Where's your Favorite Place to Train Watch and Why

[JonathanS]

Any of the local stations just north of Philadelphia or south to Newark Delaware on the Corridor. You get the best of Amtrak at well over 100 mph, a huge number of commuter trains. A surprising number of local freights, and occasionally a through freight. Often there are multiple trains in sight simultaneously. As a bonus on holidays Amtrak will run extra trains with equipment borrowed from whoever. So you can see MARC, NJDOT,and SEPTA equipment running at high speed on the long distance Corridor trains.

[citidude]

Lisa:
I was in St. Paul last month for the Great Northern Railway Historical Society Comvemtion and stayed at the Raddison (sp?) by the Mississippi River. This was a very nice palce to see all kinds of trains including the Empire Builder. There are two bridges and a linear park near the hotel which are nice places to watch and photograph trains.
David

[Anonymous]

Before I moved to Minnesota from St Louis MO, my favorite spot was on the ATSF in Independence MO and other spots around Kansas City. Of course there are quite a few less Red and Silver units, but I do see some on the BNSF in the Twin Cities. There were several "obscure" places on the ATSF in Missouri, Iowa and Illinois which were great to watch the parade.

[citidude]

I like West Commons in Pittsburgh's North Side. I can relax in the park, read the Sunday paper, have popcorn from Gus n' YaYas', lsiten to the birds in the National Aviary and watch a decent parade of Norfolk Southern trains. All Amtrak trains serving Pittsburgh as well as a CSX local pass by. Note: If you drive here, it will be difficult to find parking when the Steelers are playing.

[Trainspotter]

For passenger trains (In Canada) it would be hard to beat the Spandina Bridge Overpass in Toronto. Fantastic photo ops and you can fill your boots with VIA Rail, Ontario Northern, GO Trains and the odd AMTRAK passenger services. Never a dull moment, especially during rush hour. And its right downtown.

[edahrenhoerster]

Since retirement a friend and I have been making 3 or 4 railfanning trips a year and did quite a few before, too. Have covered from New York and New Jersey to California and northern Minnesota and Michigan to Florida and Louisianna and just about everything in between. Also hit a small corner of southern Canada.
Northeast Corridor is interesting. Pedestrian bridge in downtown Altoona or pavillion at Cresson near Horseshoe are better than the curve itself. Bellevue, Ohio at tower 2-3 blocks east of museum is good. UP/BNSF flyover at Grand Island, Nebraska has highest train frequency I have seen. Tehachapi is astoundingly beautiful. However, the favorite spot is still Rochelle. Lots of trains, 10-20 perfect photo sites in the space of a city block, plenty of amenities and, above all, lots of friendly folks at any hour of the day or night.

[Anonymous]

I have three favorite places to watch trains all within a few miles of each other. The first one is in Bensenville at Tower B17. you see IMRL and CP trains. the second one is A mile to the north its called Bryn Mawr. You see UP trains going to Millwaukee and Minnesota. Along with CP trains. The third place is in Franklin Park At Tower B12. You see CN/WC and IMRL and CP trains.

[Anonymous]

Right now my favorite place is Fogg St. in Nashville TN. All of CSX's lines from Memphis, Chattanooga,Birmingham,Louisville and Evansville all converge here. You don't have to wait very long to see a train. There are CTC signals visible here also. You can see if the dispatcher has a movement lined through or not. There are a couple of downsides however. This is a rough nieghborhood, although, I have never been bothered myself. I would not be there at night.
Also, a scanner is almost useless here due to the overpowering NOAA weather service which has a transmitter nearby.

George in Murfreesboro

[Anonymous]

an excellent place to watch trains is in Springfield Missouri. i wouldnt say it's my favorite beacause i dont really like BNSF. you can go to the yard right next to the fuel racks and the old locomotive shop and stay all day and no one chases you off. also, on the easte end of town, you can go to where the line from St Louis and the line from memphis meets and park right next to the tracks. i sat there one time and watched a crew laying ballast on a siding and talked with one of them. if you like BNSF this is the place for you.
some of my other favorite places are tehatchapi (i cant remember how to spell it) and flagstaff AZ. i drive a truck for a living, so i get to see all of these places all the time. i never really get to go anywhere to see alot of UP action. one of the places i like is I-80 across Wyoming, and Utah. i dont get to go up there much, but when i do there are always alot of trains to watch while driving along the interstate.

[Anonymous]

My current favorite is the South end of the 2nd and all of the 3rd districts of Norfolk Southern's Kentucky Div. This covers from the TN/KY State line all the way down to Chattanooga. On the 2nd district you get to see trains pulling hard upgrade or sliding down with dynamics running. On the third the terrain gets a little flatter(for TN anyways) and the trains move at a pretty good speed. The traffic volume is good. The scenery is good. Access is pretty good because US Hwy 27 parellels alot of it. Alot of the line is double track so meets are common. Plenty of good locations to set up at. And close enough to home that I can head out there just about any time the mood strikes me. Another thing I like about it is it has a good variety of both freight and locomotives. Most of the trains are either mixed freight or intermodal. The power on them runs from brand new GE's and EMD's to older EMD's.

[Anonymous]

I have two favorite spots. First is Bethlehem PA next to the old Union Station. Its close to home, I can see PB&NE, NS, and lots of SOO and CP power on the D&H trains. The frequency of trains is about 20 a day at Bethlehem. Second is Gibbon Junction NE. Its the spot where the UP Council Bluffs to North Platte double track mainline joins with the double track mainline down to Kansas City to form a triple track main. In 1 hour anyone can see upwards of 15 trains, most at high speed as the track is in excellent condition(the line to Kansas City has concrete cross-ties, the frogs of the switches have moving points to facilitate higher speeds too!!).

[Anonymous]

i would have to say any where in the Twin cities. i can get in to any CP rail yard no ?????'s asked or on the dresser or new richmond-stevens point sub

[Anonymous]

Rochelle is great, the park setting and the traffic sets it apart. Also noteworthy is the
Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Right from the grounds
of the Arch you're standing on the Merchant's Elevated line (BNSF and TRAA) and in clear view less than 1/2 mile to the south is the McArthur bridge.
If you're so inclined, you take take great pics from the west platform of the Arch Grounds of the
Merchant's wye-type interchange, and the trains over the McArthur move very slowly, giving good time for pic set-up. The Ead's light rail bridge
is also visible to the north of the Arch.
One more spot for good pics, since the mention of
East Dubuque, is accross the River and south at Bellevue, Ia. The IMRL runs dead thru the middle of the main street in town.

[Soo2610]

I have two. Rochelle, Ill. due to the amount of traffic and facilities available and East Dubuque, Ill. where I can catch the occassional Central Pacific, now the IC going thru the tunnel and crossing the BNSF mainline and then the Big Muddy.Great spot for photos.

[Trainspotter]

Dorval, just outside Montreal.

*4-track mainline
*100 movements per day
*CP, CN, VIA, Montreal (AMT) suburban runs, even Amtrak.
*Great photo spots and lots of fast food nearby.
*If it rains you can nip in to the VIA station
*Dozens of buses to the station or take the train there

[Anonymous]

Mine is at Horse Shoe Curve because they have really cool products running through the mountains and you can see lots of trains in a short period of time.