Archive for the 'motive power' Category

Don’t get complacent and think “That’s a boring photo I can take any day, so I won’t bother”. Things change.

For a concrete example, as long as I’ve railfanned Vancouver the transfer would always have a couple of geeps. Sure, I took lots of pictures of it. But there were plenty of days when I said “why bother”… and it appears that era is now through.

This week I’ve seen the transfer on three days… each day with a widecab GE… C44-9W units on two days, and a B40-8W today.

For nostalgia’s sake here’s a shot of a geep-led transfer.

I’d heard a rumor there was a CN unit leading an M-PASINB sitting at 8th street and figured it was a good time to go to lunch and get a roster shot, if nothing else. As I pulled down 11th street I saw the train pulling north through the yard. Oh well, I figured I missed this one due to bad luck. As I parked at the depot, I heard radio traffic indicating he was preparing to make a setout at the B yard. There was still hope, so I hopped over to Fruit Valley Road and went north. Depending on where he ended up, I had a couple ideas of where I might pull off a shot.

First I drove up to see where the power had stopped… it was out on the fill just south of the Rye junction. I drove back south and found 69th street, pulled off and drove over to the bluff above the tracks. I’d never been here before, and I’m not sure why. From my vantage point I was probably 15 feet or so above the top of the train. My plan was to wait for the train to back into the yard, get my shot, and move on. As I waited and the train was backing, a northbound UP train came by, which cluttered up the other track, leading to this, my first attempt:

As I mumbled about bad luck, I figured I would wait for a bit, since he had backed in, was now making his cut, and would then pull forward. Surely when he pulled forward I could get a cleaner shot. Well, eventually he pulled forward (and stop calling me Shirley!) but as his head end just started to become visible, I heard power behind me, and ended up with a southbound UP stack train on the other track. Sometimes it sucks when the railroad is busy. I guess I’ll deal with what I have, and I hastily recomposed my shot to get the meet:

Mildly pleased, but still a bit grumpy I hadn’t gotten a clean shot of the PASINB, I hung out a bit longer, for he would need to back up to the rear end of his train which was still on the main. The third time was the charm, and I got something like what I’d originally planned:

Perhaps my luck wasn’t so bad after all.

Shot today at Vancouver, WA - artistified in Photoshop CS:

I set out after work with the intention of shooting the westbound Z train in the golden light out on the east side of Vancouver this afternoon. I’d heard it had a clean Power Bar ES44 on the point so I figured that would make a nice shot. After waiting quite a while I finally got a train… it wasn’t the Z train, but the Camas Turn, running long-hood forward on the return trip to Vancouver.

Eventually the Z train showed up but it was late enough that the combination of headlight flare and shadows managed to hose the shot.

On an unrelated note, I just thought I’d say I love the battery life on the Canon BP511. The last time I charged my camera’s batteries was before the Mt. Rainier Scenic Steam Spectactular in mid-January, and tonight I finally got the low battery indicator. Guess it’s time for the monthly charge.

I couldn’t really get excited about taking any pictures this morning until the S-TCPBPA came down to the center with EMDX 9045 on the point. I drove over to 8th Street and got my typical 300mm tele as it came through the signals entering CTC. As a bonus, it’s one of the cleanest Oakways I’ve seen in a while…

Yes, I think this might be the most poorly-composed shot I’ve made in the past five years. Sure, it’s in focus. This was the attempt to get a shot at a new location instead of an old standby. I got down here and only had about 10 seconds to compose this shot. I knew the tracks came down a steep grade around the curve and figured it would be a nice shot as the power came around the corner. I also figured that the lighting would be such that the nose would have some light, with the sides nicely lit.

I stopped my truck, hopped out, looked around, and unfortunately this was the best I could come up with:

Nose lighting? Hah! No lighting for you! And hey, if you’re a fan of poles and lines, I’ve got plenty, starting with that big thick one right up the middle of the second locomotive and through the swoosh. The lovely pole-ness of it is almost trumped by the second pole, the one growing out of the top of the cab of the lead unit. The wire running from that pole down to the corner of the nose is an added bonus. And did you hear about the BNSF’s new extended-range antennas? That’s one of them sticking out of the top of the back of the ES44DC. Given how bad this is, I won’t even mention the assorted foreground clutter. Sigh.

