What is the strangest or most exciting railfan expereince you have had?
For me, we were recently in the Deschutes River canyon. It was dark, and I was trying to take a night shot, pacing a train or getting a trail from the lights. Instead, the flashbulb that I thought was off went off. Image ruined, I waved instead. As the lead locomotive went by, the engineer opened the window, and shown his flashlight at me in reply.
yours?
The Beaverton, Fanno Creek & Bull Mountain Railroad
"Ruby Line Service"
Many Years ago stood by a busy Double Track and several trains went by.
ALL the Engineers on our side slid opened windows, smiled AND Waved.
Thank You.
Back in 1981, I had the chance to ride behind Camden and Amboy 1, the "John Bull" on a short, about 1 mile, trip on the Chessie's Georgetown Branch in Washington, DC. The experience was great but was dampened a bit when the locomotive subsequently had its throttle stick and refused to move when the main ceremony, 150th Anniversary of its first run, was under way. A couple of hours work in the steam dome got things straightened out and the ceremony continued. All in all, a wonderful experience.
I am eyeball height with the engineer, a UP guy I have known for a while, he is grinning ear to ear!
I ask him "what the heck?" and he replies, "They are working these things back home!"
Suddenly, I see the side door open, and the crew come climbing down, head across my lead and disappear into the locker room/yard office.
The yard master yells at me from the porch up around the tower to come inside and call him on the phone...turns out the UP crew were short on time, and we were going to have to yard that train!
Now, here is the odd part...inside the cab, the control stand was a basic EMD stand, normal modern brakes and all that, turns out the whole locomotive has been re-done, it is really a SD40-2 with the E unit car body...still, lots of fun going across a few streets in that thing, the looks from all the folks waiting at the crossings was great.
Bad news is that you really can't see out of those things, you can't see someone riding in the front stirrup, and there is zero rearward visibility, the engineer has to really stick his head out the window to see backwards, but still, lots of fun!
Put the train away, put the locomotives on our tie up track to get fueled, took a bunch of photos and went home!
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edblysard...it is really a SD40-2 with the E unit car body...
I'd heard they were GP38's (four powered axles), but that doesn't change the fun of the story...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Had a great railfanning experience this past weekend, and I wasn't even railfanning!
Story goes like this...
On Friday Lady Firestorm and I were heading north into Maryland to a fund-raising event for a Basset Hound rescue organization Lady F's involved with. (www.brood-va.org.) We took a back way there, VA Route 15. After crossing into Maryland and turning on to Maryland Route 28 I looked to the right and lo and behold, there it was, "world-famous" Point of Rocks station on the old B&O, still standing in all it's Gilded Age glory and still earning its keep as a MARC commuter station. It looked just like something out of a Ted Rose or Howard Fogg painting! What a surprise!
And on the way back, I saw "world-famous" Point of Rocks Tunnel! Wow!
By the way, the Basset Hound event was fun too! And if you're ever in that area, stop in at Rocky Point Creamery on Route 28 in Tuscarora MD just up the road from Point of Rocks for some great ice cream! Yum! (www.rockypointcreamery.com)
PS: Life's better with a Basset!
