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

@ScoutingDad posted:

Ran across this Pere Marquette on historical display in Grand Haven Michigan.  I've seen the Big Boy in person but this one looks taller - really immense. Now I'll have to research Pere Marquette and dive deeper into the old Grand Trunk and Western. Plaques there said this was quite a hub for GTW in this location which included a turntable on the site all adjacent to the water way. (to the left of this image)

@ScoutingDad,

I like your taste in locations and subjects for your photos.

Check these out, from a little farther back in time (6/25/1995).  Look at the weathering in particular, in spite of not moving an inch in many, many years,  Note the differences in weathering over that time as compared to their original paint.  It looks like the painted wood held up better than painted steel (maybe 77915 has been touched up since then?):

  >>  See on Map

Here's a tidbit you may not know: Grand Haven was not PM 1223's first display site after it was retired.  It sat prominently on display for many years at the State Fairgrounds in Detroit before is was moved here.

Mike

@Mellow Hudson Mike  Red is a really tough color to be stable over time supposedly due to the high UV absorbance which promotes fading.  Your photos are nearly 30 years old - not much has changed.  The coaling tower is in rough shape with the concrete just spalling away.

We were looking at a nearby retirement home to buy when we decided to take a look at the downtown area. I am not sure we are ready for a tourist destination,  but it sure is a lively place. 

@ScoutingDad posted:

@Mellow Hudson Mike  Red is a really tough color to be stable over time supposedly due to the high UV absorbance which promotes fading.  Your photos are nearly 30 years old - not much has changed.  The coaling tower is in rough shape with the concrete just spalling away.

We were looking at a nearby retirement home to buy when we decided to take a look at the downtown area. I am not sure we are ready for a tourist destination,  but it sure is a lively place.

We're doing the same, but farther down the coast in or near South Haven, and having the same challenges with the tourists.  You have to like snow in the winter as well; the lake effect is prominent in both places.

Mike

Amtrak 284 this morning at Utica…

Freshly painted P32ACDM 708!

thanks!

- Mario

More shots at Tenino, WA last weekend:

I had a few minutes of free time on the north side of O’Hare yesterday…

thanks!

- Mario

Did something I haven’t done in 45 years or so. Photographed a Bicentennial unit!

ATSF 5704 has been restored to Bicentennial paint and was on display in Kansas City.

CSX Yard - Ford Motor Final Assembly • Wayne Michigan

We are rail-fanning at the Ford Motor Final Assembly Plant. Yesterday June 18, 2022. It is a warm sunny spring day as we walk around the yard. We will observe two CSX locomotives, and several parts bins of air hoses and railroad pins. This being a Saturday they are not loading auto racks but we can see the ramps & a parking lot of new Ford Broncos. Waiting to be loaded onto CSX auto racks. I am driving my red F150.

Hope to see you out rail-fanning: Gary 🚂

I took this of NKP #765 as  it was arriving in Fox Lake, Illinois on June 12, 2016, during its outbound excursion from the north suburbs of Chicago to Janesville and back. It was on Metra trackage, but would cross into Wisconsin & Southern trackage almost immediately upon departure. This was my Dad's birth date, and although he died in 2008, I know he would have enjoyed experiencing this. This one's for you, Dad!

On Saturday, I chased the Wheeling and Lake Erie for the first time (somehow) with the assistance of a friend. These shots show the regular 218 train from Brewster, OH, to Rook, PA, running on the former Pittsburgh & West Virginia.

218 thunders up-grade at Avella, PA, with a former FURX leaser on point. Note the conductor with two hands in the cab...and an arm out the window.

The train continues the climb at Rea. Behind the road power are two Southwestern Pennsylvania (SWP) GP11s, returning from an overhaul at Brewster. Later that afternoon, a 610 crew (extra manifest) would run the units and a string of loaded tank cars, to the AVR interchange at Bruceton.

The train approaches the top of the grade at the Hickory tunnel. Most of the Wheeling's East Rook sub is unsignaled, but there are radio-controlled switches (and position indicators) at the Hickory siding.

