Yesterday I was up camping near White River Junction, VT, and managed to get out railfanning for a few hours. I timed it to catch Amtrak 57, the southbound Vermonter, as well as the Green Mountain Railroad’s White River Flier.
First, the Vermonter arrived from the North.
After boarding 50 or so passengers, it departed in a show of GE smoke.
Then I walked over to the White River Flier train, behind the one and only RS1 still operating in the entire world.
After the locomotive was started (see the video link at the bottom of this post!), it boarded the passengers and left northbound, crossing a gravel crossing into the yard.
Then I sprinted the length of the parking lot with DLSR, tripod, and video camera in tow, and watched the interesting car car (the oldest looking cab car I’ve ever seen!) cross the White River.
I also took a video of all the action, which includes a lot of horn from the Vermonter, starting up the RS1, and the RS1 departing.
Very true, now that I think about it. I think CP is probably the only place I consistently see GE units, with UP sometimes switching Itasca with one or two of those units, and the occasional one that strays through BNSF or CN trackage.
Also, a quick question about Proctor, since you seem to be on top of things in this area. What’s the status of the area near the engine facility? I’ve been told in the past that it’s not marked as a no trespassing zone, but I find that a bit hard to
Lots of 4449 reports! I feel guilty posting mine so stinkin’ late! But here goes:
So my alarm goes off at 4:30 AM. And I’m excited as all get-out to get going. I gathered my camera equipment, grabbed 2 sodas and some goldfish crackers, and was on my way before dawn! I was so excited the whole time I was driving. I must say I’m a fan of night drives and glad my mom allowed me to do this! But anyway, it was just starting to get blue on the horizon when I arrived in Alma. I took a pit stop there to enjoy the cool summer breeze and watch a barge go through the lock:
Just to give you an idea of how dark it still was. After an hour of nothing on the BNSF, I gave up and drove to Winona (And saw nothing on my way either. Whats the deal, BNSF?) I waited by the CP for an hour for my friends to show up. The CP was just as dead too. It’s like they knew I was coming! I was getting sick of everyone playing the UP game at this point. But about then, my friends arrived and we huffed it back north to wait on the BNSF for 4449 to arrive. When we arrived at our waiting spot, we were greeted by a southbound intermodal:
Sometimes I really hate my camera… But we decided that after this train passed, we would continue North for a better spot. Arriving at some farm area, we found our location! Back to the waiting game. Not much was happening…Of course the CP sure got busy as soon as I left it! What a shocker! Anyway, the same NS train Noah saw passed us. And I got a sub p
Ummm, I also saw the 4449… I saw it as it came past my house on the PRR branch from Bay Head to Seaside Park… It was diverted my way because I used my telopathic powers to tell the crew to change the route… Um, yeah…[:-^]
HA, I wish! And the worst part is that now, this ROW is a State highway, and backyards of Multi-Million dollar homes in Bay Head and Mantoloking. If only it was still there. I could look out my window, and watch the trains. Then I could walk a block to the beach…
Very true, now that I think about it. I think CP is probably the only place I consistently see GE units, with UP sometimes switching Itasca with one or two of those units, and the occasional one that strays through BNSF or CN trackage.
Also, a quick question about Proctor, since you seem to be on top of things in this area. What’s the status of the area near the engine facility? I’ve been told in the past that it’s not marked as a no tres
Very true, now that I think about it. I think CP is probably the only place I consistently see GE units, with UP sometimes switching Itasca with one or two of those units, and the occasional one that strays through BNSF or CN trackage.
Also, a quick question about Proctor, since you seem to be on top of things in this area. What’s the status of the area near the engine facility? I’ve been told in the past tha
I’ll have my Train Festival 2009 trip report as soon as RRPA quits acting up.
SP 4449, NKP 765, PM 1225, the Leviathan, Flagg Coal 75, Viscose 6, Little River 1, Little River 110, HESR GP40-2W 9712, SOU FP7 6133 and GLC GP35 385 were all important parts of the festival, as well as live steam trains, model trains, a mini NW 611, and tons on vendors selling all kind of unique items> think the event was very well run and the crowds, while not being the greatest for photos, were generally kept under control by the staff who ran the event very well for the thousands that came. I did get a lot of shots ruined by people walking in front of my camera while I was taking a photo, but I got more good shots than bad.
We must have driven right past each other on the the chase of the ICE train Atmo. I recognized a few other people in the photo line for that bridge, but I didn’t notice you.
Interesting back story Alex. It seems like with most any event there are stories like this that I find interesting, even though many of them are rarely made very public.