Back in the early Fall of 1981 my brother and I were camping near Weedon, Quebec, not far from Quebec Central's mainline running from nearby Sherbrooke to Levis, a small town on the St. Lawrence River. After a day packed with hiking and adventure, we setup tent, had a nice supper, and decided to head off to sleep. I remember that night well.. cool.. a brilliant gibbous moon overhead.. and some wispy cirrus clouds that produced a beautiful rainbow-like halo around the moon.. We drifted off to sleep when suddenly we were awakened by the shrill sound of a steam whistle. We figured it must be quittin time at the local mill. But then we heard the unmistakable sound of a steam locomotive approaching. We were both wide awake by this time.. and looked at each other.."Could this be a steam locomotive?" my brother asked. "Must be a steam excursion.. but I sure wasn't aware that QC was running any steam excursions" I responded. We quickly got dressed and made our way outside and up over the bluff overlooking the track. And there it was.. under the moonlight we could clearly see a 4-4-0 locomotive laboring upgrade. It wasn't doing more than 15 mph, and behind it, though hard to see clearly with only moonlight, were what looked like boxcars. We counted 20 before the caboose rolled by, and we could make out the faint sillouette of a man standing on the back porch of the van. As the train slowly disappeared into the night we looked at each other. Not a steam excursion at all.. but a steam powered freight train in 1981!! Back in Sherbrooke a few days later, I went to the Quebec Central headoffice on Wellington Street to ask about their steam program and why it wasn't better publicized. I was no stranger to their office, having gone to school with kids who had dads who worked for the QC. The operations manager told me he wasn't aware of any steam happenings on the QC, and that in fact the last steam locomotive to turn a wheel on the QC was in August of 1961. "You must be mistaken" he said.. "or maybe you dreamt it". I told him both my brother and I would have had the same identical dream then, and NO, we weren't on drugs, drunk, or anything like that. To this day it remains a mystery to me..and I don't laugh at people who claim they had a Confederate soldier walk across their backyard yesterday. Maybe time warps are real.
Back in the early 80's a friend and I were waiting for the afternoon local on a hillside next to the Maine Central main when a large dog went trotting down the track. A few minutes later the dog came running back the same track with a speeder following him.
Well Ulrich, Shakespeare's "Hamlet" said it best...
"There are more things in heaven and earth Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies."
I wrote this some time ago... the detail is because I related it to relatives that don't know a steam locomotive from a dismal... I think I may have related it on this forum too. But maybe it is something to relate in this thread (or not!)
Last night I was parked on a dirt/gravel road next to a RR grade crossing to watch trains a few minutes. I was sitting in my car, but there was another fellow there standing next to my car talking to me and taking photos of the area. We watched as a pair of really old Diesels came by pulling 3 "Maintenance of Way" (MoW) "Dormitory Cars". These are rather rare except way out west where there are few towns with enough motels to house a full gang of track workers for large track jobs. They are just huge white boxes on RR trucks/wheels and are as PLAIN as can be. A few small windows in random places in the side walls, but with a small "porch", complete with a pretty wrought Iron railing around it on one end of each car. All had a couple of Adirondack chairs on the porch and one had a small propane barbeque grill (all the comforts of home!) That short train stopped just past the road and someone got off the last car and threw a switch behind the train such that any following train would be diverted to a curve that went off behind a small hill to the south. He got back on the train and it continued on its way. A few minutes later a small MoW "Gang car" came along (often called an "Inspection car" or a "Fairmont Speeder", named after the brand and model of the company that made the majority of them). This is just a small 4 wheel car with open sides and room for maybe 4 men and a toolbox. It is powered by a small gasoline engine (often a "rope start") and it is small and light enough that 2 men can pick it up off the track or put it back. It is a later version of what you see in old movies where two men work a see-saw to make it go, but with seats, a windshield and a roof. These are not used much anymore (most are in the hands of RR enthusiasts that collect them) as the RRs have switched to using highway trucks that have flanged wheels that can be lowered to fit the rails, using the rubber tires to propel the truck down the track. (With the flanged wheels raised, they can drive on regular streets and roads.) The fellow standing next to my car suddenly said, 'Hey, there was nobody in there and the engine was not running!" By the time he had said that, a "Tamper" came by. This is a large machine that is used to push the rock ballast "under" the ties of the track. It is a fascinating piece of machinery to watch work as it slowly moves forward at a constant speed. When in actual operation, while moving, the center section will rush forward and stop, then push a bunch of paddles (over-grown soup spoons with flat