Wheres your favorite spot for trainwatching…just wondering where i should visit next.
My favorite spot is Caliente in The Tehachapi Mountains in California. Recently my friend and I stayed in a hotel just across the road from the tracks in the town of Tehachapi. The Loop is about 3 miles away via a winding road that is near the tracks much of the way. The hotel we stayed at had a restaurant next to it that had a railroad theme. You can see the trains through the front window of the restaurant. The hotel is the Best Western Mountain Inn. Their phone number is (661) 822-5591.
When we were in the area it is possible to view trains all the way from Bakersfield to Mohave. It is not too far to Cajon Pass and the big yard at Barstow. We even chased a train all the way from Bakersfield to Mohave. What a fun thing to do!
I would like to recommend this to you.
…Horseshoe Curve. Sights, sounds and beautiful scenery. History.
From the left hand seat of the lead unit…
LC
JUST LIKE LIMITED CLEAR IT IS FROM THE FRONT OF THE LEAD UNIT MOST PREFERRABLY ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE WHEN I AM RUNNING IT
Funny you should mention that Best Western in Tehachapi. A few years back I was on a business trip in the L.A. area with Jim Kelly, then managing editor of Model Railroader magazine and a Tehachapi junkie. For a cheaper flight, we booked a Saturday stay and planned to go up to the loop on Saturday afternoon and then spend the night at that Best Western. To make a long story short, it snowed like crazy up there, closed the interstate highway, and forced us into the hotel bar for the afternoon (and evening) to watch the NCAA tournament. (That rental car was not going up to the loop that night.) What a night. A bus-load of people showed up with the most interesting investment objective. They had been up to Bakersfield to visit a ostrich farm that they were investors in. I guess they thought ostrich burgers were really going to take off.
Anyway, the next morning provided some great shots of the snow-covered loop. And wouldn’t you know it, my Minolta X-700 camera’s shutter failed. What was a bullet-proof camera to that point, let me down at the most inopportune time.[:(]
That area is great. And since it’s relatively close to Cajon, you can kill two birds with one stone. Also, check TRAINS’ Hot Spots book for other ideas in Southern California and other areas.
Erik
Hey, no fair! [:)]
(Thanks for not mentioning what brand of locomotive. I’d hate to see that battle flair up again.) [;)]
Erik
If you haven’t tried Kansas City, I’d highly recommend it. There’s a ton of rail activity and one of my favorite restaurants in the U.S.: The Powerhouse in Parkville, MO. It’s a micro-brewery/restuarant in the old powerhouse for the local college. It’s literally right on the tracks. The best part… they have a beer garden on the second floor that’s adjact to the tracks. It’s the best railfanning after the sun goes down that I’ve ever experienced. Of course, the cold pints might have something to do with that.
The last time I was there I took photos and video. I’ll try to get an article on Trains.com soon.
Erik
My wife and I have been there. Good food and great trackside action[:D][^]
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Augusta, KS down by the depot. BNSF comes zipping thru at 50mph, out in the country at 70mph. This is the Emporia Sub route.
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Kansas City: Union Station and Argentine Yard. The trains move slower but Union Station provides many vantage points from the Main St. bridge, Science City, the parking lot, or, if you have a good pair of binoculars, from atop the recently reopened Liberty Memorial. You can see UP, BNSF, and AMTRAK. At Argentine Yard there’s a bride with a sidewalk and chainlink fence. Not the highway bridge but the other one.
There are lots of other spots but KC is big and easy to get lost in. Union Station is probably the safest area in town for train watchers. Trains Mag. should do their next trackside guide there. They havn’t profiled KC since the Union Station article in 1999 or the Argentine Yard in 2000. Some things have changed (improved) since then.
I have a website and am working on putting in my KC pics. If you want to see my Augusta Depot pics go to http://www.kansaspacific.mysitespace.com/railfan.html
Riverfront Park by the dam in Chattanooga Tn.NS trains entering and leaving Debutts Yard on the big double track bridge over the Tn River 24/7.
From the outside platform of our control tower. We can see not only our yard, the PTRA North Yard, but UP’s Basin yard, a interlocker, the city docks and our storage yard at the turning basin, the east entrance to UPs (former SP) Englewood yard, and the west leg of the Katy Wye, along with the center pivot swing bridge, #5A, across Buffaloe Bayou.
Around sunset, with a cup of coffee, kicked back in a chair with the radio turned down just enough to hear whats going on. Shame I cant take a camera up there with me, we just put another “Windmill train” together for Uncle Pete to haul, I dont know where this one is going, but its not as big as the ones for California.
So if you get bored of trains, you can watch them turn ocean going ships around and dock them. We are only a few miles from Hobby airport, right in the take off pattern, so you can plane spot too!
And they pay me to work here!
Stay Frosty,
Ed[:D]
I love to watch trains at Newburn Tennessee depot . It`s a very very busy place.
I also like to watch trains at Nashville Tennessee.
Memphis Tennessee I think is the busiest place in the U.S.A.
Anywhere from Defiance to Deshler ohio.If matt is with me Lattys grove park.
stay safe
joe
Three spots:
- The BNSF Eola yard accross the tracks from the yard office. There is a small dirt parking area the railroad keeps mowed of weeds for us (thanks BNSF) and lots of us foamers gather on weekends and other times.
- The Naperville, IL station on BNSF triple track main. Lots of action almost all the time with BNSF freight, Metra and Amtrak. I especially like Friday nights parked along the main with a Burger King and the company of my wonderfull and understanding wife.
- The railroad park at Rochelle…enough said about that already many times before.
Jim
Princeton Junction New Jersey. Watching the Amtrak standard trains fly past at over 100 and then the Acelas at well over that speed is railroading as it should be. NJ Transit keeps the line busy too. Quite a bit of variety for a passenger line.
…Ed, you’re mention of “putting another wind mill train together”…If you actually mean electricity generating wind mills…We now have about 20 of them…I believe they come from Scandinavia, in my home area of western Pennsylvania. They are huge…! The supporting shaft is 210’high and each of the 3-bladed props are 95’ long. They do operate when the wind is not even brisk…I believe from about 8 to 55 Mph wind is the operating range. They are massive in size.
ive already spent alot of time along the csx from the chicago area to fostoria where i just visited a few weeks ago. very exciting indeed. this year in march i visited kansas city. i spent most of the time around the Olathe area. i explored most of the chicago area and spent many of my childhood years along the bnsf at lagrange or the NS ex-conrail chicago line.i have recently been intereted in the berea ohio area. do you think i should plan a trip here or no. i live in wisconsin so california may be a bit to far.
Santa Fe JCT here in KC is one of my favorite spots. There are other areas in the “bottoms” to watch trains. Just make sure you take photographs and leave footprints, AND DON’T stay after dark. Topeka, Ks, on UP’s Marysville Sub is another good place. Also, I visit BNSF’s ex ATSF shops there.
Harrisburg Union Station, lots of freight and passenger trains go through here, excellent variety of traffic, everytime I’ve been here its a good show.
James
www.parail.com