So there, have a good end-of-week chuckle at my expense. I can’t believe I pressed the shutter.

OK, not actual streetcars, but that’s the way traffic was moving today through Vancouver center. It’s a shame that I couldn’t go check out the shops during my lunch hour because the trains never stopped moving through the center. As I was headed that way I heard a dogcatch crew on an H-RRBVAW say they were ready to head into the yard… I caught the train at 11th street and wished it’s power had been reversed… it had the BNSF 5309 (C44-9W, Heritage II) and the BNSF 7765 (ES44DC, Power Bar).

I zipped over the depot parking lot to shoot a 3-window winged SD60M leading a SD40-2 on the MPSPD (UP 2332, UP 3143).

As he turned the corner onto the bridge, the northbound IG1SE came off the bridge with four EMDs and pulled up to a red block at the center. When he got the signal to pull north I shot this new angle which I’m semi-happy with, and will be happier with when I do it with some morning sunlight and slightly better cropping.

I’ve been known to take pictures of people enjoying trains. Here’s a photo taken by Bob Ulberg of me as I took that shot…

Then it was back over to 11th street to catch the G-MURINB, a 2×2 grain load with the BNSF 4568 (C44-9W, Heritage II), BNSF 5408 (C44-9W, Heritage II), BNSF 4168 (C44-9W, Heritage II), and BNSF 4991 (C44-9W, Heritage II).

As soon as he cleared, I noticed another set of bright headlights at 8th street, and another train started through. This time it turned left… it was an M-PASLYD with FURX 7262 (SD40-2, Cascade Green/Black) and BNSF 890 (B40-8W, Heritage II).

There was another train sitting down at 8th street… I planned to head up to the shops but figured I’d see what he had for power. I was intrigued by the rainbow of BNSF 1059 (C44-9W, Heritage I), BNSF 7782 (ES44DC, Power Bar), and CN 2621 (C44-9WL, Black/Red/White). I thought about doing a broadside as he crossed the diamonds at the center but instead decided to drive down and catch him coming down the hill towards the Port of Vancouver. I should’ve gone with the broadside. I ended up taking what might be the worst-composed shot I’ve taken in 5 years. I’ll post it later on it’s own for y’all to laugh at.

There were more trains, but I had run out of lunch hour and it was time to continue the work thing…

Today I caught a nice surprise as the American Orient Express train came south through Vancouver. The weather was pretty much crap as you can see from the photo. I didn’t realize it at the time but once I started looking at the photos tonight it’s obvious that the AMTK 186 clobbered something in its path.

Dented, tarnished Amtrak. What a shock.

After over a month of wet gray weather, the sun returned to Vancouver for a few days. Yesterday while at 8th street I shot a Chicago-bound stack train. This photo bugs the hell out of me. As a photographer, one of the issues with composing a decent photo is trying to get things level. Things which are horizontal in real life should be horizontal in the photo. Things which are vertical in real life should be vertical in the photo. When things that should be, aren’t, the shit hits the fan and it annoys the hell out of me. I looked at this one long and hard using the grid in Photoshop. The damn train is crooked. Apparently it was crooked in real life. The preponderance of vertical things (power poles, signal masts, and building corners) are straight as verified by my Photoshop gridlines. The train is just plain crooked. I guess I should be pleased it’s an accurate photograph, I just wish I was more pleased with the real world it represents.

The sunny weather yesterday was replaced today by a nice heavy rain with a bit of wind. Yesterday I had to worry about sun angles and shadows, today my main concern was with keeping my equipment dry and avoiding raindrops on the glass. I was doing a quick drive around the Vancouver shops when I got a message from a friend that there was a UP Officer’s Special southbound at Ridgefield. The lighting was crap, the weather was crap, but a poor photo beats no photo, at least from a railfan’s perspective. I drove down to the center and got a couple shots of the UP 8358 with the Stanford and Sunset. You can get a feel for the weather from the color of the sky, the color of the background objects, and the ditch lights reflecting off the platforms.

