A comment in the "I Missed" thread made me think of an interesting proposition. I think we've done this kind of thing before, but IIRC, it had more of a "living in another era" flavor. We're just going for a visit.
If you could time travel as a railfan to one or two places, for just a day or less, where would they be?
You're not going back to ride a hot limited or live the life, only to do what you'd do in the same spot (if it still has active rail traffic) today. Stand and watch trains. And take a picture or 1000.
You're limited to one or two spots, so choose carefully.
I'd like to go back to SE Michigan in late PM days - maybe see a Berk running through my old home town.
And perhaps the area in NY where I live now - in the heyday of the NYC.
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...
I'll state the location, and proposed target timestamp I'll set the time machine to reach:
Decatur, Indiana: June 1, 1969, to see: EL, PC, NW. I'd park myself right over by the EL-PC tower with my camera, a couple sandwiches, a thermos of coffee and an empty bladder.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa: June 1, 1975, to see: MILW, ROCK, CNW, IC/ICG. I'd sit myself at the ROCK depot (now a law office) between the Quaker Oats plant and the roundhouse, again with the same supplies.
I guess I would go to Grand Haven, Michigan, pre-Depression, and watch them load or unload a ferry, and see what the engine terminal looked like. You wouldn't let me ride the interurban, which would also still be there.
More recently, and closer to my present home, I'd revisit State Line to see what I saw in 1970; Griffith, Indiana, any time pre-Conrail but after Amtrak started going through on the C&O; or Pine Junction, again pre-Conrail, to see trains to/from the East on the former NYC, PRR, and B&O, all in one spot, with Wabash and EJ&E thrown in for good measure.
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)
Hmmmmm...decisions, decisions...
I guess I'm going to say Tennessee Pass in the heyday of some of the DRGW's really big steam. Seeing some of the 2-8-8-2s and 4-6-6-4s slammed down to a crawl on the tough grades had to be an amazing sight.
If I get a second option, I'm going to say Horseshoe Curve, also in the heyday of late steam. That had to be a grand show, too!
-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
Santa Fe's Raton Pass in the period following WW II. It had eight passenger and two fast mail trains per day, most needed steam pushers and some had steam on the front. There were also several freights so lots of action with great viewing points; and both Raton and Trinidad where the helpers tied up had lots of yard action. Twenty one miles of mountain beauty plus trains!!!
I think I'd stick close to home, too, but go back the late 1920's. Automobiles, sure, but not enough paved roads to ruin the passenger trains and no trucks to take the freight away. Throw in some logging extras, rebuild the coal shed, the depot, the water tank, the yard and the engine holding tracks. I'd be able to see the tracks from my front window, except that the woodworking mill would be back in the way and my house was a horse barn at that time...
I would go to Grand Crossing in La Crosse around 1980 at the height of the MILW.
The other spot would be Chicago area in the same time frame.
Paul
http://www.youtube.com/user/pavabo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulvbox
I'd walk two miles to the center of town, go back to 1910, and watch trolleys all day...
I would go back to '67 to enjoy and appreciate the earliest roots of my railfan life. As a five year old holding my great-grandfathers hand as we walked a block from his house to see the Georgia Railroad passenger train roll thru Thomson.
Jay
Jay,
Did you ever ride the Georgia Road Mixed that ran up until 1985? I rode it with a group of railfans in 1980. We had an HO model Railroad club in the freight room of the Georgia Road Depot there in Decatur.
George
I would love to be able to go back in time to the steam era on the Canadian Pacific and watch steam powered trains passing through the famed Spiral Tunnels.
And for a long time I've also had an interest in the C,B&Q. I have pictures of an O5B class 4-8-4, #5629, which now sits on the grounds of the Colorado Railroad Museum. While I've long dreamed of seeing her taken out and restored to running condition, sadly, that will probably never happen . It would be NICE though if I could go back in time and watch a lot of Burlington Route steam power in operation, not just the 5629, but also their M-4 class 2-10-4's.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816
I would like to see Rollins Pass. Other choices would be Tennessee Pass, Moffat Tunnel line, or the North Shore Interurban.
My favorite time would be during the transition era when there was both steam as well as the new diesels (mid-late 50's).
I remember the CB&Q 2-10-4's in and around Virden, Illinois in the 50's, and the doodlebug protecting the passenger schedule on that line. They were grand machines, and I'm very sorry that none of them survived. I would love to spend a day there circa 1955, and also check out the GM&O and the Illinois Terminal.
My other choice would be Cheyenne watching UP steam, or perhaps a trip up to Canada to watch CP steam.
overallJay, Did you ever ride the Georgia Road Mixed that ran up until 1985? I rode it with a group of railfans in 1980. We had an HO model Railroad club in the freight room of the Georgia Road Depot there in Decatur. George
George,
Between '74 and '78 a few of my friends and I used to ride the Super Mixeds(trains 103 and 108) between Thomson and Camak 4 or 5 times a year. Around 11 miles. Those were the years the Georgia RR ran 125+ car freights with the passenger coach in front of the caboose and 7 or 8 locos up front.
