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

I stopped by the Santa Clara Train Station on the way home from shopping, it was a beautiful Autumn morning here in Silicon Valley. I took a few photos of the old Santa Clara Depot building that houses the, "South Bay Historical Railroad Society", with two large train layouts in HO and N scale. It also has a refurbished Pullman passenger car that is open on occasion for walk throughs. The interior woodwork is stunning!

Speaking of wood, the depot got brand new wood decking installed, looks great! Here's a few photos.

If you can't read the smaller print on the sign, it says 48 MI to San Francisco and an Elevation of 71 feet.

The Santa Clara Train Station services, Caltrain (SF to San Jose), Amtrak Capitol Corridor (Sacramento to San Jose), and Altamont Commuter Express, (Stockton to San Jose). UP freights come through here too, on the far tracks. There is a small UP rail yard just about a quarter mile the other side of the Pullman. It was mid morning, so not a single train passed by while I was there!

Scott, the Santa Clara station looks great

The wife and I spent the last three days roaming between the Pioneer Valley (MA) and Hudson Valley (NY). Slow pace, local diners and a thermos of hot coffee for the road. Fun couple of days.

CSX intermodal eastbound along Quaboag River in Warren, MA this Saturday morning. Not a lot of autumn color left, but a few orange double stacks kept the fall foliage season alive.

CSX manifest going north through the southside of the tunnel at Mine Dock Park, Highland Falls, NY on Thursday.

@Mooner posted:

The wife and I spent the last three days roaming between the Pioneer Valley (MA) and Hudson Valley (NY). Slow pace, local diners and a thermos of hot coffee for the road. Fun couple of days.

CSX intermodal eastbound along Quaboag River in Warren, MA this Saturday morning. Not a lot of autumn color left, but a few orange double stacks kept the fall foliage season alive.

CSX manifest going north through the southside of the tunnel at Mine Dock Park, Highland Falls, NY on Thursday.

Been to Mine Dock Park many times but never seen the south side of the tunnel!

Let’s Go Rail-fanning in Downtown Detroit • Part 1

October 9, 2023 - In this rail-fanning trip we will checkout Detroit’s People Mover and a Street car on steel rails called The Q-Line. I will show the the Q-Line in Part 2.

Parking is always an issue in Downtown Detroit. I went for the free parking at the Hollywood Casino. Parking the F150 on the 8th floor of a twelve story structure. I took this photo with my iPhone, so I could find my truck when done rail-fanning.

Notice the two window washers. Shot from the parking garage skywalk.

Had to walk through the Hollywood Casino to get to the People Mover Station on the 3rd. floor. My favorite game is roulette. They do not allow cameras on the casino floor or I would tell you a cool story.

We are now standing on the platform at the Greektown Station. It cost 75 cents to ride the People Mover.

The People Mover enters the station.

Views out the rear window of Downtown Detroit

A view of the Detroit River and the Ambassador Bridge to Canada.

The People Mover as viewed at street level.

Leaving the Casino & People Mover at street level and walking back to the parking garage.

Thanks for taking a look. Hope to see you out rail-fanning: Gary from Michigan 🚂

A little dead head action this morning while waiting for the Metra.

We passed through the small town of Durbin, WV this week and took a few shots late in the day.  Apparently there’s a Wabash fan nearby !

Rich in WV

I stopped on the way home from dinner in Lebanon, OH to catch a quick glimpse of this from the car - picture not great but you get the idea.  Has been in this spot for a while now, and I need to go by in the daytime and check it out.

As many before me...  Still very cool to experience!

In October, I wanted to go to the STrasburg O Scale show.    Since it is a long day's drive from  my home in Michigan, I also included some days railfanning.    I'm not sure which was the priority for the trip because I love railfanning in PA.

Here are some shots looking railroad Eastbound at Cassandra - about 20 west of Altoona.    Afternoon light was very good this day.    The Amtrak shot was down about 10 in the morning.

Excellent photographs, Jim!!

We are home, with Jett Lag from our journey to Busan-Seoul Korea.

Welcome home Larry!

@leapinlarry- Welcome home, glad you and your wife have arrived safe and sound.  You certainly seemed to have a great time and your pictures were super!

Best Wishes

Your friend

Don

Welcome back home, Larry!!  Thank you for sharing so much of your trip with us!  Great train photographs!

