Archive for August, 2008

Thanks to ObsCar I ran across an article by Jeff Brouws where he discusses railroad photography and what makes compelling railroad photography (Please read A Word on Jeff Brouws  on the page preceding Jeff’s article).  

“…it’s also important to note: when you realize everything in the railroad landscape is potential subject matter, it’s liberating and opens up pictorial possibility”  — Jeff Brouws

In the article Jeff briefly touches on some of the history of railroad photography aesthetics and offers 6 attributes that differentiate the railroad photographs of the likes of Steinheimer, Hastings, or Shaughnessy from their predecessors.

“Rail photographers of the 3/4 school were concerned with one thing: documentation, not interpretation, emotional content or aesthetics”  — Jeff Brouws

Jeff continues his discussion with examples of non-railroad photographers and their approach.  He points out that their view point was not primarily the trains but of subjects related.  Their success was based not on a compelling railroad photograph but how the photograph supported their subject and continued their story.  In fact in the discussion of Joel Sternfeld’s A Walk Along the High Line Jeff makes a strong point urging railroad photographers to look at things differently than they have because there are so many opportunities that exist.

I encourage readers of this blog to take 30 minutes and read Jeff’s article.  I believe you will come away with a fresh viewpoint about railroad photography and possibly photography in general.

http://www.rlhs.org/rlhsnews/pdfs/nl28-2.pdf 

The Great Falls subdivision is the northern half of the main line between Shelby and Laurel. At just under 100 miles it is not as long as the Laurel sub (224 miles) but packs in lots of fabulous Montana scenery. Along the way you can find scenic features such as river canyons, wheat fields, tall trestles and grain elevators. North of Ledger access becomes somewhat limited with no roads that parallel the track. This lack of roads is primarily due to the canyons used to descend to the Marias river crossing south of Naismith. The rest of the line is fairly easy to access and photograph however.

M-LAUSWE with three SD40-2s has just departed Great Falls and passes through Manchester, MT.  This area is a mix of residential and agricultural.

For my Great Falls sub railfanning I chose several locations that would work well for a northbound train in the morning. The M-LAUSWE is on duty at Great Falls around 7am and usually departs at 8am so I had to work with that schedule. Unfortunately the southbound M-SWELAU usually traverses the Great Falls sub after dark so that isn’t an option for chasing. However in the summer and fall with grain running there is a good chance for a daytime southbound empty train. Of course detours help too!

Between Vaughn and Power the track climbs up a .5% grade to get out of the Missouri river valley.  While the track speed is 49mph this train only made 25mph. 

To cross the Teton River and Muddy Creek the railroad uses two steel viaducts.  They are quite impressive since you can see them from top to bottom and from end to end unlike many of our trestles in Washington that are obscured by trees. As you drive the back roads into Collins you can begin to see them on the horizon.  They look odd because if you look towards the horizon you’d never guess there is a deep chasm to cross so seeing a steel trestle seemingly crossing a wheat field looks a bit out of place.  Once you arrive on the scene you can certainly see why they are needed.   

The location of these trestles is highly recommended for photography not only for the trestles but for the Collins grain elevator, the Collins (CIM) grain shuttle elevator, and a couple of interesting curves.  If there’s one place to visit on the Great Falls sub this is it!

 

Crossing the 2374′  long Teton River viaduct at Collins. 

If you want a wide open spaces photo there are plenty of opportunities on the Great Falls sub.  With parallel roads all you have to do is pull over to the side and point your camera at the tracks.  And then there are the canyons…

Winding through the canyon between Brady and Conrad.

North of Ledger access becomes more limited.  There are roads into Fowler and Naismith but there is not a way to chase trains through this segment.  There are a few ranch roads around but those are clearly posted no tresspassing.  

Station sign Naismith.  Don’t bother with your cell phone down here!

This will be my last post from Montana as I am packing up for a leisurely 3 day trip home.  Tonight there is a G-GVEVAW (Grove, MT to Vancouver, WA) grain train preparing to leave the shuttle elevator just down the road from Stanford.  I’m expecting the train to head north to Great Falls tonight and then on to Shelby and the Hi-Line tomorrow.  If all goes well on our trip home via Glacier Park I should see this train several times.

