Thanks Noah! I like that bridge shot (the road looks neat) as well as the one showing the...uh...interesting trackwork!
Jordan: Yes, I did forget that one point. I always shoot at ISO 100 for night photos (unless hand-shot) at 30 seconds and F.22. The shorter the exposure the less grain, so if it's only a few seconds you can get away with ISO 400 (on a quality camera anyway, I'm using a Canon 30D) but not higher. I use F.22 because it has the star effect, which really makes night photos stand out in my mind. Not for everyone, and it does get old, but without it the photo is really lacking if there's no lights.
The Js continue to drop like flies. 661 and 669 are heading south to San Antonio. It is unknown if they will ever come back up again in one piece, rumor has it they will be scrapped in Texas. 650 did pop up on CN's auction list. The SDMs are all out of service and stored in Gary. The SW1200s are being retired at a pretty rapid pace. Yesterday, one train had J power, that's it. That was JSW1 with the 663. The State Line had two GTW geeps and a CN SD40u. N21 had a CN GP9RM. KSW1 had a CN SD40u. The yard switcher at Joliet is a repainted IC GP38-2, while two IC SW14s are now working in Gary. The J is basically almost dead dead just two months after the takeover. Sometimes you'd never know EJ&E ever existed, all J signage at Joliet Yard has already been replaced with CN signage.
One interesting thing to note while mentioning EJ&E 661, it is featured in a movie. 661 makes a appearance in the movie Dennis the Menace wearing full J-ball paint. They did not alter 661's appearance in any way. The EJ&E and the 661 made Hollywood with that movie!
Here's a little teaser for later. One of my THREE stops on that line; yes only three. This line is controlled by a Yard Limit, so it was hard to find them in the first place, but easy to chase.
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im getting behind
this was on april fools day
The Dells did not go exactly as planned. I saw just 6 trains in the entire three day trip, four of which were Amtrak. A very dissapointing two freights ran during the entire trip, both with junk leading. I did see one of the flared CP GP38-2s and a SOO geep switching at Portage but other then that, the railroad related part of the Dells was very dissapointing. Everything else was excellent though, so it was not a waste of a trip. Like I said before, the Dells trips are mostly for non-railfanning purposes. I did get good, scenic photos of what did come through, so I'll post those soon.
I did stop by Janesville on the way up and saw some SD40-2s switching, plus the 25th anniversary unit, so it wasn't a total loss.
Sorry to hear the Dells trip was kind of a bust Robby. Traffic is definitely down on the CP, though there are still some neat trains if you get lucky.
You can tell the difference in what we see railfanning though in your last sentence. While I like SD40-2s, for me WSOR SD40-2s are becoming un-exciting. SD40s on another railroad is different, but the WSOR has so many and they've taken over so many road jobs, that I look forward to the days when they're using a GP38 or, better yet, a MP15. Not that I mind the SD40-2s, they just don't trip my trigger.
Nice teaser Jordan! That's a nice catch all right.
I ended up with a pretty good few days of railfanning. With a Easter/Spring break from Thursday through Monday this week, I managed to get in a couple of trips. One was to chase the WSOR's new Reedsburg sub operations again, this time to the bridge at Merrimac, and I got a few decent photos. Then with yesterday being such a perfectly sunny day, a friend and I spent the day on the Mississippi River taking pictures. We caught a number of trains in the morning on the BNSF south of LaCrosse (including a lot of CSX and NS run through power for some reason, and several warbonnet-painted engines), and found a nice new photo location that opened up not too long ago. Then we had a pretty good afternoon on the CP between LaCrosse and Winona, including several runbys of a 891 train with the MRL 265 leading a SOO widecab SD60M and another red SOO SD60. It was a pretty good day. Photos will follow later.
Noah
I did forget to mention I caught my first WSOR MP15 as well, one of the biggest catches of the trip. Noah, you're lucky getting D40-2s, I'm lucky seeing one in operaion period, even trailing! BNSF and UP uses to provide lots of SD40-2s but with GEVOs and the bad economy combined, that's almost impossible now.
