Archive for the 'general info' Category

Once again the SP&S 700 and SP 4449 will be in operation for a couple weekends pulling the Holiday Express in Portland.  The event is a benefit for the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation which is dedicated to the creation of a museum to showcase the area’s railroad history and provide a permanent home for the city’s three steam engines.  This year the train starts at Oaks Park and travels north.  Best wishes to the volunteers for this event, hopefully things will run smoothly.
Find out more about the event and how to purchase tickets via the ORHF website.

EMD’s SD60 lease units have had quite a life that began with their delivery in October through December of 1986.  Yes, that’s right they are 20 years old now!  On the BN and later BNSF they’ve been used in every role from emergency passenger power to slugging it out in coal service.   Today they still seem to fill a jack of all trades role.

I saw my first Oakway in Rathdrum, ID on April 11, 1987.  At that time lease power was just starting to work its way onto the BN and seeing the crisp blue and white was a refreshing change from solid Cascade Green.  Despite 20 years of wear they are still a refreshing element of an engine consist. today.

To celebrate 9079’s birthday I thought I’d dredge up this image of her just after her second birthday.  On January 7, 1989 she and a sister are lugging BN train 613 over the summit of Providence Hill.  For those of you familiar with this area, notice how many tracks appear in this photo!

 

Little has changed with the outward appearance of these units over the years.  The most noticable changes are the painting over of the GM nose logo, the addition of ditch lights, addition of some safety stickers, and addition of reflective tape as shown by 9079’s sister 9045 as it departs Vancouver, WA on 2/12/2006.

 Happy Birthday 9079, lets hear it for another 20 years!

Time for the brutally honest feedback. In the next couple of months I’ll be doing some redesign work around Dogcaught.com and I’m looking for opinions. I have a general idea of a few changes I’m going to make, but if there’s something you love or hate around here, please respond with a comment. I’m curious what folks like about the current design and what’s on the page, and I’m also curious what folks think might be missing or should be changed.

note: I’m already aware that the current site design doesn’t work well at lower screen resolutions due to the width of the photos.

Tell me what you think. I can’t make any guarantees as to what will or won’t change but I’m open to ideas. Please share! If you’d rather not post a comment here publicly you can e-mail me privately and give me your thoughts as well, although I’d encourage folks to leave a comment so others can possibly expand on or respond to ideas.

Private room (tent) at McMenamin’s Olympic Club in Centralia… check.

Group of about 40-50 railfans arriving… check.

Sun going down… check.

Steve setting up the digital projection equipment… check.

Camera phone and free wi-fi so I can blog it…

Sounds like it’s time for another one of Robert’s annual slideshows.

It’s been nearly 24 hours since I first announced the Dogcaught Railroad Search Engine and the initial response has been great.

Looking at the statistics, nearly 1,000 searches have been performed.

I’ve had about a dozen folks contact me to request that I include their website in the list of sites searched, and I’ve included them all.  If you discover I’m omitting any good railroad or railfan web sources, please drop me an e-mail.

Please let your friends and colleagues with an interest in railroading know about the search engine, and thanks for the positive responses so far!

Google is great for finding assorted railroad and railfan-related things online, but sometimes the number of results can be overwhelming, including spam sites or things not really related to our hobby. Using some new tools Google has created, I’ve put together a search engine focusing only on hand-selected railroad and railfan related websites.

Sites included are discussion forums, railroad sites, railfan sites, member websites from services such as Trainorders and Trainweb, and more, all hand-chosen to avoid any spam or such.

The Dogcaught Railroad Search Engine can be found on this site at http://www.dogcaught.com/search

Check it out. If you maintain a railroad/railfan website and you can’t find your content, drop me an email (ahockley@gmail.com) so I can be sure your site is included.

The Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation has announced the Holiday Express excursions for 2006 which will feature both the SP 4449 and the SP&S 700 steam engines leading the trains north from Oaks Park in Portland.

For more information check out their website.  This is a fun event for families and the proceeds go directly to the ORHF which is dedicated to building a permanent museum of railroading in the Portland area and a permanent home for the city’s three steam engines.

I think the difference between a foamer, FRN, etc and a photographer can be summed up in this RailroadForums thread.

