Midweek Photos 6/19/2013

The MOPAC UP Heritage Unit at IRM a couple of Saturdays ago, during Union Pacific Family Days.

MTA cars headed to scrap yard in Northern Ohio behind CSX 6984.

Weekly delivery of milk carton box cars to NS Rockport Yard

NS Scanning their rails in Berea, Ohio.

I continue to play with old Brownie box cameras, and I continue to be plagued by a lack of darkness.  The trains roll along all the same though.  First shot was made with a very pretty dark blue Kodak Brownie No. 2 Model F, vintage around 1929.  My favorite shortline, the Dakota & Iowa, is hauling a long string of hoppers full of rock south to Sioux City, IA.  It's crossing the Big Sioux River at Fairview, SD.  The Brownie only has one choice of shutter speed--1/40s.  Not quite fast enough for a moving train  maybe.  Still, the Brownie is a lot of fun!  If I remember right, the D&I tracks go about 80 miles from Dell Rapids, SD to Sioux City, IA, and cross the Big Sioux River nine times!   Second shot is of a s/b BNSF grain train on the Marshall Sub approaching Garrettson, SD.  The water was nice and calm for a change!  I was going to set up a bunch of flash here, but the place was chock full of mosquitos!  So, I went for the easy shot instead.  Hope no one is disappointed.

Kent in SD

I think that might actually be a ballast tamper.  It picks the ties up and plops them back down.

Kent  in SD

I don't know Kent but it looks like the device it is pulling behind it has some kind of camera on it and some device on the bottom running between the rails.  Not seen this before.

John

A few years ago I saw a ballast tamper that had a dolly way out in front attached by an arm of sorts.  Our uninformed consensus was that the ballast tamper received feedback from the dolly as to the track's low spots and side to side sway allowing the operator to tamp as per needed to make it flat and strait again.

Just a guess really. 

Nathan