After 218 arrived at Rook, the 610 crew would move the SWP units into position for the southbound run. Here, the conductor hams it up for us and gives the bell on 2001 a single ring.

Was out and about earlier in the week running errands - drove past a St. Davids station on ex-PRR Main Line. Went back with camera. Not great pix - really just wondering about the bent pole, to the left of the SEPTA train in the first pic.

Here's a tighter shot of it with less pan blur.

As you can see, there are supports for it - I started to say guy-wires, but it's rods. No idea if it's been like that for years and isn't a problem, or if it's something that Amtrak and/or SEPTA needs to address.

David

After taking videos with smartphones for almost the entirety of the past nine years, as a graduation gift I invested in a mirrorless camera that would allow me to both semi-retire my old Fuji S5200, and finally use a zoom lens in my videoing. For the trial by fire (of both myself and the camera), I went out after the Allegheny Valley Railroad's AVR-3 turn down the old B&O "Pike" line that once ran to Wheeling, WV. Suffice to say, I needed to reread the manual, as I could not figure out why everything was overexposed, and why I was unable to correct the values. But, the day would take on retroactive significance that made the chase worthwhile; that late May trip would be the last time I would see ex-NS GP59 4552 in its hand-me-down Operation Lifesaver paint, as both it and sibling 4551 were repainted last week. Below is a teaser of the results I achieved once I figured out the controls (also, my Wheeling post from last week was made using the new camera).

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July 5, 2022...finally after a 30 year wait...rode the Cumbres & Toltec RR from Antonito, CO to Chama, NM.

One highlight was Cumbres Summit...10,880ft by rail.

What a trip! More photos can follow.

Walter and family.

Huckleberry Railroad • Baldwin #152 - July 10th, 2022 • Genesee Michigan

We are rail-fanning on the C S Mott Creek as the #152 crosses on a wooden trussell. This 4-6-0 was built in 1920 by Baldwin.

Hope to see you out rail-fanning: Gary 🚂

@trainroomgary posted:

Huckleberry Railroad • Baldwin #152 - July 10th, 2022 • Genesee Michigan

We are rail-fanning on the C S Mott Creek as the #152 crosses on a wooden trussell. This 4-6-0 was built in 1920 by Baldwin.

Hope to see you out rail-fanning: Gary 🚂

Awesome, Gary. Seems like quite a few cars for the little engine that could. 😉

On July 4th, 2022 the Royal Gorge Route RR in Canon City, CO was our first stop. Plane into Denver was 30 min late, rental car fiasco at airport and road construction delay traffic... but we made the 12:30PM train trip with 20 minutes to spare!

Was a 2 hour trip with all seats reserved, engine did not 'run-around' and a cab control car was on rear for return trip. Basically 15-20 mph but with that fantastic scenery available...you had enough time to enjoy it.

Great ride, really good food onboard, very informative crew, fantastic scenery and train was very clean with great AC too.

The F unit diesels were not running during our visit.

Walter and family 

I like to pretend I'm railfanning on my own model railroad and post photos and videos of it, but I don't think that's what you folks want on this thread. LOL, Arnold

This SD70ACe was sitting in Royersford, PA, on July 5, 2022

Last October, my wife and I finally took a COVID delayed cruise down the Rhine river.  The central part of the Rhine as it pierces the mountains between Germany and France has been a border protecting military impediment to invasion for centuries, hence the steep rock sides of the canyon are dotted with ancient castles on both sides.  It is also a major pass to the coast, so today, railroads run along the banks on both sides of the river.  These are all electrified lines and the train traffic is almost non-stop both freight and passengerm.  Here are some of the photos I took from the deck of our cruise ship.

Here you can see the relationship between the Rhine river and the railroad tracks that line both banks.  The steep canyon sides make the bank close to the  river the only feasible place for the RR to run.  The deck in the foreground is our river cruise ship.  

A French TOFC freight  moves along under the rock walls of the canyon pass.

