TheRailwire
General Discussion => Prototype Railroads: News, Photos, Research => Topic started by: GonzoCRFan on January 19, 2006, 06:16:42 PM
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Saturday, my friends and I swung by West Trenton for some shots after looking at layouts all day long. Weather sucked, but at least CSX was putting plenty of trains through: http://sean121982.rrpicturearchives.net/archivethumbs.aspx?id=9296 (http://sean121982.rrpicturearchives.net/archivethumbs.aspx?id=9296)
(http://sean121982.rrpicturearchives.net/pictures%5C9296%5CK207.jpg)
The engineer gets major style points for using the class lights.
Tuesday I was able to run around the Philly and Northern DE areas, my take is here: http://sean121982.rrpicturearchives.net/archivethumbs.aspx?id=9294 (http://sean121982.rrpicturearchives.net/archivethumbs.aspx?id=9294)
(http://sean121982.rrpicturearchives.net/pictures%5C9294%5CWPSC01b.jpg)
Local WPSC-01 heads south past the Chester Cogeneration Facility of the Kimberly-Clark paper mill.
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is that a power plant in the last shot?
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Yes.
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Interesting .. the fully enclosed conveyors are wht caught my eye .. this makes it easier to model with PVC pipe , rather than having ot use costly walthers conveyor kits ..
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I thought that was part of their mill operation.
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I thought that was part of their mill operation.
It is. I edited my post to say it's their private power plant.
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A mood shot. Enola, PA, at dusk, August 4, 1957.
(http://www.railimages.com/albums/greggmahlkov/ahq.sized.jpg)
Geez, has it been almost 50 years? :-\ :-\
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Here is another paint scheme for Intermountain.
(http://www.railimages.com/albums/scottborden/bik.jpg)
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Some more of Gary Mann's A&EC pics:
(http://rr-fallenflags.org/misc-a/aec-s102agm.jpg)
(http://rr-fallenflags.org/misc-a/aec-s601agm.jpg)
(http://rr-fallenflags.org/misc-a/aec-s792agm.jpg)
How old are you, Gregg?
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(http://www3.sympatico.ca/nixdorf.smith/Print685a.jpg)
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That's a great shot of CSXT 8759, Sean. The reflections on the rails and the long hood really set it off. I'll agree that the engineer should get a bonus for turning on the class lights, too. :) :)
Iain, I'll be eligible for Medicare in two months.
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Ok , about that great shot with the class lights . Are they also called markers ? On the LIRR it was either Head lights , or markers . Sometimes both if the train was fewer cars than normal , this way the Dashing Dans on the platform would know to not stand in the last 2 car positions as the train came to a grinding halt , therefore making a quicker loading of passengers . But that's a freight , so whats the rules governing those lights ?
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An SD40u leased to CSX coming thru Decherd, TN. You can see the local feed mill in the left background.
(http://www.railimages.com/albums/richardedmonds/aid.sized.jpg)
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Ok , about that great shot with the class lights . Are they also called markers ? On the LIRR it was either Head lights , or markers . Sometimes both if the train was fewer cars than normal , this way the Dashing Dans on the platform would know to not stand in the last 2 car positions as the train came to a grinding halt , therefore making a quicker loading of passengers . But that's a freight , so whats the rules governing those lights ?
Richie, class lights are on the front of an engine. markers are at the rear of a train or the rear of a locomotive. On class lights, dark is a scheduled train, white is an extra train, and green means there is another section of the same scheduled train following. Most class lights on Diesels also had red, to be used when pushing at the rear of trains. Then they would be markers.
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Richie, class lights are on the front of an engine. markers are at the rear of a train or the rear of a locomotive. On class lights, dark is a scheduled train, white is an extra train, and green means there is another section of the same scheduled train following. Most class lights on Diesels also had red, to be used when pushing at the rear of trains. Then they would be markers.
Class lights of course mean nothing now that railroads don't use timetables to operate their trains. The green and white indications that 3rdrail mentioned complement the green or white flags displayed on the train. Some engines still use red marker lights when used as rear end of train distributed power, or push pull service. I've seen GO Transit engines display the red lights when pushing a commuter train.
Another use of these classification lights is around christmas. I've seen CN GP9rms in yard service and even VIA F40PH-2s on passenger trains display one light green and one red during the Christmas season.
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Thanks for clearing that up for me 3rdrail & CV ACR .
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Ok , about that great shot with the class lights . Are they also called markers ? On the LIRR it was either Head lights , or markers . Sometimes both if the train was fewer cars than normal , this way the Dashing Dans on the platform would know to not stand in the last 2 car positions as the train came to a grinding halt , therefore making a quicker loading of passengers . But that's a freight , so whats the rules governing those lights ?
WOW, Dashing Dan :o , theres a term I have not heard in awhile. Hey Richie, do you remember the jingle? ;D :)
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That's a great shot of CSXT 8759, Sean. The reflections on the rails and the long hood really set it off. I'll agree that the engineer should get a bonus for turning on the class lights, too. :) :)
Thanks. Glad people like it, I had high hopes for it as soon as I took it. I wish it could have been better, but the photo was taken at 5:05 in the rain in the middle of January, and that was the best I could do with the camera settings under those conditions. I pretty much knew that even after jacking up the ISO to 400, that shot would need to be saved by Photoshop to make it presentable. I'm thinking of ganking a copy of Noise Ninja and running that pic through it to see if I can improve it, as that might be a cool one to print and frame if I can make it look a little better.
