I noticed that some people mention rare/interesting things things they see. I think that others out there might want to share but not make a short topic(like myself...) So i made this! Well I'll get this started. :)
Today, i went to berea after going to train day at a park. The only reason i stayed 3 hours was the CSX mainline bridge. Nothing special, BNSF coal and CSX intermodel and mixed freight trains. I liked the Triplex in G scale someone brought. :) Anyway, It was around 2:30 when we left and got their around 3ish. 4 other cars were their and their was 2 common comers other than myself. It was a nice day out. ;D about 2 hours later, I was walking towards the coach when my dad yells"Hey! you might wanna tape this! I looked and saw a N.S. auto, curious and confused i looked down the CSX line and saw a diesel that looked black. I backed up and taped the N.S. train. Then the CSX diesel came it was a grey CSX GP-40 with blue lettering! behind was a modified white box car with an American flag paint job with workers. Next a modified tanker spraying something. It smelled and not good(like sour milk)! Then a few more black tankers rolled by.i guessed it was a weed killer train. I loved it! It slowed down and I left around 5:00.
Their are many more rare things i would like to share but i will type them later. Let's here some of yours! :) ;) :D ;D
It would have been neat to see them spraying weeds, but I am afraid the moment I saw them spraying, I would have been running as fast as my legs would carry me, away from the track. I am something of a chicken when it comes to dangerous chemicals. Did you notice if any of the workers were wearing masks and possibly decontamination suits? Or were they all safely inside the work car, working the nozzles by remote control? Without knowing exactly what they were spraying, it would be hard to say exactly how dangerous the chemicals might be.
Jim
A quick check would be to see if you glow in the dark or if any body parts have fallen off. ::)
No they were not wearing mask and they were all crowding the open passage way to get in and out. I saw about 2 people that looked like they were doing some work. It probably was your average weed killer. it sprayed about 1 foot away from the ballast. so you should be fine. I see and hear about track inspections and chain gangs going by in the area but I only get to see these guys usually 1 out of ten. And to answer the rest of the questions so far... The workers were wearing T- shirts either orange or white. Well I don't see any glowing and unless I lost a kidney or something I'm fine. :) Just another tiring Sunday but it's Father's day! I probably will watch some of my videos with him(the good ones ;) steam days at the C.V.S.R.,Soo line appearances,etc.) and the printer ink is low so i tried printing out a homemade and it looked horrible! :'( :'( :'( Don't worry i used to draw them so hope he likes it! :) :) :)
NOTE: I thought of this last night...how about i share one of my stories 1 every week and i got like 8-10 left and their is even more if I see something rare or interesting. Remember i want to hear from YOU too. i really don't exaggerate or anything like that so try to do the same. It could be from a race, a rare road name, special cargo(army, other Locomotives, loco parts,etc.) rare engines(slugs for example.) and any other things that go with railfanning. ;D
A variety of things, most caught on camera...
An MBTA Bilevel in transit on the rear of a CSX freight.
A Maine Eastern FL9 in transit behind the power on Guilford.
A Rail Grinder
RBB&B Circus Train
Dupont Fire Train (Tank Car, Boxcar, and Caboose) Westbound on a CSX freight
back in the early 1990s, it was still possible to park your car at horseshoe curve, walk the steps, get around the end of the fence and make your way to the ledges at either end of the curve. those were by far the best photo spots.
i had gone with two friends, dennis and bill and we did just that, setting up on the ledge above the signal bridge at the north side of the curve. after a busy spell, no trains were around. bill, who'd been videotaping, noticed his battery was dead, and dennis volunteered to walk back down the 119 steps to the car for the spare battery. he'd no soonergotten down the steps than we heard the whine of dynamic brakes. through the treews we could see a sea of conrail blue approaching the curve. how many engines does this train have, i asked bill...
it was two loaded coal trains, coming downgrade side by side on parallel tracks. dennis was out of position, bill had no battery. i must have used up most of a roll of film on those two trains, racing each other down the mountain. one of these days i am going to scan my photos of those two trains and post the sequence online.....
jward,
I went their last summer! :) it was totally different than berea! I did not get any racing but i did get to see some extreme smoke shows....on tape! ;D I never seen back engines on main line freight at the time in person but I would never forget. My favorite spot was actually the 2 tunnels! I loved when a superduty coal came! 4 back engines making a alco impreesion! You could see the smoke coming out of the tunnel for a bit of time! Thanks for sharing.
