Yards, mainline? In your hometown, hundreds of miles away?
I am going to say mine is Folkston, Ga. (about 350 miles).
Yards, mainline? In your hometown, hundreds of miles away?
I am going to say mine is Folkston, Ga. (about 350 miles).
La Crosse, Wi. Right along the Mississippi River the CP and BNSF cross each other here. This is the crossing of the two railroads’ mainlines from Chicago to St Paul, and there can be upwards of 60 trains in 24 hours here sometimes, and it can be great shooting. It’s about a two hour one way trip for me to get there, but it’s always worth it. I usually don’t stick at the diamond much though, I prefer to go up or down the River where there is much better scenery and once can get much better photographs. Sure, I miss a few trains that way, but I consider it better than 30 photos of trains at the exact same place…
Noah
The S curve about one mile east of the Hammond Indiana railroad station where the NYC and PRR mains split. Westbound trains blow for a grade crossing so you know they are coming and you can see about 1 1/2 miles to the west at Colehour yard. Within a 1/4 mile of Lake Michigan there is always a breeze. Lighting is always exceelent for taking pictures and you can get a lot of train in around the curves.
For yard action, my favorite place is Allentown, PA. You can see every part of the yard from public property and you can even talk to the hump crew from public property as they work the hump! For mainline action, anywhere around the Altoona, PA area along the old PRR. My favorite spot for sentimental reasons is anywhere in NJ along the old Erie watching NJ Transit commuter trains roll by. I grew up with the ERIE and Erie-Lackawanna…
My favorite spot is in Buffalo NYSSR on the ex-NYC main at Old Broadway and N. Odgen sts, One can see action in the south west end of Frontier yard, some of the action in the north side, and lots of action on the mains if the trains can keep out of one another’s way. There can be problems here, but thats the world in 2006. XSC [censored] , oops, CSX [censored]! Just beware of the rouge employee that calls the BPD on railfans, even if they are on a city street. And do not argue with the BPD they are angry and looking for an excuse to [censored] with anyone they can[censored] with.
Railfan1- I 100% agree with you on that one. Folkston is the best, good thing I am 208 miles from there so its a pretty easy ride I also go atleast twice a year. Hopefully Ernesto doesn’t ruin my plans for a Labour weekend trip. Dang am I going to be unhappy.
kevin
I gotcha beat, I am about 306 miles North of there.
Cajon Pass, Hill 582, The greatest railfan spot on earth, hands down !!!
That place is on my wish list!
Downtown flagstaff, AZ, at the station. Seems the whole of China comes by in containers continuously.
One of the best spots in Calif. The Tehachipi Loop.Now it has been off limits by the U.P. Thanks U.P.It was great camping and veiwing till it was designated a No Tresspassing area. I guess Cajon pass is left. Mike
Right in my back yard…Oh wait…I moved…I dont live by RR tracks any more nor the CN…Now if I wanna see a train I have to go 8 miles to see a crappy short line thats going down hill…ugh [soapbox]
Martinez, California. The former Espee P line, now a very, very busy UP and Amtrak Line with great views of the Bay and don’t forget the equally busy BNSF line with the tunnels and Alhambra Trestle
I’m going to have to say that my favorit place to railfan is up in the Mountains on the east coast, preferably up in Pennsylvania on the Sand Patch, or the Mountain Sub.
But for now I do most of my railfaning on the job at Osborn Yard in Louisville, KY.
Either Cable Crossover on the Tehachapi grade, which is visible from the side yard of the House, or a block down the street. Or the main line from Mojave to Tehachapi, which I drive along twice each work day.
crossover, you say? hmmmm yes i must check this place out this summer. last time i went on a long distance fanning trip, i only went to Winona. it was hard to decide whether to watch CP or BNSF. but if i can have both, then i’m game!
where would i find this crossover? just follow the CP?
Just a disclaimer: when I wrote that original post over a year ago my traffic level estimation was a little high. In reality I’d say it’s more like 20-40 trains a day depending on how busy each line is. But it’s still a decent amount of traffic.
Grand Crossing is the name of the location. It’s literally just south of the BNSF yard, controlled by the CP dispatcher. The problem comes in that the BNSF has put up a fence along the usual parking spot for railfans, making hard to get good photos. But if you just want to watch trains, it’s the place to be. I prefer good photos though, so I always head south of the BNSF/Wisconsin side or north on the CP/Minnesota side of the river.
The easiest way to get there (I think) is to get off the interstate at exit 4, highway 157 headed south. In a short ways that will “T” into highway 16, and take a right. In around a mile you’ll turn west (right) onto County B. Eventually you’ll go up an overpass right over the top of grand crossing. Just after coming back down again, you’ll see a road that turns to the right and essentially heads back the way you came, only at ground level. This will lead to the west side of Grand Crossing, where most people park and sit. On a good summer day there’s almost always somebody around watching.
That’s the best way to get there I know of. Problem is I can get there and other places around La Crosse simply by driving it myself, but it’s hard to describe it as I don’t know the street names without looking them up!
Noah
Well, there really isn’t any place I like to railfan, as I’ve been railfanning about…say…5 times in my life? Let’s see, in order of best to worst:
Worcester, MA
Ayer, MA
Palmer, MA
(Those three are tied for first)
The other ones I can’t even remember the places. Must not’ve been very good.
EDIT: Also tied for first is Temple, TX. Lots of trains, and not plain old boring (to me) CSX and MBTA![:P]
aye thanks noah. and it helps that i’ve been to La Crosse numerous times, know where the tracks are, and can find my way around pretty easily. i’ll check it out as soon as i can this summer…or maybe in March. i have a show there at that time. i’ll see.
My favourite spots to Railfan are on the CPR Mainline Keewatin sub in Transcona near Plessis and Gunn Rd. the CEMR near the Bioreserve and any industrial or winding spurs in Winnipeg, those are my favourite cause the odd time you could see a Pup eg: (SW1200RS)