I bought a new truck 2 weeks ago and took it out on a road trip around southern cal that weekend (about 400 miles worth [:D][8D]). Here are some train shots I got along the way.
First was just out of Banning
Then down in Cabazon we caught this one with former SP and DRGW units
Then down where the Whitewater diversion crosses under the tracks east of Tipton road we caught this one with a LTEX (Larrys Truck & Equiptment ???).
Then we decided it was too dang hot to be out there and headded for Cajon. Here are a few from Hill 582.
The coil steel train on #1 track (the heavy trains take the #1 downhill)
…Great photos Chad…Liked that one including the power gen wind mills. That steel coil train surely must be a heavy load…I imagine when you say it used track # 1, that must be a lower grade to enable to keep control a bit easier down the grade…
That night shot taken ahead of the train, is great…I’m a sucker for night shots anyway, and that one I really like.
Those western desert shots sure are a reminder to me of our work there in Az. Of course, very similar landscapes…
Bet you got that new pickup really dusty on those dirt roads…
Thanks Quenten, Yea, I like night shots too. I bought copcar Chris’s old Canon D60 and I really am impressed with its low light capabilities. I have taken shots (non-train) by moonlight that look like they were taken dureing the day.
You are right on the money about the grades. The #2 (normally downhill) is steeper. The coil steel trains, coal trains (when they run) and some heavy manifest trains have to come down the #1 track. It can really throw a wrench in the works. I have train dispatcher 3.5 with the Cajon sub and I can tell you that can take some real creative dispatching to deal with. Sometimes you have to have every train from Verdemont to Victorville swap tracks to keep things fluid. Sometimes you have no choice but to fleet the eastbounds and the heavy westbounds on the #1. It can be a real challenge. It’s easy to see why with the traffic at record levels and growth there is a real need for the new 3rd track. Playing dispatcher on that line has really given me insight as to why they do things that I didn’t understand before. Besides it’s a kick in the pants.
Oh, and yes, the truck got real dirty that day. I had to take it back to the dealer to have the security system installed and I could see th
I love the desert. I used to travel from Washington to see my father in Lake Havasu City, so naturally I would go from Bakersfield to Tehachapi, Barstow and Needles. Lots of train action, photo sites and friendly people.
Sorry about the slow response. Haven’t been getting in here as much between taking trips and working. The shots look great, and I really liked the night stuff. It looks like you’re starting to get the feel for that old D60. Isn’t that a great camera? Canon has made some good improvements since then, but I still don’t think anything compares to the “look” that a D60 can deliver straight out of the camera.
Thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to see the next batch!
Chris, The last trip up to Cajon the camera started doing something it never did before. When I hit the shutter button to bring the camera to life, nothing happens. I have to push it all the way and it snaps a shot as it comes to life. It doesn’t do this every time but more often then not. Do you know why it’s doing this?
That’s wild. When the camera is on, does it still focus and meter when you half-depress the shutter button? It almost sounds like a shutter button problem, but if it’s still operating correctly when it’s turned on, then I’m not sure what it is.
BTW, the power up time on that one is kind of long. I want to say it was in the 1-2 second range. If it keeps being a problem, you can adjust the time interval on when it goes to “sleep.” If you go to the yellow menu options, one is listed as “Auto Power Off,” and you have options to set it at 1,2,4,8,15 or 30 minutes. You can also shut it off (just remember to turn the camera off, or you’ll have dead batteries, though!).
Once it comes to life it meters just fine and operates normally (I don’t use autofocus but I assume it’s ok). I can sit there tapping the 1/2 over and overfor 5-10 seconds and nothing happens till I do a full press, of course then it snaps a shot. It seemed to be getting progressively worse so I tried a new C-MOS battery and it didn’t make a difference. I haven’t spent a whole lot of time trying to figure it out but I thought I’d run it by you as long as you were in here.
If I remember right, you have a 100-300mm zoom. That should be a USM ring lens. Mount that on the camera body.
Set the lens to AF.
Manually throw the focus way off, so that everything is blurry in the viewfinder.
Turn the camera on.
Half depress the shutter while aiming at something easy to focus on (anything other than a blank wall, really.)
Repeat process a couple times.
If your lens isn’t a ring USM lens, you’ll have to throw it out-of-focus before you switch it to AF. At any rate, if you still have a lot of issues and can’t get it to operate, it may be that the shutter button is getting a little worn. It probably has a lot of shutter cycles on it, and the shutter button had to get pressed on each shutter cycle. If this is the case, you should be able to take it to a repair man, and he should be able to fix it fairly cheaply.
If it does focus, and work as it should, I have no idea what the problem might be, but something doesn’t sound right. I’ll talk to a couple of the Canon folks I know, and see if it sounds familiar at all.
I drove through in there in early June, wish I could have stopped to take in some of the sights.
Im haveing a crappy morning, (small business owner headaches) and this thread cheered me up. Perfect, great shots. I love the BNSF head on and your night shot of the signal just became my new desktop.
Yeah, I bet it was hot. Summer here in Phoenix keeps railfanning at a low. [:(]
I feel ya John, I’ve been tightened up all morning myself. I am a manager caught between a old boss and a new boss, each telling me to do conflicting things[sigh]. So I decided to sit here and post some photos while they hash it out (hopefully). I just posted some from W Colton and if I have time some more from last weekend at Cajon. If you have time next time you are out this way look me up.