GG,
that is some great catchings! :) If any of that passed through Berea, someone would know!(I'm a local but i rarly know anyone their,just chat) I have no scanner....yet ;). I will try hard to get the circus train this year. I like to E-mail other railfanners to get help. I would love to see those!
Oh, forgot to mention,
FRA Car (219)
Sperry Car
MBTA Work Train
The CN mainline runs through Edmonton. Quite often a loaded train that runs through is pulled by 4 engines . The train is headed to the western coastline and Vancouver. To get through the mountains it needs four locos.
Don
Guilford still uses B&M and D&H 2 and 3 Bay Hoppers, all in original paint. Also, having 2 SD26s (the only two in existence), and an SD39(Only one other in existence on Progressive Rail), working upgrade to Hoosac Tunnel... ;D
guilford,
bnsf has a fleet of sd39s that they inherited from the santa fe. i think they are just starting to retire them now.
jettrain,
did you know about the overlook on top of the east portal of the tunnels? you can watch trains fighting the last 2 miles of the mountain until they enter the tunnels right below you, then if you are quick you can beat them to the west portal where the park is....altoona IS the promised land.....
One of the neatest things I've done is to follow the route of the old Transcontinental Railroad (as much as possible) from Omaha to Sacremento. Lots of two lane blacktop, gravel and dirt roads to try to stay close to the route.
This isn't very rare, but it was a first for me. I live in a slight valley with trees and mountains all around. When i drove accross the country, I got to see some of the flat land if the mid-west. When I visited Dyersville, Iowa, where I saw the baseball where they filmed Field of Dreams, me, my father, and my brother decided to see some of the local railroads. We followed the line that cut through the town into where there mas nothing but the open fields frim farms. We rode north, up a road that paralleled the tracks. The tracks were elevated on a mound above the the level of the road. At one point, the road went under the tracks and crossed to the other side. When dusk was approaching and the sun fell behind the horizon, we decided we had gone far enough, we hadn't seen anything. It was then we saw a light from in the distance. We qickly turned around because this train was booking it. When the train got to us, we sped up to match its speed at abput 55-60 mph. It was incredible. We oped the windows and let the roaring from the two Canadian CN locomotives enter the car. The best part was crossing right under the engines under the bridge. We chased the train into town and watched it go on into the distance at a crossing. The chase was 20 minutes, and was the best chase of my life.
Quote from: PRRThomas11 on June 24, 2009, 01:16:04 AM
This isn't very rare, but it was a first for me. I live in a slight valley with trees and mountains all around. When i drove accross the country, I got to see some of the flat land if the mid-west. When I visited Dyersville, Iowa, where I saw the baseball where they filmed Field of Dreams, me, my father, and my brother decided to see some of the local railroads. We followed the line that cut through the town into where there mas nothing but the open fields frim farms. We rode north, up a road that paralleled the tracks. The tracks were elevated on a mound above the the level of the road. At one point, the road went under the tracks and crossed to the other side. When dusk was approaching and the sun fell behind the horizon, we decided we had gone far enough, we hadn't seen anything. It was then we saw a light from in the distance. We qickly turned around because this train was booking it. When the train got to us, we sped up to match its speed at abput 55-60 mph. It was incredible. We oped the windows and let the roaring from the two Canadian CN locomotives enter the car. The best part was crossing right under the engines under the bridge. We chased the train into town and watched it go on into the distance at a crossing. The chase was 20 minutes, and was the best chase of my life.