Update: In a comment, Mike asked if the train was occupied. It was. I didn’t see activity in the Stanford, but there were several folks in the Sunset, including one who gave me a nice hearty wave from the rear observation window. The train was later referred to on the radio as the “Vice President’s Special”.

The former BN Pacific Pride unit is still in active service, although looking a little worn and not quite so proud. Today I caught it bringing the Camas Turn out of the yard.

Here’s a shot taken on Labor Day last year of the Washington Park & Zoo Railway’s steam enginer, number 1, as it chugs out towards Washington Park.

EMDX 9044 leads the G-MNSKAL across the viaduct near 5th street in Vancouver today. I need to play around with this viaduct a bit more…

Along with taking photographs, I have an obsession with tracking locomotive numbers I’ve seen. I create logs of every train I see, and put that information into a database, so that I can know such useful facts like I’ve seen all of the Amtrak F59PHI units, or that I’ve seen all the BNSF (ex ATSF) GP60B units except for #327 and #330.

One day I might see several trains and see nothing new. Today I hit the jackpot, during my lunch break I saw 6 ES44DCs, a CEFX sd40-2, a UP SD90, a UP C45ACCTE, a GP60M, and an ex-Conrail NS C40-8W all of which were “kills”.

And yes, I’ll be posting at least one photo later on…

Today’s lunch activities occurred entirely at 8th street with that being the hot spot for action. A few westbounds needed to come off the Fallbridge so that was the place to be. The weather was just about crap. Bright white skies, but not even any rain to go for any rain shots. Instead you get the mediocre stuff you see below.

When I got down there, an S-CHCTAC had completed its crew change and was waiting to go north. I decided I was going to try a new angle when he moved, but first I’d have to wait for a stinky U-INBROO to come through. It had a GP50 in faded Heritage paint with a defective numberboard:

After he cleared the stack train moved. I found my position and took a few shots. This is definitely an angle I want to explore further with some decent weather and light. It has possibilities both for close-in shots and for a wider angle such as this:

A couple more westbounds arrived (a grain train and a late Z) but I wasn’t inspired to shoot the same old crap in this light, so that was that, and that’s the end of this post.

It was a busy lunchtime today, with a fleet of westbounds providing most of the action. I went down to 8th street to meet the first one. I got there right as the crew van was pulling down for the crew change so I knew my timing was good. The train was the M-PASVAW with EMD 9090 (SD60, Oakway) and MRL 263 (SD40-2XR, blue/black Operation Lifesaver) for power.

Steve showed up and I gave him a copy of a show I’m screening for potential GorgeRail material, and before too long Bob showed up as well so we chatted for a bit. We drove over to the depot and caught the GSETKA coming off the Columbia River drawbridge with the CEFX 104 (SD90, maroon/white) and UP 5636 (AC4400CW-CTE, Building America).

I drove back to 8th street and saw the M-PASINB now up ready for its crew change. The power was BNSF 7074 (SD40-2, green/black), NREX 8543 (, gray/red), NREX 5078 (SD50, yellow/gray), BNSF 8085 (SD40-2, green/black), and MRL 262 (SD40-2XR, blue/black). Driving east I would catch two more westbounds… a G-PASEVE with BNSF 5120 (C44-9W, Heritage II), CP 6016 (SD40-2, Multi-mark), and CP 5819 (sd40-2, Dual Flags) and a unit train with CSX 7916 (C40-8W) and CSX 7575 (C40-8). Definitely a worthwhile lunch trip to add some new locomotives to my log. One of my buddies just passed 25,000 unique locomotives spotted.

