yo - pay attention here

[Mookie]

(I am too poor to pay attention, so you will have to help me!)

Do trains like Amtrak have a special whistle for depots?

Do people own their own caboose and have it transported by the railroads?

And....without getting too graphic, can you tell me what you do while you watch trains - besides take pictures.

(Have an older, but not much any more, gentleman that watches all the time at the same place we do - he seems to keep a log or notes of what goes by. Why?)

Mookie

[Anonymous]

Yo, Mook!

Ha! I'm the first one to read this!
I'm good at paying attention, but right now I'm too lazy to write, so I'll just say hi Mookie and hi everyone on the forum, just keep on posting, you're all very interesting and fun, especially when no one gets angry.

And thanks Mook for sharing your week-end tainwatching with us - I'm sure everybody would be even happier if you gave us more details.

BEST regards,

Oliver

[JoeKoh]

explain to matt what the diffrent cars are and have a swig of pop and eat some doritos or other chips.
the guy might be logging the train # or what kind of train to make a homemade timetable. there still is a hot intermodal out of Chicago that comes through Defiance about 11 am
stay safe
Joe

[rogerhensley]

>>(I am too poor to pay attention, so you will have to help me!)

Yo!? Oh, come on!

>> Do trains like Amtrak have a special whistle for depots?

Not that I've ever heard. They use the standard signals.

>> Do people own their own caboose and have it transported by the railroads?

Passenger cars, yes, but I've never heard of a caboose being transported with passengers on a main line run if that is what you meant. Do people buy a caboose and have it transported for them by a railroad? Sometimes, if the trucks/wheels meet current standards, otherwise it would have to be on a flatcar.

>> And....without getting too graphic, can you tell me what you do while you watch trains - besides take pictures.

Wait and listen to the scanner for the next train.

>> (Have an older, but not much any more, gentleman that watches all the time at the same place we do - he seems to keep a log or notes of what goes by. Why?)

Why not? Aren't you interested in the type of locomotives, their numbers and the various cars in the consist? He can probably tell you with authority about the changes in railroads over the years that he has been watching. Why don't you ask him what he is recording. I record locos and special equipment, when, and where. Don't you?

[zardoz]

Mookie-

While waiting for trains, I like to read, meditate, or nap. I keep the scanner on to alert me when a train is approaching. I also keep the windows open a bit so I can hear the train whistles.

I like spots that are on lonely country roads that have great views of the tracks, where I can park about 200 yards away, so I can get more scenery into my photos.

[CShaveRR]

Well, Kiddo, I'm a bit of a freight-car historian. So I'm usually kept busy for the entire time a train's going by, making notes on lessees and commodities transported in private cars (nothing sinister...it's all out in the open!), former owners (and sometimes the former numbers, when I'm lucky) of various cars, and roster-type information (builder, date, capacity, description) on new equipment.

This explains why I'm willing to bike the six miles or so to Elmhurst (where the trains move more slowly) than just go the six blocks or so to the nearest crossing.

[bnsfkline]

I have seen a porn video shot at my favorite train watching location.......I had the police in their faster than an Acela doing 150.5 MPH

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bnsfkline

I have seen a porn video shot at my favorite train watching location.......

Talk about paying attenTION. [:D] [:D] [:D]

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

QUOTE: Originally posted by bnsfkline

I have seen a porn video shot at my favorite train watching location.......

Talk about paying attenTION. [:D] [:D] [:D]

I think I saw that one.......It was called "The Night Train to Paris .....Hilton"[}:)][;)]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bnsfkline

I have seen a porn video shot at my favorite train watching location.......I had the police in their faster than an Acela doing 150.5 MPH

Me too. Locomotive sex is...well, interesting. Remember, all crews are not male...lol...

LC

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

(I am too poor to pay attention, so you will have to help me!)

Do trains like Amtrak have a special whistle for depots?

Do people own their own caboose and have it transported by the railroads?

And....without getting too graphic, can you tell me what you do while you watch trains - besides take pictures.

(Have an older, but not much any more, gentleman that watches all the time at the same place we do - he seems to keep a log or notes of what goes by. Why?)