A German (DB) freight engine moving along the bank, note they have graffiti problems as well as we do !

Another German freight engine moving tonnage up river.

A French rail car passenger train moving down river

A somewhat closer view of the railcar train in the above picture.

Well I wish I had more details on the specifications of the engines and rail-cars but I do not.  I can tell you that at this point on the Rhine, the rail traffic on both sides of the river was a "parade" with trains passing our ship about once per minute.

Best wishes

Don

Yesterday, on former Reading, near Phoenixville. Train at left was tied down. David

My daughter and a friend were in Tennessee last week at Dollywood. They have a couple of nicely restored steamers that they run around the park.

The line is a 3' narrow gauge ROW and the 2 operating engines are Baldwin 2-8-2 mikados, originally owned by the White Pass and Yukon RR.

Good work on the steam whistle by the engineer (she shot the vertical video- don't shoot the messenger)

Bob

Here are some pics of Carson City Steamup on July 4th weekend.

I took this at least ten years ago.  This CSX is exiting the Hialeah Florida yard.  This photo is made from three images of the same subject to capture all the details and colors.  

Wahpeton is a town on the eastern border North Dakota.  The Great Northern station there is preserved but seems off-limits per the signs. Some displays are accessible, caboose, etc.  The sun position was not ideal at the time of our visit, but we were just passing through.  Across the Bois de Sioux River is a "sister" town of Breckenridge, MN where some Red River Valley & Western engines were parked as well as a Twin Cities & Western unit.  One engine looked to be ex-Reading & Northern !  At this location you are near the northern continental divide so this river runs north to the Hudson Bay.

On New Jersey Transit Train 7836 from Trenton to NYC on Saturday, July16 - locomotive, in push mode, developed some sort of problem after stop in Edison. Would move a bit and stop. They tried using the other pantograph - no luck. Announcements that they were consulting with mechanical department on fixes.

One of the train crew standing near the locomotive.

Eventually, the next train from Trenton to NY Penn, 7838, stopped next to ours, and the crew helped passengers move across to the other train. A little slow, since, of course, no high-level platform between the trains.

After passengers had moved over, crews conferring. Not long after, we got underway on 7838.

There was a four-way meet while we were stopped at the station. Our two trains, plus a westbound NJT train stopping at the other platform, and an eastbound Amtrak. Thought I shot pix of three of the trains - but focus switch had got bumped to manual, and I didn't notice. Darn it. We got to Penn maybe 50 minutes or an hour late. Well, here's one of the pix. Our stalled train - the front of the cab car was a bit behind the the front car of the train next to us.

Now some info and a question. A passenger near me said to a friend she was worried about the transfer. I said something like, don't worry, there's no third rail - the wire is well above the train. Almost immediately, the crew made an announcement - don't touch the train cars while making the transfer.

When I was getting onto the other train, I asked if it was OK to use the grab irons, and was told yes, so I did. For folks who know about such things - was that announcement out of an abundance of caution? Or was there some small chance of electrocution? The power path goes through the wheels to the track, correct?

David

David, that was an interesting delay for a railfan, but frustrating for a traveler who wanted to get from Point A to Point B quickly.  The photographs you got are great!  I've never seen electrified trackage in person, and certainly not 4 tracks with trains.  I would think normally, the body of the train cars would be insulated and only the engines would have power running through them anyway, but I have no experience.  Perhaps, the concern would be about the possibility of passengers feeling static electricity if they touched the cars.  During the first half of my working years, I worked for power companies in substations.  In some cases you could feel static when touching a cabinet in the switchyard, more static the higher the voltage.  That is just a guess.

Hi, Mark.

Thanks on the pix. Yeah, I got sloppy on my question - partly through my ignorance, partly just typing too quickly. I was thinking of the power for the train cars - the 480V AC HEP.  Yes, I think the path to the tracks on the propulsion power would be only through the locomotive's wheels. Again, a lot I don't know. But I agree that the shell would be insulated, normally.

The two NJT trains stop for a shuttle to Newark airport- so guessing there were passengers on the train who, if they had the money and were cutting it close, might have taken taxi(s) together to get to the airport in time.

