Yep, I'm around. I've just been keeping a low profile lately. Now today I'm sick with allergies or a cold, or something. Anyway, where do I watch trains? Mainly in and around Omaha.
I usually head down to near Plattsmouth, Nebraska which is just south of Omaha. There is a junction between the BNSF's Creston Sub and UP's Falls City Sub called Oreapolis which has pretty good traffic. The BNSF usually hauls coal and the UP usually hauls grain.
Another spot is the Omaha Amtrak station, again with BNSF and UP.
Finally, I like Fremont, Nebraska which is just northwest of Omaha. Again, UP and BNSF are the railroads of choice. UP runs a ton of trains through Fremont (how's 15 in two hours?) while the BNSF is usually pretty slow.
Every-now-and-then I'll venture somewhere else, but those are the main train watching spots for me.
Everyone have a good day. If I wasn't sick I'd try to help out with the cooking while CW is gone, but I don't want to contaminate everything and make other people sick too.
Willy
I'll chime in- I usually hang out around the UP transcon here in CR, when I get the chance anyway. Never a dull moment on that line.
I see Bergie's been doing some spring cleaning...
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
Brian - can you explain Transcon to me in 50,000 words or less? I keep reading about it, seeing it on the forum, but unless I can touch, see or smell - it doesn't remain.
Mook
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
....Normally nothing very exciting in my normal RR world here in Muncie but that is our daily routine so must take what we can get.
We have NS entering from the north, northeast, south and from the northwest.....and CSX passing through on {double track}, from east to west, etc....
Traffic is moderate.....Seems quite a bit passes thru at night as we can hear activity here at our home {about a mile or so from the line coming in from the northwest}.
Traffic through here: Auto racks....Mixed freight.....double stacks.....some TOFC traffic.....Grain trains.....and of course the Triple Crown run daily.....No Amtrak. It used to run where our Trail is now...The Cardinal. Before Amtrak, we had roughly a half dozen passenger trains on NYC.
All rail traffic converges and passes thru some part of mostly downtown Muncie. {Everything crosses at south Walnut st.}.
One can hear train horns almost any time while visiting in downtown Muncie. Former C&O line ROW that passes thru here was a line from Cincinnati to Chicago area. It is being transformed into a biking and walking Trail....{a work in progress}, "Cardinal Greenway". We now have over 30 miles of it paved and really nice and is very popular with folks from a wide radius.
Our Depot that served that route has been totally renovated {$800,000}, worth....and it has some RR artifacts on display inside along with the Trail offices, etc....It is a good place to park or set on available benches there to watch train activity just to the outside of the Trail and parallel to it for several hundred feet....
We have a McDonalds parking lot one can watch the activity on the Frankfort line...coming in right next to it from the northwest.
So that's an overview of our RR's in Muncie.....All are main line type of lines except the line towards the northeast has been downgraded in past years somewhat....
The CSX main east west line is former Conrail....former...NYC...former....Big four. NS is former Nickleplate.
There are 2 large thru truss RR bridges {abandoned}, close to the "depot" still in place and railfans might like to stop and take a look at them while in our area. They are just a quarter mile northwest of the depot on the Trail. The bridges served the Pennsylvania RR over 35 years ago.
Quentin
mookie bnsf transcon-hot fast stack trains.also trains did a feature of their track building a couple issues back.seems they need to build a big bridge over a cayon(abo canyon?)
matt and i are here in nw ohio.within a hours drive we can get to deshler fostoria lima toledo ft wayne. and other places just to name a few.I also work right along the former nyc(NS) main in archbold ohio.we have csxs(B&O) route between the NYC and NKP (NS) lines.You can find us at deshler on the weekends but sometimes we go along the B&O in defiance at veterans memorial park(lattys grove).its a nice little park where matt can play and there is ice cream nearby too.
I have my plate for work.I can also help out in the diner too.happy friday
stay safe
joe
Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").
To add to the Transcon thing - Trans-Continental - it's a mainline across the continent. There may be other ways to route traffic from the Mississippi west and vice versa, but this one is the expressway. Hence the many fast trains. As Joe points out, check out the recent Trains article about Abo Canyon.
The Chicago line is CSX's northern version of that - a conduit between Albany and the Windy City - NYC's old Water Level Route. Two tracks - lots of stacks, manifests, etc. One rarely has to sit long anywhere along the line (the Carousel Mall parking lot in Syracuse is a good seat for me, or the platform at Utica Union Station) to see several trains go by.
The line near me, on the other hand, is relatively lightly travelled - a secondary route.
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 have a lot to sort through from yesterday, so whilst I do that - I have two more questions for different members:
Dan - belated congrats and have you set a date? Can you give us a first name of your lady-in-waiting? Or maybe your pet name for her?
Willy2: who is Willy 1? You are doing an incredible job on the weather - keep it up!