Thanks to maintenance of way projects on the Forsyth sub several empty coal trains from Minnesota power plants are returning to the Powder River Basin via the Great Falls and Laurel subs. This is of course fabulous for me since this will add to the normal manifest traffic. The first of the two detours that ran on Monday left Great Falls around 9am. Since most traffic out here runs in the afternoon and evening seeing a morning train was also a great surprise!

E BENBTM0 56 climbs through the canyon between Raynesford and Geyser. Don’t let anyone tell you this part of Montana is flat!

E BENBTM0 56 accelerates out of the 25 mph restriction as it passes the new elevator at Stanford

Later in the afternoon Great Falls kicked out the second detour.  At one point the dispatcher was dealing with 5 trains on the Laurel and Great Falls subs!  Needless to say he was busy issuing warrants and setting up meets.  To top it all off the track inspectors were doing heat runs!

E SPCSAM0 72 crosses Skull Creek just south of Stanford.

After negotiating a 10 mph restriction in the Winham tunnel (leaving me standing on the roof of the Yukon out in the 95 degree sun) the E SPCCAM0 72 rounds the sweeping curve into Windham.

On Wednesday another detour passed through Stanford around around 6:45am but I missed it.  No, I wasn’t sleeping, I was on the road to chase the M-LAUSWE out of Great Falls (more on that chase later) and couldn’t get a handle on its location quick enough.

On Sunday my family and I rode the Charlie Russell Chew Choo Cowboy poetry train.   The Charlie Russell Chew Choo departs from near Lewistown, MT and traverses some of the most fantastic scenery in Central Montana including three steel trestles and a tunnel!  Since my mother-in-law moved to Stanford I’ve been hoping to ride and finally on this visit the timing was perfect and we made reservations. 

Logo on the side of one of the RDCs.

The Charlie Russell Chew Choo runs over former Great Northern (first half mile from Kingston Jct.) and MIlwaukee Road track (the remaining 28 miles to Denton).  The Milwaukee line was a branch from Harlowton through Lewistown to Great Falls.  The line crossed some pretty rugged territory including three viaduct style steel trestles.  The GN line left their Shelby to Laurel main line at Moccasin with the purpose of serving Lewistown.  The two lines intersected at Spring Creek Jct.  Between Spring Creek Jct. and Hanover the MILW and GN shared a tall wooden trestle over Spring Creek which still survives but was last used in 1988.

Getting ready to depart Kingston Jct.

The Lewistown Chamber of Commerce supplies the former RDC cars and wait staff while the Central Montana Railroad provides the operating crew and locomotive.  From what I saw this is an outstanding combination. 

The CMR also maintains the track and structures also.  Because the CMR is a small operation I didn’t expect much speed wise, but other than the 10mph restrictions across the trestles we buzzed right along at 25mph.  The cross level wasn’t perfect but I’ve felt worse and judging from the amount of fresh ballast I saw dumped there are more improvements coming.

On the trip north we were served our meal and we enjoyed narration about the area.  Surprisingly we ate for the entire hour and a half it took from Kingston to Denton!  Mmmmm, prime rib!  At Denton we pulled up alongside the CMR shops and waited while the 1814 ran around the train and an air test was performed.  While we were waiting I captured a couple of CMR’s other units basking in the sun.

 CMR Power at Denton

On the return trip I was allowed to stand on the rear platform while we negotiated the Hoosac tunnel and crossed the Sage Creek trestle.   Originally the MILW line had 4 tunnels between Lewistown and Great Falls but Hoosac is the only survivor.  Hoosac allows the railroad to cross a ridge and enter the Sage Creek drainage.

North Portal Hoosac Tunnel

Sage Creek is the most inaccessible of the three spectacular bridges the train crossed.  It is also the tallest and longest.  Its remote location makes it one of the most scenic parts around this part of Montana.  Wouldn’t this be nice with a big grain train snaking over it?

Its a long way down….

