Well, I got two more Js yesterday! First up was 667 leading a late AXS1. This is the first time I've shot 667 since July of 2008! http://www.flickr.com/photos/24084206@N08/4292724147/
667 was under repairs at Kirk Yard for 1 1/2 years.
Then after he cleared, JSW1 got under way with 668 leading. http://www.flickr.com/photos/24084206@N08/4292730169/
You can see CN is replacing the classic J mileposts with generic signs, ugh! If you want to hear a bad horn, here ya go! What a joke of a K5LA! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeHxVzc5CP0
Actually this is quite typical, Metra's horn maintenance is lacking to say the least.
Dang, Robby, that's AWFUL! I don't even know what that sounds like!Does Metra restrict their horns?
NJT restricts some of their horns, and that's why they're out of tune. The MMC I believe did the PL42s' and Comet Vs' themselves (NEED I say more? lol ), but they choked some bells back more than others! So some bells are louder and those notes come out more, so every horn sounds different! Some bells don't even ring at all! Some sound weird, but some actually sound kinda nice, like 4024
All the Geeps and F40s, and a few CVs (6000 and 6004 come to mind) somehow have escaped the MMC's horn suicide, which is a good thing. However the M-N units (4900-4906) that were rebuilt a few years ago came back with factory restricted horns, but even those suck!
As long as they don't touch 4112's P01235 (not mine BTW) then I don't care. It has an extremely rare Nathan P01235, taken off an E60CH. It's nearly the same as a normal P5, but the #4 bell is replaced by a #0 bell, which is the same note, just one octave lower, so it sounds really neat.
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well i got a couple pics to post from a short trip last week
i was bored so i go out, the light wasnt good at the time so i figured well just go for grab shots.
well not much hanging around the Point yard, WC SW1500 1562 which i never seen before so now i only have 1 left to get, EJE 659 was also around.
but what i was suprised is how many SB trains were stacked out. most trains stop at point to work with the exception of Coal, some Intermodal & other bulk unit & one load trains.
so we got 588 & 340 all working & 588 gets out first, well they did a power swap with 340
since the light was bad i did a going away shot i was hoping for a NB since the light is good there.
not much going on here today so i decide to take a stop at wal mart for a few things so then i return 342 comes in, they get 588's old power then 342's power gets out on to 340. well i didnt realize this was happening so 340 comes out & they fly out of point with a short train so its catch up time i got them down the highway & caught up with them & just settled for a grab shot which i think turned out well
well it had something good
now heres something i made in metals class
what i did was went on the plasma cam which is a machine that cuts designs drawn on a cad program on the computer & cuts it out on metal. so i had drawn a stool then drew the CN logo in there then it cut it out then welded it to the frame then the CN's on the legs were just the cut out from the stool & i cut out more of those then welded it to the side.
now yesterday i had no school due to the end of 1st semester. so i had no school yesterday. those pics to come later.
Friday
not much going on in neenah so i head home on the way home i see if anything was to go through dale well SB was lit yellow so i waited & this came
yes a FULL IC consist. they met 595 NB then 595 SB was right behind them
Nice IC pair, Brent!
This weekend I observed BNSF putting up the new signal bridges up in Naperville, here are some photos.
Metra is the last train before the new West Naperville signals go up. http://www.flickr.com/photos/24084206@N08/4300543166/
Then workers lift the first support for the new West Naperville signal bridge into place, this will ultimatly result in the Q bridge in the last shot being demolished. http://www.flickr.com/photos/24084206@N08/4302973630/
The first train after the new support went up, of course it had to be Metra again... http://www.flickr.com/photos/24084206@N08/4298081429/
Finally a freight passes under the old CB&Q signals and past the new support. http://www.flickr.com/photos/24084206@N08/4299800601/
Then the next day, a nice warbonnet passes under the East Naperville signal bridge as the new support has also been installed there! http://www.flickr.com/photos/24084206@N08/4302288970/
Metra passes the construction, you can clearly see how tall the new signal bridge is going to be compared to the CB&Q one. http://www.flickr.com/photos/24084206@N08/4307531485/
Also, a new support for the new signal that will replace the one in the distance in the second shot also has been installed, so all three CB&Q signal bridges at Naperville are doomed.
Today, I went to the shops, and I saw...
A BL2! (well, actually, it was yesterday...) This BL2 is Stourbridge Line (SBRR) 54, at the Morristown & Erie shops in Morristown for an overhaul. It was originally BAR 54, and is now used on Tourist Trains in PA. Also outside the shops were ME 4240, an ex-CP C424 that is being parted and scrapped, ME 487 (it's been there for a while, and no one knows why), and ME 563: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ns3010/4312484494/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ns3010/4311748219/ I saw on a not-to-be-mentioned forum that this would be here, and I knew it would likely be my only chance (unless I were to visit the SBRR) to see a BL2, so I jumped at the opportunity. Not many people these days get to see a BL2 still in operation!