I got lucky today and noticed this rarity at the Vancouver Shops… former BN 7149 (now HLCX 7149), which was an experimental locomotive once converted to run on natural gas (it now runs on diesel):

There’s days when my lunchtime railfanning results in a train or two. And then there’s days like today, which was crazy. I think I might have seen more movements and trains in 45 minutes today then I’ve ever seen in a similar period in Vancouver. I also think I saw more different locomotive models in this period than I’ve ever seen in one 45 minute period. Here’s a rundown of what I saw. I only shot pictures of one of the trains, with photos to be posted later. In the order of sighting:

• Right as I arrived at the depot, a northbound UP manifest (UP 3153, UP 3229 - both SD40-2s)
• Coming into the yard, the U-EVEROO (BNSF 158, BNSF 131, BNSF 3130 - 2 GP60Ms and a GP50)
• Sitting at 8th street, a westbound manifest (BNSF 7148, NREX 4279, BNSF 7861 - three SD40-2s, the NREX was an ex-UP unit)
• On the radio, another westbound pulling up to Eavan
• Coming around the corner to the depot, the Z-CHCPTL (BNSF 4981, BNSF 4998, BNSF 4697 - three Dash 9s)
• At the Port of Vancouver, an X-VAWsomething getting ready to leave (BNSF 4539, BNSF 4838, NS 9490 - three Dash 9s)
• A coal empty E-CECSCM at 39th Street (BNSF 8218, BNSF 5828, BNSF 8962, BNSF 7303 - SD75M, ES44AC, SD70MAC, and SD40-2)
• The M-LYDINB at 39th Street (FURX 7286, BNSF 2878, BNSF 8004, BNSF 8629 - a couple SD40-2s, a GP39M, and a B40-8)

After all this, could there be anything interesting at the shops? Just one unit… but definitely interesting. It was NS 7146, a GP60.

What a day! All in 45 minutes…

No photos today since I couldn’t find any actual moving trains (heard one right as I got back to work, of course). There was quite a bit of interesting power sitting at the shops today though. The “odd couple” pairing was MRL 352 (SD45-2XR) coupled up to BNSF 139 (GP60M). There were a few C44-9W units and SD40-2s sitting around in assorted orange and green schemes, and the rarest catch to find sitting at Vancouver: BNSF 6137, a green/black SD9.

Apparently someone doesn’t like their locomotive:

The highlight of the lunch hour was a Centralia Coal empty with a brand new ES44AC on the point. I heard him get permission to come through the yard and wanted to get a couple shots. I still think the “power bar” looks like shit on the nose of these things, but at least it was clean.

My first shot was entering CTC at 8th Street. One of these days I’ll remember to do something different here like climb up onto my truck for some elevation:

I drove out to Wintler where this guy was going to stop and wait before heading east. A few months ago they put in a bunch of concrete barriers where foamers used to park, along with huge “No Parking — Tow Away Zone” signs all along any area for parking. Sure, I could’ve drove down near Wintler Park and used one of the official parking lots, but I’m a lazy guy on a lunch break. When in doubt, just stop your pickup in the middle of the (not at all busy) road, hop out, take your shot, and get back in:

I had a decent lunch break today, seeing a few trains and some interesting power around Vancouver. No photos for now until I have a monitor that’s properly displaying colors (will be ordered sometime this week).

I headed down to the depot, with radio silence and no trains visible even as I arrived Fortunately things started moving, right on time… someone got clearance into the yard… that someone turned out to be the shipyard job.

Shortly thereafter, the ZSEMN pulled down to wait for the Columbia River Drawbridge to close, with an assortment of power: UP 3826, 5438, and 2730 (patch speed-lettered SD40-2).

I cruised down to 8th street to get a telephoto shot of the next eastbound as he left the middle lead. Telephoto shots across two grade crossings can be tricky, because inevitably some assclown will drive right into your shot. I think I did okay… results will be posted next week once I am in happy-monitor land. The train was the M-EVEPAS with BNSF 3717, 140, 7074, and 6709, each in a different paint scheme. As I turned to go back to my truck I noticed that wacky caboose guy (I mean that in a friendly way, Bob) down at the other end of the parking lot.

We chatted a bit and I then shot the next eastbound. I knew it had a B40-8W on the point and was hoping it would be some nice clean Orange… it was. The consist was BNSF 572, 7332, and CSX 7536, a C40-8. At that point I looped under the tracks, noting the power on a G-somethingKAL (BNSF 9460, 619, 920) and headed back to the job.