There was a slight grade westbound, so the train would only slow down for a running boarding. The conductor or brakeman would be on the coach step to grab us aboard as we ran alongside. We provided a little entertainment for the folks waiting at the grade crossing. Never failed, after we did all the running to board, the train would crawl to a stop.
The coaches were never kept very clean. Pat the seat hard and a cloud of dust would fly everywhere. More times than not, we rode in the caboose since the crew preferred it and one was required to ride with the passengers in the coach. They would let us have the bays or cupola. It was always nice when the Pullman Alabama River subbed for one of the coaches. It was kept fairly clean since it was used annually as housing during the Masters. Even the crew was happy to ride that car.
We would spend the day hanging (we didn't know the proper name of railfanning) out around Camak until the eastbound train(108) took us back to Thomson. We would eat at Rachel's Cafe or my father's country store in Camak.
All this for a fare of $0.35. Each way.
BTW-I wonder if the model railroad club is still in the Decatur depot?
WIAR Cedar Rapids, Iowa: June 1, 1975, to see: MILW, ROCK, CNW, IC/ICG. I'd sit myself at the ROCK depot (now a law office) between the Quaker Oats plant and the roundhouse, again with the same supplies.
I'd join you there.
Another choice I'd make- go back to my hometown of Prior Lake, MN, in the late 60's when the MILW still ran the "galloping goose" through town AND TAKE PICTURES.
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
I'd go back to the 40's or maybe early 50's in Terre Haute Ind. It was a busy place with the PRR, NYC, C&EI and Milwaukee running through. All used the Union Station for passenger service. NYC an PRR shops n yards were about a mile from there. Milwaukee and C&EI's were a little farther.
inch
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/4309
The club is not at the depot anymore. Someone who wanted to open a restaraunt in the space we were using out bid us for it. That was in 1981.
Carl - No objection to taking a ride! (Even better if that's how you get to your chosen railfanning spot!) I just wanted to focus on railfanning in one spot as opposed to riding a hot limited (or whatever) as the primary activity.
Worden, Illinois, Circa 1954. Rural setting, Wabash, NYC with C&EI right-of-way, CNW, Litchfield and Madison, and Illinois Terminal all converging on one another.
Gabe
I wouldn't have to go away from my home in Pennsylvania as we could see the action {via the steam plumbs up over the trees}, over on the S&C of the coal branch of B&O passing by about a mile away over away from town. That area had tough grades and lots of coal traffic each day...Time frame: 1930's-1950's, and it would require at least 3 steam engines and sometimes 4 pulling and pushing. They would be heard shoving up the valley for 20 min. or so after they passed....and their whistles at each county road.
And transit action: Johnstown, about 20 miles north of our location, a nice size city in the valley had street car action downtown and reaching out into all Boro's and they did run often...Carried Steel Mill workers to work sites right at the edge of downtown. {Steel Mill employment at one time was near 25,000 strong}, I can still hear the flanges squealing as they negotiated the 90 degree street turns. Later, right after the war...{WWII}, the new Brills with the sound deadening wheel designs, really quieted that sound. But in the 30's and well into the 50's, streetcar action was very plentiful in that city.
Note: Plenty of photos available on the internet of such action...Just enter: Johnstown Traction Co. to see....
Quentin
This is entirely too open ended for my simple mind!
1. Cold Spring, NY on the NYC Hudson Line circa 1950 - just to see some Hudsons and Niagaras in action with new steamlined passenger equipment.
2. Horseshoe Curve 1944. Railfan Mecca at it's peak! (of course I'd have a signed release by FDR himself to be there!)
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
1. Anywhere on the DSP&P in the 1870's where I could watch a tandem of Masons take the grade.
2. Promontory with a good vantage point from which to watch Jupiter and UP#119 as they approached the spot for the ceremonies.
3. NYC outside of Batavia, N.Y. to watch 999 scream past.
Chicago in September 1947, with a Nikon and Kodachrome, of course!
But where to go in Chicago? - I mean you've only got one day - Englewood is tempting, but even Little Englewood in that era would be thrill! CSL had not yet become CTA, so that'd be great. Knowing what we know today there are almost no color shots of Chicago Motor Coach buses, so shooting them on the Boulevards would turn out to be a good investment. FWIW, Art
artpeterson Chicago in September 1947, with a Nikon and Kodachrome, of course!
As for the Kodachrome, if you're using something contemporary to the period you're railfanning, you're going to be shooting with an ISO (ASA back in the day) of 10. Stopping action is going to be a challenge.
As for the Nikon, well...it didn't exist in 1947. The Nikon I was the first production Nikon camera in 1948. There were Nippon Kogaku lenses (even early Canons used 'em!), but no cameras until the Nikon I. If you do manage to find one of those, though, be sure to bring it back with you (especially if it says M.I.O.J. -- Made in Occupied Japan -- on the bottom). You'll be able to sell that for a nice chunk of money when you get back!
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