I love doing that! :) My grandpa calls people who do that foamers. I do it with my dad for many things like Steam day's(that might be next weeks story from me), day out with Thomas and plenty of N.S. diesels on the high way! :D I do allow that and that is interesting! ;) Thanks for sharing. :) :) :)
The Black Hills Central in South Dakota is a good place to chase the train. It crosses over the road at a few places so you can take pics, drive across and ahead of it, take pics, and do it all again.
not that big a deal to me, seeing where i live, but norfolk southern put on a show at daybreak to-day. a long slow freight was grinding its way up the grade here when 21z, an intermodal train, sped around it on the other track. later, the track geometry train went west. it is almost time for the daily parade of mail trains in the evening......
Many moons ago, I was train chasing in Dunkirk, west of Buffalo. I was waiting for the 'A' to arrive at the road crossing. The 2-6-6-4 was heading west with a train load of fans. I was standing on the south east corner where a street crossed the tracks. I could hear the loco before I could see it and when I did see it, she was appearing and disappearing behind the rolling and hilly landscape. After she crossed the street about a 1/2 mile back, she was starting her whistle for the road I was at. I was merrily taking pictures as she pulled along side me. She hit the last note of the whistle with me 10 feet from the tracks.
I'm sure someone has a movie of me jumping and covering my ears. Boy, THAT WAS LOUD!
Well, It is literally Saturday so you know what that means... ;)
I thought about it hard and long. Ever here of the Cleveland commercial railroad? No? Hmmmm... How about Larry's truck and electric(LTEX)? That I do expect a yes. Well the story will not work so long story short.
LTEX is a rental railroad in McDonald Ohio. They loan engines all over the world. here is a video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1RVWSeIpeE I went their and "what in the bloody world?!" you will think seeing these! I will not go into detail(i will do that later.). Well The Cleveland Commercial R.R. is a industrial R.R. who does small jobs and has trackage rights on the Wheeling & Lake Erie R.R. They have had excursions. (a pic http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=282392&nseq=1 ) I was down at Bedford, around march, light snow on the ground. We were messing around(directions from Google maps are not good! >:() looking for a certain area. I was looking at one of my model railroader magazines. i looked up through some brush. I noticed some gondolas passing through coming are way. Gave my dad a heads up and as soon as done talking, the lights went off! I thought get the camcorder. I did and was i was surprised! A SW unit passed with it's train. It is the same one as the one in the picture. Same train too! we gave chase and all you guys hate red lights right? We nearly lost it because he hit every one! :o Well the engine would slow down to 2-5 M.P.H. and we would go into a parking lot then it would thrash to 20 M.P.H! Well we came to a burger king and parked the car. Not knowing I ran over the bridge, and it was doing 5-9 M.P.H. ....AGAIN! :o I ran for nothing :D. 1 minute later i started to tape it going under the bridge. We lost after that. searching all over we did not find it. :( My dad suggested the steel mill. No, not their, Nice to see The Cuyahoga Valley Railroad diesel in clear view. :) So i still go down their to see if it is their. I have not got a thing passing their after 2 more tries. Well..... they say 3ed time is the best. ;)
update
I am thinking of doing the steam days story or my LTEX yard experience story next. I might do something small but interesting on Wednesday.
I hope your enjoying this and everybody else's stories too. Hey this is not a one person thing you know. ;) ;) ;)
While walking down the tracks with my Dad when I was a kid, we came upon an idling Penn Central F unit coal train just as the new crew was coming on shift. They invited us onboard to see the locos. Got the full tour and they even let me drive it about 10 miles down the track back to our house. ;D
Wow, you guys are lucky. The only trains I see daily is the NYC Metro Trains. But my dad is going to take me to go train spotting. I belive there is an Amtrack Mainline or a CSX yard near my school.
Quote from: panniertankboy8751 on June 27, 2009, 12:29:41 PM
Wow, you guys are lucky. The only trains I see daily is the NYC Metro Trains. But my dad is going to take me to go train spotting. I belive there is an Amtrack Mainline or a CSX yard near my school.