Circle May 5 on your calendars - I will be off for the weekend, but you will want to bring your favorite party hat and best wishes to the diner for our very special cook on her birthday. Wonder if she will bake me a chocolate cake for her birthday.......
Back to sorting through my new facts!
I am just all over the place this morning. Getting up at 2:30 with a brain full of questions will do that to you.
I wrote down the specifics - will digest them as time permits. I did read the trains magazine article on the Transcon - but like I said - unless I can touch it - it is hard for me to relate to it. If you said see it on the #4 track at first and J - I would know exactly what and where.
Anyway - Quentin - you have tracks in downtown Muncie? I like that! You also see no coal - bummer!
Joe - if I had to drive an hour to see most of the trains, I may never have developed the "habit". Lima Ohio - home of the Lima Engines?
Quentin - truss bridges - ones that have cross-members (notice I am not even close to a carpenter let alone an engineer!) From a distance they look like someone made them out of matchsticks?
Brian - I can relate to UP and pretty much cross country. That will be a way to remember the Transcon. Would Willy see this in Fremont/Omaha?
Tree: water level - does that describe the placement of the tracks running along on the same level as the water - now need to figure out which body of water (Erie, maybe?)
Will drag out my atlas and as work permits, will try to fasten this into my memory banks!
Moo........
mookie
I am within an hour.doesnt mean we drive an hour all the time.alot of trips to the store we get sidetracked or is that trackside? but we can choose the railroad line and go from there.I even forgot the maumee & western who uses the old wabash line and goes slow.Yes mookie lima is home to the lima locomotive works.the buildings aren't there anymore either.I'm making some more coffee and juice and some lemonade for today.who wants burgers and brats for lunch today.great day to grill out and watch trains.Yep that may birthday is on the calendar so we'll be ready.have a great day everyone.
Lucky me, I live about a block away from the old Fort Worth and Denver ( former joint CB&Q Rock Island, now BNSF) main line into Houston...if it is headed to or coming from Forth Worth, it goes by here.
Some evenings, the kids and I just walk to the end of the block with camp chairs and watch the parade.
I fact, I can get a preview of what will be waiting for me at work, as most of BN's traffic to the PTRA passes by home first.
On the way to work, I have to drive past Pierce Yard, (BN) Settagast, (former MoPac and HB&T, now UP) Englewood, (former SP, now UP) and under the Englewood hump...past Basin yard, (HB&T, now UP) and I end up working at North Yard, with the Houston Ship channel just a 100 yards away...so I get trains to both switch and watch, and big ships to watch all day long...
And with the North Yard being in a heavy Spanish populated area, we have taco stands all over the place, so breakfast can be quite good...about once a week we pig out on tamales, home made by one of our "cab" drivers....I often get to work early, so I can sit in the yard tower, eat breakfast tacos, drink coffee and watch the show!
23 17 46 11
Well, it seems we get to welcome a "New Member" to the Diner/Forum Family!!
Duff (nightrain) gave birth to Sadie Mon. She weighed in at 6lbs, 4ozs, 17".
All seem to be healthy!!!!! She asked us to share a pic., so here it is!!
Congratulations are in order!!
(and I'm sure she's going to love trains!!)
Being Crazy,keeps you from going "INSANE" !! "The light at the end of the tunnel,has been turned off due to budget cuts" NOT AFRAID A Vet., and PROUD OF IT!!
Congratulations, Duff!!! Such a cute baby!
Mookie - I have no idea who Willy1 is. I've often wondered about that myself. The way I'm feeling today, there may not be a Willy2 by the end of the day. Too sick to go to school today and I'll probably be headed to the doctor later this morning.
At least the weather is nice. The nice 70 degree temperatures we're going to have later this afternoon should give me hope that I'll live to see tomorrow.
Congrats Duff! This makes for a great Friday!
To answer your questions Mookie we haven't set a date yet but are looking at August or September of 2008. Her name is Misty. Goes well with my middle name of Gust. We're pretty meterological, I guess!
On the train front I've been seeing a lot of UP engines on the CN lately plus that one ex-UP SD40-2 on the WSOR...they must owe some hours!
What do you guys want for lunch?
Dan
....Yes, Jen....almost all of our rail traffic I noted we have in our Muncie area, must cross one street just south of downtown Muncie. That would be walnut street. The NS lines must cross over the east / west CSX double track line in that same area to continue their routes.
And the truss bridges I also mentioned are I believe as you are describing....I'm just trying to make a judgement in my own mind that you understand what I'm talking about. Angled steel girders at each end joined by a length of steel across the top and length of it joining these angled pieces....and then verticle pieces down from this top piece do support the "floor" the track is supported by....and along each side "cross" bracing to keep all this rigid....Of course both sides are as such to make this strong rigid support structure and the train passes thru the center of it all....As opposed to passing across the top of the bridge with all the structure below the tracks, etc....Hence, "thru truss" structure.