Mookie

Mook-

1. No

2. No, Private Varnish (passenger cars) are out there, but no railroad I know of allows cabooses, only exception is military moves and some high/wide shipments that need watching.

3. I run trains while watching and watch trains while running...

LC

[ironhorseman]

QUOTE: "Give Me My Dignity! I Just Came To See Honk If You're Horney In Peace!!" -Homer Simpson.

Let me see if I've got this all figured out now:

Guys waving at trains go to jail. [:(]

Girls flashing trains... get an extra long toot from the engineer? [:0]

(I guess I shouldn't be so surprised [;)])

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rogerhensley

>>(I am too poor to pay attention, so you will have to help me!)

Yo!? Oh, come on!

>> Do trains like Amtrak have a special whistle for depots?

Not that I've ever heard. They use the standard signals.

>> Do people own their own caboose and have it transported by the railroads?

Passenger cars, yes, but I've never heard of a caboose being transported with passengers on a main line run if that is what you meant. Do people buy a caboose and have it transported for them by a railroad? Sometimes, if the trucks/wheels meet current standards, otherwise it would have to be on a flatcar.

>> And....without getting too graphic, can you tell me what you do while you watch trains - besides take pictures.

Wait and listen to the scanner for the next train.

>> (Have an older, but not much any more, gentleman that watches all the time at the same place we do - he seems to keep a log or notes of what goes by. Why?)

Why not? Aren't you interested in the type of locomotives, their numbers and the various cars in the consist? He can probably tell you with authority about the changes in railroads over the years that he has been watching. Why don't you ask him what he is recording. I record locos and special equipment, when, and where. Don't you?

Brrr - good thing the Mookie wears a big fur coat - it just got a lot chillier in here! [B)] Thank you for your input.

I don't take pictures, don't write down anything except questions that I want answers to, and maybe read the newspaper or a catalogue - but not much, since where I watch there is a steady stream of traffic. Don't need a scanner - there is always something coming or going! Brother Carl keeps records, which was where I got the idea in the first place that some of the watchers do record whatever they find interesting. I would never intrude on the old gentleman's privacy - we wave and other than that - I don't interrupt his train watching, nor does he mine! Maybe someday if he ever gets out of his truck we will meet and chat, but up to that time we are just watchers!

I don't need to write down what and where - it is always the same where and what is always a variety of whatever the BNSF has moving at that time! What's to write?

Going to go thaw out now.

Thanx

Mookie

[Mookie]

And as for the rest of you - well, lunch today was more fun than yesterday's!

Mookie

[DTomajko]

I read while waiting for the next train and I write in a notebook what I"ve taken a picture of to put the slides in some form of order later.During visits to some busier places,(like Joliet Union Station in Sept. 2003),I've shot up to four 36-exposure rolls of K64 film.A notebook is almost a neccessity to keep track of what came by.Good luck & stay safe.

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie


(Have an older, but not much any more, gentleman that watches all the time at the same place we do - he seems to keep a log or notes of what goes by. Why?)

Mookie

Actually Mook he's the psycholgist from your HMO. Your strange behavior at work.... giggling to yourself, groaning and talking to the computer screen has finally been noticed by your employer. He's there taking notes on you.[;)]

[Anonymous]

As far as private cabooses go, you can buy one online. Chack out:
www.cabooses4sale.com
www.railmerchants.net
www.ozarkmountainrailcar.com
I actually could have got a real caboose on ebay for $10 once, but it really wouldn't have been so cheap if you count the shipping.

I know this isn't quite what you were think of, Mookie, but I know the Algoma Central will charter a special caboose for people and drop it off on a siding in the wilderness for a week so they can go camping there.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Sask_Tinplater

As far as private cabooses go, you can buy one online. Chack out:
www.cabooses4sale.com
www.railmerchants.net
www.ozarkmountainrailcar.com
I actually could have got a real caboose on ebay for $10 once, but it really wouldn't have been so cheap if you count the shipping.

