Saw something interesting on the BNSF today. On the back end of a westbound Amtrak was a an old passenger car, it was painted dark green, with gold lettering, and it said "Patron Tequila Club Car" or something like that.
I didn't think that an "adult beverage" company would advertise that way, I wonder what that was all about, and, how does one get on board??? LOL.
I agree with you, Carl. But I AM biased. Thing is, 1995 has the most freight influence in his paint scheme. Many eras of CNW are very well-represented in this locomotive:
1. Employee-owned logo on the nose. Self explanitory what that represents2. Lightning stripe. Representing the final era of CNW. 3. Height of the green and where the large hood logo was positioned are actually an overlooked representation of CNW's old Oelwein scheme. Very clever on the designer's part4. Silver striping. Representing the passenger era.
So I don't get why some people call the 2 GEs the "real" heritage units either. Sure they're real CNWs, but it's comparing apples to oranges. I won't elaborate.
And hey, check these out:
Horicon's attention to detail is apparent here. Look closely. They even painted the silver striping on the GRATING. I was amazed when i saw that. and note the top grabiron in the third pic. They even went out of their way to paint it silver as well. and add reflective tape to the veritcal handrail just to keep the stripe consistent. That's some serious quality there. Only the best for CNW
Your friendly neighborhood CNW fan.
.....Larry and Carl:
....Yes, I've been seeing these "Heritage" units pictured but just never did understand what it was all about. Thanks, now I know.
Quentin
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
Modelcar wrote: .....I have missed something.....Can someone explain the "difference" or distinction of 1995....
.....I have missed something.....Can someone explain the "difference" or distinction of 1995....
It's one of UPs "heritage" locomotives - in this case commemorating the Chicago & Northwestern. IIRC, there are also SP, WP, Rio Grande, and MP commemoratives. Who did I miss? The number is the year that UP took over the road.
While there are those who suggest that they exist largely to ensure that UP maintains control of the trademarks, they're still something to break up your trainwatching day.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Dan
Actually it's DOUBLE lucky if you're in my shoes. remember?
Although you could say #3 applies to my finally getting a decent photo of a CN. I'm in the minority of railfans who likes the SD75Is. New power is cool! CN's paint scheme really gives those widecabs a neat look to them. I must go fan the CN some more.
Triple lucky...
WN Cab tour, 1995, and 8701. Sounds like an awesome day!
CopCarSS wrote: Hey Tim, I was browsing through my PBase images last night, and came across this one:Look a little familiar? It looks like they've taken down the fence at the end of the platform. I think that I might have to stop there next time I'm down and do some more shooting there. TimChgo9 wrote:
I was browsing through my PBase images last night, and came across this one:
Look a little familiar? It looks like they've taken down the fence at the end of the platform. I think that I might have to stop there next time I'm down and do some more shooting there.
TimChgo9 wrote:
So that's why I didn't recognize the location--blamed fence! (Tim, I was with Chris when he took that shot.)
....Really great looking photos.
Well, the CNWHS convention has concluded and I'm really beat. but here's the photo report:
For our first trip, we went to tour the facilities at Menards, a big customer of UP.
Here's 4 centerbeams waiting on the lumber spur for the local to come pick them up.
Ever wonder where the steel coils in those odd flatcars go? Well here's the answer. They're placed in machines like this to be made into sheet metal among other things.
Next we went to tour the bridges in the area:
This bridge is simply known as the "High Bridge". It once was the CStPM&O's mainline to the twin cities. Only light power could cross it and speed restrictions were 10 mph maximum. Because of this, the bridge was soon abandoned and a newer double track bridge was built just above the dam. The high bridge still stands due to a gas pipe hanging off the bottom. The city of Eau Claire now owns this bridge and ensures that it and the pipe remain.
Next up was the Eau Claire River Bridge. It remains in use today. there was quite the hike to get to this area for a good photo.
For several years, the bridge was once a gantlet bridge with 2 interweaving tracks. But due to the major decline in activity and number of trains using it dropping like an anvil, the second line was removed in the early 90s.
Our final stop of the day was in Altoona. Where UP left 1995 on display at the old roundhouse track. But I was met with another surprise:
That's right, that IS an MSTL MOW flatcar. The one on the other side of the UP crane is CGW. I have some rather old relics sitting in Altoona. And for many years, I didnt even know. Rather interesting.
Ah there's our main man. The mighty UP 1995. I waited for what seems like forever to finally see this unit. Now here he sits in Altoona and I get to stand up close to him. Now THAT is a treat!
Here's another shot of 1995. This time with the whole consist. I gave this photo everything I had to make it great. 1995 only deserves the best!
Then on Saturday, we took a trip to Chippewa Falls/Norma to see the WN.
Here's their whole fleet of power.
The "president" of WN was there to greet us and talk about the road too. After some neat info, he then offered to let us up into the cab of 1500. This was unexpected and awesome. I was the first one up in the cab too. Go figure
Here's the conductor's seat
And the engineer's view.
