Hi, gang!
In the April issue, we’re running a Fantrip column about combining train-watching and camping. Our author tells us about one such campground, Mojave Narrows Regional Park in Victorville, Calif. Please do check it out.
In the meantime, do you know of any other campgrounds near active rail lines that you can share here?
Thanks!
Kathi
Camp Nickajack is about 20 miles southwest of Chattanooga, TN near the place where Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama meet. It is along Nickajack Lake which is part of the Tennessee River. The CSX Chattanooga Division mainline follows the south shore of the lake and gets lots of traffic; Norfolk Southern has trackage rights and you will see just about anything you can imagine during a day (or night!) of railfanning. I have never camped there, but here is a great web page that someone created what describes camping out at this location (lots of great photos):
http://www.mswphoto.com/IdiotRailfan/nickajack/
Jamie
Every time I get down by the Cumbres & Toltec, I camp at Cumbres Pass in the ghost town area. There are a few (rather undeveloped) spots right in the ghost town. If creature comforts are required, there’s a State Park campsite not too far from the summit of the pass (with a nice little waterfall, too) and an RV park in Chama.
One of my best railroad memories occured while camping at the pass. Getting woken up by K-27 #463 running light (K-27’s are probably my favorite narrow gauge steamers) at 2:00 in the morning and then rushing out in my pajamas to catch the crew watering the locomotive at the summit was a great experience! When I first heard the whistle and looked at the time, I thought I was really experiencing the “ghost” town! [(-D]
The Trapper Creek campground (USFS) is practically at Cascade Summit on the UP (Former SP) Willamette pass. Unfortunately the decent photo spots are a short distance either side of the campground on the access road.
Not being a camper myself I can’t say for certain but several people have told me they camp in the summer in a public park in the area around Geneva (I recall him saying it was a little est of there towards West Chicago) which borders the U.P. West line from Chicago to Rochelle. One of the folks who told me this was all excited about the amount of U.P. traffic that passes by his camp site every time he is there. As much as I love trains…AND I DO LOVE THEM…I think that would drive me nutty while trying to sleep at night! Perhaps one of our other posters can help in the exact location.
Please check your PM.
Kat,
I’ve camped several times at an out-of-the-way spot called Blanding’s Landing along the Mississippi River and the BNSF Savanna, IL to Twin Cities mainline. It is located just south of Galena, IL. It was run by the Army Corps of Engineers and I think that they may still own it, but there are local caretakers on site. Maybe it is maintained by the Illinois DNR. Great quiet location–except when the BNSF runs through! Tent sites are right along the railroad.
There also is camping at Savanna (IL) Palisades park, I think some of the sites have views of the tracks. Another favorite is at White Pines State Park, located along the BNSF Savanna-Chicago mainline just west of Oregon, IL. They have tent camping sites and even 1930’s built log cabins that are close to the tracks (but you can’t directly see the tracks from them).
Sounds like a great article.
Lance W.
The comments about “not when a train is going by” make me recall an incident that occured several years ago in Hancock, NY. Pardon the brief wander off-topic.
The Hancock FD Firemen’s Field is nestled in a bend in the East Branch of the Delaware River. It’s a nice location. Not a campground, but with the permission of the owners (fellow firefighters) I’ve camped there a few times.
The old Erie main passes through Hancock, crossing a double track Howe truss bridge over Delaware River, squealing around the tight curve, and passing a half dozen street crossings as well. The engineers are usually polite about using the horn on Sunday mornings, but it’s not a silent passage.
One year a group of us from my fire department were camping on the field during a fire department event there. Saturday night around the campfire included some adult beverages. Some moreso than others.
Bright and early Sunday morning (about 6 am) a westbound freight (probably bound for Binghampton) made its way through town, blowing for the crossings, rumbling across the bridge. I was, of course, interested and stepped outside my tent to take it all in. Others were not so enthusiastic, including one partier who complained about the train “coming through my tent.”
