Teen Railfan Place :: Summer 2010

[ns3010]

 Neat shots, guys!

Yay for still not being able to show anything! [/sarcasm]

 

Alex, sorry, but we took the Comet Is back! AFAIK, the Comarrows, FHs, and -2CATs are still up there, but will probably be coming back soon.

[Railfan Alex]

 Yes I know Comet 1's and Comet 1B's are back at home. They sat in a little town called Huntingdon, just north of the NY border. Within a week CSX ran some extra power from Massena up to pick the cars up.

Hey I'm happy, didn't care for them very much, you can keep your Jersey Junk! The locomotives on the other hand are pretty cool, they just need some nicer paint. They look pretty ratty right now.

[ns3010]

 Hey, they're not junk! They're old, but they work better than our Comet Vs and Multilevels!

They're in great shape for 40 year old cars! Just look at the UTA Frontrunner cars- they were rebuilt and look fantastic:

NOTE: Photos not mine, taken from UTA website

But the locos looking bad is your guys' fault! You painted over the disco stripes and then burned them up! If you left them as-is (as-was), they would look MUCH better!

[Railfan Alex]

Pretty dead around here...

Here are some SD's for Jordan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LXNojBqxrc

[Anonymous]

Yeah...I've been neglecting to post my photos recently. I'm still working on a video from this place (actually the files are just sitting on my hard drive) but here are some photos from the Skywalk Observatory on the 50th floor of the Prudential Building in Boston. My article on it was published in the October 2009 Trains Magazine.

Overview:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trainmanty/4736700787/

Here's some train shots. Green Line B Branch.

Red Line meet on the Longfellow Bridge.

Now for some Mass Pike Trench shots.

Greenbush Line Opening commemorative locomotive, not on the Greenbush line.

Southwest Corridor. No, I'm not getting this confused with the Northeast Corridor. Same line, but the local name.

These signs crack me up.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trainmanty/4752780994/

And another random photo from ground level.

 

[Railfan Alex]

I saw the "Pedestrians are going to get Hit" photo in the 365 project. I didn't quite get it at first, but after really looking at the photo I made the connection... I was looking for crosswalk signs or something!

[WCfan]

 Alex, I have yet to watch that video. But it will be on one of my things to do once I get organized.

Tyler, I always knew elevation was key...but I think you have taken it to the next level! (Quite literally)

Oh, and those signs almost don't make sense...

Whew, I see not much has been going on around here since I have been gone. I spent a week and a half in Nebraska and Colorado visiting relatives. Even though it wasn't a dedicated rail fan trip, I still have a mountain of train pictures to process. The house we stayed at in Nebraska had the UP's Powder River Basin line only a short walking distance away. Since I have so many shots I won't post them all, only the ones I find interesting will be posted. The shots also won't be limited to just trains. I'll throw in a few non-railroad related photos. I'll also include a more condensed trip report. Photos will include the UP and BNSF crossing at Grand Island Nebraska, the triple track UP Trans-con main line, UP's Baily Yard in North Platte Nebraska, UP's line to the PRB near Lake McConaughy, and a short stint on the former D&RGW's Moffat route. So expect a trip report in the next few weeks.

[B.Erdmann]

 I have 2 trips to post within a week

 

First one 6-24-10

First train was the 415 the NB Push pull from GB to Stevens Point, usually this runs in the early AM hours shot didnt turn out well.

Next train was a NB



then we had 576



Then 346



& the Last Train for the Morning 199

 2nd one 6-30-10

first up M340 SB



340 Mid Power



415 NB





L576



199



SB 416 to Green Bay came but with the same power as it went north on

346



X347



Then the last one for the day 343

 

[Noah Hofrichter]

A belated Happy 4th, everybody.

Seems like things have been fairly quiet around here lately, though I can't say I've been stop by to read the forums as frequently either. Work keeps me busy this summer. Getting caught up now though, I see I've missed some good photos!

I ran into Robby the other day in the Dells while photographing trains though, so I know at least a few people have been out taking pictures.

Neat shots, Tyler! My motto has always been elevation is everything - those shots just help prove it!

Looking forward to the photos and report, Jordan - sounds like quite the trip! Mountain photos are always cool...

Noah

[ns3010]

 Wow, Tyler! Those are great! When I was in Boston back in the winter, I was hoping to go to that building, but we didn't have time.

Nothing new to report here...

All 46As up through 4633 are now in service. More will probably be put in service soon. We'll see what doom this will bring to the ALP-44s...

So, I just have horrible luck. Whenever I'm up north, something happens down the shore, and when I'm here, something happens up north...
Well, NS 3010 is out at Enola for its routine 92 day, so 5619 is filling in. Apparently, H-02 will be picking up 4606 today, which is a GP59! Unfortunately, I'll be missing it...
I'm not sure how they'll be able to use it, unless they find a way to always have it as a trailing unit, because it doesn't have cab signals. The 562 signaling project between Dover and Summit isn't done yet, so IDK.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the kind words all!

ns3010

When I was in Boston back in the winter, I was hoping to go to that building, but we didn't have time.

 

Let me know when you come back up, I know some pretty good spots for fanning.

[ns3010]

I have absolutely no clue when we're going back, but I'll let you know when we do. We went up to see friends we haven't seen in nearly ten years, so we were too busy for me to even think about fanning.

[Noah Hofrichter]

So this has taken me waaay to long, and it's not even complete yet, but I finally have photos to share from my May adventure to Southern California. Here's a couple of selected samples:

A BNSF intermodal Train on the triple track at Blue Cut:

The view from Hill 582. The snow capped peak in the background is commonly known as "Mount Baldy:"

 

Another angle from a different location about a mile away as a light engine move heads up main three:

 Another, wider, angle on Blue Cut:

The only real standard cab power I saw, an elevator switcher in Verdemont at the base of the pass:

I decided to try the world of flickr out, so I posted the first half of the photos in a set on my site, and there are many more just like the ones above. There's 67 of them here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35317901@N02/sets/72157624388217646/

I'm not going to take the time to write a complete trip report, but if you follow the photos through from the beginning reading the captions it's basically a trip report. I know it's a lot of shots, but if you want to see the fast version I recommend clicking the "slideshow" option on the upper right hand corner.

The trip definitely counts so far as the trip of a lifetime in my book - the weather was pretty good, the trains were plentiful, and for a Midwestern like myself the mountain and desert scenery was absolutely fantastic, and an amazing setting to watch trains in. Listening to a loaded intermodal train grind up the 2 plus percent grade of Cajon with a mile long train and DPUs pushing on the rear is something to behold. If only there were more EMDs instead of all GE widecabs, but beggars can't be choosers...

I hope to get the second half of the pictures (from the Mojave Desert and the Tehachapi Loop area) done before too long, but with the way I'm working lately who knows when I'll get around to it. Hopefully it won't be two more months...

Noah

[ns3010]

WOW NOAH! Absolutely amazing! I wish we had picturesque scenery around here... We have the same big trains, but they just run through the suburbs...

[Noah Hofrichter]

 Thanks, Joe. I wish I had scenery like that closer by too - farm and rural scenery is decent, but it's not nearly as spectacular as what I found in the mountains.

Noah