Bummer for a RailFan

[Anonymous]

Of course, I've had the usual sad stories of out of film, shutter not cocked, out of focus, film not winding on takeup reel, driving for hours to see the train disappear around the bend. What's somewhat wierd is that I would have dreams of some really neat train coming along and the camera is broken, film not advanced, the usual stuff. Even in dreams, I suffer the curse of the Railfan Bummer.

[Anonymous]

And one more from days of yore. In the early 70s I was working in Hartford CT and started out on a weekend trip to visit my father in northern VT. I caught a NB BM freight at Brattleboro and went up the line for another shot. I set up in a cut over corn field, nice curve, the whole bit. Train came, took a nice shot and got in the car and headed north as the sun was fading fast. A couple hours later I stopped in the Fairlee diner for a piece of their great pie and a coffee. As I got out of the car, I had a sinking feeling: "Where is the camera case?" Phone to Dad "I'll be a few hours late". Turn around and drive back below Bellows Falls and try to find the cornfield. Of course by now it's totally dark. I aim the car into the field andwith the light of the headlights,there is the camera case. As I was getting back in the car, a VT state trooper came along and asked what I was up to. I guess my explanation was so wierd he figured it must be the truth. So back on the I91 and finally, 5 hours late, at Dad's place.

[Anonymous]

Here's two bummers in two weeks.
In June, 1954, I was about to graduate from college. A classmate and I went out to chase a BM fan trip pulled by a 2-6-0. The reason we weren't aboard was that we had our bacalaureate service that afternoon. (RATS) While we were waiting for the fantrip, near Ayer MA we shot a WB freight in the siding. We got to talking with the crew and they invited us to go with them to East Deerfield. Under pain of severe parental pain and dismemberment, we had to refuse. (RATS, RATS)

The next weekend we had to miss the last steam run on the MEC due to our graduatioon. (RATS again)

[Anonymous]

See ***. See Jane. See *** and Jane. [;)]

See the train. See the train go by (and me with no camera in hand). [:(!] [:(] [V]

I went home and got the camera only to not be able to get to a place where I could get some shots of the train. [V] [:(]

Oh well, it was a pair of NS engines. The lead loco did have a decent sounding horn though. [:o)]

[CSXrules4eva]

umm. . . lets seeee. . . .. I had a bad experience about a mounth ago. I was at school and was out in the auto tech shop to do a 4 wheel alighenment on a Nissan Sentra. Right in back of the school lays NS trackage, former PRR trackage. It doesn't get that much traffic in a day either. Then guess wut I heard the sound of a high speed train. I rushed outside to see. And all I saw was the tail end of the train which was a DTTX double stack 53' car. I didn't get the car number nor did I see the power, NOR did I have a camera :( CRAP!

Then about 4hrs. later I took the train back home I had to catch two trains. SEPTA 's R2 then the R8. When it was time for the R8 to travel a part of the NEC, from Market East Station to North Philly. Guess wut I saw two UP AC6000CWs pulling a loaded coal train. Most of the cars had CSXT reporting marks. But, I didn't have my camera :( My train was also traveling at about 70mph so I didn't get a chance to enjoy the train really :( ALSO I've never ever have seen UP power on the NEC.

[Anonymous]