OH CRAP! ATMO'S DRIVING IT! RUN!!!!
Without a doubt, this was my favorite part of the whole trip. Another member offered to get a picture of me at the window. So i excitedly accepted the offer and handed him my camera. This there is the result of it. After that, I gave him probably the most grateful handshake i ever gave anyone saying he really helped make my day.
I'll cover the Colfax museum tour in my next post cuz this post is already flooding the page with photos as it is
Carl:
Enjoyed your report. Sounds like you both had a good entertaining trip and with lots to see and even seeing folks from the forum.
Glad the weather cooperated at least some in Pennsylvania for the various locations of visit.
Sounds like you had a pleasant visit to the up on the hill restaurant there at the Johnstown Incline Plane site. That is an interesting place even for me having been there quite a few times, with home not too far from there.
And on the Tunnel Inn....I've not been in it but certainly have been right to the bridge there to do a bit of faning and I have thought the "Inn" looked pretty good for the purpose you were there.
That is a fact....not all the traffic passed thru there. One of the 3 tunnels at one time {also}, served the line up over {and thru}, the mountain for the route that came up around Muleshoe Curve....That was abandoned some years ago. That "new" route 22 actually is positioned on part of it.
So we're glad you were successful out in that area with your visit. We'll be heading that way next Saturday, Lord willing.
Thanks for the update.
So much to catch up on!
Tim, I have no way of locating the Heritage units specifically when I'm not at work--and won't be back until next week.
Your GE unit is an ES-series locomotive. My distinguishing spot is the radiator area, with grids at two different angles, present only on the ES, or GEVO, units. Smokestack in the background is from the hospital where our two granddaughters were born (they aren't taking any chances on the train bug infecting my grandson, who will be born next month at a hospital well removed from the tracks).
Quentin, we had a positively great trip to Pennsylvania. Time didn't permit us to go south of the Turnpike, except when we came home via Wheeling and Columbus, but we dined at the restaurant atop the incline at Johnstown (for those who aren't clued in, that's where Quentin's avatar shot was taken), after having breakfasted at CasaNora, following a Wii bit of fun the previous evening. Nora took us to see Conway Yard, and we saw the bridge over Beaver River where NS derailed the ethanol train a year or so ago (as well as the lovely park where the tank cars from the wreck were staged for a while). She also turned us on to Eat'nPark, and we found out about Sheetz by ourselves later.
The Tunnel Inn in Gallitzin was everything we'd expected from a B&B. We slept too hard to be affected by trains entering and exiting the Allegheny Tunnel all night. What I didn't realize is that not everything that goes up and down the Curve goes by this spot--some use the Portage Tunnel, a short distance to the south. So Cresson, west of where the two routes converge again, is the better train-watching location. It also has a Bed-and-Breakfast, the Station Inn. We may try that one next time, though Pat says she was very happy with the Tunnel Inn. On our second evening there we got sandwiches from Sheetz in Altoona and brought them back to the back porch at the Inn for supper. At the Inn the same two nights as we were was a retired UP executive and his sister. Our itineraries didn't converge except at the inn, but we exchanged a little knowledge (a dangerous thing!), and enjoyed a bit of conversation after dark while the trains (floodlit from the Inn once Pat found the switch!) and pusher units kept going by.
NS uses a lot of SD40-2s in pusher service up on the hill, but everything else gets GEVOs or SD70-2s. NS doesn't like AC units, or 4400 horsepower (all of their most recent units are rated at 4000 hp). But their black-and-white locomotives are the cleanest I've ever seen (so are their blue-and-white ones, of which I saw a few)! I'd mentioned that in a previous thread somewhere, and days of extensive observation give me no reason to change my mind on that.
Quentin, there was rain a lot of the time when we were in Pennsylvania, but things always cleared up when we needed them to, and our sojurn to the Museum and the Curve were accompanied by sunny skies. (For anyone going to these places, buy a combination ticket--they're both well worth the price, in spite of the bad things I'd heard about how things were operated. Once you get there, you'll never know, or care!) We never used the jackets we'd brought along.
Returning home, our next stop was Marion, Ohio, where we were surprised to find the station building actually open--I'd heard about the tower being used as an observation deck, but the station, in the process of being restored, is a gem. Pat found inspiration for a new quilt in the glazed bricks outside and the stained-glass skylight in the waiting room. I was just delighted at having trains passing by simultaneously on either side of me, on the former C&O and former PRR. By the way, lots of C&O cantilever signal structures remain up on the former Hocking Valley line from Columbus to Toledo--catch them while you can! One room of the depot also housed signals and a former control board from F Cabin in Fostoria--a really unsung find.
There were a sign and picnic table at the site of the future railfan park in Fostoria. We were a little worried about the time (after spending longer than expected at Marion), so we "only" saw three trains in the ten minutes we were there. The good ship Erie-sistable has been removed from the site, and presumably scrapped (I think the name should be resurrected on a component of the new park, perhaps a playground). It was fascinating to see two of the three trains at the same time on the NS--both eastbound, and both with identical consists of covered hoppers exclusively.