These two structures are end to end {each roughly 150' in length}, to span our White River and they were constructed out of heavy material and they have had no work {maintenance} for over 35 years and they still look like they will stand for another hundred years...Solid RR construction....Made to support heavy steam locomotives, etc. in the past century.
They are located parallel to the Trail bridge...{it too an ex.railroad bridge now supporting the Trail}, and gives a great view of the massive old bridges I describe.
But that's not all....On the other side of the Trail bridge is another RR bridge...still in use by NS from the north....The route of the Triple Crown.
Well, duh on me Quentin! Sure - I know what a truss bridge is! We, at least did, have some south of Lincoln that crossed the Missouri River many years ago. I haven't been down there in ages, but bet there are still some down that way.
My Dad used to fish off those bridges in the Platte River - they were railroad property and he knew just where to find them and how to access them. Many years ago.
Still more work to do on just this little bit of information!
Thanx!
Jen
Congrats, Duff!
, Sadie!
Take 'er easy and get well soon, Willy!
edblysard wrote: Lucky me, I live about a block away from the old Fort Worth and Denver ( former joint CB&Q Rock Island, now BNSF) main line into Houston...if it is headed to or coming from Forth Worth, it goes by here.Some evenings, the kids and I just walk to the end of the block with camp chairs and watch the parade.I fact, I can get a preview of what will be waiting for me at work, as most of BN's traffic to the PTRA passes by home first. On the way to work, I have to drive past Pierce Yard, (BN) Settagast, (former MoPac and HB&T, now UP) Englewood, (former SP, now UP) and under the Englewood hump...past Basin yard, (HB&T, now UP) and I end up working at North Yard, with the Houston Ship channel just a 100 yards away...so I get trains to both switch and watch, and big ships to watch all day long... And with the North Yard being in a heavy Spanish populated area, we have taco stands all over the place, so breakfast can be quite good...about once a week we pig out on tamales, home made by one of our "cab" drivers....I often get to work early, so I can sit in the yard tower, eat breakfast tacos, drink coffee and watch the show!
Start starving the 'gators and herd them off to your new moat. Sounds like we possibly may be down there in a month in roughly the same place again.
Mookie wrote:Tree: water level - does that describe the placement of the tracks running along on the same level as the water - now need to figure out which body of water (Erie, maybe?)
The New York Central ran up the Hudson River, along the Mohawk River, and alongside Lake Erie, not to mention other bodies of water. It also followed the Erie Canal in many places. So a lot of the route was at "water level."
Most railroads took advantage of the usually soft grades of rivers whenever possible.
A bit I use on the Adirondack Scenic when I narrate draws from an old NYC advertising slogan. On the return portion of our "out and back" trip, there isn't a lot to say, having already pointed out most of the places of interest. So as we start back, I point out that the NYC (along whose rails we run) used the slogan "The Water Level Route - You Can Sleep." And a lot of people do...
congrats duff.glad you and baby are doing great!!!! we have some more burgers and brats for super along with potato salad and baked beans.Cw left some apple and cherry pie for dessert too.(whos got the ice cream).great day today met old and new friends at deshler and they have plenty of firewood for the overnight trainwatchers.
Well - I answered Ms Mooks question then had to run, so I didn't see the big announcement.
Congrats Duff - you now get to experience those two sleepless periods for parents - when they are newborns, and when they become full-fledged teenagers....
Congrats to Duff.
Dads count, but isn't this the first member Mom to give birth on the Forum?
Jay
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
good saturday morning
thanks dan for turning off the lights.I will have juice and coffee ready here in a minute.since its going to be such a nice day I am making breakfast sandwhiches to go.we have ham egg and cheese or sausage egg and cheese.Going to go help G+G today.will try to make it back for lunch but defineately will be back for the pizza fest tonight.
I'm feeling a bit better today. The doctor loaded me up on antibiotics and I think they're starting to work.
Highs in the lower 80s this afternoon, then thunderstorms tomorrow. One round in the morning, then another round in the afternoon. The afternoon round could be severe. Then a break for Monday, but more severe weather on Tuesday. Ah yes, it is spring.
afternoon
willy glad you are feeling better.here are the pizzas for tonight...
supreme
hawaiian
pepperoni & mushroom
sausage and bacon
goetta cheese special
matts super topper topping surprise
all will be ready about 6 pm.
joe and matt
I'll hide a couple pieces of Hawaiian for a late-night snack. Dinner tonight for me is on a neighboring fire department at their annual banquet.
B-E-A-U-TIFUL day today - getting lots done outside. When I finish this I'll get the harness on the Dalmatian and take him for his long walk - it settles him down (tires him out, too) and doesn't hurt me any....
Looks much like the same for tomorrow, but that's alright - I have several (and then some) weekends of work I want to do in the yard.
Later!
PS - for the firefighters amongst us in the northern realms, it's grass fire season - when "I didn't realize it could spread so fast!" My department's been lucky so far, although we did have a motor vehicle collision this morning. Fortunately, no one was hurt...
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