Midweek Photos 5/1/2013

Yesterday afternoon, a northbound CN freight, lead by an ES44DC, rounds the curve on former Wisconsin Central / Soo Line trackage through Burlington, Wisconsin.

The 4906 does some switching moves near the New Haven depot.

On Monday, METRA #411 waits at Fox Lake, IL to push the mid-day departure to Chicago Union Station.

A few pics I took at Spencer 7-3-12.

Here are some clips and still shots my dad and brother took this past weekend at Greenfield Village.  I was busy working (and pop up in a couple of the still photos), and it was our first of three Day out with Thomas weekends.  I kept myself busy in the shop doing some polishing on our 1873 Mason Bogie "Torch Lake" and greasing the turntable locks on Saturday, and helped fire up our 1932 4-4-0 "Edison" on Sunday.  It was a fun weekend.

Oh, and during the first sequence where the locomotives were "Talking", that was me whistling from the 4-4-0 to Thomas as he went by while we were waiting for our pressure to build up.  That's normally a really loud 5 chime whistle, but we only had about 30 pounds of steam built up when that clip was taken.

My Saturday Project

Before

After (we went back on Sunday and polished all the brass)

Everyone has some nice springtime shots here!  The grass is green, people aren't all bundled up....   Remember that last week I posted my last shots of winter, and I lamented how much I was going to miss winter and it's austere beauty.  Last Friday it got up into the 70s.  Then, on Saturday it hit 84 degrees here!  I sweating mightily in the heat.  And now today, the first of May........it snowed again!    Not just a little bit--all day, and about five inches!  Hey, it's the month of May in South Dakota.  You never know what's going to happen.   I saw those big gorgeous flakes coming down this morning, and just felt sick!  I called my boss and told him about the snow, and how the trains were really running.  He said, "You don't sound too good on the phone.  I think you have diesel fever!  Better take the day off."    I told him half a day would probably do.   So that's what I did.  I headed down into Iowa a little ways and got into the thick of it, and snagged a few shots!  First shot, n/b BNSF grain train nearing Sioux Center, IA.  Second shot, same train passing behind a feed lot on the outskirts of Sioux Center.  Third shot, a n/b manifest passes a "dead" local train at Alvord, IA.  Final shot, a portrait of the local train.  The crew was just leaving it as I pulled up, to go run another train.  I asked if anyone would care if I stuck around and took some photos of the Geeps.  One of them replied, "No problem.  Keys are in it."     (It's a guy I know, and was kidding around.)  So, winter gave me an encore!  Is this the end of winter for me?    Maybe.  I'm keeping my snow shovel by my front door for awhile longer yet.  This is South Dakota!

Kent in SD

I especially like the farm shots.  Note the center pivot above the livestock photo,  thanks

A few from Strasburg 4-14-2013 - the Lancaster, Oxford & Chester was out and about for an unadvertised media tour with the normal schedule of excursions for #475.   April is a great time of the year at Strasburg as the crops have not yet obscured some of the more unique views!

/Mitch

Rapidly-growing local short line Grafton & Upton RR is in the process of painting F-7A #1501 into the G&U livery.  I grabbed the following photo this Monday, 4/29 in the North Grafton, MA yard.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a nose shot, and some detail work still needs to be done (i.e. grab irons re-attached, G&U lettering added, etc.).

It's a treat to see an EMD cab unit used regularly in freight service!  There will be plenty of opportunities to photograph the finished product...I will post more photos when I capture them.

G&U #1501 is ex-Adirondack Scenic RR #1500.  Here's what she looked like working the G&U's Hopedale, MA yard on 2/19/13, prior to repainting...

Here are a couple more shots my dad got on his cell phone while I worked this weekend.

As mentioned above, last weekend was the first of three Day out with Thomas with Strasburg RR's converted 1917 Porter 0-6-0 taking care of trains.  During the week, one of our two (soon to be three) operating steamers or the GE 50 ton diesel take care of trains.  I'm the new guy and still learning, so Sunday afternoon was spent in the cab of our 1932 4-4-0 (a converted 1800's Manchester 0-4-0) with one of the other railroaders learning how to warm up a locomotive.  It had been operating on Friday, so the boiler water was still pretty warm.  It's an interesting process

I'll tell you, I had a tough time getting coal where I wanted it to go in the firebox.  Some of you firing veterans make it look so easy

We got her up to pressure, I did all the greasing on the rods and eccentrics, the hostler backed her onto the turntable for a trip to the ash pit and water column (judging when to shut off the water valve on the column takes some practice as well, luckily I got it just in time) and eventually got her on the wash rack for the next day after a stop in the roundhouse for some more lubrication on the lead truck.  I've only worked 4 days total so far, but I've been having a blast.  Definitely not a light duty industry to be in.  I felt it in my arm muscles for a couple days after.  

I ended the day riding along on the 1942 USN GE 50 tonner for some switching of our passenger cars for the weeks trains after Thomas went into the roundhouse for his daily inspection.  The diesel is a neat little locomotive, but I definitely like being in the cab of the steam locomotives better.  Much more to watch and tinker with, and not quite as noisy as having a prime mover rumbling in front of and behind you.  

A couple shots from Kankakee, Il., a block from the station May 2005.