Conrail 71's rail pics

Rio Grande Heritage Unit

2010-03-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

After a doctors appointment in Greely, Colorado I headed over to the tracks to see what was going on. Just as I arrived I heard a north bound freight approaching. I stopped by the Greely Freight Station Museum and was surprised to see one of UP's Heritage units. I chased the train north out of town and got ahead of as it was slugging up a grade. I managed to gain a couple minutes on it and crossed over to the right side of the tracks. As the end drew near I was even more surprised to see a caboose on the end of a 90+ car train.

Ft. Collins Diamond

2010-03-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

In the city of Fort Collins the BNSF runs through the center of town. Literally the tracks run up the middle of the street!

Just north of the street trackage is this diamond where the BNSF and the UP meet at grade.

While shooting the diamond a BNSF local snuck up on me! After they cleared the crossing I realised there was a UP light power move waiting to the east to cross.

Chasing UP 844 II !

2010-03-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

This series of photos were taken in Nunn,

Colorado. The 844 made several trips on

this weekend from Denver, Co. to the annual

Frontier Days celebration in Cheyenne, Wyo.

Chasing UP 844 !

2010-03-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

It has been almost a year since my last

update. Since my last post my family

and I relocated back to New York State.

I was finally able to get the print film I

shot out west developed! This is what I

got, some how I though the results would

have been more spectacular...

Union Pacific 844, day one.

2009-07-18T18:25:00.000-07:00

This morning at 7 am I found myself back in Nunn, Colorado. This time it was a planned event. I knew for a fact that UP would be running the 844 north from Denver, Co. to Chyenne, Wyo. I managed to get 10 or 12 shots with my 35mm print camera but no digital shots. This afternoon was the return trip south, so back to Nunn I went!

Now before my friends in the know get excited, I did get real pictures of the event. My digital camera is a bit of a first generation dinosaur. After shooting from the south side of Nunn we paced the train south for about 8 miles. These are the results, enjoy, if you can... Mike

GWR in Ft. Collins

2009-07-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

The GWR operates as a shortline customer in and around Ft. Collins, Colorado. They have a yard on the north side of Ft. Collins that is very easy to shoot as it is boardered on one side by a public road. I shot these 2 locomotives getting ready to switch the yard late Wednesday afternoon. The orange Geep is a chopnosed former Santa Fe GP-9.

Union Pacific stuff

2009-07-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

South of Nunn is the town of Eaton, Colorado. I got ahead of a northbund mixed freight as it left Greeley and picked a decent spot just north of Eaton. The last pic is of the yard tower at Cheyenne, Wyoming. The neat thing is that the tower sprouts up between the Route 85 overpass bridges!

Modern Railroad Action in Colorado

2009-07-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

West of Carr, Colorado, where we live, is the UP's line from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Denver. Rte. 85 parallels the single track line within 50 to 100 yards all the way south past Greeley. We caught a maintenance crew dropping ballast along the line just south of Eaton, Co. The next day we caught a south bound empty coal drag in the hole at Nunn, Co. The same day of the maint train we saw a southbound Amtrak with a pair of Genesis engines, a baggage car and 7 Super-Liner cars. The BNSF train is northbound on the former Colorado and Southern Railroad in the town of Wellington. The pic should have been better but it surprised me, I had to shoot thru my dirty windshield!

Fort Collins Trolley

2009-07-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

In the city park in Ft. Collins is a neat little operation. In the early 1900's the Colorado & Southern Railroad started a small electric street car system in the town of Fort Collins. Like most street car systems it was abandoned in the mid 1950's. A group of forward thinking individuals endevoured to rebuild the Ft. Collins street car system. Today for $1 for adults and $.50 for kids you can ride on car 21 on approximatley 2 miles of the system. Car 21 is an origional Ft. Collins car as is the newly re-acquired car 25. As we boarded the car the first thing I noticed was how the wood work and everything else in the car looked like it was brand new! The car leaves City Park and heads east for about a mile and a half on a median strip in the middle of the road. The car reverses at the end of track and heads back to the park. The car barn is west of the switch that leads to the park. An interesting feature on the line can be found about 50 yards from the car barn. The car line crosses a creek on an I beam bridge of a type I have never seen before. The rail rides across the creek on the top of a pair of I beams with no deck! NEAT!