David

Took this photo at the once G.A.F.B. Rome, NY.  an 80 Tonner

More pics from Carson City Steamup.

I went out in Northern Ohio last Friday and caught a few.   it became overcast as the day wore on, so later shots

were not as good.   the first 2 are at Oak Harbor, and the second 2 at Bellvue.     The last one is of the hump which had been closed but they were pushing a long cut over it, not switching though (yet?)

The July 2016 (or thereabouts) issue of Trains magazine extolled Roosevelt Road in Chicago as a "legendary" hot spot. While traveling on my Amtrak Railpass last summer, I used my layover to walk over from the station and see if the perch lived up to the hype. On balance, I found it less spectacular than advertised, mostly because of the signal bridge which obscured the direct overhead view for many of the tracks, and because of a relative dearth of traffic likely occasioned by the midday hour. But, I got creative with my angles, and there was enough action in the form of F40s, heritage units, and coach yard switching with a GP35 rebuild to keep me engaged and get me sunburned .

Nice video @pittsburghrailfan- reminds me of the old view of the west side yards outside of NY Penn Station. They are covered by the Hudson Yards development now.

@Mark Boyce- the LIRR is all 3rd rail in electric territory. We used to take a shortcut home from middle school up and over the Montauk Branch double main, jumping 2 700 VDC rails in the process. (Don't tell Mom!)

@NKP Muncie- I'm surprised that NJT transferred you directly between trains. From a safety standpoint they are asking for trouble. I guess moving the stalled train to a platform wasn't possible for some reason. Other than possible static electricity, the bodies on the trains are not energized.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

@NKP Muncie- I'm surprised that NJT transferred you directly between trains. From a safety standpoint they are asking for trouble. I guess moving the stalled train to a platform wasn't possible for some reason. Other than possible static electricity, the bodies on the trains are not energized.

Bob

Bob,

We were stalled at the eastbound platform in Edison. Here's a view of the cab car of our stalled train, with passengers gathered at the front few cars to make the move to the other train. The locomotive at right is the same one from the shot of three of the trains in the four-way meet above. It's the train that picked us up.

Here are passengers, most from our stalled train, but probably a few waiting for the next scheduled train, on the platform, while we were awaiting announcement on plan. Or maybe this is just as they were announcing the move to the other train.

I don't know what they eventually did with the stalled train. Maybe a locomotive was sent to remove it. But that's just a guess.

Guessing that it was less disruptive to other traffic to make the move on those two tracks, rather than have the NJT that picked us up stop at the westbound platform - as you see, there was a westbound NJT train stopping there while this was going on. Plus all the crossing over. There were two or three Amtrak trains that came through during this.

David

@RSJB18 posted:

Nice video @pittsburghrailfan- reminds me of the old view of the west side yards outside of NY Penn Station. They are covered by the Hudson Yards development now.

@Mark Boyce- the LIRR is all 3rd rail in electric territory. We used to take a shortcut home from middle school up and over the Montauk Branch double main, jumping 2 700 VDC rails in the process. (Don't tell Mom!)

@NKP Muncie- I'm surprised that NJT transferred you directly between trains. From a safety standpoint they are asking for trouble. I guess moving the stalled train to a platform wasn't possible for some reason. Other than possible static electricity, the bodies on the trains are not energized.

Bob

My lips are sealed!

This has been a very informative thread, NKP Muncie!!  Signed - the kid from coal country!

Here are some pictures of our ride on the Leadville Colorado and Southern from earlier this month.

With the new puppy, I have had very little time to chase trains, but this is from the two evenings I did:

The restored 1981 C&O caboose installed at Lee Hall Depot in Newport News, VA.

Winter at the end of July...I'm really behind on my videos. Anyway, the usual pair of GP40s on Allegheny Valley Railroad's Washington, PA, turn.

Dan, I think it is an excellent time to show us the AVR in winter!  We all felt a little cooler today.  Nice videos and shots.