That should be fun. :) I remember when i first went with my grandpa back when i was 6. We wet to berea and had a blast. ;D 3 years later I talked to my dad about it and now look what exciting things I've seen. :D Hope you have fun. Hmmm...let's see here, If it is like collinwood, expect lots of rentals! :) I have seen a LTEX over their with a CSX caboose. You will love yard action for sure. ;) What to expect at a Amtrak main line? ummmmm..... let's say you'll probably see these guys...http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1440604. different story if electric. Well tell us how it goes. :)
Quote from: panniertankboy8751 on June 27, 2009, 12:29:41 PM
Wow, you guys are lucky. The only trains I see daily is the NYC Metro Trains. But my dad is going to take me to go train spotting. I belive there is an Amtrack Mainline or a CSX yard near my school.
Ever heard of New York Cross Harbor Railroad? Well, its not NYCH anymore, but they still operate around Brooklyn, running down the middle of 1st avenue, and ferrying cars across the river.
http://www.trainweb.org/AbandonedLIRR/NYCH.htm
Good Lord! They still have trains in this century!!! Well, this makes me one Happy Railfan. Now if only thre were some steamers passing by here..... ;)
i just got back from railfest in altoona, this was the first time i was able to take my son there.
our train count over 2 days was 83. traffic is way down this year, but the altoona helpers have fresh locomotives for the first time in years, rebuilt sd50s. i was able to show him one of the old conrail sd50s, gutted for rebuilding, with the new number spray painted on the fuel tank. he also got to see them using the turntable at the juniata shops.
we were able to pitch a tent at cassandra, and watch trains all night. he was up with the dawn on sunday, watching the trains from the bridge. he looked so excited. altoona does that to you. altoona is the promised land.....
my son is the 4th generation railfan in the family, and as much as his mother has tried to discourage it my influence shines through......
Well i was looking for some future projects/repaints to do in the future and found this! http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=286329&nseq=202 the only difference is their was 1 more modified flat car. I am sorry for not finding this earlier but hope this helps clear a visual picture.
that is a weed sprayer train. we had one go through here last week on csx. i would much rather it had the sd45-2 powering it like your photo, than the b36-7 the one i saw had. csx only has 4 sd45-2s......
I know, that was for my weed killer story at berea. ;)
*snip* Time to put the scissors back.
Joshua
And people wonder why responsible railfans are given such a hard time!! Mr. B, how about removing this before more people think it's a good idea.
if you'd ever worked for a railroad, or knew somebody well who worked for the railroad, you'd never dash out in front of a train like that. the railroad is a very dangerous place, and there are a million ways to get yourself injured or killed out there. most people don't really have any idea how dangerous it truly is....
when somebody darts out in front of a train like that the engineer has basicly 2 choices: either pray the person gets out of the way, or apply the emergency brakes and risk popping cars out of the train all over the place.
it is an impossible choice. believe it or not that heavy ore train was probably less risky to brake than a regular train, as the weight was distributed evenly throughout the train. often trains are a random mixture of loaded and empty cars......
I'm sure CN wouldn't be happy to read that, and believe it or not, railroad officials DO read forums, although this one is probably patrolled less frequently seeing as its more of a modeling forum than a railfanning one.
I'm not to sure how far the train really was. This is the best I could remember.
Link (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=117177542317683314815.00046d877abecd2355283&t=h&z=18)
He didn't dash in front, he ran with one leg over the rail, and one on the platform. The engineers out there are already on there toes. You won't believe how stupid some people are. One walked around the gates and an Amtrak train stopping for the station came 5 seconds from nailing him after he cleared the crossing. Tons of kids and stuff cross the tracks.
Yeah, I figured companies view these boards, it explains the Mirco-Mark catalogue.
Quote from: jettrainfan on June 29, 2009, 11:23:49 PM
Quote from: Mike on June 29, 2009, 08:16:07 PM
And people wonder why responsible railfans are given such a hard time!! Mr. B, how about removing this before more people think it's a good idea.
