Durchsuchen nach
Monat: Juli 2016

Picture of the day
Easterners go West

Picture of the day
Easterners go West

getting up early mostly gets rewarded- at least when you’re a rail-fan. This interesting trio at the point of a heavy BNSF coal train is only part of the story. Besides a Norfolk Southern and a CSX locomotive, both houndreds of miles away from home, the big part of the hopper cars still is in BN green. In addition the train had some DPU units in front of the last third as well as pushers. I did this shot of the nice consist…

Weiterlesen Weiterlesen

Picture of the day
Heading into the night

Picture of the day
Heading into the night

Two of the many ES44C4 locomotives built by General Electric for BNSF leading a double stack container train into the night east of Gallup, NM. The shadows have reached the bottom of the valley already but the sun still gives the clouds some colored texture. A long day of train watching along the „BNSF Transcon“ on New Mexico comes to an end.

Picture of the day
Bolack Electromechanical Museum

Picture of the day
Bolack Electromechanical Museum

One never knows what the next day will bring and the the Bolack Electromechanical Museum in Farmington NM is definitely a pleasant surprise on this tour- especially for a dedicated engineer like me. The museum is located at the B-Square Ranch, a private wildlife refuge, working farm and home of two museums established by Tom and Tommy Bolack. The collection occupies three large halls as well as considerable outdoor space. Besides of the (most likely) largest collection of pintype glass insulators in…

Weiterlesen Weiterlesen

Picture of the day
Santa Fe Junction, Kansas City

Picture of the day
Santa Fe Junction, Kansas City

Today we go back in time a little bit. On one hand side this is a picture taken earlier on my tour in Kansas City, MO on July 19th 2016. On the other hand we have two SD 40-2s, still in Santa Fe dress, pulling a local through famous Santa Fe junction. These 35 years old units prove that they’re still able to contribute to operations of BNSF. Thanks a lot to John Rus, a local rail-fan I met down…

Weiterlesen Weiterlesen

Picture of the day
Railfanning the C&TS

Picture of the day
Railfanning the C&TS

PLEASE OPEN THIS POST FOR A SOUND SAMPLE! After riding the Cumbers & Toltec Scenic Railroad the day before it was time to follow the train on its way up to Cumbers pass. The slow speed as well as close proximity of rails and highway 17 make chasing the train a fun trip. Once reaching Los Pinos with the significant water tank the road and track separate. Meanwhile the daily, monsoon season, storm rolled in and it is time to head…

Weiterlesen Weiterlesen

Picture of the day
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic R.R.

Picture of the day
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic R.R.

Rail fans and families enjoy a ride in the open car on a train of the Cumbers & Toltec Scenic Railroad. On its 64 miles ( approx. 103 km) journey from Chama, NM to Antonito, CO the train climbs steep mountain passes, clings to canyon walls and travels across the high desert. On a slow but steady pace, it takes the „classic“ D&RGW K36 narrow gauge steam engine #489 about 6 1/2 hrs (2 hr. lunch stop included) to get the consist across the line….

Weiterlesen Weiterlesen

Picture of the day
Railfanning in Colorado

Picture of the day
Railfanning in Colorado

A San Luis and Rio Grande train catches the last sun rays of the day outside Alamosa, CO. The little regional line is known for its multifarious collection of rolling stock. Earlier in the day I met Amtrak train #5, the westbound California Zephyr, while battling the grade up to Moffat tunnel. The line from Denver up the Front Range is a scenic gem but unfortunately, especially since the general decline in coal shipments, traffic is on a record low- in particular on…

Weiterlesen Weiterlesen

Picture of the day
Heritage steam times two

Picture of the day
Heritage steam times two

Nowadays it is not an every day event to see an operating steam locomotive. Therefore, today I was extremely lucky to witness not just one but two engines pulling trains under their own power. For that reason this post features two pictures of the day. The header for this post shows UP844, one of the largest steam engines operating these days. It had the UP „Rio Grande“ heritage unit 1989 as well as the beautiful UP excursion consist in tow. I watched the…

Weiterlesen Weiterlesen

Railfanning along the
North Easter Corridor-
Boston to Philadelphia

Railfanning along the
North Easter Corridor-
Boston to Philadelphia

The North East Corridor always draw attention to me. This line from Washington DC to Boston is different in many ways. It is mostly passenger traffic- long distance and commuter. The NEC is operated at pretty high speed over more than 100 year old infrastructure. The line features four tracks from Philadelphia to New Haven and is electrified all the way! In a nutshell- heavy electrics pulling high speed passenger trains in an urban and costal setting – a must see! Getting…

Weiterlesen Weiterlesen