This is a warning for all railroaders, before you leave your home train watching territory do your homework for the area you are going to be going to and what is on the way. I found this out the other day when i realized how close i was to The Loops at Old Fort. My church College & Career group made a trip to Ridgecrest which is a Lifeway Camp in NC and is also the summit of the Old Fort grade. During my stay there, I could hear but couldnt see the trains but our room was the closest to the tracks on the property and I had kept noticeing that the westbound trains would come up in run 8, and it would seem they had vanished and the next time i would hear them they would be blowing for a grade crossing a good ways further on. Little did i know at the time i was a mere 3 miles away from the fabled loops, and the reason they disappered was because they went into a tunnel, and its frustrating to know that you were so close and had no knowledge of it. Now I hope that no one else will have to go through that. As for me i know that i will definately be going back on the second annual trip, number 1 to learn more about God and his will for me, number 2, to go to the Loops even if it means walking.
One of the first things I do before going away, that is if it isn’t already a train oriented trip, is check what lines are out there or used to be as history is important too. That being said, you can miss things. I stayed with a friend at a hotel by the river in Harrisburg, Pa. once and didn’t realise for a long time that the Rockville bridge was right down the road.
This of course might drive non-train people crazy, buit that’s half the fun of it. Most of my friends were always very cooperative.
We’ve all done it. While I don’t travel for the job I have now, my last job sent me around quite a bit. I’d always do some research before going… but when doing research you need to know what are the right questions to ask too… and I wouldn’t always know that.
I’ve got quite a few really boring grade crossing shots in cases when I didn’t realize that I was a mile or so away from some fantastic location. I’ve also spent a lot of wasted time trackside seeing nothing, only to find out later that the trains ran at specific times that I had not been aware of.
There is a large book called Guide to North American Railroads ( or something like that ) Back issues are available from train shows and railroadiana dealers. It has maps and a listing of stations. If you are traveling to a given town, it will tell you what is there or used to be there.
George
When I lived in Marion, OH in 1986 (my first computer job at Fairfield Engineering - thank God that contract ran out), I never realized what a RR history that town had. Somehow it escaped my attention that the abandoned ROW just a hop, skip and a barf away from my apartment was my favorite fallen flag - Erie Lackawanna! Had I had my head screwed-on straight I’d have hiked that ROW up and down and collected every EL artifact I could’ve. Unfortunately, back then, my liver was still lamenting the loss of the party-every-night lifestyle I had in college [D)] and I didn’t do my homework, dang it.
[banghead]
I had no idea I was a mere 8 or so miles from Tunkahannock Viaduct as I raced up and down I-81 over the years. I am now. Similar story for Starruca.
I also was glad to discover that Deshler was a mere two hour road trip from where I was visiting in Michigan (which has plenty of neat stuff itself - I’ve now seen the concrete arches from Henry Ford’s electrification project).
Sometimes it takes an unrelated reminder - a post or picture on a website or and article in a magazine to clue you in.
While I was in Deshler Joe mentioned riding the Michigan Star dinner train - I drove by it while I was visiting the area this past weekend.
My “homework” usually consists of a study of the appropriate SPV Railroad Atlas (If I have it), followed by a DeLorme Atlas of the state. Between those two resources, I can usually figure out whether I’d be interested in a certain spot, and whether it’s reasonably accessible or handy to the route being covered.
A few caveats, before anyone says that this isn’t enough: I’m a little spoiled by my home area, so I’m going to have to see a lot of trains to make a detour or side trip worthwhile, and I’m not a photographer, so I have no need to locate the scenery–just the tracks! (That’s why I’m not sticking my nose into PZ’s Cedar Rapids help request–he asked for photo ops, not train ops.)
On the subject of PZ’s request, it is best to accommodate the passengers as well–keep rest stops in mind, and (at least in my case) a handy catalog listing quilt shops in the country is a good idea (modify this according to the hobby being accommodated).
Do you mean railroaders or railfans? I believe, for the sake of these pages, you mean railfan and not railroader. Railroader denotes a professional who earns his wagess working for the railroad; he may be a fan, but he is a professional. A railfan enjoys the many facets of the hobby: modeling, riding, restoring, photographing, preserving, watching, and so on. A railfan may, but more than likely doesn’t, work for a railroad. And I know of some railroaders who will take great exception to be so mislabled.
…Carl…keep those books handy and the next time you are in our home area of Pennsylvania and find time to go over to the Salisbury Viaduct near Meyersdale…Ex. route of the WM as it worked it’s way toward it’s crossing of the Allegheny range across there.
I believe you would enjoy seeing that and since there is a trail {Allegheny} across it…and that being another of your interests, at least to ride the bike on. The scenery is beautiful from up on it’s heights and one can just enjoy seeing it and not bother with the photography. The east / west ex B&O main passes under it too. It bridges a very wide valley that includes, roads and water and rails.
While up on it I have sited along it’s railing which is directed towards the mountain it’s about to cross in the next half dozen miles or so and see where the grade the Viaduct is on will point to on the mountain. They did use a tunnel to accomplish the final passage. Then it was a long slide down into Cumberland.