Rail-fanning on The OGR Forum 🚂 Welcome: Pictures YOU have taken! • Hope to see you out rail-fanning.

After all these years, I FINALLY caught a running meet right in front of me. I didn't think it'd happen right there so I didn't frame it too well, but I finally got one!

I also caught a MOW ballast train 2 hours before this:

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

Nice photos! I didn't know that Amtrak and Caltrans had partnered on the Surfline. I really need to go out and photo some Siemens Loco's of the Amtrak Capital Corridor passenger trains here in San Jose.

Thanks. The Surfliners are and have been very successful between San Diego all the way up to San Luis Obispo and back. 👍

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

Nice photos! I didn't know that Amtrak and Caltrans had partnered on the Surfline. I really need to go out and photo some Siemens Loco's of the Amtrak Capital Corridor passenger trains here in San Jose.

Come to think of it, WP, California has embraced Amtrak over the decades and seems to be getting better each year moving the amount of people it does. So I for one, would be interested in seeing photos of the Capitol Corridor passenger trains when you're able to get around to it. 😉

@Yellowstone Special posted:

Come to think of it, WP, California has embraced Amtrak over the decades and seems to be getting better each year moving the amount of people it does. So I for one, would be interested in seeing photos of the Capitol Corridor passenger trains when you're able to get around to it. 😉

Vern, I'm trying to find time to go over to the Santa Clara Amtrak and Caltrain station, because between 3pm and 6pm I can catch Amtrak, Caltrain commute trains, and occasionally a UP freight heading south out of Oakland.

Caltrain commuter trains go from San Francisco down the peninsula to San Jose, and is currently being transitioned to all eclectic with overhead power. The F40PH's are aging and spew diesel exhaust right through many neighborhoods along the route. Caltrain still has 5 F40PH-2 screamers that have direct drive HEP's off the main mover, so they run at 900 rpm all the time, even when stopped! I'll see if I can catch one on video so you can hear just how loud they are stopped at the station.

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

Vern, I'm trying to find time to go over to the Santa Clara Amtrak and Caltrain station, because between 3pm and 6pm I can catch Amtrak, Caltrain commute trains, and occasionally a UP freight heading south out of Oakland.

Caltrain commuter trains go from San Francisco down the peninsula to San Jose, and is currently being transitioned to all eclectic with overhead power. The F40PH's are aging and spew diesel exhaust right through many neighborhoods along the route. Caltrain still has 5 F40PH-2 screamers that have direct drive HEP's off the main mover, so they run at 900 rpm all the time, even when stopped! I'll see if I can catch one on video so you can hear just how loud they are stopped at the station.

Wow. So the peninsula commuter trains are going to be all-electric. That's awesome and how times have changed. Way back in the late 1960s, I worked for Western Airlines ramp services at the airport as a summer job during college. I lived in Redwood City one summer and San Mateo the next summer. I would catch the Southern Pacific commuter trains to go north to San Fran. and south to San Jose on my days off. Back then, the Espy commuters were powered by EMD GP9s if memory serves. That would certainly clean up the air along the route when the electrics to into service. Thanks for the update, Scott.

VERDE CANYON RR!  Twosday 02/22/2022

FP7’s originally built 1953 for the Alaska RR.

@Yellowstone Special posted:

Wow. So the peninsula commuter trains are going to be all-electric. That's awesome and how times have changed. Way back in the late 1960s, I worked for Western Airlines ramp services at the airport as a summer job during college. I lived in Redwood City one summer and San Mateo the next summer. I would catch the Southern Pacific commuter trains to go north to San Fran. and south to San Jose on my days off. Back then, the Espy commuters were powered by EMD GP9s if memory serves. That would certainly clean up the air along the route when the electrics to into service. Thanks for the update, Scott.