Last October, feeling nostalgic for some Carload Express, I headed over to the Delmarva Peninsula to catch the one road I hadn't seen yet: DCR. It was a loooong day; though normally (supposedly) called in the morning, there were not enough rested crews after HA-3 went off duty, so I wandered around Harrington for 8 hours until a crew went on duty. Almost the entire chase was backlit, but I did get to see all of the old stations on the former PRR Delmarva line, and meet some of the local railfans who showed up for K64, which had a pair of black unibrow GEs.

(0:00) Conrail cabooses in Harrington

(0:27) Relocating HA-3 power GP38-2s 2501, 2503

(1:27) HA-1 power ties onto their train SD40-2s 3506, 3505

(3:57) HA-1 departs Harrington

(5:30) Felton, DE, station

(7:13) Wyoming, DE, station

(9:39) Arrival at Jello Yard, Dover, DE

(11:01) Departing Dover

(13:38) Clayton, DE Passing SD40-2 3502 used for MDDE work, and the station

(16:53) Arrival at Clayton Siding

(18:33) NS K64 arrival C44-9W 9583, ET44AC 3625 (both black unibrows)

(22:03) K64 and HA-1 swap trains

(23:48) HA-3 Arriving in Harrington that morning

Drove to Colorado today. Took a few photos on the trip.

GTW 0-8-0 Near Geneva NE

ATSF 1819 2-6-2 Lamar CO

CORP 2075 SD40T-2 Near Phillisburg KS

Kyle grain train near Phillipsburg KS

Utah Railway 5005 MK50-3 Phillispburg KS

Stopped by the tracks after church on this beautiful Thanksgiving morning with a cup of coffee in hand and decided to slow the commuter trains down. Normally they blow by at "one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi" and long gone. Not today.

Interesting catch last Sunday, November 22nd, as I found former New York and Greenwood Lake GP9 # 1267—in its faded, ERIE Railroad-inspired paint scheme—sitting on New York, Susquehanna and Western rails along Court Street in Binghamton, NY.

I’m not sure of the back story here (e.g. did the Susquehanna acquire this locomotive?  Are they just moving it to a new owner?).  A quick internet search came up empty.  Maybe someone here can chime in with some information?

Nonetheless, it made for a nice surprise on an otherwise dreary day!

A recent trip to Canada I found the RR Museum in Toronto. Sure would be nice if they could get the old Northern, 6213, up and running.

RAY

Every year, the W&LE runs a special holiday excursion train for its employees. I couldn't make it out there this year due to some mixed signals, but I did get chase the train a year ago. Last year, the train ran around Thanksgiving, using a pair of SD40-2s and coaches leased from the Age of Steam facility. Three trains ran between Brewster yard and a point near Zoarsville on the Rook Sub. This was a somewhat frustrating chase with @conwayproductions, but it yielded great shots.

(0:00) Intro

(0:10) Brewster diamond establishing shots

(0:37) 11:00 departure, Brewster diamond

(1:42) 1:00 departure, Shepler Church Ave.

(2:50) 3:00 departure, Ft. Laurens Blvd.

(3:40) Ohio-Erie Canal bridge

“New Haven” RS-1 0673 is seen in the Danbury, CT yard of the Danbury Railway Museum on August 6, 2017. The locomotive was built for the Illinois Terminal in 1948. Having passed through several owners, it was acquired by the museum from the Green Mountain during the late 1990s.

Not an authentic former New Haven locomotive, the museum repainted it to represent a NH RS-1. The highest numbered unit of this type on the New Haven roster was 0671. With another RS-1 already having been recreated using the next highest number of 0672, DRM numbered its example 0673. The locomotive is operational and powers passenger shuttles around the yard.

Bob

Let’s Go Rail-fanning in Downtown Detroit • Part 2

October 9, 2023 - In this trip to downtown Detroit we will check out a street car train called the Q-Line. You can ride this street car for free. The Q-Line connects riders to sports and concert venues, museums, special events and recreation, and many of Detroit’s premier retail, restaurants, and bars.There are talks under way to run a line to the new Michigan Central Station on Michigan Avenue. Hope this happens.

We will park the F150 at St. John’s Episcopal Church and walk to the station stop on north bond Woodward Ave.

At this point the Q-Line is slowing down in front of the Fox Theatre for a north bond stop.

The Q-Line leaving the Fox Theatre District.

Look who is coming to the Fox Theatre, Jerry Seinfeld.

The Q-Line pulling into the stop in front of Comerica Park. This is where the Detroit Tigers play.

Had to wait for a Detroit Police car to clear the crosswalk. Before I could walk bake to my red F150.

The Q-Line in front of Hockey Town.

We close out this trip by saying good bye to Detroit Tigers, Miguel Cabrera.