HEY! Look Mike I think your talking about those my space dip diddles! >:( we all know it's not ok so calm down. I don't want to start a fight but what in the bloody world makes you wanna delete this for something some what illegal? :( and for the rest. Are you blaming Josh? He did not do anything! >:( Stop giving people a hard time about this. :'( It takes one person to ruin it for every one and really deleting this will not help anything! >:(
Santa Fe buff: look, if this gets deleted, I will not be mad or blame you in any way. I will be upset but not at you. So don't look at this as your fault. ;)
Okay, one, putting a penny on the tracks is illegal. Its trespassing. Even being on an Amtrak platform when a train is not approaching is trespassing. Two, he's not starting a fight, but you're reacting like an "idiot railfan." Most railroads dislike railfans, because they interrupt their movement of train traffic, and put their and others lives at risk. Having the crew dumping the air and having to wait for it to recharge is interrupting their business. YOU need to grow up, because YOU are taking this way differently than anyone else.
Josh, I'd recommend removing your post. While unlikely, you don't want CN knocking on your door. ALSO, you don't want other people thinking its okay to run in front of a train, to trespass, not to mention coins make deadly projectiles when shot out from beneath the wheels of an SD70.
It was actually a GE unit (We get more SD70s then we need. ;)), but I understand what your saying exactly. This isn't the first problem by the platform. CN came to the museum and told not to allow young children on the platform and put up a big fence around the non-passenger areas of the track to prevent more people from doing so. That was a year or two before this incident.
Joshua
P.S. Don't badger Ryan about this. He simply placed his penny in a hurry. ;)
you know, people doing dumb stuff in front of trains has ruined alot of good railfan spots over the years. keep in mind the engineer can only guess your initentions when he sees you near the track. and he may or may not be able to see your camera from that far away. at any rate, he would not be able to stop in time to avoid hitting you.
as for how much we've lost, liability insurance has made most railroads think twice about letting people on the property. prior to the mid 1980s, it was possible to write to the b&o and get tours of cumberland shops. not a group tour, just a couple of railfans who wanted access. around the same time, i was able to walk into conway yard, which is huge, and get premission from the yardmaster to wander the service roads taking pictures, ON FOOT! the maine central woudl provide you with release forms good for each yard, if you asked nicely at their headquarters in portland. and last but by no means least, some of the best photo locations in the altoona area are now off limits. we used to camp overnight at most of them years ago......
I am sorry i did this, i feel like an idiot for not truly looking at the facts. :( I seriously don't know why i typed that but i am going to delete that reply. I do know that some one could have been killed right on the spot and never thought of what could have happened. I really did not think things through. :(
i do get mad at people who do illegal things that ruins it for every one.
Quote from: jettrainfan on June 30, 2009, 12:35:17 PM
I am sorry i did this, i feel like an idiot for not truly looking at the facts. :( I seriously don't know why i typed that but i am going to delete that reply. I do know that some one could have been killed right on the spot and never thought of what could have happened. I really did not think things through. :(
i do get mad at people who do illegal things that ruins it for every one.
Rather than run yourself further into the ground, think before you post. Grammar helps too, and using less smileys makes your message more serious. I'm only a few years older than you, its not that hard.
you know, this is something you can learn from. i mean we all did crazy things as kids not realizing the danger we were in. learn from it and move on.
where your friend erred was not so much putting a penny on the track, it was doing it in front of a moving train. engineers have nightmares about stuff like this.....we've all placed pennies on the track. next time just do it when the train is not in sight.
rule number one on the railroad is safety first. you see it on turntables, locomotives, freight cars, and countless paper items railroad employees are required to have in their posession while on duty. we have it pretty good as railfans. you can go to station platforms and overhead bridges and watch trains. and in out of the way places, the railroads aren't even that worried about us hiking along the tracks. all we need to do is stay out of the way and not hamper the running of the railroad......
Quote from: Santa Fe buff on June 29, 2009, 10:34:26 PM
I'm not to sure how far the train really was. This is the best I could remember.