The electric train service between San Francisco and San Jose is still several years into the future.  The entire project is part of the CA high speed rail system.  Eventually electric trains will be able to run from San Francisco to LA.  The completion of that project is far into the future and billions over budget.  NH Joe

@New Haven Joe posted:

The electric train service between San Francisco and San Jose is still several years into the future.  The entire project is part of the CA high speed rail system.  Eventually electric trains will be able to run from San Francisco to LA.  The completion of that project is far into the future and billions over budget.  NH Joe

Well, then maybe it’ll be better for the next generation, if they can figure out a way to pay for it. 😉

some recent snaps along the magic carpet.

Eastbound BNSF empty coal bucket west of Keenesburg, CO 2/21/22

Amtrak 6 running 13 hours late at Leyden, CO

Characteristically high winds at the foot of the Flatiron Range whip up the new snow from the previous evening at Clay (Eisele), CO  

Amtrak 5 is in Eldorado Canyon near tunnel 18

Winter Park Express at Plastic, CO on a vibrant sunset

MPVODEN1 BNSF is at tunnel 30 cutting through the Sphinx Head Rock in Rollins Canyon, CO

Winter Park Express at Leyden, CO heading to Winter Park at Sunrise  

MNYGJ is climbing west of Rollins, CO

OXPKK-15 with UP 3049 lifts the new snow and slows the chilled oil through the pastures near Leyden. 2/22/22

Late for a meeting. A tale of 2 GJ’s, a broken draw bar and a late lunch at Rollins in the dining car. 1/16/22

Number 6 is east of Denver, CO running nearly 16 hours behind into the morning over the High Plains. Feels like the Denver Zephyr is back again! 2/20/22

Awesome Erik. I really loved your photos in the Feb. issue of Railfan & Railroad.

Thanks Joe

I went over to the Santa Clara, CA train station this morning on a cool and overcast day. Here's a quick description of Santa Clara for those unfamiliar: Santa Clara is located at the southern tip of San Francisco Bay and is the heart of Silicon Valley with corporate headquarters for Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Agilent and many more. The Santa Clara train station building houses the SBHRS (South Bay Historical Railroad Society) which has two large model railroads in N and HO scale.

The Santa Clara train station services Caltrain (San Jose to San Francisco), Amtrak California Capital Corridor (San Jose to Sacramento), and ACE (Altamount Commuter Express (San Jose to Stockton), but ACE does not run on weekends. Just south of the station is a small Union Pacific yard that is not used much anymore.

This morning I was lucky and unlucky to catch the Amtrak Coast Starlight (Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA). Unfortunately I had just gotten out of the car and onto the loading platform when the Starlight rounded the corner and I barely had time to get my phone out to photograph the train traveling at 40 plus mph. I should have been on the other passenger platform as well! :-(

And then I was starting to head over to the Amtrak platform when the Amtrak Capital Corridor was rolling into the station, and this is on the weekend!

Starlight passing through as it doesn't stop at Santa Clara. Next stop San Jose Diridon Station about 4 miles down the tracks. This mornings Starlight only had 6 passenger cars, sometimes it's as large as 12 cars. It still has two GE Genesis loco's pulling it.

Amtrak California Capital Corridor. I couldn't fit the whole train in one shot, so front and back photo. Eastbound trains are pushed. In the photo it's heading north, but just 1/4 mile up the tracks it turns right and heads northeast.

Caltrain MP36PH-3C #926 with Bombardier consist. Notice the SBHRS museum sign as they are open today. I've posted photos of museum before.

Here's a couple of videos of two Caltrain's that I videoed this morning.

Northbound heading to San Francisco being pushed by F40PH-2 with Nippon Sharyo consist rolling into the station.

Same Northbound heading out of the station to SF.

Southbound heading to San Jose Diridon Station. I love the deep throaty sound of the MP36PH-3C! Turn up the sound! The 6 Caltrain MP36PH's are all mated to a Bombardier consist of  5 or 6 cars. One of the cars is for bikes and their riders and they are almost always full.