Enjoy the WSOR power, I know that something good can be taken away in a instant like the EJ&E here. More than half of the J fleet has been sidelined or reassigned.
Hi everybody. I injured myself and killed my camra yestrday. There were 2 BNSF ES44DC's (too bad thay weren't C4's) sitting by the SIA auto plant in Lafayette IN. My dad let me shoot them, so we pulled off on the acess road. I got a few good shots but after the shooting was over I fell into a mud hole and twisted my ankle! It's mutch better now though. Camra's screen and lense are busted. Here thay are, This first one is my new desktop wallpaper, and the last pic I took before I fell.
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Photo time! I got my shots from this weekend's trip to the River processed today. Apologise if anyway get's annoyed with all the photos and the long trip report, but here goes:
Saturday dawned bright and sunny without a cloud in the sky. The day began with a check of the BNSF’s North LaCrosse yard. Just as we were pulling in a westbound was leaving, and within a few minutes another westbound called for the line up into the yard. After a crew change, he was off as well. We got one so-so shot at the north end of the yard of the second westbound:
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p89/WSOR_3807/4-11-09rivertrip/IMG_4267lg.jpg
The yard was about the emptiest I’ve ever seen it, but there was still a two man RCO crew working with BNSF 2714. I like the signs that the BNSF has at pretty much all the yard entrances:
Just as we were driving away, we saw an eastbound stack train rolling through the yard. He was going to get a new crew and go pretty quickly, so we decided to head south along the river to set up for him. Thanks to some pretty good timing with the stop lights in La Crosse, we got to Stoddard, WI just a few short minutes ahead of the train and set up at the reflection pond just south of town:
The next train in the area was a westbound. We headed back to the reflection pond in the hopes that the water might still be calm enough for a pan of the lead unit, but it was already too rough. The train (A BRC-Northtown manifest) had an interesting consist of two CSX GEs and a SOO SD60:
He was going to have to wait for an eastbound, so he held up out at Goose Island, allowing us to get one more shot of the whole consist:
The second eastbound afforded us an opportunity to try a new shot. Just north of Stoddard, right in the Goose Island area, the BNSF has had at least one if not several washouts in recent years. During one of them they built an access road from a wayside down to the tracks, providing a way to get to a new and very scenic photo location. A rather shabby looking warbonnet (still with Santa Fe lettering!) leads another CSX engine towards Stoddard.
One of the better things (I think) about this location is also the way it’s oriented. After shooting the train above, you can see this early in the morning the nose is still dark. One can shoot with good light here until noon or even 1pm, something that was hard to find on the BNSF in this area before. Normally after about 10:00-11:00, all the “good” locations become pretty much dead-on nose lit. Now this new shot allows one to shoot south of LaCrosse even longer.
One more northbound went by about an hour and a half later, this time led by two NS units, and the train included several flat cars of new Military vehicles. With no new traffic in sight, we decided to head for LaCrosse to get something to eat before going towards Winona. Of course, as we rolled by the BNSF yard another eastbound finally showed up, but we decided it wasn’t worth chasing back south again. Maybe next time.
Funny enough, the next train we saw as we were approaching Winona was also on the BNSF. The tracks are close enough across the River train trains can be seen, but with no warning there was no way to get a shot. We headed into Winona for some exploring, and we were surprised to roll up to a crossing and see the lights and gates activate. A quick jump from the car yielded this shot:
We made a quick stop at the local hobby shop in Winona, and then explored the joint UP/DME yard. After a while a westbound CP train appeared and we got a couple of photos, but since it’s just a nose-dark shot of two big GEs on an autorack train it isn’t worth posting. Finally we started drifting south, and saw another BNSF westbound across the river that we couldn’t catch. This time, however, we heard him give a roll by to a train just after he passed us, and quickly set up for a shot. This is taken from Minnesota looking over the Mississippi into Wisconsin:
Finally the CP started to come alive again with an 885 train (Weston coal empties) announcing his arrival into LaCrosse. We were already down by Dakota, MN, and shot him there:
We decided to chase up river a short ways to Donehower west where the light was even better:
During this time an 891 had approached the area, and over the radio he was referring to himself as MRL 265 west! This was much welcome, as I’d yet to shoot one of the MRL trio in motion on a train, and leading was even better. About this time the dispatcher also began telling the two trains they would be going into the siding at Homer and Donehower (respectively) for a 17,000 ton 884 that was coming down river. So we did one shot as the MRL 265 rolled to a stop in the siding. The trailing units proved to be just as interesting: SD60M 6059 and another red Soo SD60.