Nebrasssssska.

2009-07-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

Travelling route 80 through Nebraska is about the most tedious thing you could possibly imagine doing. EVER! Endless prarie is dotted with numerous huge grain elevators. We had to make a fuel stop so I jumped off at the town of Chappell, Nebraska. I picked Chappell because I wanted to get a close-up shot of the American flag on the elevator next to the UP line that runs east west across the state. After getting fuel in the Penske truck I decided to explore the railsiding in the area during a torential thunder storm. On the west side of the elevator complex was a Hi-rail truck with 3 powered drive axles coupled to about 10 or 12 ballast hoppers. Just on the other side of the tracks was a GP-9 (?) lettered for the FEC, Farmer's Elevator Co-operative. I know in the shot I got it looks like a model but it's the real Magilla!

Go westtyoung man!!!

2009-07-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

As some of you may already know, the Smith Family has relocated to the GREAT state of Colorado. I will re-cap our journey soon but here are a few pics to get started...

-I shot the first pic in Iowa, I saw this hot lookin' rig coming up behind us so I shot it in the mirror of our rental truck.

-The second shot was at our second fuel stop in Nebraska. Kayla caught me checking the oil...

-Kayla took the last picture about halfway across Nebraska, ugh Nebraska, I was whistling the tune, East Bound and Down from Smokey and the Bandit!

GMA train video

2008-09-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

Oh, here's a cellphone video of the train we shot too.

Good Morning America Whistlestop Tour

2008-09-15T18:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the good folks at Railroad.net I found out that the Good Morning America Train would be coming through Rochester this evening!
Power was provided by two specially decorated Amtrak Genesis engines.
The third "unit" in the consist was a strange beast indeed! An F-40 ph "Cabbage" had been given a set of balls! No, really, balls, over the baggage/ engine room area the roof line was lowered and a pair of domes, probably for live feed during broadcasts, had been added to the roof!
A matched set of 6 Superliner cars decorated in a real nice red, white and blue reflective scheme made up the majority of the consist.
On the tail-end a pair of BEAUTIFUL, restored Pennsylvania private cars were bringing up the markers. I ran across Main street to try and get a going away shot but after almost getting whacked by an RTS bus I found my batteries had died... what a PUTZ! I forgot to pick up new ones on my way out to shoot today. Oh well, I got some shots.

Steam on the Arcade and Attica, part II

2008-09-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

With #18 sounding for the grade, we departed Arcade station on time. After clearing the road #18 enters a "canyon" between two brick buildings with the exhaust barking nicely. The line curves through the parking lot and across the famous plate girder birdge. The trip to Curriers is about 45 minutes there are a few grade crossings along the way to give the crew a chance to perfect there skill on the 2-8-0's deep throated whistle. At Curriers, #18 makes a run around move to facilitate the return to Arcade. The crew makes a photo stop along side the freight station for a few minutes then we re-board for the return trip to Arcade. The 1920 Alco couples on to the last car of the train, a 1940's vintage composite gondola with benches, and were on our way. After working Diesel Days at the RGVRRM all those years you think I would have remembered the "hazzards" of riding in the open, but I didn't. We stood in the gondola about 20 feet from the smoke box door of #18 and we recieved our "Free Souveniers". As she accelerated with her train we were rewarded withh a shower of soot!!! Yay!!! We didn't mind, I'd take coal soot over diesel soot any day! Once we got back to Arcade we stopped at a few stores and I was able to shoot the second train of the day as it crossed the bridge behind the parking lot. This was a great trip behind one of the VERY few steam locomotives operating in New York state. You should try it!