Spotted in Seattle, Washington, some time in 1985.  (I can't even remember why I was in Seattle at the time, much less the precise location of these shots!)

If you follow professional photographers from Pittsburgh on Instagram, every fall you will see at least one post of the changing colors and a train in what we call "The Trench," a cut built by the PRR that separated their mainline from the downtown streets and the Allegheny Commons Park. While not quite as scenic during the summer, the area is still fairly photogenic, although difficult to shoot with the sun unless the photographer (or their tripod) is six feet tall and able to see over the fence. In this video, a friend and I were hoping to catch the Allegheny Valley Railroad's turn to Island Avenue and the Norfolk Southern interchange; instead, we were treated to multiple EMDs and a meet between two manifests, both with cuts of slab gondolas.

We did pop over to the AVR's yard to see if AVR-6 had left yet, and found the usual eclectic assortment of power; an SD40-3 rebuilt from an SD45, a GP59, and a mother-slug GP40-3/ex-N&W/NS/leaser GP40 set.

One of the by-then a few months old SD60Ms that Carload acquired from NS and had rebuilt at MEI.

I'm not old enough to have grown up with 80s cartoons, but apparently someone felt nostalgic for a certain MTV animated teenager.

Michigan  “Winter Wonderland”

& Rail-fanning lunch at Checkers.

Every model railroader started out rail-fanning!

Hope to see you out rail-fanning and posting your images on “Rail-fanning on The OGR Forum”. Any day and time. 😎

Gary 🚂

Something a little different. The Long Island Railroad Hempstead Branch line runs from New Hyde Park, to a terminal in Hempstead NY. One of the bridges in Garden City, has a huge appetite for truck bodies and regularly eats them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The bridge averages about 1-2 hits per month. I drive under it several times a day and have witnessed more than a few of these strikes. A couple notable ones included a brand new CAT excavator with the cab ripped off, several boom trucks that went boom, and many can opener box trucks. Each strike requires road closures, rail service suspension, and track and bridge inspections before the line can be reopened. Fines to the truck drivers and their companies total in the thousands.

The town and the railroad have added overhead signs, flashing warning lights, you name it, but I guess you can't teach stupid. It's amazing how many drivers are not aware of their vehicle height.

The LIRR has secured funding to replace and raise the bridge from it's current 10'4" clearance to 14'0". I took some pix of the current state of the bridge yesterday and will post more as construction progresses. From what I have heard, the plan is to raise the track and bridge 6" at a time over several weekends until the new span can be rolled into place during the final lift. The LIRR runs on electrified 3rd rail, further complicating the work.

Some additional info here.

Bob

The RR put up these yellow arrows about 5 years ago and used to replace the damaged ones after each hit. They gave up replacing them about a year ago.

This is the view along the ROW looking west.

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

I went over to the Santa Clara, CA train station this morning on a cool and overcast day. Here's a quick description of Santa Clara for those unfamiliar: Santa Clara is located at the southern tip of San Francisco Bay and is the heart of Silicon Valley with corporate headquarters for Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Agilent and many more. The Santa Clara train station building houses the SBHRS (South Bay Historical Railroad Society) which has two large model railroads in N and HO scale.

The Santa Clara train station services Caltrain (San Jose to San Francisco), Amtrak California Capital Corridor (San Jose to Sacramento), and ACE (Altamount Commuter Express (San Jose to Stockton), but ACE does not run on weekends. Just south of the station is a small Union Pacific yard that is not used much anymore.

This morning I was lucky and unlucky to catch the Amtrak Coast Starlight (Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA). Unfortunately I had just gotten out of the car and onto the loading platform when the Starlight rounded the corner and I barely had time to get my phone out to photograph the train traveling at 40 plus mph. I should have been on the other passenger platform as well! :-(

And then I was starting to head over to the Amtrak platform when the Amtrak Capital Corridor was rolling into the station, and this is on the weekend!