Link (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=117177542317683314815.00046d877abecd2355283&t=h&z=18)
He didn't dash in front, he ran with one leg over the rail, and one on the platform. The engineers out there are already on there toes. You won't believe how stupid some people are. One walked around the gates and an Amtrak train stopping for the station came 5 seconds from nailing him after he cleared the crossing. Tons of kids and stuff cross the tracks.
Yeah, I figured companies view these boards, it explains the Mirco-Mark catalogue.
If you were talking about the people who jump in front of trains, Then look at this. I give it five stars for the best two morons chaught on tape EVER! http://www.rail-videos.net/video/view.php?id=3415
to close for comfort! They should have waited. I think they learned their lesson. It would have not been a pretty site.
I already saw that, several times, and it never gets old. Featuring:
Stupid
and
Stupider (They guy who tripped like a drunk.)
I think they learned their lesson, if not, the train shall see to it that they don't act stupid no more. >:( I can't believe people are that crazy. ;)
Joshua
EDIT: Railfanning track side at a safe distance on the edge of the ballast is fine by me, stepping on the tracks and endangering yourself isn't my way of waving to the engineer if you know what I mean.
Dear Jeff Ward,
Grew up in Conway. Many pleasant memories of watching trains over the years.
Best Wishes,
Jack
yes, conway was the place to be. you used to be able to hang out on the bridge at the east end of the yard. on the bridge was a mailbox, where one of the enginehouse employees would leave copies of the day's lineup. if you were lucky enough to get a copy, it told you what trains were on the entire system heading for conway, what locomotives they had, and an eta.
the whole area was and still is a great place for trains.
Saturday, Happy 4th of JULY!!! :) ;) :D ;D
Who has gone to the cuyahoga valley scenic Railroad? My grandparents volunteer their. I have gotten 2 trips to the yard. I will talk mostly of the first and only the ride of the second. It was a cool morning, I was in the back of the car thinking "what is the surprise?" Well, My grandparents were in uniform. I knew something to do with trains. I watched a sign go by with the C.V.S.R. logo. I was gonna go "back stage"! Excited i got out and saw 2 trains at the fueling station. We fist went to the Office to talk. Got to meet the manager in person and talk to the crew. Then my grandpa took me to the shops. I saw their CN&W diesel with 2 RDC-3 units. I got to see the cab in one. It was neat. What more could you ask for? Then got to do a surprising job.... testing...toilets? Yep,strange. I did the lower half. All worked. So went to the snack bar car to chat with the crew. They asked if i wanted to go ride in the cab.... YES! Got to ride in this fellow. http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=82470&nseq=10 A bit shaky and I was standing most of the time.(kept falling out of my seat.) Lot of dear rushed over the tracks. Got to talk about G scale trains. When we reached peninsula, I got out. It was worth it. The rest of the day was smooth. Went from Rockside to Akron twice. Lots of fun! The second trip was from peninsula to Rockside in the cab of a F7A! I will tell you now, They shake! I got a nice chat. Well... at the end... it is not easy to get off. It is hard because as soon as you open the door, You got to use the ladder. Now, add a down slop ballast with no plat form. It is hard! I fell off because the bottom part of the ladder is 3 feet off the ground do to the down slop! It was easy to get back on the coach. And went back the yard. That was it.
Hope you enjoyed. :)
Update:I noticed this was dieing out so I am just gonna say the rest in a list.
1.Wheeling & Lake Erie a berea
2.lots of BNSF with Santa Fe Diesels
3.Steam Days at the C.V.S.R.
4.Operation lifesaver special
5.track inspection(motor car http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=108232&nseq=64 )
6. track inspection(with diesel,N.S. not Conrail http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=180897&nseq=39 )
7Canadion national at Wendy park
8.Two rares in one day!(Soo line diesels, and later a CSX SW1500 on a mixed freight)
9. Canadians with Americans(CN,Soo line, & CSX Diesels)
10.BN coal
11. Chain gang
That is about it so if this topic dies, atleast people enjoyed it. :)
if you want me to tell the story(this might be the longest story) of one of these, just comment or E-mail. I don't want to bother people with this still on the first page if not wanted. Hope you enjoy!