Steam on the Arcade and Attica

2008-09-08T05:50:00.000-07:00

Once a year on our anniversary my wife and I get to leave the kids with grandma and take a well earned overnight vacation by ourselves! Last
year we had a great time in Niagara Falls but this year money was a bit tighter so my wife tried to find something closer to home. We spent Saturday night in a cabin at the "Tumble Hill Campground" in Chohocton, N.Y.. The next morning after an awesome breakfast of sausage and blueberry pancakes made by her dad we stopped by the B&H's engine house in town to check on the Alcos. There were still 5 big 6 axle monsters there. Numbers 3670, 3664 & 3674 are all M 636's and 3660 & 77 are C-636's. B&H numbers 4&5 were there too. I would have stayed and shot some more pics but we were running late for the second half our getaway!

We headed west to Arcade to catch the first train of the day, we arrived just 10 minutes before depature time! We got our reserved tickets and boarded the second to last car in the train. In a couple of minutes, with two longs a short and a long from #18 we were on our way. More on the trip on my next post!

425 & 418 in Henrietta!

2008-09-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we were shopping in Henrietta

and I was amazed to catch the LA&L crossing West Henrietta road! I have know that they still used these tracks to serve the lumber yard for a while but have never caught the move in person. As we crossed the tracks, the wrong side as far as the lighting was concerned, I saw 425's nose creeping towards the road. 425 and 418 looked and sounded GREAT as the headed south (or east) across the road. I would have chased it but we were hungry, so we went to The Cracker Barrell instead.

Falls Road Re-activated!

2008-09-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

Wow, not even 3 months after my post about the eastern end of the Falls Road, CSX has started serving Klein Steel on Vanguard Parkway (off of Emerson). Last week I spotted 2 flat cars behind their plant and today I spotted 3 flats. I accidently deleted the pics but I hope to actually get some shots of a train moving on this line. Stay tuned railfans!!!

Diesel Days is coming!!!

2008-08-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! The Rochester Chapter of the NRHS is holding their annual Diesel Days event! August 24th & 25th the Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad Museum will join forces with the New York Museum of Transportation to pull off this mammoth event. Visitors will board a rail vehicle at the N.Y.M.T. on E.River Rd. to begin their journey. At the half way point of their ride they will switch to one of several locomotives that will be running that weekend.
These photos were taken last Thursday evening while preparations were being made for the event. The first shows our former US Army, Fairbanks Morse switcher number 1843 pulling a train North up the line. 1843 is the ONLY operating Fairbanks Morse switcher in New York State! She is pulling an ex-Lackawanna M.U. car, an ex- Pennsylvania Baggage/ Mail car, ex- NYC baggage/ R.P.O. the "Alonzo B. Cornell" and an ex- NYC coach built for the Empire State Express.
The second photo shows one of our MDT reefer cars that were built in East Rochester, New York at the NYC's Despatch Shops.
The last two photos show my personnal favorite at the museum. This Alco is ex-LV #211, she has had a busy career. She was built for the Pennsylvania Railroad then traded to the LV. After serving the LV she became Conrail #5487 until her rebuild where her origional Alco powerplant was removed and replaced by an EMD. After leaving Conrail she was leased to the Rochester and Southern for a while then she was donated to the R&GVRR museum.
For more information about Diesel Days or information on the museum collection you can go to their website at; http://www.rgvrrm.org/ .
Thanks for looking! Hope you can make it out!

New York Central returns to Rochester!

2008-08-13T12:56:00.000-07:00

Sort of anyway! On the night of August 12, 2008 Amtrak's train number 49, "The Lake Shore Limited" had the former New York Central observation car the "Hickory Creek" tacked on to it's rear end. The train was only about 18 minutes late, which ain't too bad, when it made it's station stop in Rochester on it's westward sprint to Chicago.