Starlight passing through as it doesn't stop at Santa Clara. Next stop San Jose Diridon Station about 4 miles down the tracks. This mornings Starlight only had 6 passenger cars, sometimes it's as large as 12 cars. It still has two GE Genesis loco's pulling it.

Amtrak California Capital Corridor. I couldn't fit the whole train in one shot, so front and back photo. Eastbound trains are pushed. In the photo it's heading north, but just 1/4 mile up the tracks it turns right and heads northeast.

Caltrain MP36PH-3C #926 with Bombardier consist. Notice the SBHRS museum sign as they are open today. I've posted photos of museum before.

Here's a couple of videos of two Caltrain's that I videoed this morning.

Northbound heading to San Francisco being pushed by F40PH-2 with Nippon Sharyo consist rolling into the station.

Same Northbound heading out of the station to SF.

Southbound heading to San Jose Diridon Station. I love the deep throaty sound of the MP36PH-3C! Turn up the sound! The 6 Caltrain MP36PH's are all mated to a Bombardier consist of  5 or 6 cars. One of the cars is for bikes and their riders and they are almost always full.

Wow Scott, you caught lots of train activity at Santa Clara. Love your photos and videos of all the action along with the descriptions. So, THAT’s what Caltrain looks like. Thank you for posting and nice work. Well done. 👍

@trainroomgary posted:

Michigan  “Winter Wonderland”

& Rail-fanning lunch at Checkers.

Every model railroader started out rail-fanning!

Hope to see you out rail-fanning and posting your images on “Rail-fanning on The OGR Forum”. Any day and time. 😎

Gary 🚂

Gary, Those are all excellent photographs!  You had a great day!  I have never heard of Checkers, but it looks extremely inviting after a cold day railfanning!!

I know, we and others have talked about the need for me to visit Michigan.  How short a drive it is from here in Northwestern Pennsylvania, yet I have never been!! 

@Mark Boyce posted:

Gary, Those are all excellent photographs!  You had a great day!  I have never heard of Checkers, but it looks extremely inviting after a cold day railfanning!!

I know, we and others have talked about the need for me to visit Michigan.  How short a drive it is from here in Northwestern Pennsylvania, yet I have never been!! 

Hi Mark: Thanks for taking a look. These “Winter Wonderland” photos are the best of the best from my 21 - 22 rail-fanning season. Checkers is a fast food restaurant & in some states it is called Rally’s.

I go to Pittsburgh PA about once every two years to watch the Detroit Tigers play the Pittsburgh Pirates in MLB inter league games. The drive time to Pittsburgh is about five hours. 300 miles. If you want to vacation in Michigan, check out this link:

https://www.michigan.org/

I would like to recommend: Greenfield Village & the Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn.

Link: https://www.thehenryford.org/v.../greenfield-village/

Gary 🚂

Took this, this afternoon.

Gary, thank you.  I haven’t seen Rally’s either, but they may be in Pittsburgh, since I don’t see much of it.

The only other stadium than Forbes Field, Three Rivers, and PNC that I have been to was the old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

I have heard Greenfield Village & the Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn are fabulous!!

Sunrise at the Amtrak & CN Yard - Pontiac, Michigan

Today February 28th, 2022 • 24ºF at 6:45 AM

The old saying; “The early bird catches the worm” also applies to rail-fanning. The early rail-fanner catches the beautiful clouds & locomotives. Today was a beautiful morning with a chill in the air. The first photo is a selfie. Guess who? Check out these locomotives and the safety derailer in photo #5.

Every model railroader started out rail-fanning!