 

Since Montana is still the wild west the train was held up just after we crossed the Sage Creek trestle.  Apparently this is an issue the dinner train has just about every trip.  After making lots of noise and ruckus that the crooks stopped the train, boarded, took all of our money, and rode off.   Later I spoke with the leader of the posse and he told me he’d text me when they finally caught up to the perpetrators.  At least the wild west has cell service now!

Before the crooks so rudely stole all of our money I did get a picture.  Apparently these bills are honored at all stores in Lewistown!

We had a fabulous time and thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality and entertainment on the train.  The scenery outside the window wasn’t bad either!  If you are ever in Montana, and you like prime rib and rare mileage, this is the dinner train for you!!

My normal commute involves a trip on TriMet’s MAX light rail line which parallels Union Pacific’s Graham Line along I-84 through Northeast Portland. Earlier this month our train passed a UP freight which was working hard up the grade and I hopped off at the 82nd Avenue platform, hoofed it up the stairs and across the street so that I could get a “from above” shot as the power reached our location.

Here’s a UP SD90 coming under Halsey Street:

I’m in Montana this week visiting Stanford on my annual visit to my mother-in-law’s.   After last year, I’m surprised the state and my mother-in-law let me back in…but they did so here I am again!

On our trip east yesterday after clearing the Rockies at Rogers pass I caught a warrant for the southbound freight on the radio.  He was cleared to NSS Moccasin with a clear main track at last named point.  Sounds like a meet with the northbound at Moccasin.  Doing a bit of calculating based on the fact the northbound was at Hedgesville I was pretty sure the meet would happen around 7pm.  After a dinner stop in GRF we headed east about 7:15pm.  I figured we’d meet the northbound en route and sure enough just after Raynesford I heard “EMD 9058 north approaching Geyser”.  We pulled off at my favorite location just north of Geyser and captured the train under Square Butte.  I love the scenery here!

Continuing to Stanford we arrived for a fabulous sunset.  There’s just a touch of smoke in the air so the colors are enhanced a bit.

Look for more posts over the next week, I have several fun things planned which should make for some interesting photos.

Amtrak train 27 passes over the venerable 6th St. overpass

Modern, elegant, and stylish or old, boxy, and crumbling.  How would you describe the railroad underpass at Sixth St. in Vancouver?  I’m afraid I’d have to go with the latter three descriptions just based on appearance.   Each time I drive under it I question its strength though I’m sure that its design and construction is sufficient because the trestle still does its job just fine.  I guess I’m spoiled by more modern construction that looks far more substantial and overbuilt…especially in the railroad arena. 

I thought it would be a good idea to start capturing some images of this structure since over the next few years it will be replaced as part of the re-development of the former Boise Cascade paper plant site.  From what Aaron and I gathered at the open house last winter there will be a shoo fly in place for several years while the new structure is constructed.  The new lead for the Port of Vancouver is being built with a very nice overpass structure at 6th St. and 4th St. which should allow for two 10-12 ft. auto lanes plus a bicycle lane.  Oh, and the clearance appears to be much more modern than the current 8′ 8″ height.  It will be nice to be able to pass under this without having to remove the railroad radio antenna from my rig!

Another, more ‘edgy’, version of this image is available in my gallery.

Its good to railfan with others because you usually get another point of view…if you listen.  Take this photograph of the M-SPOEVE descending from Quincy towards Trinidad.  I’ve passed this point at least one other time but until someone said “hey this is a neat spot, check out the curves” I didn’t notice them.  Once I did I was convinced this location was alright.  Now if only I had an 8,000 ft. stack train!  I find it funny that if you would have asked me what was between the crater and WSS Quincy I would have said “oh just a long straight with a slight curve”.  Live and learn!

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I’ve completed a variety of upgrades on the site; some are visible and some are behind the scenes. Nothing too dramatic has changed but there are a couple new features available to make it easier to participate in Dogcaught and share with others.

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I had one other upgrade that didn’t go as planned and will be attempted again without requiring downtime. Stay tuned.

(and since all good posts contain railroad photos, here’s one from a few years ago…)