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Big Blue Railfan Thread
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05-14-2011, 11:23 PM
Larry and I talked about this a few weeks ago; I just never got around to starting it. This is just a thread for sighting reports and heads-up posts. Embedded photos should be kept to a minimum and of minimum size to aid posters reporting from the field on mobile devices. Any railroad any place is fair game. See something cool? Tell us about it!
05-14-2011, 11:25 PM
Northbound CSX office car special in Deshler, Ohio just after midnight on May 15. F40 9999 leading another and seven passenger cars symboled P914.
05-16-2011, 08:46 PM
Went to track down the Grand Elk Railroad today in northwest Indiana and southwest Michigan. I saw the 302 Kalamazoo to Elkhart turn arrive in the Elkhart, Indiana yard about 7:40am; normally he's fixing to come out by that time. I also saw the 501 Kalamazoo south local switching the interchange with the Michigan Southern in White Pigeon, Michigan later in the morning. The crew of the local went on the Elkhart and was told by the dispatcher to not worry about meeting the opposing train, that the FRA was snooping around today and if the other train got out of the yard at all it would be light power only. About 1:00pm I saw the aforementioned light power returning north through Constantine, Michigan but never saw the local come back out by 2:00pm. I'll post photos in a few days.
05-16-2011, 09:06 PM
Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad ran a special from their shops in Mineral, WA to Freighthouse Square in Tacoma, WA this past weekend. Several short trips were run out of Tacoma showcasing newly restored 2-8-2 #70 and former NP F7 #7021a, one on each end of a 3 car passenger train. Highlights included running up the steep grade out of Tacoma and traveling over trackage normally used by Tacoma Rail freight service.
I managed to get a few pictures of the return trip just a mile or two from my home in South Hill/Puyallup. They're over in this week's 'Weekly Photo Fun' Thread in the Photo forum. There's an NRHS convention in Tacoma in mid June that should provide some railfan action, including a special move of SP 4-8-4 #4449. Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
05-17-2011, 12:03 AM
Norwegian state railroad type 69 local commuter train that pulled a coupler in the Oslo tunnel at rush hour last night: http://media.aftenposten.no/archive/0148...83042g.jpg
Relatively rare occurrence for these relatively light electric motor units, which never are MU'd more than two units together, which each unit being 2, 3 or 4 cars. It woke up some sleepy commuters on their way home from work when there was a lurch, a couple of loud bangs (first as the coupler was pulled out of the rear unit, and then as the brake hose separated), and the train went into emergency. They were fortunate enough to pull the coupler coming into the station, so passengers could be disembarked at the platform, rather than wandering up the tunnel :-) Smile, Stein
05-18-2011, 08:49 PM
RO,I made this a sticky to keep it at the top of the page.
Larry
Engineman Summerset Ry Make Safety your first thought, Not your last! Safety First!
05-28-2011, 07:33 PM
For operations junkies here are the train symbols I photographed today:
Norfolk Southern: 206 24M 20E Amtrak 29 23K 14N M7M 26N 143 331 14Q 87W 19K 31M 20K 33T 175 34T 21G CSX: Q110 Q386 Q324 Q113 Q368
05-29-2011, 08:14 PM
And today's symbols:
24M W1A 23M 21M 20E 17W 68Q 32T Amtrak 350 23W Amtrak 29 Amtrak 49 21J 33N NICTD 503 NICTD 606 26N Amtrak 351 Amtrak 371 24W 36J 854 M7V Amtrak 353 NICTD 505 NICTD 608 31K 34J 37M Amtrak 364 NICTD 508 NICTD 507 Amtrak 370 NICTD 610 Amtrak 354 Trains are Norfolk Southern unless noted. I will add photo links as upload to flickr. 
05-29-2011, 08:43 PM
So how doea a person go about getting all that info? There are plenty of trains going through my area in Houston, so how does one know what is what and when?
05-31-2011, 07:32 AM
Gary S Wrote:So how doea a person go about getting all that info? There are plenty of trains going through my area in Houston, so how does one know what is what and when? Get a scanner and use it regularly. For less than $200 you can get a radio and car antenna that will greatly enhance your railfanning experience. Freight trains aren't scheduled, but they do tend to run within a few hour window each day. BNSF and Union Pacific use alpha codes for train symbols that are rarely transmitted on the radio; dispatchers tend to identify trains by lead engine number. CSX and Norfolk Southern use numeric codes for train symbols that are transmitted on the radio quite frequently. I saw over 100 trains in three days and can say I only missed one train symbol all weekend, and I was in somewhat unfamiliar territory at that. The more you railfan -- and pay attention -- you'll realize you see the same trains over and over. Pay attention to the power assigned, how the cars are blocked, and the route they take at junctions. You may not know for sure that the train is the HBARGAL or the ZYCLD but you'll have a pretty good idea that there's an eastbound manifest regularly in the morning or a mostly Pacer stack train south in the evening.
05-31-2011, 09:53 PM
Thanks for that info. Another project added to the list: Research and get a scanner!
05-31-2011, 09:59 PM
The scanner itself is much, much less important than the antennas. All you need is a scanner with at least 100 memory channels and narrow band capable. A $100 scanner and a $60 magmount antenna will pick up much, much better than a $350 scanner and its stock antenna.
05-31-2011, 10:20 PM
Keep the suggestions coming.
Where do I find out what frequencies to monitor? |
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