Bummer for a RailFan

[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]

[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]

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)]

[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]

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]

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.

[Sterling1]

I have this particular incidence happen to me twice . . .

I don't have a scanner or digital camera . . .

So this is what bites me . . . I'm trying to find out a certain Amtrak passenger car's

function and describing it to the chat room . . . no one knows what I'm
talking about . . .

I know . . . it sucks real bad . . .

[joesap1]

Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

Yesterday while on the way to work I had "another" bummer experience. Many times I can see a train on the way to work or on the way home from work. I heard the horn honking yesterday and tried to get close enough in time to get the engine numbers. But between traffic and the train going a little faster than usual I just couldn't get there in time to see the power. [:(] But I can tell you it was a mixed manifest freight.

Man, your posts on this subject are a real bummer alright. Do you EVER get the shot?
I feel your pain.
Trains can be amazingly silent. During my last outing in San Timateo Canyon, a train snuck up on me while I was reading in my truck. It was a good one too: Three engines at the front and two helpers at the rear.

Joe Sapwater

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