Only a foamer could say that’s a good looking consist. A photographer looks at that mis-matched bunch of crud with no consistent lines and wonders whether or not to even press the shutter button…

On Sunday I found my self in the Columbia Gorge despite the less than stellar weather.  Still a nice fall day in the Gorge provides enough light to capture some interesting photos. 

With Mt. Hood hiding behind the clouds, I found a different way to photograph an eastbound UP manifest between Rowena and Crates.  Just as I hopped back in the truck the rain started.

From Murdock I drove west and through the rain shower.  I passed a westbound UP waiting in the Meno siding so I decided I’d head to the Bonneville Dam area and a photo I’ve long wanted to take.  I think this is an interesting location with the collection of trees and bridges.

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On my recent visit to the Columbia River sub I ended up on Trinidad hill (west of Quincy, WA) each day around sunset.  Since Trinidad is so accessible it made for a great place to be after dark.  To make it better, there are several locations that have objects that add to the interest of night photos.

At MP 1622.2 an eastbound Boeing special lights up the detector, signal 1622.3, and the surrounding hills.  Exposure 86s @ f/16.  Headlights provided by BNSF 2075.

Another great location for night photos is Tunnel 11 between Trinidad and Quincy.  The configuration of the east end opens up opportunities to peer into the bore as evidenced by this eastbound Z train climbing up from the Columbia River.  P.S. I don’t recommend you follow any advice written in graffiti on tunnels.

We’ve talked about sensor dust and cleaning the sensor a few times on here, so I got a chuckle out of today’s WhatTheDuck comic strip about it…

It’s about time I talked a bit about the photography gear I use.  While I believe its not the gear that makes the photograph, a quality body and lenses do help with ensuring the technical aspects of the image are the best they can be.  With that in mind, here’s what I carry…

My camera body is a 8 mega pixel Canon EOS-20D DSLR.  I purchased it in February of 2005 after I watched the excellent quality photos produced by my FoamersNW cohorts and their DSLRs.  As is typical with the digital camera arena it was pretty much outdated 6 months to a year after purchase, but balancing budget and quality I feel like it will serve me well for a solid 5 years.  I figure by then the ‘gotta have a new one bug’ will bite.

Again, learning from my FoamersNW cohorts I chose to take the extra time and save up my money to purchase good quality lenses.  I read lots of reviews and opinions and came to the conclusion that if I spent the extra money on a couple of quality zoom lenses I would be very satisfied with the quality of the photos and I would be able to retain the zoom feature that seems to work well for railfanning.

The first lens I decided on is the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS.  I don’t know exactly where to start with my comments on this lens because honestly it does everything I ask it to do and the images are consistently outstanding technically.  It is a workhorse that retains excellent quality throughout the zoom and aperture ranges.  The trade off here is weight, to obtain f/2.8 there is a lot of glass in this lens which weighs in at 3.5 lbs.

To complete my zoom range I purchased the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L.  At the time I was planning to purchase this lens the reviews were very mixed, some had superior results and some had images that were consistently soft.  About 6 months before I purchased Canon recalled all of the lenses and replaced them because of a manufacturing defect.  From that point on everyone raved about the lens with the only gripe remaining that the lens was soft around the edges at 24mm with the aperture wide open.  I purchased and have been consistently happy with it.  The color it produces is always vibrant and accurate and the photos are always sharp (I tend not to pixel peep, so the claims of softness in the corners has never been proven by me).

I wanted to extend my reach a bit without a big cash outlay so I purchased an EF 1.4X II Extender. Extenders are somewhat of a compromise but combined with the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS the results are outstanding.

One nice feature of the lenses I purchased is they all accept 77mm filters! Last spring I purchased a B+W Slim MRC Circular Polarizer.  The best use I found for this tool was during my visit to Stampede Pass.  At the high sun times the glare off the green trees was tremendous.  I used the polarizer to cut that a bit.  This polarizer works quite well and in most applications just using a bit of polarizing is sufficient.  Apply too much give you that “I have a polarizer on” look which I’m not a fan of.

To hold the whole kit I purchased a Tamrac Expedition 5 5575 backpack-style bag.  This bag is designed to hold a body with the 70-200mm f/28.L mounted down the center pocket.  All of the interior walls are Velcro mounted to the outside wall so this bag can be configured most any way to hold additional lens and accessories.  As I’ve added accessories or reconfigured to carry other items (like food when hiking) I found it quick and easy to rearrange.  A tripod can be strapped to the outside to form a complete kit.  I have used this bag on a couple of hiking trips (for railfanning and pleasure) and even though it weighed nearly 15 lbs. with camera, tripod, food, and water it was very easy on my back and shoulders. 