Finally, yesterday we went to Sauder Village in northwestern Ohio, where we met Joe, Stacey, and Matt Kohnen. We had to ride the little train there--Matt insisted--and it was fascinating to see working air brakes on the replicas of EMD "Blomberg" trucks beneath the 4-2-4 locomotive and all of the passenger cars! What was more unnerving to me was the noise the "steam" locomotive made when starting up...<crank>vROOOOOOM! (one wonders whether a model sound system could be fit and amplified to help them out). The Kohnens surprised us at lunch with a cake in honor of Pat's and my 35th anniversary the previous Monday.
Edit: Pat says I should have mentioned that we also hit a lot of quilting shops...important since Nora's two experience-sponges--I mean, little guys--were quite interested in the one we all went into, and I'll be getting a shirt out of material bought at Sauder Village.
So, is this one a Dash 9, or is it an ES44AC?. Went by too fast for me too tell, I was hooting again in Western Springs the other morning. Nice clear blue sky, and great sun lighting things up. I love mornings like that.
....Carl....How was my Pennsylvania home area of your trip this time....? Hope it went well. I know the area has had cool temps and rain lately....
oh there's a simple way to tell crash 8s from crash 9s. crash 9s have flatter angular high adhesion trucks. crash 8s have rounder, more EMD-like trucks. same goes for dash 8s and dash 9s. (though only NS had dash 9s. they also had dash 8s)
Well what an adventure today. the CNWHS convention hit some really neat locations and we were in for some nice treats. I'll post more photos from the whole trip later, but here's the highlights from today:
We started in Norma and saw the WN units sitting around. The top exec of WN was also there and told us all kinds of neat stuff about the road and its [bright] future. Then he let us into the cab!
I wanted a pic like this for years! Definitely a highlight of my life!
tree68 wrote: Lord Atmo wrote:I don't mean to be rude, but could you try to be model-specific? i spent 10 minutes looking for the whiteface SD60 pic before i realized you meant the SD60M. It can get confusing, so i'd appreciate it if you could specify next time.Even though I'm a fan, I'm not a purist. Most of the time any more I consider myself lucky if I can identify the manufacturer, never mind the model.
Lord Atmo wrote:I don't mean to be rude, but could you try to be model-specific? i spent 10 minutes looking for the whiteface SD60 pic before i realized you meant the SD60M. It can get confusing, so i'd appreciate it if you could specify next time.
Even though I'm a fan, I'm not a purist. Most of the time any more I consider myself lucky if I can identify the manufacturer, never mind the model.
I'm with ya on that one, Larry..... About the only locomotive I can positively identify 3 out of 4 times is the SD40-2, and maybe the SD70..... All GE's look alike. I have to read the side of the locomotive to tell if it's a C40-8, "Dash-9" or C45ACCTE....
Tim,
Nice catches! I've always liked the BN white face SD60's and I'd love to have #1 of any railroad. That's really neat!
Thanks for sharing!
-ChrisWest Chicago, ILChristopher May Fine Art Photography"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." ~Ansel Adams
Chris... yeah, I guess they did take that fence down (or it fell down, one or the other). Actually, Highlands is one of my favorite places to shoot from, in addition to Congress Park. That top photo is a great one. I was out at Congress Park today, and caught this SD60 "White Face" heading east bound.
The other night, while out at the IHB, I caught this CSX unit. I noted as it passed me, that the words "Spirit of West Virginia" were painted on the side in script. After looking at the photo, I noted the "1" on the number board. Was this a commemorative locomotive? Or, painted for a special occasion?
Oh yeah, in addition to seeing the SD60 on the eastbound, I caught a lite power move of BNSF locomotives off of the IHB, and their were two SD60's in that mix too. They were moving a string of locos, a B40-8W, 2 SD40-2's a UP C45ACCTE, and the two SD60's. Unfortunately, due to bad planning, and poor timing, the photos didn't turn out very well......
Hey Tim,
Max, Chris, and Brian... great shots!. I am hoping to add a couple of Heritage units to my gallery of photos, but the only one I have seen so far, was on the point of a container train going through on the BNSF. It was the MoPac unit, and of course, I was on my way to go somewhere, and didn't have the camera..... Hey Carl.... any idea when 1995, or any of the others will be around this way? Just curious.
I am looking forward to working the camera more, unfortunately weather, and family stuff has kept me away from photography for the last several days, so hopefully Thursday, or this weekend, I will be able to get out and get some shots. I really am enjoying the new camera, though. The learning curve is a little steeper with this one, but, so far, so good.
Brian,
I think your little birdie is the same one that I found out about this train from:
and then I've managed to find this one a couple times by myself:
Hopefully the others will wander this direction sometime...
You're missing four yet, Chris? I'm missing two, but only because last summer a little "birdie" told me to head down and catch this train, which garnered me three of them in one shot...
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.