This car is truly a beauty! At 11:18 pm the locomotives lit up the night as they decellerated into the station. The train stopped with the "Creek" just 2 car lengths short of the platform. I had to walk down to get some pics as my last two attempts were stymied by both the weather and bad timing. What a sweet ride this would be to depart from New York's Penn station and glide along the Hudson. Viewing the scenery through the comparativly huge picture windows as you head west through the Mohawk Valley then across western New York's fertile farm country. That would be the way to travel!

Falls Road remnants in Rochester

2008-06-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

Last week I took a drive down Mt. Read Blvd. towards Lyell and decided to check out the New York Central's old "Falls Road" line. Just west of Mt Read next to the city operations center The B&O crossed over the N.Y.C on a plate girder bridge. I was surprised at how well maintained the line still looked after sitting dormant for near 20 years! The passing track is still there and the switch is complete, incuding the ground throw. I would had loved to get a shot of a B&O train on the bridge as a NYC train passed underneath!

I think summer is here!

2008-06-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we were heading home from taking my elderly aunt shopping and while passing the yard I spotted something interesting on the main at 369! I was kinda in a hurry to get home but the bathroom would have to wait! I headed to the back of the parking lot behind the Village Gate mall to the site of the old Trail Van terminal. I don't get to see CP Rail around here much so it was a neat contrast to the more common CSX paint. This week I hope to get some photos of the ex Family Lines Geep that's working Rochester Yard. It's in CSX paint but you can see the old markings fading through. Even the old numbers are visible beneath the numbers it's wearing now!

Day out with Thomas!

2008-05-12T11:08:00.001-07:00

This past weekend and next weekend the Medina Railroad Museum in western New York is hosting a"Day out with Thomas" event. Actually it almost qualifies as a carnival! My wife and I went out with our 2 daughters on Mother's day and even though the weather was cloudy and in the low 60's there were quite a few Thomas fans in attendance.
We arrived just as the train was returning to the station after one of many trips. Thomas was "leading" on the return trip followed by 5 stainless coaches from the Western N.Y. Railroad Historical Society. Power was provided by GVT's RS-32 #2035, she was built on June 15, 1962. She looks pretty darn good for being 46 years old! She sounded even better! It seemed like trains were running every half hour on a 15 minute trip.
Besides the train rides there was a large tent of Thomas related merchandise, jugglers, wandering musicians, face painting and a large Thomas shaped "bouncy house"! There were also a few vendors selling some great cheeseburgers and fries and a pizza shack. A two horse hitch was also giving visitors a ride around Medina in a large wagon.
All of this activity plus free admission to the museum itself makes for a delightful day out! If you've been waiting for a reason to go to the Medina museum then this is it! Even if you don't have kids, the novelty of seeing a steam locomotive with a face on it on an active railroad is too much to pass up.

CP at CP 369

2008-04-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

Today in Rochester I saw an eastbound train stopped west of the Main st. bridge. I could tell from the stripes on the nose that it wasn't CSX in the lead. I swung down Union st. and found a hole in the fence big enough to stick my camera through in order to snap these units waiting to con tinue east.

A couple weeks back I also shot a pair of L.A.&L. Alcos crossing the river on their way to Genesee Jct. All I had with me was my cell phone, sorry about the poor quality...

There's only 5 left.

2008-02-28T12:56:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update. Monday there were 12, today there are 5, 6 axle EMD's coupled together in the yard. Oh, and the Amtrak engine was still there also.

Lotsa power in the yard!

2008-02-25T12:32:00.000-08:00

Today in the yard I shot 13 units that aren't normaly there! On the "old hole" was Amtrak Genesis #47. I don't know why but it may be a mechanical problem. Then on the class tracks in the yard I spotted 12 (!) EMD, SD units! They are all lease units so I think they are going to be going south on the R&S for work in Dansville but it's kinda cool seeing all that power lined up!