Thanks for taking a look. Hope to see you out rail-fanning: Gary from Michigan 🚂

Was in Asland, VA for their Christmas Market, caught this while testing some beverages at Origins.

Gary, great photographs in Detroit.  The Q Line train is something I have never seen before.  It rides so low to the street.  Can you tell us who makes those?

Some photo from Sanford NC.

Those are some great looking buildings in Sanford North Carolina,

@Mark Boyce posted:

Gary, great photographs in Detroit.  The Q Line train is something I have never seen before.  It rides so low to the street.  Can you tell us who makes those?

Hi Mark: Thanks for checking out Detroit Street Cars. These cars are built by Inek Trains of the Czech Republic. Here is the link to the company:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inekon_Trams

This is a link to a story in “Detroit Free Press”

https://www.freep.com/story/ne...it-m1-rail/90786964/

Gary from Michigan 🚂

@trainroomgary posted:

Hi Mark: Thanks for checking out Detroit Street Cars. These cars are built by Inek Trains of the Czech Republic.

Gary from Michigan 🚂

Thank you for the scoop, Gary!  They are neat cars!!!

Was in Kent, Ohio working last week. Minding my own business, and I look up,and there was this beautiful beast just sitting there idling.

@Donnie Kennedy posted:

Was in Kent, Ohio working last week. Minding my own business, and I look up,and there was this beautiful beast just sitting there idling.

How often does that happen; not looking for an engine and there it is.  They did a nice job on the logo reminiscent of the W&LE.

@Mark Boyce posted:

How often does that happen; not looking for an engine and there it is.  They did a nice job on the logo reminiscent of the W&LE.

It was a first for me. Akron\Barberton is actually a subsidiary of the Wheeling Lake Erie. I pass one of their main yards in Akron everyday. I  daydream of finding one of those gp35's for my layout.

I took these two at Kent, Ohio way back in April 2010 (much younger then, lol)

I tend to stay on the East Coast, so it's infrequent that I see BNSF. Here's a compilation of some catches from those two years organized around that theme; a mid-2023 catch of a BNSF military train on CSX in Pittsburgh, and some snapshots from a May 2022 trip out to Albuquerque and the Glorietta(?) sub.

(0:00) Intro

(0:10) CSX S588 (military train) BNSF C44-9W 5469 BNSF ES44DC 7728

(2:04) New Mexico Intro

(2:17) BNSF Y-ABQ345 SD40-2 1643

(3:30) Semaphore photos

First time posting pics here. The one got posted twice by accident. Was in Chicago yesterday and finally got to see what’s left of the famous Lee overalls billboard at Dearborn station.

Now that I have 3 months of retirement behind me, I find I no longer remember the days of the week accurately. The CEO and I drove down to Elkhart Indiana to pick up son #3 at the Amtrak stop originating in New York City. About a 16 hour trip, amazingly they were on time as they headed West.

Turns out Elkhart is home to the National New York Central Railroad Museum. So I was all geared up to see the display. Having checked and confirmed the museum opens at 10 am and they would be open on Wednesday thru Sunday,  the pick up had an added bonus --- EXCEPT --- its Tuesday not Wednesday.  OOPS.  The trip was not totally in vain as I did get a couple images of Penn 4882 GG1 and a NYC Mohawk #3001.  Both are in need of some TLC although I think the Mohawk can run.

@ScoutingDad posted:

Now that I have 3 months of retirement behind me, I find I no longer remember the days of the week accurately. The CEO and I drove down to Elkhart Indiana to pick up son #3 at the Amtrak stop originating in New York City. About a 16 hour trip, amazingly they were on time as they headed West.

Turns out Elkhart is home to the National New York Central Railroad Museum. So I was all geared up to see the display. Having checked and confirmed the museum opens at 10 am and they would be open on Wednesday thru Sunday,  the pick up had an added bonus --- EXCEPT --- its Tuesday not Wednesday.  OOPS.  The trip was not totally in vain as I did get a couple images of Penn 4882 GG1 and a NYC Mohawk #3001.  Both are in need of some TLC although I think the Mohawk can run.

You may need a Retiree’s Clock…

P.S. that GG1 is depressing

@Apples55  Clock looks good but maybe perhaps too many week days in there?

I had the same thought re the GG1,  but then thought at least it still exists waiting for someone to invest in her. The alternative is far worse

Paul said it correctly.  You need to ask Santa to give you a retiree's clock. 

He is also correct that the GG1 does look depressing.  Maybe it just needs a new coat of paint.  How foolish of me to say that.