first coach behind the 1988, the City of Salina:

 

 

The UP has raised track speed to 50MPH from Adams to Wyeville, and it made for a wondefully smooth ride. The train made it a little ways west of Necedah before they had to turn around. While I've photographed the OLI specials before I've never ridden behind one, so it was nice to get the chance.

 

After arrival back at Adams, we staked out photo locations and waited for the 1988 to run west with the 3pm (and last) train. Right on time he backed out of the siding and headed for Necedah, seen here at the west end of the yard:

 

 

We attempted to chase, but chasing on the Adams line has always been hard. The roads run due North-South and East-West, while the railroad cuts diagonally through the countryside. With track speeds having been raised to 50mph, it was hopeless. We ended up settling for shots as the train arrived back at Adams. The E9B 963 was in the consist providing HEP:

 

 

Following it was the business car Feather River, Coach Sunshine Special, Dome Columbine, coach City of Salina, and the 1988. The Katy unit isn't my favorite Heritage unit (I would have rather had the CNW unit myself, or the Rio Grande unit), but it's better than a regular UP unit. After lining the switch into the yard, the train proceeded ahead to drop off it's final load of passengers:

 

 

 

We knew they would be making a deadhead move towards the Twin Cities in an hour or so, but the clouds were thickening, and as we'd just found out, chasing would be pretty much impossible anyway, so we decided to head home. It was a good day though, and it was nice to take a train ride over track that one seldom gets a chance to be on.

 

LS&I photos coming sooner rather than later, and I also took a few photos of the WSOR local last night making a rare (for the last few months anyway) daylight run.

 

Noah

[EJE818]

Rumor has it the 4449 can't get into the north end of Chicago Union Station and would have to go into the south end. This would explain why 261's site says it's running down the BNSF since that would put it into the south end of Union Station. If it were to run down the CP, it would have to take a lengthy detour down the UP and BNSF to get into the south end of Union Station. I have been checking 261's site each day, and there has been no change to the routing so far. A good idea would be the call the Friends of 261 as they are in charge of the trips between Minneapolis and Durand.

Also I heard that the train consist behind 4449 may not be what you see come through the midwest. Sounds like most of the private cars are only going to Minneapolis, and others only to Chicago. The train should have mostly 261's cars, which would actually match the 4449 better than what is on it now.

Also, CNW 6847 is sitting on the west wye at IRM showing green numbers, it may be running!

[Noah Hofrichter]

 Only problem with that is that the interchange track is in the wrong quadrant to make that a smooth transition. It's in the northwest corner, so they'd have to run down the BNSF, across the River to LaCrescent, wye the train, and then run back over the CP. It's doable and certainly a possibility, but a lot of extra moves and time.

[WCfan]

My dad came up with an idea, maybe they'll be going down the BNSF along the river, but at Grand Crossing/Lacrosse they'll switch over to the CP. I don't know how plausible that is, as why wouldn't they just run it down the CP in the first place? I'm not sure at all either...

[Noah Hofrichter]

I really don't know anymore which way the 4449 will go. Like you said, all public information seems to indicate it'll be down the BNSF, though the map on the Trainfest website has the CP route drawn on it. And, as I mentioned, at least one person who received their tickets says the itinerary includes a stop in Milwaukee on the 18th. I'm no longer sure, but hopefully we'll get some more information in the next two weeks. My gut says it'll really be down the BNSF like they've been advertising, but I wish I knew for sure.

Noah

[EJE818]

If it does take the CP I most likely will not shoot in on the 18th due to Diesel Days. Call me crazy to blow 4449 off, but it's running on the 19th too. Light for photos probably won't be very good on the 18th no matter what line 4449 takes since it'll probably arrive at Union Station sometime in the evening. It leaves on the 19th at 8AM which is perfect for photos. It'll take the NS through Hammond, Gary, and Poeter. It'll split onto the Amtrak main at Porter and head for Battle Creek where it will jump on CN. It was originally going to be a all CN routing (which might've put 4449 on the J) but not surprizingly it sounds like CN wants it on their rails as few miles as possible.

I really hope it takes the BNSF as another problem is the CP line it is taking is very far from here, maybe two and a half to three hours away, while the BNSF is less than a half hour away, quite a difference. 261's site still says it'll be taking the BNSF. If they changed the route, I would think they'd change the site. It says No. 4449 will had from Minneapolis to Chicago via BNSF on their site.