bowls!) into the ballast next to the ties and waggle these paddles to push the rock under the ties. Then before the rest of the unit catches up to the center section, it pulls the paddles up and out of the ballast and rushes forward to do it again to the next set of ties. But, again, the engine was not running and we could not see anyone in the cab or on the running boards along the sides. I got out of my car to get a better view and about that time a short train came into view. This was just two flat cars, an old boxcar, a gondola and an old wood caboose. No engines! The flat cars only had some debris on them (one short section of rail and some old ties). Again, we could not see any people on this "train"! They all were rolling free! About the time the boxcar was in the grade crossing I could see over the flat cars that the Speeder was well into the curve to the south, having taken the switch that was thrown earlier. And I saw it derail, kind of bounce once and come to an abrupt stop. The Tamper immediately hit it and the front derailed and started to tip over, but stopped about 1/2 way over. Then the last set of cars rear-ended it and the flats derailed. It also caused the Tamper to finally fall all the way over and slide on its side partially down a hill to a creek. This left the caboose still on the rails, just past the grade crossing, and blocking all the tracks there. The fellow with me and I both took off running toward the wreck to see if anyone was hurt. He ran much faster than I and jumped up on the caboose and entered it. When I got there he was coming out and shouted that there was no one in it. I went on past and went to the Tamper laying on its side next to the creek. I could not climb up on it, but wading into the creek I could see into the cab and there was no one in it. I went on to the Speeder and it was a crumpled mess, and again, I could not see anyone in it. The other fellow came up from the other side, having inspected the boxcar and flats for people. I am kind of dumbfounded by it all and am just standing there, kind of in shock at what I just witnessed. The other fellow shouted, "I hear a train coming!" and turned around to run back to the grade crossing to see which way it was coming from. I decided it was coming from the south of the curve and I started running on down the track to try to warn it to stop. I could see only the front of an engine coming toward me, but I had no idea if it was just an engine or some huge long train. I began to wave my arms over my head at them. I could see the Engineer and Conductor in the cab and they were pointing at me and looking at each other and back at me. They began to wave at me to get off the tracks. Suddenly, I could tell that the Conductor spied the wreck behind me as he pointed past me and was shouting at the Engineer. He jumped out of his seat and exited the cab through the door behind the Engineer's seat. At the same time I heard the unmistakable sound of the train going into emergency braking. A loud Whoosh of air and the wheels began to scream. There is nothing an Engineer can do beyond putting the train into emergency... he can't steer or push harder on a brake pedal... so he also exited the cab via the door behind him. At that point I could do nothing more than get myself as far from the tracks as possible, so I turned and ran down into the creek, across it (my shoes were already full of water from wading in the creek earlier) and up the hill. At the top of the hill I was so out of breath that I began to cough and I could not stop. I hacked and wheezed until I nearly passed out, and I was afraid I would miss seeing the wreck occur! SOooooo.... I sat up on the edge of the bed to get control of my coughing and I adjusted my CPAP headgear to not leak so bad and only THEN realized it was all a dream. It was 4 AM. I kind of fell over sideways and immediately went back to sleep and dreamed a sort of stop-action animation of paper cutouts of rainbows and brightly colored ponys and unicorns. I don't remember anything noteworthy about that dream. HA, so much for going to bed hungry!
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
Back in 94' my dad and I were on a railfan trip in the pacific Northwest. We spent several days working our way east over the MRL out of Sandpoint, Id. We kept seeing a couple guys (cross country?) golfing there way along the MRL tracks. Like 3 days in a row they would show up sometime during the day where we were set up and golf there way down the main.
Mabee someday we'll see "rails to golf courses" instead of "rails to trails"
I don't know Chad, every time I see a golf course all I can think of is "There's a beautiful rifle range gone to waste!"
Firelock76 I don't know Chad, every time I see a golf course all I can think of is "There's a beautiful rifle range gone to waste!"
You and I think a lot alike, which should terrify you.
chad s thomasMabee someday we'll see "rails to golf courses" instead of "rails to trails"
Part of our line runs next to a golf course. It's not unheard of to see a golf ball in the gauge, although it had to run through a slalom course of trees to get there.
Never worry about anyone hitting the train intentially with a golf ball, though. Most golfers couldn't miss a tree if they tried... (Yes, I have been known to play a round or two.)
SALfan Firelock76 I don't know Chad, every time I see a golf course all I can think of is "There's a beautiful rifle range gone to waste!" You and I think a lot alike, which should terrify you.
