General Discussion

Modelcar:

TimChgo9:

http://www.eyefetch.com/image.aspx?ID=1151603

Beautiful silhouette train / signal bridge photo....crisp and clear....

+1 on that Tim.  Nice shots in that album.

I had always thought coal trucks were made by Komatsu, like the ore trucks we see on the History Channel. This is in North Dakota somewhere. The photographer has forgotten which mine. Any ideas?

 

That is an interesting-looking beast there, Bob! Almost makes me wonder if you could m.u. a bunch of them and...never mind!

My grandchildren made me jealous today. While they were on their trip to the Dakotas, they rode the Black Hills Central Railroad. It might be "just" a tourist operation, but they put out an extremely informative booklet on the line's history, including that of all of their locomotives and passenger equipment. Katelyn presented me with that booklet and a big hug today.

I know you grandkids had fun. Barbara & I ride it every year in September. Here is a video I shot with my little point & shoot Canon. Barbara did the unrehearsed play by play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SC1lu-f3Y8&feature=channel_page

Nice shot and play-by-play, Bob (and Barbara!). Funny--the open-air car didn't look too well patronized.

We'll get out there sometime, post retirement, when we visit some of the states we've so far missed.

My weather bug showed a high temperature of 97 here today, with a heat index of about 103. Pat and I have deferred the yard work, and are fanning ourselves indoors (we'll sleep in /c tonight). Still over 90. There's a line of storms over Iowa now, which might hit us, or might go south--post-bedtime. Even if we get the rain, it's only likely to make things steamy tomorrow.

CShaveRR:

they put out an extremely informative booklet on the line's history, including that of all of their locomotives and passenger equipment

I put together several brochures about our operation - one for each of the two out and back trips we do, one for kids, and one for railfans.  They don't last long in the rack.  The fan version has info on all of our locos as well as some operations notes.  The two trip versions give landmarks and limited history.

We try to narrate the trips, but if we can't get to it (short crew, etc) they sure come in handy.

Great minds think alike!

TimChgo9:

For some reason, I can't get photos to post on here now, so here is a link to one of my latest.....

http://www.eyefetch.com/image.aspx?ID=1151603

Tim,

That's a lovely image. If it were mine, I think I'd probably clone out the flare ghost on the left side of the signal bridge, though.

Very nicely done, though!

Welcome "home", Chris--you've been missed! Ah, grandchildren! We were having lunch with all of 'em (and our daughter) yesterday. I touched the chin of my grandson (newly one full year old), and said, "Let me see your teeth, Nico."

I think there were four of them. He never did let me see them. But I sure felt them!

CShaveRR:

Welcome "home", Chris--you've been missed!

Thanks, Carl. Been a busy spring/summer. I haven't done a lot of shooting, and almost no train shooting. Here's a couple non-train things that I like, though:

Some orchids at one of the local greenhouses. A friend and I will be chronicling the greenhouse throughout the season. Should be a fun project! - K20D, FA 50mm f1.4

My cousin, Courtney, has been swimming competitively all summer. I used to swim a lot when I was younger, so I've been attending some of her meets. Unlike last year, she's been at a lot of outdoor pools this year! That's been key for me, because I've finally been able to get some decent light on her. Here she is in the 'Fly, which is one of her specialties (the other being the backstroke). - K20D, Tamron SP 300mm f2.8

I've been doing some storm chasing lately. I haven't had a lot of success, but I did find a couple funnel clouds a few weeks back. I had to chase more than halfway to Kansas to find them, though. It was also late at night when I found them, and couldn't get enough light to get any decent shots. Little did I know that I could've just stayed in town. The storm before the one pictured here dropped a funnel very near Union Station! I was a little too late for that, but I found these dramatic clouds and the it was kind of amusing to see blue skies reflected in the building. K20D, DA 21mm f3.2

I've got some shots waiting to be ULed from an outing this past weekend to Roxborough Park on the SW side of the Denver Metro area. Alas! the video card died on my laptop. It's integral to the motherboard, so I've got a used MoBo coming and hopefully I can get the stuff post-processed and ULed soon.