[Noah Hofrichter]

 The LS&I was really busy the latter end of this week; they had three boats schedules in two days there on Wednesday/Thursday! Of course, other days they've had no boats in for a week or so. Seems to be the luck of the draw.

Well, recent developments make it sound like the 4449 might take the usual CP routing after all. A friend who received their trip itinerary with their tickets said the itinerary has a stop in Milwaukee scheduled, which implies a CP routing.

If it does end up going down the BNSF though, you should be able to find a shot somewhere along the River without fans in the way. There are many places where the railroad runs too far from the road for railfans to wander in next to the track. I'm not really sure if I know the specific shot you mean, as there are several locations like that. What town is it near?

I'm looking at doing one of several shots between Stoddard and Genoa that you can shoot by pulling off to the side of Highway 35, and I'm not too worried about getting railfans in any of them. Hopefully he makes a servicing stop at LaCrosse, as then it would be easier to do a shot north of town and still get ahead of him. Otherwise chasing on Highway 35 is going to be darn near impossible with all the people that will want to pace the train the whole way from LaCrosse to Prairie Du Chien...

If it does take the CP, then we have a whole chase sequence planned, as with a four lane interstate it might be easier to keep up. I guess we shall see what routing they really take.

Noah

[WCfan]

Can't wait for the photos Noah! I have been meaning to get up there...but things haven't worked out yet! Also, are you going to catch SP 4449 going down the BNSF on the 18th? I'm trying to find some shots without and rail fans (Or very little). I think I found a shot out in the middle of the marsh. There is this access road to a building out by the BNSF tracks (not owned by BNSF). It looks like you can get a nicely lit Morning shot there. I'd like to just go down that way a day in advance to see what shots would work...

[Noah Hofrichter]

That is a scary video indeed! I can't quite imagine what it would be like to have been the crew on that train.

Interesting to know where the WC 3004 ended up; it was part of a power set that made a trip to Sault St. Marie and back on Sun/Mon, including leading on the way south. Not sure what train(s) it was on, but we caught it both days on our way to and from the U.P.

Speaking of the U.P. we had a pretty good two day trip. The weather wasn't the best, but the LS&I was running a number of trains each day, included two sets of GEs and one mixed set with one of the new EMDs and a GE. Much better than I thought we might do! Purely by luck we also caught a working Baldwin out and running on the E&LS, a pretty rare to find in 2009!

I haven't got around to processing all my pictures yet, so it'll be a few days before I get a full trip report together. But right now I'm planning a trip to ride and shoot the UP OLS train tomorrow...

Noah

[B.Erdmann]

Heres my report from yesterday. decided it was time to put a full morning in. kinda slow to start out i head to my spot in weyauwega until these guys showed up,

 

i figured i didnt come here to watch them so i made the move, well first i checked the NB lights on the rd before mine sure enough NB is comming up the "hill"

well then  i decided to head west a bit then them guys ask for track & time well rtc says well i got a north bound at Wolf ( S of Oshkosh), 416 getting ready to leave point & 198 at  Auburndale. so call me after 2 southbounds & a north, well i headed that way anyway, that NB met the 416 at Nelsons & i was just south of there to get the 416

at first i thought this made my day, wrong wait for the next NB

that NB that was meeting them at weyauwega, so i head to the bridge, i figured  they were gonna meet 198, nope but i wanna bring some 5 gallon buckets next time

well heres 119 what made my day.

well i decide to head back down, i stop in waupaca as i wanted to try this one rd i found while driving home from work one day but i decided ill wait another day so as i get into wega i didnt realize 198 was behind me so i rushed on down to river rd, where i had that good shot from this winter. them K5LLA's sure do echo good.

another good unit

well  i heard on the scanner them guys ask for time, rtc " well i got another SB & another NB yet to get by call me after that.

i head back there to get the 346, i wanted to get a better angle but i figured them guys would yell at me if i did my usual angle

they are meeting the NB 301 at anton so i go back to the dead end

& then the 301 comes, this made my day better

this tree is going next time im comming

then them guys get there time 6 hours later & all they needed was a hour so i head home.