If you had to choose your top three Railfanning experiances, what would they be.
Here are mine
Cranking up an ancient GP-9 at Chadbourn NC, on the Carolina Southern Railroad. I was allowed to ride my cousins bike to the railroad yard in Chadborn on the Carolina Southern Railroad. We were visiting my Aunt and Uncle.
2.Riding on the tender of a vintage White Pass and Yukon 2-8-2 Mikado at Dollywood Theme Park in Pigeon Forge Tennessee up into the Foothills of the Smokey Mountains.
3.At the South Carolina Railroad Museum. It was my cousin’s first train ride, and I wanted to make it special, so I bought tickets for the caboose. I wanted to sit in the coupla, but turns out we had to have special tickets to do so. We had to request the tickets, but they had already been sold.
I told them about it being my cousins first train ride, and Iwas worried, for when we were riding in the caboose, he seemed bored, when we got to the next crossing, we had to stop to warn cars. The conductor (A very nice man) said to follow him and don’t say a word.
My cousin looked at me and wispered “Oh, no, hes gonna kill us”. But, he took us and sat us on the rear pltform for the NW-2 switcher pulling the 2 car train (one coach and caboose) and we rode the rest of the ride there. We saw stuff that the other people didn’t get to see. On the way back, my cousin and I sang 99 bottles of pop on the wall, about 5 times during the song, the engine blew it’s horn, as if it was singing along with us.
climbing all over the Big Boy at the Denver RR museum
watching a rail grinder working very late one night
Back when we were kids, there was this abandoned interlocking tower near my house, and we’d go up in there and watch trains go by. great spot for railfanning
Cab ride on a Seaboard Coast Line U18B in Tampa when I was a teen. Engineer A.J Gaetani.
Wonderful person. After meeting him Italians became “extra cool” in my eyes!
R.I.P, amigo.
Cab ride on an Amtrak SDP40f with Engineer Randall. I had just graduated high school.
Trip to Dunellon on Chessie Express Operation LIfesaver. Since I was a member of the NRHS, I was allowed onto the cab of the 4-8-4 #614 when the train was stopped. What a beauty she was!
Sorry, I have to include this one. A long cab ride in a shiny GP38-2 back in 1981. Also used in Operation LIfesaver. The engineer even let me blow the horn!
When it came to Railfan Friendly crews, , Seaboard Coast Line was hard to beat!!!
1- A personal guided tour of Lorams RG-8 railgrinder at Tehachappi (while working) by the forman. He was railfanning the loop before work and invited my uncle,father and me to meet him when his shift started. I still have the hat he gave me, worn out as it is.
2- Getting a cabride over Tehachappi on the hottest train the UP runs through there.
3- I spent most of the day snooping around the San Bernadino shops before they were leveled to make way for the intermodial yard. There was no one around to run me off and I spent hours checking out all kinds of neet stuff.
#1: Getting a cab ride in a CP GP38-2 that was switching the local sattelite yard… #2: My first cab ride, Winter at Lake Louise Station, talking to the engineer of a WB grain while snow fell, waiting for another train in a CP AC4400. I got a reverser key and a timetable (outdated) out of that one! #3: My second cab ride, also at the sattelite yard, also AC4400, the locotrol was acting up and I watched them fix it.
Matthew
P.S. #4:P coming back from Jasper one day when I saw smoke. Turned out to be CP 2816, waiting to go up through the world famous Spiral Tunnels.
1.) Catchin UP 2002. I went railfanning on last minute that day
2.) Catchin UP 3300. I went railfanning to get away from my step-dad
3.) Catchin UP 3300 for a second time…Also a last minute trip!
1.) Taking the throttle of Valley Railroad #97 between Essex and Old Saybrook CT and back during their Hand on the Throttle Program.
2.) Riding behind Camden & Amboy’s John Bull in an 1837 vintage coach.
3.) Riding the very first excursion behind C&O 614 out of Baltimore. Her restoration had been completed just the night before and you could still smell the fresh paint scorching.
The earliest, a cab ride on the Arcade & Attica in 1962. Thank you Manly Hakes! Next, seeing NKP/ Ft. Wayne RRHS 2-8-4 765 on a “personal” chase en route from near Ripley NY to Buffalo in 1989, likely the finest chase of my life, and NO TRAFFIC! Lots of Pictures, too.Granted she wasn’t on her old home divisions (Chicago, Ft. Wayne), but there were few chances to see her on former Nickel Plate Trackage, since NS had its own steam program*. Then the ULTIMATE! Having been part of a tour of Sayre shops in January,1976 on an arctic Saturday. It was alive there that day, after the tour we went back to Buffalo along the EL, which was busy! Nearly all the trains had pairs of SD45s/SDP45s/SD45-2s,too. * Which resulted in moments 5,6 and 7. Moment 4? Having 765 to myself again, during a 1985 ferry move into Salamanca NY on the old Erie. 5: just seeing N&W 1218, in steam,6:611 at speed from the concession car (baggage door view) 7: Another story for another time.
When I got to see two trains go by within 5 minutes on the BNSF line from Portland to Pasco, both of the trains stopped next to each other and I got to see plenty of the old freight cars such as Great Northern, Northern Pacific and Burlington Northern on both of those trains, both of the trains had over 100 freight cars.
As posted elsewhere and to my great regret I’ve not been able to get to the US for the end of the FL9/F10 power on MetroNorth.
However - and bearing in mind I’ve travelled the world for loud diesels over the last twenty five years- MNCR 411 & 413 on the Harlem Valley one night in April last year, on the last shuttle of the day, takes the absolute crown.
The engineer - whom I know and won’t name in case his managers are reading - had them both nailed to notch nine from Patterson to Wassaic. Astonishing. It’ll live with me for ever.
For the record…No. 2 is UK - 40121 from Manchester Victoria to Diggle summit, August 1982.
No 3 is Belgium - Nohab 5316 Dinant - Bertrix May 1999.
Sitting in deck chairs near the chayine wyoming yard where 4 up lines are crossed by a fly over by the BNSF north south line a train about every 6 minutes[:D][:D][:D][8D][^]>>>glennbob
My first Train ride on the San Joaquin Daylight from L.A. to Oakland and return from S.P.s Third & Townsend station in San Francisco back to L.A. in a straight parlor car.I would like to retrace that trip now to see what I missed since I was 9 years old at the time.
My first cab ride on a UP GP9.
The fantrip I took from Oakland to Tracy using the SP line through Niles canyon and Altamont pass since this line is now abandoned.We returned to Oakland on the main line making a large circle.
Riding the Alaska railroad from Anchorage up to Mount McKinley park and back (1978).
Riding the Black Hills railway behind steam (2001?).
Riding the Whittier-to-Alyeska flat car shuttle (no road, so you had to drive your vehicle onto flat cars, which were then pulled through a long tunnel to the other side of the mountain), again in Alaska back in 1975. That trip was a hoot, there was a Winnebago a couple of cars up from us that we swore the wheels were actually coming up off the flat car, she was rocking so bad.
If I ever get a cab ride, this list will be revised.