Rich, yes the stories they could tell! I had to look up Bath and I remembered right. We were through there on our way to Lake George and the Adirondacks in 2012. I need to look up a photograph I took of a brick station off I-86 somewhere. We had stopped somewhere for gas and lunch as I recall, and there it was.
I'd imagine there are some who have been to this location, so not breaking new ground, but a sunrise visit to Cienega Creek Natural Preserve east of Tucson in Vail, AZ is a great experience. Tracks on the Union Pacific Sunset Division/Lordsburg Subdivision run through part of the Preserve and from a parking lot you can watch eastbound trains run under the trestle bridge carrying westbound trains. I went to watch a few trains (half-dozen trains went through from 6:30 - 9:00 AM) and to hike part of the trail system in the Preserve (permit required). A couple of iPhone photos below to give you an idea of the landscape and vistas. The Preserve itself is a joy to hike with a large variety of desert and riparian plant life, birds, and mammals. If you bring a handheld scanner you'll hear the chatter from the Tucson Yard and defect detector boxes in both directions. Without a scanner you can hear the eastbound trains as they wind through the desert wash from miles away. If you go to southern Arizona for a winter break, I'd highly recommend a trip to Cienega Creek. If you are an early morning riser, get there before the sun comes up and enjoy the night sky - stars compared to what we see in suburban CT were phenomenal. We were in Green Valley, AZ 25 miles south of Tucson (Nogales Subdivision - fewer trains) and it took me about 45 minutes to drive northeast to Cienega Creek. I imagine from most points near Tucson you could get there in 30 minutes or less.
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Nice photographs, Moon! I have never been anywhere near Arizona, so I am glad to see!
@pittsburghrailfan posted:
I wonder if the center cab windows were removed by the railroad (and if so, why?), or if this was part of the RS-3M design. Looks a little odd without them.
@breezinup posted:I wonder if the center cab windows were removed by the railroad (and if so, why?), or if this was part of the RS-3M design. Looks a little odd without them.
According to my copy of the Conrail Quarterly issue about these locomotives, the windows were plated over by Conrail to reduce the expense of unnecessary window replacements. This was done with other units as well, not just the RS3ms.
Today October 28, 2024 - Pontiac Michigan
Today I ate lunch trackside and only two trains went by. Peanut butter sandwich. A solo Amtrak Siemens Charger & a CN freight train. A slow day rail-fanning is better than any day at work.
Hope to see you out rail-fanning: Gary 🚂
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Here are mine for this week -
The Bronx - West Farms Square–East Tremont Avenue - NYC Subway 120th Anniversary Fan Trip on 10/27/24 -
Ronks, PA -
Lancaster, PA -
New York, NY - Dyckman Street -
Wabun, VA -
Queens, NY - Forest Avenue -
Altoona, PA -
Matthews, NC -
For those of you who couldn't get out for a Saturday afternoon walk in the woods, a little hare and the tortoise action along the Westfield River Trail a couple of miles west of the West Springfield CSX yard. The trail goes from Mitteneague Park across the tracks down to the Westfield River and eventually comes back up to the tracks further west and circles back. We came up just as Amtrak P449, Boston-Albany, was speeding by. Took our time rehydrating and shortly thereafter crossed to the other side of the tracks for the connecting trail and CSX M425 manifest came along at a much slower clip. Full video of the CSX from head-to-toe (6 minutes). About the middle of the consist was a Cotton Belt covered hopper. With the clock "falling back" tonight, the late day walk in the woods is all but over for this year; great way to end - beautiful day.
Wow, Moon!!! I certainly don't walk in the right woods!! 
Your hare runs faster than the B&P and CN (B&LE) trains near where I live!!!
Amtrak GE P-32AC-DM, Empire Service northbound rolling into Hudson NY. 10/12/2024
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Back with the last batch of tenth anniversary videos this week; this top one showcases many of my favorite real train catches in the ten years since I started putting stuff on the Tube. Many of the catches are stuff I've shared before, but a few are recent 2024 catches that'll make an appearance sometime in 2025.
Intro (0:17) KCSM Gray ghost on the Monongahela Line
(1:29) Shenandoah Valley with 4 units (3 DIT MARC GP40WH-2s)
(3:00) D-L 3007 notches up past a searchlight
(5:04) Mol-Dok's SW-900 meets the Erie heritage unit
(9:19) MDDE 1202 charging through Golts. There are likely other shots of 1202 here, but this moment is still one of, if not my favorite, MDDE clip.
(10:06) MDDE 1823 leads a 'double header'
(11:18) The return of GP-11s to the main line (on camera)
(12:32) C07 with a screaming SD40-2
(17:33) A meeting of two MARC Hippos
(19:34) POHC working Montverde Produce. This is still the only video I have seen of this customer.
(22:38) Army Rail 80-tonner on the main line with a Chessie caboose
(23:59) Notch 8 GP38-2 moving a long consist
(27:01) Lycoming Valley Keeps on the B&P
(28:22) A GP38-2 (LHF) and SD40E (RS5T) on K64
(30:57) LTEX 7005 leading B&P's RIBT
(32:12) The last AVR coal train to Homer City
(33:23) CN's EJ&E heritage unit and a GECX leaser on 67R.
My cinematography is not the best out there by a sizable margin, but every once in a while I compose a shot that I think turns out OK. This second video focuses on angles and scenes that I thought looked pretty cool, even if the locomotive or train was quite ordinary.
