Midweek Photos 6/14/2017 [Real Trains]

A trip to Cumberland,MD. on 6/9/2017 resulted in stops at WMSR, George's Creek RWY., and a check of CSX's recently closed hump yard in Cumberland, along with the usual CSX/Amtrak action.

NS Business Train head end units at Altoona

This past weekend was "Heritage Days" at Cumberland. In keeping with that, the WMSR brought 734, dead of course, over to the station for display.  Also on display was the 1813, painted in the older Western Maryland scheme.

The big thing, for me at least, was the Plymouth 60 tonner with two newly repaired and painted passenger cars, the 800 and the 801, painted in the Western Maryland colors, silver roof, pullman green, the silver roof back then only on air conditioned cars.

So here are few shots from the tour.

Crossing the river into West Virginia (that's where the shop is)

John Garner begins the tour, he's the chief, and an absolute Western Maryland fan!

Here he's showing folks the finished 1309's tender.

And some info about the 1309 itself.

This is the cab, of course. Very well done!

Here is the tender. Completely rebuilt, lined with epoxy paint in the tank. Kevin even put two extra drains on the deck, so that water could never collect there and rot the metal.

This is a shot of 1309's big low pressure cylinder..huge.

Now a ride back to the station in the 60 tonner. My, I think they forgot the suspension on this rascal!

Now a shot of the 734

And what better way to end the post (or a train) with a bright red caboose!

The shop tour, when they have them is a good way to see what's going on, and of course, the money helps keep the Scenic going.

Ed

A bit of foaming on my lunch break at work the other day.  Old and new(er) GE diesels meet.  Our US Navy GE 50 Ton locomotive built in 1941, as well as a couple more recent (in a relative sense) GE Amtrak locomotives (which I know nothing about) which were sitting at the newer Dearborn, MI Amtrak station.

Today.

On Memorial Day, while getting in position to shoot the N&W 611 excursion, I caught this shot of an NS double stack train approaching Friendship Road.  A Canadian Pacific unit leads this train. 

This was outside Roanoke, VA..

Last Saturday was Railroads Illustrated "Day In North America," and I decided to send something in for the first time in about a decade.  June 10 started at midnight, so I decided to become the first one to take a shot that day (mainly because I could.)  I got a line up from a trainmaster with the RCPE on Friday and drove ~290 west miles to Philip, SD, where an e/b train would be getting a crew.  Track speed from Philip to Pierre SD is 10 mph, which would offer chances to get shots until dawn.  I chatted with the crew a little when they arrived at 9 PM, and then scoped out the line while I still had some daylight.  The tracks follow the Bad River, and road access is very limited.  I decided to make my stand at Midland, SD.  I set up about eight small flash and waited.  A few curious locals stopped by to chat which helped to kill some time.  

I could hear the train long before I ever saw it.  The low growl of EMD engines being run at low RPM is a sound a foamer learns to recognize on a quiet night.  A glow appeared on the tracks to my west, and eventually became three distinct lights.  I checked my flash and camera.  The engines were uncoupled from the the train and run forward past me.  I popped a shot as they went by.  They were headed past the old elevators to a bird seed company to switch out box cars for the bags of seed.  I moved my flash and caught them there as well.  The engines returned to the rest of the train to switch out a few hoppers of wheat too.  All of this took time--way too much time.  It was approaching 2:30 in the morning.  There were a few spots on east where I wanted to catch them, but it would take an hour for the train to arrive at the first one.  I decided to bag it for the night and drove home as the eastern sky began to lighten.  I pushed the cat aside and slid into bed a bit before 6 am.  I slept most of Saturday; I had my DINA shots before other railfans were even awake.

Kent in SD