Hope to see you out rail-fanning and posting your images on “Rail-fanning on The OGR Forum”. Any day and time. 😎

Gary 🚂

@Yellowstone Special posted:

Wow Scott, you caught lots of train activity at Santa Clara. Love your photos and videos of all the action along with the descriptions. So, THAT’s what Caltrain looks like. Thank you for posting and nice work. Well done. 👍

Thanks Vern, really glad you enjoyed my rail-fanning. I hadn't done that in a long time, so I had a good time hanging out at the train station. I'm still going to try and catch a new Amtrak Siemens Charger and post it. FYI - the Siemens Chargers are manufactured in South Sacramento, so they don't have to go far to deliver them to Amtrak Capitol Corridor. :-)

Trip on the Silver Star from Newark Penn Station to Staples Mill Road Richmond VA last January. Had a Viewliner 1 going down and a Viewliner 2 returning. Shots include an Amfleet logo I've never seen. The famous Trenton bridge sign, an Amtrak Heritage paint scheme and different phases of Amtrak paint on the Viewliners. When waiting for my return trip an long train of DODX flats passing through Staples Mill Road. The diner doesn't measure up to the Heritage fleet of a few years ago but at least there is one on the Silver Service now. Food is not up to par.

Going again the second week in March to see my Grandkids in Williamsburg.

Scotie, Thank you for the great photographs!  I worked in Richmond for two years, 1976-78, but haven't been back since.  I know where Staples Mill is, but Wow!  That really takes me back!!!

As I said in my last post in this thread I would catch an Amtrak train in Santa Clara being pulled or pushed by a Siemens Charger. I was lucky again, although I had some trouble with the video on the first train as it was very sunny and bright today and difficult to see my iPhone screen! For the folks in the forum still suffering in the cold, this might warm you up, it was 72 degrees here today.

My last post in this thread I was at the Santa Clara University station, in this post I'm at the Santa Clara Great America station right next to Levi's stadium where the San Francisco 49ers play. The station is so named because of Great America Amusement park on the other side of Levi's stadium. When the Amusement park is open and there is a football game, this place is jam packed!

I caught two trains today being pushed by Siemens Charger SC-44's. The first train was a ACE (Altamont Commuter Express) that goes between San Jose and Stockton, around 70 miles one-way. First is a photo of it coming into the station, I thought I had my iPhone set to record, but not to be!!!

You can hear just how quiet the Charger is, and there was never even a hint of diesel smell from it. There was little to no breeze today either. All I could smell was hot brakes!

Next, and I caught much better video's of the Amtrak/CT (Caltrans) Siemens Charger SC-44. It seems Amtrak doesn't have the presence on the locomotive like Caltrans does, but it is co-operated.

Here's a photo of Santa Clara County VTA (Valley Transportation Authority) light rail going over the overpass above the train station. Busy place, pretty good rail-fanning here.

A closer look at VTS light rail.

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

As I said in my last post in this thread I would catch an Amtrak train in Santa Clara being pulled or pushed by a Siemens Charger. I was lucky again, although I had some trouble with the video on the first train as it was very sunny and bright today and difficult to see my iPhone screen! For the folks in the forum still suffering in the cold, this might warm you up, it was 72 degrees here today.

My last post in this thread I was at the Santa Clara University station, in this post I'm at the Santa Clara Great America station right next to Levi's stadium where the San Francisco 49ers play. The station is so named because of Great America Amusement park on the other side of Levi's stadium. When the Amusement park is open and there is a football game, this place is jam packed!

I caught two trains today being pushed by Siemens Charger SC-44's. The first train was a ACE (Altamont Commuter Express) that goes between San Jose and Stockton, around 70 miles one-way. First is a photo of it coming into the station, I thought I had my iPhone set to record, but not to be!!!

You can hear just how quiet the Charger is, and there was never even a hint of diesel smell from it. There was little to no breeze today either. All I could smell was hot brakes!

Next, and I caught much better video's of the Amtrak/CT (Caltrans) Siemens Charger SC-44. It seems Amtrak doesn't have the presence on the locomotive like Caltrans does, but it is co-operated.

Here's a photo of Santa Clara County VTA (Valley Transportation Authority) light rail going over the overpass above the train station. Busy place, pretty good rail-fanning here.