Christmas train curious i called it well i called it because well its happened everytime so far. Well anyway My dad and i always wanted to see the christmas train in Brandon Manitoba & Virden Manitoba which are our favorite places to watch CP on the main well anyway i was reading the CP site news and read about the christmas train and showed my dad and figured out when it would get in to brandon because of the CP schedule so my dad told me to mark it on the calendar this was going to be the best trip my dad and i were going to head up there 45 minutes before it got there to catch some winter railfanning at the brandon yard. The morning i got up put film in my camera and then went to school nice sunny day getting quite excited to tell u the truth well who wouldn't be i waited and waited for the final bell it rung i ran home got all my stuff ready then dad came home we get 10 or 15 miles tops and ran into Bad weather barely can see 6 feet front of the car so we stopped and i just started swaring then my dad great calming me down told me we could watch trains next day but not the christmas train and then said well we no what to do next winter. Part 2 It was early december i looked on the site and it said it would be coming to brandon in a week so my dad and said it would be perfect because he was off work and could catch it in the morning head to its next destination it was a good so far u know how i new that on the news it said they caught saddam hussien i knew it was going to be awesome maybe best trip yet so we set off to Virden because the main runs along the trans canada to Brandon so we got Virden heard a horn so we drove to the closet crossing hoping it was it a little early but nope it was a Soo line SD60 and 2 CP sd40-2s with a westbound mix freight then we decided to stay and have breakfest at the hotel across the tracks right after we got done our meal heard another horn a westbound Mixed freight again led by a another emd SD90/43mac 9102 then we decide we should stay to wait for a next train a another emd 2 SD40-2s came roring throught i thought man we should see it today my favorite locomotive manufacture EMD was all the kind of engines we were all seeing and thought this is going to be the day we see the Christmas train then we drove along on the trans-canada highway then we saw the headlights of a train i saw 2 CP Red Barns 9012 and 9017 bring a westbound grain train then we didn't see anything after that tell we hit the Brandon Yard 2 Emd Sd40-2's in the CP multmark paint scheme with a Autorack/intermodal train ready to leave on a westbound trip to my best guess was Moose jaw or Swift Current then we drove over the bridge looking the entire yard to see if it was parked behind the train nope just 2 GP9u's and a GP38-2 parked ready to serve some local factories all emd then we decide to call it a day and head back to Virden then see one more train and leave and then we say the final of the day a CP 8600 series Ac4400cw a CEFX AC4400cw 1007 and then a CP AC4400cw in the 8500 series on a eastbound intermodal train to winnipeg then we left and then 2 days later we had a train in town and got to go up in the cab of the Engine and talk to the engineer and the first thing i asked was when was the Christmas train in brandon and when did it departure he said came in around 19:30 and left around 02:30 to broadview for there next stop. Then just this past week or so i was looking on the CP site and it said DECEMBER 11 coming to Brandon Manitoba then i told my dad he said were not missing it this time. So i am hoping we dont miss it again well thats my story but least i looked on the bright side least i saw almost every type of emd on cp's roster SD40-2 SD60 SD90/43mac sd40-2f GP38 GP9u all i missed was the SD40-2m GP40-2s and SW and MP switchers o well i had fun with my dad going train watch o and one note i even saw CSX coil car in the dark future scheme [:D]

[jockellis]

I was putting the finishing touches on my newspaper in south Georgia late one Tuesday night when I heard the unmistakable wail of a steam whistle from the Waycross to Brunswick line of the Seaboard Coastline. Although I was right on deadline, I rushed out the front door and ran down toward the track. As it rolled across the grad crossing, I saw a self-powered steam crane heading eastward. Unfortunately, I couldn't follow it because I had to get the paper out. But it was going to a wreck on a trestle and would have given me some great pictures, if it hadn't been so dark.
Jock Ellis

[Anonymous]

I have 2 "bummers" for today. [:(] [:(]

#1

I went railfanning at Little Rock's Union Station today. Usually a fairly busy place, I was there for 2 hours and only saw one train. [:(]

#2

So I decide to leave. As I was driving across a bridge I noticed a train heading that way with a blue engine. So I decided to try to check it out. In driving all over the place to try to get to see it I also noticed that the second engine looked like a Suzie Q. Now that would be very rare for these parts, maybe not for New York but for Arkansas very rare.There were actually about 2 and maybe 3 trains that looked like they were ready to cross the river and go into Little Rock. So I found a place that would be a good shot, I also took the angle of the sun into consideration in choosing the spot. This spot just happened to be by the Bearing Cross Railroad Bridge (where I got the poison ivy last time [:(] ) and I saw someone illegally cross the bridge on foot. I waited for this rare engine to come my way. It never did. I wait for it almost 45 minutes too. So I went back to see if it was still there. It wasn't. I guess instead of going south into Little Rock that they went west to Fort Smith. So I missed seeing if the engine was an ex Suzie Q or possibly a current Q out running around. [:(!] [V]

[railman]

my story- I caught a rare BNSF train, long hood foreward, on the far end of the Monticello Sub.- and all I had was my polaroid camera. I took a picture, but you know how they look- not bad, not good, just OK. Unit 1597, for the engine fans out there.