Don't threaten me with a good time
I think they could all work in unison.....Driving range, skeet shooting and train watching. the only thing missing is a "rule G" violation
tree68Most golfers couldn't miss a tree if they tried...
I gave up golf because I was spending too much time in the woods looking for my balls.
Norm
Norm48327I gave up golf because I was spending too much time in the woods looking for my balls.
Hmmm. I can see that being a big problem.
I gave up golf becuase of that stupid windmill.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Not at all Bro, not at all. nothing like the smell of black and/or smokeless powder, with a little Hoppe's #9 in the afternoon!
Uh, the "Rule G" thing. We used to relax it when the guns were unloaded and the butts secured for the day. Unless it was winter, then the coffee thermos' were unlimbered.
Firelock76 SALfan Firelock76 I don't know Chad, every time I see a golf course all I can think of is "There's a beautiful rifle range gone to waste!" You and I think a lot alike, which should terrify you. Not at all Bro, not at all. nothing like the smell of black and/or smokeless powder, with a little Hoppe's #9 in the afternoon! Uh, the "Rule G" thing. We used to relax it when the guns were unloaded and the butts secured for the day. Unless it was winter, then the coffee thermos' were unlimbered.
Johnny
You've got me on that one Johnny, what's GCOR and Rule 1.5?
Back around 1967, Friday of Labor Day weekend, camping out on the ledge above Horseshoe Curve opposite the viewing area. It was like a parade: starting about 6 PM, 6 sets of helpers - 3 units each, mostly ALCOs and EMDs - drifted down the 4-track main at about 5-minute intervals (probably from their base at the Cresson engine terminal). It was quiet for about half an hour, and then the parade began. From then until about 11 PM, there was always a train in sight someplace between the outer curves of the setting - often 2, and sometimes 3. Then it quieted down a bit, and we could sleep. In the morning (Sat.) nothing was happening, and I don't recall any trains between around 7 AM to Noon.
This is why I dislike so much the alleged improvement and closing the viewing area after the visitor's center down at the parking lot closes for the night. It's kind of like not being allowed into a theatre while the main event is happening, or feature movie is being shown: you're not allowed to see the best part.
- Paul North.
Firelock76 You've got me on that one Johnny, what's GCOR and Rule 1.5?
With Table of Contents, Glossary, Index, and pages reserved for future use, it is almost 150 pages.
I have not yet read it all the way through, but there is quite a bit in it that, it seems to me, would have been impressed on a rookie brakeman or rookie fireman as he egan working for a railroad. Now it has to be spelled out so that a new conductor or engineer must read it instead of having a veteran lead him through it. (That's my impression.)
In 1982 I was staying at a motel across from Mt. Washington, NH, a little north of Crawford Notch. Several guests were out in the motel parking lot looking up at a spectacular display of the northern lights. A north bound freight train came by on the MEC tracks just in back of the motel. It was moving at a moderate pace, and in the darkness, I saw and heard a couple of guys on a freight car waving and yelling. A short time later a car pulled into the parking lot, and a couple of girls asked if we saw some guys on the train. Apparently the locals would sometimes hop on the train on the slow climb up to the Notch. I guess their boyfriends stayed on a little too long after the train topped the Notch, and were now stuck on the train as it picked up speed on the way down the other side. The girls took off to follow the tracks. I hope the train stopped before it crossed the Canadian border.
chad s thomas SALfan Firelock76 I don't know Chad, every time I see a golf course all I can think of is "There's a beautiful rifle range gone to waste!" You and I think a lot alike, which should terrify you. Don't threaten me with a good time I think they could all work in unison.....Driving range, skeet shooting and train watching. the only thing missing is a "rule G" violation
Well, to each his own. You can have my share of the golf. I spent enough time roaming around in cow pastures while growing up that I don't care to do any more of it. Only good thing about a golf course is that there aren't any steaming piles to avoid (hopefully).
You know, I tried golf a few times and just couldn't get into it, however I love golf jokes! Here's one...
