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Last post 08-30-2009 9:11 PM by CShaveRR. 332 replies.
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Los Angeles Rams Guy
Joined on
06-17-2007
Brooklyn Center, MN.
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
Wow, that is one long monster! Wish I could be somewhere on U.S. Highway 30 trying to chase that thing.
Meanwhile, I notice that Amtrak's eastbound Empire Builder has yet to show up on my employer's (CPRS) River Sub as it's really running late for whatever reason. The best guess here is that it got delayed on BNSF but have no clue as to why.
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CShaveRR
Joined on
06-26-2001
Lombard (west of Chicago), Illinois
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
Willy, it would now appear that this train will be there closer to sundown tonight. It ought to be going through most of Wyoming during the day tomorrow, but won't be to Salt Lake City until around midnight (sorry, Johnny!).
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Willy2
Joined on
01-22-2002
Omaha, Nebraska
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
Carl, Thanks for the heads up, but I don't think I'll be able to see it. It's just not an ideal situation tonight for me to go and watch it.
Dan, congratulations and I'm happy to hear that mom and baby are both doing well!!
EDIT: On second thought, Carl, could you keep me posted (if possible) on the train's progress. The temptation to go see it is strong.
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Deggesty
Joined on
08-22-2005
Near the Crossroads of the West
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
 CShaveRR:Willy, it would now appear that this train will be there closer to sundown tonight. It ought to be going through most of Wyoming during the day tomorrow, but won't be to Salt Lake City until around midnight (sorry, Johnny!).
Thanks for your concern, Carl. We really hadn't planned to go anywhere tonight (we seldom have more than one trip a year; last year, we had to have a second trip--by air ) except to bed. Even though the CZ crosses our latitude about five miles east of here, I do not hear it blowing for the public crossing that is just a trifle south--maybe there is a no horn ordinance in effect there--, and it is pretty far north as it wends it way between Salt Lake City and Wendover.
I had a note from my navy niece today; she appreciated the pictures of the Blue Angels.
My painter helper came out today and worked on the upper level of the house. He has to come back to put a second coat on the trim. Ricki decided that we should go back to a light color and not keep the dark brown she asked for eleven years ago.
Johnny
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CShaveRR
Joined on
06-26-2001
Lombard (west of Chicago), Illinois
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
Tastes change--there was a house not far from us (owned by friends of ours) that was painted in three colors (olive green, dark brown, and terra cotta) until a couple of years ago--now everything is one color, a dark brownish red (think about those Hocking Valley glazed bricks, if that means anything).
It's tomorrow night that this big train should be in your neck of the woods, Johnny. I didn't realize that it would mean a long trip for you, though.
Can't take credit for those pictures--it wasn't I who forwarded them.
Willy, I'm monitoring it--it's still in Iowa, but I think it's losing time, for some reason.
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blhanel
Joined on
01-02-2002
Cedar Rapids, IA
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
Thanks for the heads-up, Carl, but due to other pressing issues (company/relatives coming!), I wouldn't have been able to go catch it, even if I had seen the post in time (I just saw it now!).
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Deggesty
Joined on
08-22-2005
Near the Crossroads of the West
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
CShaveRR: It's tomorrow night that this big train should be in your neck of the woods, Johnny. I didn't realize that it would mean a long trip for you, though.
Can't take credit for those pictures--it wasn't I who forwarded them
#1--that's okay, we have no extended trip planned for tomorrow night either.
#2--Senior moment--it was Walt who sent me the pictures.
To all you who have contibuted actively to preserving our freedom, Thank you.
Johnny
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CShaveRR
Joined on
06-26-2001
Lombard (west of Chicago), Illinois
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
This train has been losing time. Poor Willy and his mother waited for several hours at Fremont before stormy skies and early-morning work schedules forced them to give up. Had they been there three more hours, they might have seen it. And it's only made it as far as North Platte as of now.
I think the weather might hit us today--it may stay completely dry, yet the threat will be here throughout the day. With a high in the low 70s, it will be one of the coolest Independence Days on record around here. No complaints in that regard!
Amen, Johnny!
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AgentKid
Joined on
08-16-2008
Calgary AB. Canada
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
I would like to wish all my fellow forum members who line in the USA a happy Independence Day.  Calgary Stampede Week started here yesterday and there are free Pancake Breakfasts all over the city every morning until next Sunday. All sorts of businesses and non-profit and political groups hold them. As the Board President of a non-profit housing association I will be getting out and networking, or pressing the flesh, if you will, of various political types who may be helpful to us later. Being a Saturday, I will be going to two of them this morning. Then I will be going to one on Monday, a free Stampede Lunch on Tuesday, and then our association will be hosting our own breakfast on Thursday. So, to any forum member in this part of North America, come on down to the corner of Kensington Road and 10A Street NW and enjoy FREE pancakes, sausages, coffee and OJ. YEEE-HAW!