Another was catching the ballast train coming into town with ol' 1597 AND a SD40-2 (we never see six-axle power) and having NO camera. They did some switching move that tied up all three crossings in Albertville for almost 20 minutes...I was one of the cars caught in the way, but I might have been the only guy with the windows down enjoying the roar of the big SD!

[tree68]

Been that poison ivy route. Yucch!

Was tooling west on NYS Thruway and discovered I was pacing a WB stack. Came up on a spot that would have been perfect for a pacing shot, EXCEPT I was already ahead of the train, I would have had to shoot across traffic (virtually guaranteeing a semi in my shot), the camera wasn't ready (digital), and since I didn't know the opportunity was coming up, no way to time things right for it. Makes for a great memory of what might have been, though...

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

Today was a beautiful day, high about 82 with a slight breeze so I decided to go railfanning. I wanted some pics of the old Rock Island Depot so I headed there first. Because of "special" construction in the area I couldn't really get where I needed to be to take the shot I wanted. [:(] So while I was downtown I went to Union Station. While I was there I shot a pic of a UP/NS engine combo pulling an intermodal train. So I had the idea of catching it across the river on the North Little Rock side (the good side of the river) and as I was crossing the bridge I noticed the railroad bridge was going up. So I changed plans and headed to the railroad bridge. I got out of the truck and walked around the foot/bike path trying to find a good shot. I walked off "the beaten path" and took several pics from various angles. Another train with a SPpatch/UP engine combo pulled up the the bridge so I shot it too. A few minutes later I began to itch. [:(] Then I started to itch even worse. [:(!] [:(] [:(!] Since it was warm I was wearing a t-shirt, shorts, shoes, and ankle socks. The itch was just above the ankle socks and it was turning red. Mind you I didn't scratch it, I was afraid it was poison ivy/oak. I cut short my railfanning trip and headed home to take a shower hoping to prevent it from spreading. That was around 5 pm. It is now almost 8pm and I have a cream on it. I hope that tomorrow morning that it is gone but we will have to wait and see. But it definately put a stop to my railfanning for the day. AND on the way home there was another train I could have waited on and saw but . . . well I wanted to get in the shower as quickly as possible. And how was your day? [;)]

[Anonymous]

Today was a beautiful day, high about 82 with a slight breeze so I decided to go railfanning. I wanted some pics of the old Rock Island Depot so I headed there first. Because of "special" construction in the area I coldn't really get where I needed to be to take the shot I wanted. [:(] So while I was downtown I went to Union Station. While I was there I shot a pic of a UP/NS engine combo pulling an intermodal train. So I had the idea of catching it across the river on the North Little Rock side (the good side of the river) and as I was crossing the bridge I noticed the railroad bridge was going up. So I changed plans and headed to the railroad bridge. I got out of the truck and walked around the foot/bike path trying to find a good shot. I walked off "the beaten path" and took several pics from various angles. Another train with a SPpatch/UP engine combo pulled up the the bridge so I shot it too. A few minutes later I began to itch. [:(] Then I started to itch even worse. [:(!] [:(] [:(!] Since it was warm I was wearing a t-shirt, shorts, shoe, and ankle socks. The itch was just above the ankle socks and it was turning red. Mind you I didn't scratch it, I was afraid it was poison ivy/oak. I cut short my railfanning trip and headed home to take a shower hoping to prevent it from spreading. That was around 5 pm. It is now almost 8pm and I have a cream on it. I hope that tomorrow morning that it is gone but we will have to wait and see. But it definately put a stop to my railfanning for the day. AND on the way home there was another train I could have waited on and saw but . . . well I wanted to get in the shower as quickly as possible. And how was your day? [;)]

[Anonymous]

Last Sunday was a beautiful day so I went railfanning for a while. I went downtown and as I was crossing over the railroad tracks I noticed a set of NS engines. I couldn't stop because I was on a four lane bridge. I drove all around trying to find a place where I could get a shot of them. No luck. [:(!] That area has a lot of private industry and each one has buildings and fences so you can't see the railroad tracks from the street. I wanted a shot real bad and kept going over the bridge hoping I might could stop and get a shot. Then a set of UP power pulled up and stopped right by the NS power. Then I really wanted that shot. That would have made a super shot to have but the traffic would not allow me to stop there and take it. [:(!] [:(] [:(!]