A guy walks into the clubhouse bar and sees a buddy holding a ball and smiling at it. "Hey, you get a new ball?" he says. "Not just a new ball, it's the last one I'll ever need!" his friend replys. "Oh, yeah? What's so special about it?"
"It's fantastic! You can't lose it! Hit it in the rough and it makes a noise like a siren! Hit it in the trees and it flashes like a strobe light! Hit it in the water and it shoots a jet of steam in the air! It's great, it tells you where it is all the time!"
"Wow, that's fantastic! Where'd you get it?"
"I found it!"
Johnny, thanks for the GCOR information. Looks like I'll be makin' a big pot o' coffee before I read it.
Wayne
You're welcome, Wayne. I don't know why I was thinking our lumberjack friend had asked the question.
I decided that the rulebook would be worth reading--and I did not want to read it looking at my monitor--so I printed it and put the result in a loose-leaf binder. Now, I can sit in my recliner and read it.
By the way, I have not found anything comparable to Rule H, which forbade the use of tobacco, particularly in the presence of passengers. I think that it referrd to chewing tobacco (and snuff?). I am not certain, but I think that a conductor on the GCL/IC day train from Houston to New Orleans disregarded the rule--I saw him spit while he was at his seat when I rode from Baton Rouge to New Orleans in 1953. I think I was aware of Rule H by then, but I did not reprove him.
My strangest railfan experience was a dream like one mentioned earlier. It was on a Sabbath afternoon, during the earlier period of my new life in Jerusalem, when I aided the Chabad Rabbi in providing full services, (prayer, study, and food) for the Hebrew U. students on the Sabbath. I was catching a nap in dormitory synagogue and dreamt that I was riding New York's 6th Avenue subway southbound leaving 42nd Street on the inner, or express track. All the details were accurate, except that the equipment and station signs and everything else was from the period of WWII and immediately afterward. R1-R9 equpment. Looking out the front end, I saw we had a green signal and the train started to pull out of the station. But in the distance I saw a northbound train, starting to take the crossover just north of the Herald Square (labeled 34th Street on the 6th Avenue Line, Avenue of the Americas if you insist), which was setting him up for a head-on with our train. And something must have been wrong or we would not have gotten a green with the crossover set to permit that northbound move. I banged on the corner-cab door and just then we went into emergency, the doors opened, and I was in front of other passengers exiting down onto the local track, with no train there or approaching thankfully, at that point running back as fast I could to the presumed greater safety in the 42nd Street station, and I woke up. I consulted with the Israeli police, they suggested a quick way to notify the FBI, which I did.
I got a letter from the Transit Authority and one from the FBI saying that they took the matter seriously and did check and would continue to check the signals and switches in that area, and that they were increasing such survellance in general.
Five months later the media all reported on the FBI uncovering a plan to explode a bomb in the upper of the three levels (the 6th Avenue subway being the lowest of the three, the Broadway BMT line the intermediate level) near the 32nd Street exit of the Herald Square PATH station (still called the 33rd Street station, but the tracks reach only 32nd Street now, after the construction of the 6th Avenue subway).
I have no idea if my reporting helped them uncover the plot.
My girlfriend (who loves trains) and I were at a busy freight yard. With this particular yard, a public road passes within feet of the hump and there is an employee parking lot on the other side of the street where anybody can park as long as you don't block company vehicles. The yard access road is right there also. We were standing along the road on public property when my girlfriend decides that she wants a different angle. She walks into the yard on the access road (ugh). Within minutes an employee marches out of the yard shack ( uh oh! Play theme from Jaws or Dragnet) I thought for sure that would be the end of our day, since standing on the edge is one thing and blatantly trespassing is another. The employee approaches my girl (I am still on public property) smiles at her, gives her the line up for the next 3 hours, says have a good, safe day and goes back inside! Lady railfans are unique to the hobby and she gets special treatment from railroad employees when it comes to getting into spots where us guys would probably get arrested or chased out. We have gotten into great places thanks to her. Essential railfan gear---scanner, camera, and a lady that likes trains.
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