One other interesting little tidbit. I've started shooting 35mm film again. I figured that every good Pentaxian needs to have a K1000 in his or her arsenal, so I added that fabled body. There's something supremely satisfying about the simplicity of the camera, and the lovely sound of that mechanical shutter. Music to my ears!

I put a roll of the new Kodak Ektar 100 through it this past weekend at Roxborough. I have divided feelings on the film. It's really nice, and the grain is really, really fine. I'm hating the cyan skies I'm getting from it, though. It doesn't matter, though. I'll probably be shooting Kodachrome almost exclusively for the next 18 months. I had been considering shooting some anyways. Kodak's discontinuance notice just reinforced my desire.

Speaking of which, anybody got any Kodachrome laying around that they don't want to use? I'll gladly buy it from you! Ever since Kodak's announcement, it's been hard to find. Catch me off list if you have any!

Thanks!

EDIT: Since this is a railroad forum, I should probably add at least one railroad shot. Here's a sunset as seen from Tennyson St. (the street I live on):

K20D, FA 50mm f1.4

Nice shot, Chris! Make that Times Four!

I like the way you've solidified the broken water in the shot of your cousin--it looks almost crystalline.

Are those broken or missing windows in the shiny building downtown? I, too, liked the sky reflection.

Tell us about the line by your house--see much traffic?

Rough day at work today--heavy bowl (as many as 1200 cars), with enough tracks out of service to make classification difficult. Then a different conductor who wanted to take a shortcut with the lockout procedure (you never heard anyone jump on him so fast as the three of us CROs did!). Highest temperature I saw on my thermometer at work was 94.7. The promised afternoon showers haven't happened, so far, though we're under a watch for another three hours.

Carl: Joint line where he's at (busy). I could throw a rock at him as many times as I've been by concrete madness lately. At least we know he's still here and OK (he was too quiet)...

Carl,

Thanks for the kind words! I'm not sure what the deal with the windows in the building is. I know it's under construction, but I don't know why they'd install almost all the windows in save those few.

The line is part of the Moffat Sub as it heads west through Arvada and then up into the Rockies. It sees a fair amount of traffic. Lots of coal, a couple manifests, a couple BNSF trackage rights trains and the CZ every day. Sometimes if I'm not looking to get pictures but just watch trains, I'll head down there with the scanner and just watch what happens by.

Just out of the frame to my left is the line out to Golden. The Beer Runs usually sit at Tennyson St. waiting to go through C&S Junction, so I see them quite often. Unfortunately, there wasn't one there on that evening with that spectacular sky. Oh well, sometimes a railroad shot doesn't need a train.

Anyways, back to the salt mines. Because of the economy, we've expanded our territory a bit! I'm bidding jobs in places like Vail, Hayden and even Rawlins, WY now!

 Thanks Chris....

 I just noted that "flare ghost" that you mentioned.  I'll see if I can clone that out.  

I haven't been doing much shooting lately, busy summer with the kids being out of school, that coupled with a computer problem that resulted in the purchase of a new motherboard, I am hoping to get out and get a few shots in the coming weeks......  

 Welcome back, you haven't been around for a while....(Frankly, neither have I....) 

 

 

He's kind of busy, so I'll bring it over here for him:

Dan Braun ("CNW 6000") is the proud father of Aedan James, who arrived just before 7:00 this morning. Mom isn't entirely out of the woods (extra well-wishes for her, please!), but the little guy seems to be doing fine. Congratulations!

Nothing at all to report on the railroad front, over a couple of days off. We just got back from Elmhurst, where we watched the Bird take off through town. All that's necessary is for the engine to clear that speed restriction around the yard--he opened up east of the station, and the hind end could have been up to 70 when it got by us.

CShaveRR:

All that's necessary is for the engine to clear that speed restriction around the yard--he opened up east of the station, and the hind end could have been up to 70 when it got by us.

And that's a sensation, being relatively close to a train moving that fast...