I use a Gitzo GT2530 Mountaineer 6X tripod with a Really Right Stuff BH-40 LRII head to support my camera.  The Gitzo is rock steady and doesn’t deflect under the weight of my gear.  The BH-40 is a fabulous piece of gear that is designed for the success of the photographer.  It is wholly capable of handling all my gear and does not go overboard with its size or weight.  Both the tripod and head operate very smoothly and make the business of camera support simple and easy. I also have Bogen leveling base for panoramas and a Cabellas window mount just in case I get really lazy and have to sit in the truck to take photos.

I of course have the usual extras in my bag, a remote release (Canon RS-80N3), extra memory cards (mostly SanDisk Extreme IV and Ultra II) and lens cleaning rags.  What I consider my best accessory purchase is an Op/Tech Pro Loop Strap for the camera.  This strap is quite wide, made of foam rubber and has several elastic pieces around the neck area to absorb shock.  It literally turned my camera with 70-200mm f/2.8L mounted into a feather weight.  Its a bargain at just over $20. 

As time and budget permit I plan to purchase some items on my “wish list” which currently includes the parts for the tripod revamp project previously mentioned and an EF 16-35 f/2.8L II.

After my visit to Stampede Pass last month where I stumbled onto the original switchback route, I spent some time on the Internet looking for more information about that line’s history.  What I found cemented my belief that historic documentation AND access to that documentation is vital.

My initial Google searches on the switchbacks turned up some basic information on the history of the switchback route, but I wanted more.  I wanted a map, photos, and detailed dates of operation.  So I headed for the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association (NPRHA) website.  Clicking the research button I was presented with a search box…I typed in Stampede.  Within moments I had located 3 relevant articles (including maps, photos, and documentation on the operation!) on the switchbacks from NPRHA’s publication The Mainstreeter.  A few more clicks and I had back issues of the magazine on their way to my door step.

When the materials arrived and I was thrilled with what I found.  The issue that focused on the switchbacks put into one concise article all of the facts from various NP documents, news articles, and previous publications.  There was some serious work put into the creation of the article including quite a bit of hiking and scouting to verify things like trestle locations (NP documents included some discrepancies which were cleared up during the scouting trip).  In my mind this was just one example of the consistently outstanding historical documentation from this group.

I tell you that story to make the point that we all need to be conscious of historic preservation as we go about our railfanning.  Though we may not think it is all that impressive today to see 3 orange Dash-9s on the point of a train changing crews at the Vancouver Yard office, someday having documentation of that act will be valuable historical knowledge.  I encourage all of us to carefully document our photographs and include some contextual information about why the subject we photographed is important in addition to the usual who, what, when, and where information.  I also believe we should make that information available for indexing and eventual searching like the NPRHA has (technology should aid us with this over time).  

Thank you NPRHA for reminding me of the importance of historic preservation!

 

A couple of Saturday’s ago I went to a railfan slide show (not a multi-media presentation) in Portland that was attended by many nationally and regionally known railfan photographers.  It seems in the past few years at these gatherings, a discussion of film vs. digital always breaks out.  This time was no different and the discussion this time made me more aware of one of the barriers to entry into the digital world.  One of the film photographers commented he’d attempted digital but has been less than impressed by the results.  The common theme was the images just didn’t look as good out of the camera as slides. 

I’ll agree with him on that point because DSLR produced digital images (as we know them today) need post processing.  I have to believe that this is the most complicated transition point for a film shooter who is used to the images arriving in a yellow box fit for showing. 

How to handle images after loading them onto the computer can be an adventure because unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view) there is no single ‘perfect’ post processing workflow.  My film friends should not be frightened by this though because there is help available.  I have found three workflow tutorials that I return to over and over for guidance.  These are Workflow Guidelines on the Fred Miranda Post-processing & Printing forum and Luminous Landscape tutorials A Digital Workflow Primer and An Image Processing Workflow.  All three are written for the full version of Photoshop (6, 7, CS) so using a different tool requires adaptation, however the general concepts still apply.

These tutorials will probably not make new digital photographers experts overnight, but I hope they will help others improve their output like they helped me.