A closer look at VTS light rail.

More great photos and video clips from Northern California! It appears that the Amtrak/Caltrains train with the Siemens Charger locomotive and high-level passenger cars is just like the Surfliner trains in Southern California, except in different livery.

Good work again, Scott and thank you for this. 👍

Mark

Used to take the Regional into Williamsburg where my daughter lives but its a much longer trip--lose time through the yards and heading into downtown Richmond. My son in law works in Richmond and picks me up at Staples Mill, quite the station. Its on the main Amtrak line so more than the two a day to Williamsburg. The one I would take is currently annulled due to low ridership with the pandemic. The roomette costs more but is much more comfortable than coach. Lots of railroad activity--you should make a trip back to Richmond.

Scottie, I knew Staples Mill was busy years ago.  In the 1980s I had a couple work sites that were near stations up the line towards Washington.  At one, you could see the Amtrak trains stop at Quantico, and another in Fredericksburg.  I recall the orange Tropicana trains as well on the RF&P.  We've been back in Pennsylvania for almost 30 years, and there has never been a reason to go back.  Now that we are retired, we hope we can get out more.  Thank you.

Illinois Central Walk Around - Pontiac, Michigan

Today March 4th, 2022 at 5:00 PM

We are doing a walk around of Illinois Central #3118. Notice the turntable off to the left and the old coaling tower.

Gary 🚂

New Jersey Transit, early morning

Newton Ks 3-8-22. 3 sets of power waiting patiently, rumbling and hissing, will they get their chance today?  Sadly this old girl is in need of a repaint into I suppose the new scheme. You can see the turntable on the left. The welcome sign is a nice touch, not?

Rail Fanning in SF? Does San Francisco still have a railroad besides Muni and Caltrain Commuters? Yes it does, just one. San Francisco Bay Railroad servicing Piers 94 and 96, mostly recycling industries with 15 miles of track and a small yard. The railroad has just one locomotive, an Alco S2. The S2 looks freshly painted on this day. Union Pacific has 2 or 3 pickups a week and uses Caltrain owned tracks that they have a right of way. So UP doesn't interfere with Caltrain commuter trains they run late at night.

In this video, which is 24 minutes (feel free to use fast forward), there is a lot of switching action with the Alco S2 and some UP action through the streets with a couple of Geeps. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they are GP-38's. The video was taken on a busy and beautiful SF day June 16, 2016.

I hope you enjoy it. Here's a Google maps link so you can get your bearings.

https://goo.gl/maps/XUBzVTSEi5xb5oEk7

OK, so I like track & turnouts:

You can learn a lot by looking closely at real points

"Downtown" Thurmond WV.

Wow Tom, It's been over 30 years since we were at Thurmond!  Great photographs of the turnouts.

Bethlehem, PA (March 11, 2022) - Here are a few of my favorite shots from Bethlehem today. The first features Bethlehem Steel.

Point-No-Point Bridge. Kearny, NJ This will be the site of an upcoming large Amtrak / Conrail project. I was up there this week with proper Conrail / CSX rail protection.

A photo taken today of an E9 Southern Pacific Daylight #6051 on static display at the California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento, CA. It may be on static display today, but this is a running E9. They roll it out once in a while for Cal State Railroad Museum Polar Express excursions.

Also photographed today, the only remaining Southern Pacific Cab Forward AC-12 4294. It does not run! To bad. At least it's not outside rotting.

Working on some other photos taken today. I'll post them later.

Last Thursday rode the Silver Star from Newark Penn to Richmond for another trip to see the grandkids. A couple of additional shots in Newark Penn. The waiting room and benches are being completely restored but slowly. The took all the fast food out of the waiting room. Got chatting in the dinner so not many shots on the road but a couple of the Amtrak loco facility in DE. Food if anything was even worse this time if that's possible.