I know this isn't quite what you were think of, Mookie, but I know the Algoma Central will charter a special caboose for people and drop it off on a siding in the wilderness for a week so they can go camping there.

[8D]Heres Another WWW.Im Selling UP For 2.5 Million & CN For 1.5 million
To The Same guy.Com Its His Fault If He Buys Them I Gave Him The Golden Gate Bridge Free (Brooklyn Bridge Has Had To Many Owners).


-----------------------------------------------------
[}:)] AC/DC Rulz [}:)]

[Anonymous]

I know of a man who lives near here who restored an ex-ICG caboose for someone, and he had it transported to somewhere south of Shreveport, LA so it could be moved to the banks of Toledo Bend Reservoir as a camp. But, as everyone else has stated, the caboose left Ruston, LA with noone aboard.

[locomutt]

dharhmon[?]
porn videos[?]
Darn! Tell me where they were,
I'll go visit

locomutt[8D]

[sooblue]

QUOTE: Originally posted by locomutt

dharhmon[?]
porn videos[?]
Darn! Tell me where they were,
I'll go visit

locomutt[8D]

What happend to our favorite Canadian? I would have thought that he would have jumped right in askin "where's the porn?"[8)]
He isn't sick is he?

[Mikeygaw]

hey, that makes too of us that are sick :)

[edblysard]

I think Big Mac is busy counting polka dots.[}:)]

[JoeKoh]

QUOTE: Originally posted by edblysard

I think Big Mac is busy counting polka dots.[}:)]

or could he be trying to play connect the dots?[}:)]
stay safe mac
Joe

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Sask_Tinplater

As far as private cabooses go, you can buy one online. Chack out:
www.cabooses4sale.com
www.railmerchants.net
www.ozarkmountainrailcar.com
I actually could have got a real caboose on ebay for $10 once, but it really wouldn't have been so cheap if you count the shipping.

I know this isn't quite what you were think of, Mookie, but I know the Algoma Central will charter a special caboose for people and drop it off on a siding in the wilderness for a week so they can go camping there.

The Mookie's idea of camping is opening the door of a Motel 6 and finding a newspaper stand really close!

LaM

[Trainnut484]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bnsfkline

I have seen a porn video shot at my favorite train watching location.......I had the police in their faster than an Acela doing 150.5 MPH

Hmmm. I can't see the connection between porn and trains, and if there is one I don't want to know. That's just plain sick.

So...how long did you watch the por..(cough) train action before calling the police?

J/K

Take care

Russell

[espeefoamer]

I record loco numbers, and read between trains.[8D]

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by espeefoamer

I record loco numbers, and read between trains.[8D]

Ok - here is something I can identify with, since I take the papers, but seldom get a chance to read them. However, when you record the engine numbers then what do you do with the information?

Reason I ask is we have a few freights and lots of coal trains. Almost everyone is BNSF and they are mostly dash 9's and SD70's. So I don't see much variety.
Obviously the rest of the people on here do see a variety and have me at a disadvantage. So back to my original question; what would someone do with all this information (I have a printout of the engines and #'s for BNSF).

Mookie

[JoeKoh]

Mookie
they might do it to just keep track.I have taken a lot of train pics and have never had the same engine twice on the ponit.the only ones I have twice are yard locos which they drop off each week.
stay safe
Joe

[CShaveRR]

Sis, some people just collect numbers...I used to do that, too, without thinking too much about the "why" part. When I started doing it, it was before I even knew that there were locomotive rosters out there that gave out the numbers! When I discovered Railroad Magazine's rosters, my practice became a game of "that one's never been here before", or "now I've seen this entire group". You get the best feeling from "That's the only one I needed to catch here yet!"

I have a friend whose ambition was to photograph all of the C&O's engines. He later expanded that to C&O and B&O (and the rest of the Chessie). He was very frustrated when CSX was formed, and swore to give it up...but he eventually expanded his horizons to get all of the CSX units, too, and had to do it again when about a thousand ex-Conrail units joined the fleet. His photographs (he'd take the engine again whenever it was repainted) have become quite a valuable historical document.

Bro Carl