(0:00) Intro
(0:17) Hocking Valley Scenic East Logan train, OH-33 HVSR GP10 701
(1:17) Maryland & Delaware Hurlock Fall festival train, Federalsburg MDDE RS-3m 1203
(2:08) Maryland & Delaware Federalsburg turn, Federalsburg MDDE RS-3m 1203
(2:38) Pittsburgh & Ohio Central Stowe job, Esplen POHC GP10m 1711
(3:25) Norfolk Southern 11Z, Stanley ES44AC 8064, AC44C6M 4223
(4:35) Norfolk Southern C65, Vanport SD60Es 6984, 6990
(7:22) Finger Lakes Ry. HW-2, Salt Point B23-7s 2304, 2310
(8:41) Maryland and Delaware Roberts turn, Walnut Tree Road Black River SW1200 1202
(10:19) Ohio Central CNL, Belden Brick B23-S7s 4094, 4099
(12:38) Canadian National U702, Conneautville SD70M-2s 8876, 8800, 8909
(13:42) Norfolk Southern C54, Bridgewater SD70M-2s 2775, 2769
(15:12) Norfolk Southern 13Z, Arcadia ES44DC 7515, Union Pacific ES44AC 5283
(16:22) Buckingham Branch Shenandoah Valley Limited, Swoope Norfolk & Western 611, BB GP40-2s 5, 6
(17:53) Buffalo & Pittsburgh SIRI, Droney SD60Is 3884, 3881, SD60M 3886
(22:19) Wheeling & Lake Erie holiday train, Ohio-Erie Canal trail SD40-2s 7008, 7013
Finally, I'll round out this wall of text with one of my photos from Friday's chase of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad before bouncing over to Harrisonburg, VA, for another chase. C&O-inspired GP-9 5940 is running up to the Buckingham Branch interchange while C&O-painted caboose 3260 rests in the foreground.
The early morning shadows make for an uninspiring video, but the chase to see a pair of CSX heritage units was fun. On a brisk November morning it felt more like fall hunting than railfanning. I used a combination of a Thursday night CSX Facebook group post mentioning I019, B&M Daily Railcam log of I019 times for the week, YouTube Worcester MA Live Railcam to catch its departure west, and VirtualRailfan's Springfield Union Station camera to confirm it hadn't already passed by as I was driving north on I-91. All of it worked out and I got up to Chester to walk the Arches Trail as the sun was rising and get to a decent viewing spot. The most fascinating part of the morning was really reflecting on how appreciative I am of the people who voluntarily post sightings on Facebook and the guys that keep the daily log of trains running through Chester/Westfield. They are the best.
Last night we had dinner at “The Red Caboose Resturant” in a classic Pullman Dinner Car. Ronks, PA. We also visit the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, C&O Railroad Museum and the Strasburg Railroad. Along with the largest buffet at The Amish Shady Maple Buffet. Rail-fanning photos coming soon! 🚂
Gary: from Michigan - Hope to see you out rail-fanning. 🚂
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This week, another video focusing on my interest in the Illinois Central's GP-11s, specifically, the pair of Ohio Central units assigned to the Youngstown Belt/Youngstown and Austintown in Ohio. I made a trip in 2023 because at the time, the pair were supposed to be scrapped as part of Genesee and Wyoming's settlement with the EPA. They are still in service, though at this moment in time not running as a pair.
In contemporary railfanning, it was also a busy week; Sunday, November 10th, was the last arrival in Washington of Amtrak's Capitol Limited, at least for a few years; as is well-known, since the 11th, the train has been combined with Amtrak's Silver Star and runs as the Floridian along the same route with the same departure times. To mark this relatively minor event, I decided to shoot the train passing one of the last B&O signals in the Baltimore-Washington area, which guards the junction between CSX- and Amtrak-controlled trackage at Ivy City.
With Monday being Veterans Day, I went out to the Delmarva Peninsula and shot the Maryland & Delaware's Veterans unit on the run to Roberts and back. They would not have cars to take down, only to take back, but I made the best of the day by trying some new angles and redoing an old one I really loved, even if it was backlit.
On Wednesday, I took the day off and made my first visit to the South Branch Valley Railroad, which Omnitrax operates on behalf of the state of West Virginia from Greenspring to Petersburg. The SBVR runs freight during the work week, while the Potomac Eagle runs passenger trains on Fridays and weekends. I followed a small train of hoppers south from Green Spring to Pilgrim's Pride in Moorefield, where the crew would drop the cars and head light to Petersburg to stage the power for a northbound run.
One thing I love about farm country railfanning is that, like mountain railroading, certain shots have the ability to make trains, these big machines, feel small, impressing on the viewer just how even our favorite man-made constructions pale in comparison to the landscape. MDDE was the railroad that gave me the best canvas for that thesis, but on Wednesday, I discovered that the South Branch Valley has several dozen of these shots, and has mountains as well, allowing me to juxtapose the massive open spaces with almost as large mountains and make the train look truly small.
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Here are a few of mine for the last week or so -
Brooklyn, NY - Avenue H -
Strasburg, PA -
Boonton, NJ -
Altoona, PA -
Queens, NY - Woodside -
Cove, PA -
Queens, NY - 46th Street/Bliss Street -
Red Bank, NJ -
San Francisco, CA -
Mexico, PA -
Always amazed to see the subway running in "the woods" in Brooklyn no less.
Great photos as always. Thanks for posting.