One last note on the film vs. digital discussion.  Most of the traditional film photographers agreed that digital will likely take over eventually. Until it becomes impossible for them to use film most agreed that they’ll be sticking to it for the foreseeable future.  In my opinion this is just fine as they are comfortable with the medium and they still produce long lasting quality images.

Next Saturday the 16th I’ll be leaving for my big railfan trip this year. I’ll be riding the Coast Starlight to Sacramento, then taking the California Zephyr east to Denver. From there I’m renting a car and driving up to the Powder River Basin for a few days. Then I’ll head back to Denver and have about a day and a half for the Moffat line before flying home the following Saturday.

If anyone has any Powder River / Moffat / Front Range / whatever tips or such and feels like throwing them my way, either post it as a comment or drop me an email.

For the railfan photographers out there I ran across a new Internet magazine for you to look at.  It is called Railway Photography.  As you read through it you’ll notice the content is distinctly European though, according to the editors notes, the goal is to expand outside the borders of the UK.  The photographs presented are quite nice and it is fun to notice the differences between typical trains in the U.S. 

My last experience redeeming Amtrak Guest Rewards points for travel was a bad one, with an agent who was hard to understand, couldn’t provide definitive answers, and didn’t seem to know much about train travel in general.

I’m happy to report that today I had a much better experience… in fact, I doubt it could have been any smoother. Next month I’ll be taking a railfan trip to Colorado and Wyoming, and I’ll be getting there via Amtrak to Denver. I wanted to redeem Guest Reward points for a roomette from Vancouver, WA to Sacramento on #11, followed by a roomette on #6 east to Denver.

I called the 800-number and after “Jackie” confirmed my rewards number and phone, she asked if I would be booking sleeper travel. I said yes, and she brought another agent, “Mike” onto the line. Mike handled the reservation and it was perfect. He was able to book me on the exact trip I wanted. He even noted that the system had booked me into lower-level rooms and asked if I would prefer upper level. He then read to me the list of all available rooms/cars on those trains and asked exactly which one I wanted.

Mike confirmed the train numbers, arrival/departure times, and all other pertinent information. He asked if I’d like to have the tickets mailed or pick them up at a station. He confirmed my e-mail address and sent a reservation confirmation via e-mail.

My experience with Mike today was exactly how every Amtrak customer service experience should be.

How many of you have a picture of your first time?  As I mentioned in my recent post on Stampede my first railfan adventure was in the spring of 1977 on a visit to Stampede Pass.  Here I am outside of Tunnel 4 in full railfan regalia topped off with a BN logo on my pinstripe hat.  Classic.

So what’s changed in this photo?  Station sign Stampede has moved to a new home (most literally).  It now resides on the other side of Tunnel 4 at was is considered ‘Old Stampede’.  This location is no longer the east end of the Stampede siding and this point is no longer under CTC control (TWC now).  The speed board just west of the tunnel is gone, replaced by a constant 20 mph from Lester to Easton.  There’s a speeder set off just west of the speed board, that’s of course gone.  During the reopening of the pass in 1996, the wood ties were replaced by concrete up to the west portal.  Surprisingly the Tunnel 4 snowshed is the same, virtually unchanged after 30 years.  Wish I could say that about me, I’ve grown another couple of feet and have facial hair.

This photo was snapped with a Kodak Instamatic camera and the film developed by King Size Photo in Seattle on Kodak paper.  The paper has a ‘Magicstick’ backing to peel and stick into your photo album.  The original photo is in surprisingly good shape after 30 years.

 

As I mentioned a few days ago, lately I have been expanding my photography interests beyond the world of railroading.  In order to showcase a wider selection of my photography I have started a photoblog.  There are several posts up now, and it will be updated several times a week with new photos and photo-related material.

Dogcaught will still be the home to my railroad photograpy, writing, and trip reports.  Things aren’t changing here, but if you’re looking to keep up with a wider selection of my photography, check out the new site.

I see that the Blog Herald has blogrolled and pointed to Dogcaught this morning, and if that’s how you got here, welcome! (Welcome to all my regular readers as well)

Feel free to poke around the site. There’s links by category and date on the left, and you can also view either my photo gallery or Steve’s photo gallery as well.

If you find us interesting, subscribe to the RSS feed. Again, welcome and enjoy!