AgentKid
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Noah Hofrichter
Joined on
01-06-2004
Reedsburg WI (near Wisconsin Dells)
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
Let me wish a belated congratulations to Dan, Misty, and Aedan! He picked a good month to be born in, in my book anyway (I'm a June birthday too). Glad to hear Mom is doing much better. I can't even begin to imagine what you must have been going through there for a while, Dan.
I come bearing a few new photos too. On Sunday I went after the UP's Operation Life Saver special at Adams.
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 11am
train returning at Dellwood. The WP heritage unit was supposed to be on this
end of the train, but I was told it had a problem 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 more than I'd like, but what can you do:
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 up close look at
the train. The view after boarding 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 wonderfully 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 mostly North-South and East-West, while
the railroad cuts generally cuts diagonally through the countryside. With track speeds having
been raised to 50mph, it was hopeless to catch up. 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.
I should have some photos from the Lake Superior and Ishpeming to share sometime soon. Last week a friend and I made a trip up to Marquette, MI to photograph the railroad before they retire all of their GE UBoats. The weather wasn't perfect, but we did get a good selection of trains. I'll share those once I get them processed and uploaded.
Noah
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Modelcar
Joined on
02-12-2002
Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
Enjoyed the good clear photos....
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CNW 6000
Joined on
12-19-2005
MP 175.1 CN Neenah Sub
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
Thanks Noah. We're all doing pretty well now. Aedan is back up to 8 lbs (near birth weight) and was given a clean bill of health. Misty has a Dr. appt. on Thursday and she'll probably get a clean bill of health there. She's doing pretty well. Thanks, again, for everyone's well wishes.
I had some down time tonight, so I went and processed some shots going back to April...sheesh...I'll post them tomorrow. It's off to bed, for dad, mom, and Aedan.
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CShaveRR
Joined on
06-26-2001
Lombard (west of Chicago), Illinois
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
...and then up again for Dad, Mom, and Aedan, a few short hours later. Won't be long before only one parent gets up (but both wake up).
Glad everyone's doing well, Dan! Continued best wishes.
We had to make a quick run to western Michigan over my "weekend". Not much railroad-related stuff to report... CSX has dumped what appears to be a lot of ballast between Holland and Grand Rapids...we were blessed with a slow-moving CSX freight while dining at the trackside Culver's in Jenison...the Grand Elk Railroad's yard in Grand Rapids looks empty without any of those GM auto-parts cars sitting there (bulk unloading terminal seems to be doing all right--both open-top and covered hoppers there).
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tree68
Joined on
12-25-2001
Northern New York
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
CShaveRR: ...and then up again for Dad, Mom, and Aedan, a few short hours later. Won't be long before only one parent gets up (but both wake up).
My daughter, who has been doing child care for a number of years, thought she was ready for motherhood. Then she gave birth to Owen. Owen is, by all accounts, a great baby, but daughter came right out and admitted that being a mother wasn't what she thought it would be. Those near-sleepless nights take a toll...
I'll be seeing the little duffer on Sunday. 
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CNW 6000
Joined on
12-19-2005
MP 175.1 CN Neenah Sub
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Re: Trackside Lounge, Milepost 0906.01--no defects
You know...I always thought the diapers would be the hard part. Sleep (and occasional lack of) is the challenge!
So here's some of what I was able to get processed.
In Neenah, WI late in April '09 I was watching a pair of SD75Is heading slowly south on the mainline at Neenah when I heard the sound of another SD70. Here IC SD70 1026 and a CN SD70I crept past the SD75Is on the main. Made for a nice melodic purr (coming from a GE fan!) from these 4.
A couple weeks (or was it 10 days? Picky, picky!) later I was headed to meet a friend who lives near the yard. Seeing lights for a SB on the Dixie siding I quick pulled over at Kampo Road, snagged a shot and left (didn't want to be late). I don't think it turned out too bad. Power was another SD70I and a C44-9W on a manifest train.
A day later I headed to Byron Hill (near Lomira, WI) to see if CN was running in the rain (again!). I only heard one heading south out of Shops and caught it as it neared the overpass I was parked on. I really need to spend some time down there one of these days again. This train was all GE powered...and boy did it thunder! The mid-train helpers were working pretty hard as well.
Around mid-June (no rain! WOO HOO!) I headed back up to Neenah with a little time to kill. I heard a manifest getting ready to leave the yard SB so I set up at Kampo Road again. As I waited for him to come out of the yard the RTC told him to hold north of the Byrd Street crossovers for a SB coal train. Bonus! I didn't have to wait long for the BNSF GEVO and SD70MAC to come rumbling by.
After the coal train went by the crew of the manifest took forever to get clearance onto the main to follow the coal train. So I snuck up near the crossovers (on public streets!) to get a better shot of the CN GEVO notching up their train.
I might have a couple more but they didn't turn out well enough to share in here. It was nice to get through my picture pile though!
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