Along old HWY 41 in Emerson, Ga, there is a campground alongside Lake Allatoona that has a great view of a long trestle used by CSX along it’s Western & Atlantic subdivision which crosses the lake. The W&A sees 40-60 trains in 24 hours, and the campground is about 3 miles from CSX’s Junita yards in Cartersville. Here’s a link to the Red Top Mountain State Park website, which the campground is part of: http://www.notatlanta.org/redtop.html. Also here’s the lake’s link: http://notatlanta.org/allatoona.html Also, here’s a site that has pretty good info on the line: http://www.smmrailphotos.net/
Coldest night of the year and we get asked that question? Ouch![|)]…Tomah, CO & Larkspur on the joint line come to mind…along with Glenwood Canyon near No Name.
Haven’t the valleys around Gunnison been dropping to near -35F lately? BRRRRRRR!!!
its not a campground so to speak but the deshler railpark does have electric hook up for campers at the railpark.Most people pitch a tent or sleep in there cars in the summer time.since i’ve aquired a truckcap we have an air matress in the back of the truck.
stay safe
joe
Yeah, the temps in Gunnison has been gettin’ down there lately (typical this time of the year). Everytime we go camping at Blue Mesa, my wife starts talking about wanting to move to Gunnison. Of course we only go camping there in the summer…
…part of the local “ambiance” that is Gunnison [:-^]
(Our favorite B&B is there - so much for roughing it with these old feathers)…and then there is the lawsuit between International Falls, MN and Fraser, CO over the right to be called the “IceBox of the Nation”…nobody asked Gunnison.
Muddy Feathers
Yeah, that debate has been going on for a while. It all depends on which year one refers to. And if it is daily records, or daily average, or monthly records, yearly records, etc. If one picks the right set of data, one can support almost any hypothesis.
In 1997 our family did a vacation in CO. We stayed at the KOA Kampground in Castle Rock, CO (between Colorado Springs and Dener on the west side of I-25). We had to cross the BNSF to get into the campground. I believe the Denver & Rio Grande was on the East side of I-25 and with the agreement between UP and BNSF the southbound trains ran on BNSF and northbound ran on UP. Saw LOTS of coal trains (with helpers to Pueblo) and then saw the helprs come back on the D&RG. They even had a Frisco caboose that could be rented out as a cabin. Nice place as I remember. One day the trains were backed up all the way from CO Springs, and when we got to the campground we went down to the tracks and the engineer came out and chatted with us. Learned a lot about the job and etc. that day. He even watched as we put coins on the track!![^]
I reccomend it as a great “fanning campground”.
Jared
I believe you are talking about the campground off of the Tomah Rd exit, just south of Castle Rock. That seems like a really good spot to me. I always wondered if you could camp in the caboose, so I guess that answers that question.
While not a regular campground some friends down the road from us, cleared out some campsites in the woods behind their house and we camp there a lot. You can watch trains running the St. Louis-Indy tracks cross the field. This pic will give you an idea of the view.
There is also a grain elevator close, so we get to watch them switching in n out some days.
A great place to camp an most the time we don’t notice the trains at night.
Wyalusing State Park in western Wisconsin, by the town of Prarie Du Chien.
There is a lookout on a bluff, located right by the “Wisconsin Ridge” campgrounds. From there you have a hawk’s eye view of BNSF’s Aurora sub, which runs from Chicago to the twin cities. If you go to the boat ramp, there is a crossing, which is nice for shooting photos. There are about two trains in one hour. I think it is a great place to camp ‘n’ fan!!!
Some of my fondest railfanning memories are from camping trips- once my parents took us kids camping for the weekend at Minneopa State Park southwest of Mankato, MN. The campground sat (I don’t think it’s there anymore) right across the road from the Minneapolis-to-Omaha C&NW line, which through there has a pretty healthy grade southbound out of Mankato. I remember that breakfast on Sunday morning was interrupted by a long manifest lugging it out of town behind three or four engines pulling for all their worth. That was quite a show!
Another more recent memory is from a camping trip with my kids back in '95 or '96- we spent a weekend at the Standing Rock campground north of Wisconsin Dells, which is three miles north of town and maybe a mile northeast of the CP line through there. We all had our bicycles along, and I’d frequently hop on mine and run over to the nearest grade crossing to catch whatever was coming through if I heard a horn and wasn’t busy. I managed to get video and a few still shots of the Empire Builder on that trip!