Yeah no kidding, the BL2 is one of the rarest kinds of engines to catch! That may be just as rare as the two SDP40s that came through Homewood last year!
Oh yes, I forgot to post this on my last trip report to Naperville, so here it is. Check this out, it should be something of interest to anyone, heritage coaches! http://www.flickr.com/photos/24084206@N08/4309926091/
BNSF has reapplied Burlington lettering to three old CB&Q coaches, and has put BNSF Railway in the same font on three more.
Supposedly the rest of the old Burlington cars will be getting the BNSF lettering as they get inspected. The three CB&Q lettered cars will remain that way. Here's a shot of one of the BNSF coaches. http://www.flickr.com/photos/24084206@N08/4180067342/
I think it's a neat idea that uses up blank space on the coaches.
I was so physced when I heard it would be in Morristown. Now, I really wanna go out to PA and see it in operation during tourist season... I'll just add it to my long list of places I want to railfan...
Wow, that's pretty neat. Now, if only NJT would un-retire the Comet Is and paint them back as E-L...
Yum, BL2s. We use to have two (Former Janesville and Southern) BL2s in Wisconsin at National Railway Museum. But sadly they have been sold to some company in New Mexico/Arizona. Normally Museums try to expand their collection...not decrease it. It's sad since NRM has some great locomotives that could be excellent pieces, if they were given the proper care.
Well looks like Wisconsin is getting High Speed Rail. Yup that's right, high speed rail. The line from Milwaukee to Chicago will be upgraded, and the Hiawatha should be running 110 MPH. Service is also suppose to extend from Milwaukee to Madison. This means that the CP will have to upgrade the line from Milwaukee to Watertown to accommodate 79 MPH trains. The second portion will also calls for the rickety branch line between Watertown to Madison to be upgrade for 79 MPH. Plans also call that the trains might go from Madison to the Twin Cities. The only way I see that happening is the upgrading of another Rickety Branch from Portage to Madison. Wisconsin really stuck their foot in the door with this one. The contract with Tagol was a precursor to all this. The expected completion of the project is 2013.
Tomorrow I should finally post my report from a few weeks ago. I may re-edit some pictures too. We'll see if I remember to do that.
My Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/JR7582 My Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wcfan/
Speaking of Green Bay, IRM is currently restoring another soon-to-be gem in their collection! http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1125332
They are currently working on restoring GB&Q Alco "Alligator" 2407 to operatable condition. I'll tell ya one thing, when they gt this thing running, it'll be one of my favorite engines at IRM. I've always liked the Alligators and seeing one operating at IRM will be quite cool!
Nice! Do you know what road IRM is going to have it in? That unit use to work the ATSF, until the LS&I bought it. The GBW bought the unit(s) for a parts source, but by that time the FRV and GBW were under one company. The FRV was very power short, so they pressed the unit(s) into service.
I'd like to see that FP45 running! A new paint job on the DD40 wouldn't be bad too.
It seems museums work the same way railroads do- no one knows why...I wish we had a good railroad museum near here. The closest thing is Steamtown, but, in reality, there's not even much there. If we had something like the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, that would be excellent. They've been talking about a NJ transportation/railroad museum for forever, but nothing has ever happened with that.BTW, there's the Whippany Railway Museum. I've never been there, and I'd like to go sometime (but it's only open on Sundays), but I know it's small, and I don't know exactly how much is there.
Finally, HSR somewhere outside the NEC!!!!!The Lackawanna Cutoff will be rebuilt to 79mph (that's how it originally was, since it's completely flat, and there are no 'sharp' curves to speak of). But, the section to Andover is going to be completed by 2012, and who knows when it'll be done all the way to Scranton (work on the MOS should begin in the next few months). It'll be hard to have HSR on a 8 mile section of track...
I was gonna go railfanning in Bay Head while I was down the shore this weekend, but I ended up not. I had a bunch of homework to do, and it was freezing cold. I didn't feel like riding my bike 6 and a half miles into the wind in 10 degree weather, just to see three trains...
79 mph isn't high speed...Amtrak does that in New Mexico and Arizona on the Transcon. In Europe, 150 mph (which the Acela accomplishes for a few miles in southeast Massachusetts) is considered the lower limit of HSR - anything slower isn't HSR.
The Whippany museum is okay, just a bit small. They've got some older M&E power, some coaches, an O-gauge train layout, not much when there's no train running. You should go the weekend of the Easter Bunny Express (I'll either be there or at the bridge over what I believe is called Canoe Brook taking photos and video.) and see them running Alcos and sometimes an F40PH or FL9 from the Maine Eastern!
It sounds like it is going to stay in its current GB&W paint scheme for now. From what I heard, they're gonna get it running, and paint it eventually, but they don't know what paint scheme either. There was a big debate on the IRM yahoo group over whether it should be painted in ATSF or LS&I paint.