Midweek Photos 10/22/2014

Thanks Tim  Baldwin #26 April 2014.  The Alco FA2 is something new.  I stopped at Steamtown early August, apparently all rangers were West, fighting fire.

Tim I just can't wait for this day to arrive each week. So hear are some shots I took this past week.

Scot; great photos once again.

I would like to see that big 0-6-0 run sometime.  Some think they're the ugly ducklings, but they have a sense of no nonsense power about them.  Anyway, I might have a few.  This year I've put an emphasis on getting shots of the rail line that bisects South Dakota, the old CNW turned DME and now RCPE (Rapid City, Pierre, & Eastern.)  It's difficult to catch a train where I want one, when I want one.  For starters, there's only 2 or 3 trains per day and they can be anywhere on the 500 mile line, at any time.  Since they have so little traffic there's little radio traffic.  My radio only receives signals out to maybe 10 miles anyway, and that's nothing out here.  I often drive up to four hours out from home and end up limping home at 3am, EMPTY HANDED!  When I do catch something, more often than not it has a grungy CSX, beat up CP, or unexciting Jumping Jackass on point for my trouble.  I should just bag it and go after more exciting stuff, maybe.  But, I persist.  Someday, just like Charlie Brown, I will get my chance to kick the football!  Some shots:

1. Up on the old MILW highline (now BNSF Appleton Sub) there's an elevator at the "town" of Holmquist.  It has a nice little lake in front of it, along the tracks.  Steamers used to draw water from this.  When the lake is perfectly calm (rare!), or not frozen, the elevator will reflect perfectly, as will a train.  It's been high on my priority list for the past three years!  Last week the wind died down and I figured I had a chance to catch a grain train along there since the bean harvest has filled the elevators.  I drove the 3 & half hours up there, set up a pair of big flash, and waited for a train to show up.  At midnight I was still toughing it out, figuring I was already up there and might as well see it through.  At 1:30am the wind showed up before a train did, and I had to bag it.  I got home before dawn.   Dang, that would be a cool shot though!   I'll try again....

2. My favorite little railroad, the D&I (Dakota & Iowa), has been doing track work lately.  That means they run at night.  I took advantage of this and drove down to Akron, Iowa to visit the general manager of the elevator there.  I went into the office and asked, "Howdy.  I'm a perfect stranger from a city an hour and a half away.  Can I climb around your $30 million dollar elevator, set up some big flash, and take a photo of the choo-choo when it comes about 8pm?"  GM looked at me and said, "Sure.  Why not."  I love living where I do!  N/B D&I train came, I popped the shot.  Nailed it.  Engineer told me there'd be a s/b in about two & half hours.  Well, OK.  I'm already here, I'll wait.   Train came about 10:30 PM, I popped the shot.  Only one of the three big flash went off.  I checked; two dead battery packs.  Dang.  Sometimes I miss.  I got home just before 1am Thursday morning.  Work was tough the next day.

3. RCPE train, w/b, at Ree Heights SD.  I really wanted to catch this one at night, but it was not to be.  I waited in Huron SD for an e/b train to be put together and start rolling, but at 1am Sunday morning I decided to bag it after not seeing anything move in the yard.  Like Kenny Rogers said, "You've got to know when to hold 'em, Know when to fold 'em."  I got home at 3am feeling a bit discouraged.  The RCPE is a real PITA sometimes, despite the friendly folks.  I'll try again.......

4. D&I train passes cut-off BNSF power at the Canton SD wye, west of the big elevator complex.

Kent in SD

Nice photos folks, here are a few from Havelock yard in Lincoln.  A couple of lost flags I found in the yard too.  Two23 your photography work is beautiful. Sp2207, I agree I too look forward to Wednesdays.  Nick

Some of my favorites,

These are copies from photos of Burlington Northern, Eola, Il yard. I took back in the late 80's also EMD Lagrange, IL 50th anniversary of the diesel.

Reaching back like Frank,

A westbound UP intermodal train with a Conrail leader rolls out of Hutchinson, KS on August 25, 1997.  

Dan

Al Richmond has been working for years to establish an Arizona Railroad Museum to be located in Williams, AZ, home of the Grand Canyon Railway.  This week, a small group of us from our local NRHS chapter joined Al at the old Navajo Ordinance Depot in Bellmont to see the equipment he has stored there for the museum.

Bellmont is on the BNSF Transcon and offers great shots with the San Francisco Peaks in the background. 

Here is a shot of some of the equipment he has at this location

Perhaps the most fascinating piece is a helium transport car.  It was built for NASA to be used to fuel rockets.  This car was obtained by the Air Force to fuel ICBM's.  As Al said, "what does this have to do with an Arizona themed museum?"  His answer was that they were used to fuel the Titan missile bases located south of Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson.

Here is a closeup of the fueling end.  From what we could see on the stenciling, each tank was filled to about 2500psi.  The condition of this car is in really good shape and looking at these filling caps, you could almost imagine hooking them up right then and sending the car off to keep our end of the cold war active! 

I thought most helium cars were built in the 40's and 50's in order to supply the Navy's blimp fleet.

Helium being non-volatile, would seem to make a poor rocket fuel.

Rusty

When you need to work on tanks that have gas/fuel in them, you pump out the gas/fuel and pump in Helium. The Helium will not burn/explode. The Helium replaces any Oxygen in the tank that is needed to have a fire/explosion.