We headed just west of the siding for about the only available nearby shot of the 884. Interestingly, he had a DPU on the rear too, not something I’d seen on the CP around here before:
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p89/WSOR_3807/4-11-09rivertrip/IMG_4419lg.jpg
Finally the 891 left the siding. We did one shot at Donehower west, then a pace shot, and finally one more shot just a short ways further North:
Gotta love that consist!
As we drifted towards home there was chatter about a 487 train being due into Portage around the same time as Amtrak. Since Amtrak was on time we decided to stop at the Dells just in case the 487 did show up. As we got nearer to the Dells we finally heard something about the 487 still being east of Portage, so that was a lost cause. But since we were there we went to Bowman Road for one last shot of an on-time Amtrak 7. It’s nice to see the light is finally good here again. Take a close look at the pilot of the lead unit, below the left ditchlight:
I can hear the announcement on board now: “After our station stop at Wisconsin Dells this evening, the café car will be serving roast Turkey for a limited time only.”
It was a decent end to a pretty good day! The La Crosse area is still one of my favorite to railfan, and a day like this is why it probably always will be. Enjoy the photos.
Excellent trip report Noah!
You caught some really neat stuff, all excellent photos I must add!
Alex
Railfan Alex Excellent trip report Noah! You caught some really neat stuff, all excellent photos I must add!
I agree! Excelent! I like the ones of the reflection pond. I also like to see that ex Santa Fe unit there! Great find! I broke my camra too. Wele have to get another.
No, I haven't forgotten about this place. I have a lot to catch up on. (And for the first time, I actually have some pictures!) NOTE: The pictures suck because all I had on me was my phone, with its whopping 1.3 Megapixel camera.
First, on 3/23, I caught a meet in Mount Arlington with a WB PL42AC powered set and an EB F40PH-2CAT powered set. Since we were heading to Mount Olive anyway, I asked if we could make a side stop. So we got to MO and waited in the parking lot for a while. Then, at 7:23, there was a blast of a K5LA and the sound of crossing bells. Then, the 4007 pulled into the station with four Comet Vs.
6018 brought up the rear.
Then on Thursday, 3/25, we were heading home from MO in the rain. Just west of Netcong, a four car CV set was racing us into the station. We were stopped at the crossing on Main Street, where we were greeted by the 6006:
It was the same set from Tuesday, with the 4007. 6018 must have had a problem and was swapped.
And now on to some non-photo sightings:
Monday, 3/30: 6040, 65**, 65**, 4121(F40PH-2CAT). Tuesday, 3/31: 6080, 6757(Metro North [from the pool]), 65**, 65**, 5***(Comet III), 4006. Wednesday, 4/1: 6***, 6***, 6***, 6***, 4010. Thursday, 4/2: 4 CVs(6XXX series), 40**.
And some other Miscellaneous sightings (dates unknown): 420? (either 01 or 04, consist unknown), 4111(ex- CNJ GP40PH-2, 3 CVs).
Great photos everyone! This really caught my attention:
Noah Hofrichter I like the signs that the BNSF has at pretty much all the yard entrances:
"Welcome to the BNSF Railway Co.- La Crosse Terminal... Tresspassing is strictly prohibited!"
Well which is it? (Also, La Crosse means "The Stick" in French- probably the most French I know! And when you combine the two words [it makes it Lacrosse], it spells one of the two greatest sports in the world [hockey is the other].)