Bummer, bummer, bummer, I was really bummed out. [V] [:(] [:(!]

[espeefoamer]

After my surgury,and early recovery, I went almost three weeks without seeing a train![:(][:0][V]

[locomutt]

Besides battery,when you have a digital,and your memory card is full,you forget
to put the camera back to INTERNAL memory.[censored][banghead]

[Anonymous]

Dead Battery in Camera [:(] [V] [:(]

[Anonymous]

Yesturday i was passing through Franklin Park with my scanner on, to see if any trains were coming. i heard 4 trains, one from each direction. One of them was the IC&E east bound, which rarely comes through on Sunday afternoons. So i parked waited, it was waiting just down the tracks. But i had the "wife to be" in the car with me. NOT a good idea. She made me leave without a picture. Oh yeah, there were 2 I&M Rail Link SD40s on the train. i cant win.

[SALfan]

One of the many times I was in Denver I had to be there over the weekend, so rented a car. Sunday afternoon, wandered around until I found the Joint Line south of town. Found a good spot to watch some trains, and settled down to enjoy some of the heavy traffic. What did I see? ZIP, ZERO, NADA, NOTHING. Spent over two hours there, and didn't see a single train. BUMMER!

[Junctionfan]

I went to look at 328 a NS train on the CN line in my area, and I missed it. To make it worse, it had a solid UP lash up.

[Anonymous]

F I N A L L Y [V]

I have been searching for THIS thread for at least an hour. [:(!]

When I would type in phrases nothing would work. [:(]


Anyway here is my latest bummer. [:(]

I have been getting to the tracks just in time to see part of the train and not the power. I can't even begin to tell you how many times this has happened to me in the last few weeks. [:(!] Between traffic, traffic stop lights, and just being in the wrong place at the wrong time I have been missing the boat errrr train.

[Hawks05]

whenever i'm pursuing a train i always try and focus on the driving because i know the train will have to slow down more than i will when it enters a town. the tracks run along a highway so i can do 55-65 slowing only once while the train will have to normally slow down as it enters the town.

i'm still getting down the zooming in and out yet and where to stand. the camera only has a 3x zoom so its not that good really.

so far its been really fun. just wish i had a scanner or some way of finding out when a train is coming.

[Anonymous]

Most every day on the way to work I see some engines coming into the yard or on the through tracks. BUT many times they are too far away for me to see the engine numbers. [:(]

Sometimes there are engines and trains ready to leave the yard and waiting on a signal. BUT they are so close to the bridge that goes over the tracks that I can't get their numbers either. [:(]

[athelney]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Hawks05

QUOTE: Originally posted by snakespol

Being new to the world of railfanning, reading alot of the forums and not having hardly a clue as to what you all are saying. But at least I know where to look to say I've learned sometihing new today. I'll keep trying.[%-)][%-)][banghead]

i'm in the same boat kind of. i'm just getting into this. being a teenager i don't have a lot of money to invest in stuff to find out where to go. we got our camera for free so thats what i'm using. now i take it wherever i go pretty much, never know whats sitting at the siding in town. sunday it was CNW gondola, tuesday that was gone, and wednesday its a UP crain with a flat car of 4 sections of track. now today there is a front endloader and 3 sections of track lain out next to a part of track in town. should be interesting to see what is going on there. i wouldn't mind seeing UP put in another line. maybe get more action here.

anyways my biggest bummers so far have been taking great pictures only to have the wrong focus on so when i go to move the picture is taken. the camera came with the twilight focus so before a picture was taken it would flash like 5 times. now i have it switched to landscape so it just snaps shot after shot.

so basically a lot of my bummers have been taking pictures of the ground when i could have had great shots of NS2512 with a load of Triple Crowns or a Cotton Belt hopper in Wisconsin. i guess its living and learning. also not having enough gas to catch a train hurts to.

just like jim- i live close to the tracks. i live 3 blocks away so when i hear a whistle i'm in my car and heading for a crossing. there are so many around here, but they are spread apart. i can go to the baseball field and then try and take off from there and get to a bridge that i've gotten some great shots off of, then flying to another crossing. in all that takes about 5 minutes depending on the length of the train, if i can get through the backup of cars, and if i can go with out getting stuck behind a slow driver and seeing a cop.

