Lionel collector, stuck in an N scaler's modelling space.
I'd take a picture of my engine roster, but it's just a titch too big for that! They've never really all been in the same place together....
Anyways, as I'm just back from vacation, I might as well copy-and-paste my trip report in here.
As usual, I'll be posting only the fairly good/interesting ones. I took over 550 pictures this vacation, and several videos, which I plan to upload...slowly....The first train I encountered was a normal westbound Potash with 2 GEs on the head and two midtrain helpers that came through in the five minutes of sunlight I saw!The first train I encountered on day 2 (When it got sunny) was a very special unit - 5863. Unfortunately, it wasn't sunny yet.By this time, the sun was struggling out of the clouds.Day three: Chased a random Kelowna Pacific train from Vernon to Armstrong on a whim. Got some interesting action there....pity it wasn't sunny.Day four was when the REAL railfanning started. Walked a good ten miles to find a KPR freight switching at Lumby Junction near Vernon.Caught an Okanagan Valley M420W 3550 (Nee Hudson Bay 3550, ex- CN 2550) working the OVR yard in Vernon.That day, there was an absolutely spectacular sunsetThe next morning, we sadly had to depart.....Overnight, we stayed in a motel in Castlegar that we had discovered a few years back, and had vague memories of a scheduled freight train coming by. Turns out, things haven't changed a bit!That afternoon (Day five, by the way) we found the abandoned Nelson facilities. Once the proud home of CP's spectacular F-M/CLC fleet, it's now a bunch of boarded-up and fenced-off buildings....There are many more broken windows than intact ones in the old shops. :(Then we stayed overnight on Kootenay Lake, then popped down through customs into NW Montana (Near Libby). Since when were customs so downright creepy? There was a brief stop at Kootenai Falls. We followed the BNSF fruitlessly until Whitefish, where we camped next to what turned out to be a whistle post...I got a few twilight pics, but unfortunately, the sight lines on westbounds are terrible, and though the evening light suited them, all the pictures sucked.then I got up early in the morning to catch the eastbound Empire Builder, which I then chased to the Whitefish station. (I must be the only person to successfully chase the Builder on a bike!There was also a pair of RC locos switching the west end of the yard.Ever seen the Bruck? It's a GN bus at Whitefish, used to transport passengers to a from Kalispell to Whitefish to catch the Builder.Then I popped back to my campground, got in a couple trains before leaving.Then, this being the final day, we headed east over Marias.When we got to the summit, I was ecstatic to see a pair of SD40-2s - Turned out the autorack train had picked up a pair of helpers!We then caught up with the headendThen we raced east to get to the bridge over the Two Medicine at East Glacier before the train. Luckily, we didn't need to - But we did arrive early enough to catch a westbound there.Then, after a long wait (Deep into private property, having crawled under two barbed wire fences to get there!) the autorack train came, sans pushers.Unfortunately, this was the point where we turned north and headed home....One last thing: Most of these pics are still 'rough', in other words, moderately edited, but not polished yet. Try to imagine them straighter, sharper, and better cropped!
Go here for my rail shots! http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=9296
Building the CPR Kootenay division in N scale, blog here: http://kootenaymodelrailway.wordpress.com/
Sweet stuff Matt! Seen some of your stuff on Railpics, and you got some mega views on the bridge shots!
Alec
Matt, you are the PHOTOGRAPHY GOD!
Matt-
Great pictures!!! Congrats on POTW over at railpictures.net! Glad you had a good time in Montana; its one of my favorite places.
Till next time!
Them's some shots. I like that Baldwin though. Looked like somebody peppered it with a couple bursts of .22 rat shot.
Awesome shots both Matt and Chris! Matt, I still really really want to make a trip to Marias pass sometime. The scenery and the trains would definately make it worth the trip. What I really need to do is take about three or four weeks and make a round of that neck of the world; Powder River Basin, Marais Pass, Donner Pass, and the other stuff in that area of the county. Someday....
It's sad to see that the paint on the Wisconsin and Calumet F9s is starting to peel. I've always liked those units, even if the WICT hasn't been around for about 14 or 15 years. They are about the only units still around in WICT paint too, other than the BL2 (also at NRM). Oh well, at least they are preserved somewhere and weren't just scrapped outright. They could use a little TLC though.
Noah
Railfan1- Thank you very much!
Eric- Thank you! It does look like that Baldwin ate a few bullets..
Noah- Thank you! It is sad to see these F units stored outdoors...but your right, at least their still around! The good news is that the NRM has lots of steamers in barns and out of the elements.
Thanks for the kind comments on my photos,
See ya later!
back to school it sucks,
im not doing much with my trains i curently dont have the time between phisical therapy,school,and a little pitifull life.