Also, the last remaining Comet Is have been retired!!! The last set made its last revenue run on the Port Jervis line on Friday, March 27, 2009. After laying over in Suffern, New York on Friday night, the set was taken to the Meadows Maintenance Complex in Kearny, NJ on Saturday afternoon. During their 38 long years of service in NJ, they hauled millions of passengers across the state. However, some cars live on in California, Utah, Quebec, and in their home in NJ at the Whippany Railroad Museum, carrying passengers on excursion trains over the Morristown & Erie. Long live the Comet Is!!!(Note that I wrote this in E-L Maroon, because the cars were built by Pullman Standard for the Erie-Lackawanna in 1971.)
Also, I may have seen one of the last two Comet I sets in Port Morris on 3/20, but I'm not sure. I'm waiting for confirmation on this. If I did see them, it would be the last time in service on NJT. If not, then I haven't seen a CI set since sometime in the fall.
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Thanks guys.
Joe, you're right, it is kind of ironic. The BNSF has put up quite a bit of chain link fencing in the past 5 years or so around the yard, but thanks to driveways and areas they've yet to put up fencing you can still see quite a bit and get a few decent photographs.
ns3010 No, I haven't forgotten about this place. I have a lot to catch up on. (And for the first time, I actually have some pictures!) NOTE: The pictures suck because all I had on me was my phone, with its whopping 1.3 Megapixel camera. First, on 3/23, I caught a meet in Mount Arlington with a WB PL42AC powered set and an EB F40PH-2CAT powered set. Since we were heading to Mount Olive anyway, I asked if we could make a side stop. So we got to MO and waited in the parking lot for a while. Then, at 7:23, there was a blast of a K5LA and the sound of crossing bells. Then, the 4007 pulled into the station with four Comet Vs. 6018 brought up the rear. Then on Thursday, 3/25, we were heading home from MO in the rain. Just west of Netcong, a four car CV set was racing us into the station. We were stopped at the crossing on Main Street, where we were greeted by the 6006: It was the same set from Tuesday, with the 4007. 6018 must have had a problem and was swapped. And now on to some non-photo sightings: Monday, 3/30: 6040, 65**, 65**, 4121(F40PH-2CAT). Tuesday, 3/31: 6080, 6757(Metro North [from the pool]), 65**, 65**, 5***(Comet III), 4006. Wednesday, 4/1: 6***, 6***, 6***, 6***, 4010. Thursday, 4/2: 4 CVs(6XXX series), 40**. And some other Miscellaneous sightings (dates unknown): 420? (either 01 or 04, consist unknown), 4111(ex- CNJ GP40PH-2, 3 CVs). Great photos everyone! This really caught my attention: Noah Hofrichter I like the signs that the BNSF has at pretty much all the yard entrances: "Welcome to the BNSF Railway Co.- La Crosse Terminal... Tresspassing is strictly prohibited!" Well which is it? (Also, La Crosse means "The Stick" in French- probably the most French I know! And when you combine the two words [it makes it Lacrosse], it spells one of the two greatest sports in the world [hockey is the other].) Also, the last remaining Comet Is have been retired!!! The last set made its last revenue run on the Port Jervis line on Friday, March 27, 2009. After laying over in Suffern, New York on Friday night, the set was taken to the Meadows Maintenance Complex in Kearny, NJ on Saturday afternoon. During their 38 long years of service in NJ, they hauled millions of passengers across the state. However, some cars live on in California, Utah, Quebec, and in their home in NJ at the Whippany Railroad Museum, carrying passengers on excursion trains over the Morristown & Erie. Long live the Comet Is!!!(Note that I wrote this in E-L Maroon, because the cars were built by Pullman Standard for the Erie-Lackawanna in 1971.) Also, I may have seen one of the last two Comet I sets in Port Morris on 3/20, but I'm not sure. I'm waiting for confirmation on this. If I did see them, it would be the last time in service on NJT. If not, then I haven't seen a CI set since sometime in the fall.
It seems like when ever I see all the train on the way to town I've forgotton my camra. My phone sucks too taking pics.