I’m actually back myself from a four day railfan trip. While most of the hard-core foamers were headed for Trainfest, I headed in the opposite direction to the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota for four days of railfanning. It was a really great trip. The weather and the trains all cooperated nicely, and I was able to get sunny, well lit shots of the four main railroads I was going after: the Twin Cities and Western, the Minnesota Commercial (including one of only two remaining RS27s running), Progressive Railway (including their only two SD units), and DME. Also included in the trip was a chase of a MILW bandit leading a mainline local, and plenty of scenic shots of class 1s all over the area. And the best part; no crowds![;)]
I’m sure it will take me a while to get pictures posted, but I’ll probably post them in four installments starting soon.
I got a bunch of my photos accepted into the TRAINS David P. Morgan Library for use in articles and such. Some were rejected, of course (like a regular 'ol perfect shot of CSX, a subject of which I’m sure they have many more that are more creative) but that was actually good, since it let me figure out that the rest got ACCEPTED and they don’t just take everything people submit! I got 7 photos accepted, out of perhaps 9 that I submitted. That feels pretty good! [^]
660 has been up north for bit. but has been working between South Itasca and Fon Du Lac. It was recently pressed into pusher service since 659 went to Proctor for a inspection.
Interesting story, Alex. Sounds like the friends of 4449 got greedy and wanted people to buy from their stand. If they didn’t come to an agreement, I bet there would’ve been very few vendors, since most had at least something involving SP 4449. Without a doubt, by far the most popular engine at Train Festival was 4449. There were times where there were basically no people around the other engines, they were all by 4449.
I’ll post my trip report here, but I’m not going to post everything due to the amount of photos taken, but I’ll put a few of each engine.
660 has been up north for bit. but has been working between South Itasca and Fon Du Lac. It was recently pressed into pusher service since 659 went to Proctor for a inspection.
Interesting story, Alex. Sounds like the friends of 4449 got greedy and wanted people to buy from their stand. If they didn’t come to an agreement, I bet there would’ve been very few vendors, since most had at least something involving SP 4449. Without a doubt, by far the most popular engine at Train Festival was 4449. There were times where there were basically no people around the other engines, they were all by 4449.
I’ll post my trip report here, but I’m not going to post everything due to the amount of photos taken, but I’ll put a few of each engine.
I caught the Disney Train Thursday, that was neat, then I got 4449 yesterday in Porter and today in Franklin Park. I won’t be able to make the CP tommorow, so today was my last time seeing 4449. A huge thanks goes out to 4449’s crew for making this once in a lifetime event occur! Though I won’t be able to make tommrow, I saw 4449 running 8 times, on display twice, and got to go into the cab. That’s more than enough footage for me! I hope 4449 comes back, but if it doesn’t, I’m happy with what I got. From Riverside to Owosso to Franklin Park, with historic water towers and skylines behind it, I got 4449. A few months ago it seemed too good to be true that 4449 was coming through the Midwest, but now I get why they call it the world’s most beautiful train! It was truely a privelege to see 4449, not once, not twice, but eleven different times, in three states and in 6 different cities.
Time for the two week report, and what a couple of weeks it was.
First up, we flash back to last Wednesday, as I trek over to the Superior side of things, as usual. What was unusual was how quiet everything was. I was after the Js, and spotted one in BNSF’s 28th Street Yard, but too deep for any pictures, and I was sure that I’d lost them. On the way south, though, I spotted an ES44DC leading a Manifest out of town.
Saunders is still undergoing construction over the bridge, and UPs Itasca Yard was pretty quiet. I head back toward home. However, out of the corner of my eye I see a headlight, and pull over. It’s the BNSF Transfer heading out rather late, led by EJ&E 659 and 665.
BNSF, I want 660 and 211 back! Also your lucky to catch that CSX SD40-2, I’m sure Alec would envy you, but he doesn’t come on here often.
Noah, can’t wait for the pictures.
Robby, nice pics, and good catch on the U-Boats and GTWs. Oh and, GOT YA! EJ&E 669 wasn’t leading the 588, I didn’t even catch it that day, Brent caught it the day before…
Now to my Trip Report…
On July 31st to August 2nd Brent came over and stayed the night. We did some of the normal area rail fanning.
But first we’ll rewind to August 27th. I had heard that an ARR RDC was heading up to Tomahawk and would be making its way through Wausau. When I got to the yard, I found this. The only thing appealing was the light.
Brent had confirmed that 712 was at Wausau, so I decided to check out and see if it was tacked on the end. Well it was one car from the back, so I walked down a little ways to get a better angle.
I haven’t seen so many rail fans in Wausau at one time. One guy worked for the ARR too…
August 1st.
Brent and I had got going around 7 in the morning, I didn’t know when the 588 south was going to leave, but I assumed it was early in the morning. Well the Wausau Switch job was working, and my conductor friend was also working it. Another plus was that RLCX 1003 was on it, which showed it was set out at Br