Guess my suggestion would be to hang in there -take as many photo's as you can & try and learn from your failures -- most of all have fun & be safe -- mind your driving !

[Anonymous]

Working on a sunny day...

LC

[Hawks05]

QUOTE: Originally posted by snakespol

Being new to the world of railfanning, reading alot of the forums and not having hardly a clue as to what you all are saying. But at least I know where to look to say I've learned sometihing new today. I'll keep trying.[%-)][%-)][banghead]

i'm in the same boat kind of. i'm just getting into this. being a teenager i don't have a lot of money to invest in stuff to find out where to go. we got our camera for free so thats what i'm using. now i take it wherever i go pretty much, never know whats sitting at the siding in town. sunday it was CNW gondola, tuesday that was gone, and wednesday its a UP crain with a flat car of 4 sections of track. now today there is a front endloader and 3 sections of track lain out next to a part of track in town. should be interesting to see what is going on there. i wouldn't mind seeing UP put in another line. maybe get more action here.

anyways my biggest bummers so far have been taking great pictures only to have the wrong focus on so when i go to move the picture is taken. the camera came with the twilight focus so before a picture was taken it would flash like 5 times. now i have it switched to landscape so it just snaps shot after shot.

so basically a lot of my bummers have been taking pictures of the ground when i could have had great shots of NS2512 with a load of Triple Crowns or a Cotton Belt hopper in Wisconsin. i guess its living and learning. also not having enough gas to catch a train hurts to.

just like jim- i live close to the tracks. i live 3 blocks away so when i hear a whistle i'm in my car and heading for a crossing. there are so many around here, but they are spread apart. i can go to the baseball field and then try and take off from there and get to a bridge that i've gotten some great shots off of, then flying to another crossing. in all that takes about 5 minutes depending on the length of the train, if i can get through the backup of cars, and if i can go with out getting stuck behind a slow driver and seeing a cop.

[Modelcar]

...A "bummer" for me occured down in Saluda, NC...several times, several years ago. My situation occured several times while returning back from Florida in the Spring and turning off the interstate to drive back into Saluda..[only about 2 miles], to take a look at the famous location and try to see some action on the "hill"....I did that several years and tarried up to 4 hours waiting for action...which I never saw....The last time I was there several years ago I waited at least 4 hours and saw nothing again, but little did I know that would be my last chance as it was "embargoed" soon after that so we may never have the chance to see any action again at that famous location. If I would have known that was coming I perhaps would have waited longer still.....But I really enjoyed just having the chance to see the famous location anyway...It is one of a kind..!

[Anonymous]

On the way to work Monday afternoon I saw 3 CN boxcars on the old Rock Island overpass. Trees blockes me from seeing one boxcar's number and the other two boxcars were faded AND had so much grafetti on them that I couldn't ready any numbers.

They were still there on the way home from work but it was dark. Now there is a light but the light shines down on the road and not on the train. [:(] [:(!] [V]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by snakespol

Being new to the world of railfanning, reading alot of the forums and not having hardly a clue as to what you all are saying. But at least I know where to look to say I've learned sometihing new today. I'll keep trying.[%-)][%-)][banghead]

Hello and welcome to the forums. [:)]

Look into the "Stupid Question Thread". You can learn a ton there, and don't be afraid to ask questions. That is how we all learn. [;)] The "gang" is always happy to answer a question (I am afraid to list them by name knowing I will forget someone) and it is always nice to have someone ask a question as the gang is "foaming" [;)] at the mouth just to get to answer it. [;)]

[snakespol]

Being new to the world of railfanning, reading alot of the forums and not having hardly a clue as to what you all are saying. But at least I know where to look to say I've learned sometihing new today. I'll keep trying.[%-)][%-)][banghead]

[AlcoRS11Nut]

The latest one I can remember were we were at the Burnside Bridge in KY, and I was there for about an hour an no trains, just ticks and more ticks. Even if there was a train I probably could have got a shot of it because I was trying to hard to keep the ticks off of me. (forgot bug spray). Then I said enough and decided to find another spot and got into the car, as soon as I did a NS Autorack went across the bridge. Thats my luck!