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Richie, class lights are on the front of an engine. markers are at the rear of a train or the rear of a locomotive. On class lights, dark is a scheduled train, white is an extra train, and green means there is another section of the same scheduled train following. Most class lights on Diesels also had red, to be used when pushing at the rear of trains. Then they would be markers.
Class lights of course mean nothing now that railroads don't use timetables to operate their trains. The green and white indications that 3rdrail mentioned complement the green or white flags displayed on the train. Some engines still use red marker lights when used as rear end of train distributed power, or push pull service. I've seen GO Transit engines display the red lights when pushing a commuter train.
Another use of these classification lights is around christmas. I've seen CN GP9rms in yard service and even VIA F40PH-2s on passenger trains display one light green and one red during the Christmas season.
I've GOT to do that! I think I will buy another pair of sharks, paint them up to match the pair I have and add the red and green classification lights. Then do a repeat of this shot with the other two sharks:
(http://www.railimages.com/albums/johndulaney/abh.jpg)
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No need to go through all that.
(http://ed.kapuscinski.net/gallery2/d/3356-1/abh.jpg)
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Bama,
At least one of those FURX SD40u's is a former WM unit. Can't recall the number, just remember to tip your hat whenever you see one...
Lee
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At least one of those FURX SD40u's is a former WM unit. Can't recall the number,
FURX 3010 DM&E 6061/MKCX 9419/CSXT 8397/WM 7546/WM 7446
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Those are some nice shots guys.
Sean, that photo with the Kimberly Clark plant in the background is really useful for me. Do you have any other shots with the plant in the background?
Eric
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Those are some nice shots guys.
Sean, that photo with the Kimberly Clark plant in the background is really useful for me. Do you have any other shots with the plant in the background?
Eric
Not at the moment, but I can get some more eventually.
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Here are some I shot today in Rockville Md
(http://therailwire.net/rr/BAEX704.jpg)
(http://therailwire.net/rr/CSXT227924.jpg)
(http://therailwire.net/rr/ACFX51136.jpg)
(http://therailwire.net/rr/HLCX9029.jpg)
(http://therailwire.net/rr/WC84531.jpg)
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John, I like the pictures. Some may nitpick about this and that, but I just love photos of dirty freight cars. I enjoy engines too, though there is something about banged up train cars that is awesome.
I just got that WC 2-bay hopper, so now I know what to shoot for ;D
I bet Mr. Kluke wishes he was there to catch that Chessie System CSX patch hopper ;)
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I shot this one today in Peoria IL
(http://www.wpgrr.com/files/imagegallerymodule/@random43c26b38bd89d/gallery4/military.jpg)
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Way to not get Ashcrofted, David. ;D
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John, I like the pictures. Some may nitpick about this and that, but I just love photos of dirty freight cars. I enjoy engines too, though there is something about banged up train cars that is awesome.
I just got that WC 2-bay hopper, so now I know what to shoot for ;D
I bet Mr. Kluke wishes he was there to catch that Chessie System CSX patch hopper ;)
Thanks .. I had to go to the Rockville Target store .. and they have a 5 level parking garage, right across from the B&O mainline to Brunswick Md .. also, their food court area faces the tracks, so while I was killing time, these trains just happened to come by ..
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OK, here's my submission to this thread. Just took it earlier this afternoon.
(http://vanderheide.ca/images/cn8014gexr.jpg)
This engine hasn't even seen home rails (well, by the time I'm posting this it will have) and it's leading another RR's train. :)
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This engine hasn't even seen home rails (well, by the time I'm posting this it will have) and it's leading another RR's train. :)
What is the location, anywhere near the Acton - Rockwood area?
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What is the location, anywhere near the Acton - Rockwood area?
Breslau. It would have passed Acton about 30 minutes after I shot it.
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Breslau. It would have passed Acton about 30 minutes after I shot it.
Thanks. My brother-in-law lives in Rockwood and the only time I shot anything on that line it was 2 CSX SD70ACEs in Sept 2004.
I might be in the Guelph area soon to photograph some heavy equipment for my brother-in-law's company. Do you know approximately
when the freights run to Georgetown and back?
Cheers,
Lenny
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there is something about banged up train cars that is awesome.
These cars were "banged up" when a unit Tank Train derailed on CN last summer;
(http://www3.sympatico.ca/nixdorf.smith/Print402a.jpg)
(http://www3.sympatico.ca/nixdorf.smith/Print403a.jpg)
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Thanks. My brother-in-law lives in Rockwood and the only time I shot anything on that line it was 2 CSX SD70ACEs in Sept 2004.
I might be in the Guelph area soon to photograph some heavy equipment for my brother-in-law's company. Do you know approximately
when the freights run to Georgetown and back?
Cheers,
Lenny
Lenny:
GEXR 432 normally meets the westbound VIA no. 85 in Kitchener every weekday. 85's station time in Kitchener is approximately 12:20. Travel time is about 20 minutes to Guelph, another 15 minutes to the defect detector in Acton.
432 does not stop in Georgetown. It runs all the way to CN's MacMillan Yard in Vaughn (north Toronto area). It returns as GEXR 431.
There's a railfan chat that you (and others, I notice at least one or two people here from Southern Ontario) might be interested in. Anyone is welcome; most of the people who hang out there are in the southern Ontario Region (from Sarnia to Guelph to Welland) but there are a couple from farther afield. One of our regulars is in Washington DC.
If you're familiar with IRC, point your favourite client to irc.railfan.ca or irc.oftc.ca (both names for the same server), channel #railfan
If that last paragraph made no sense to you, you can still participate; go to http://thegrebs.com/oftc/ and put #railfan in the channel box, choose a nickname, and get started.
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GEXR 432 normally meets the westbound VIA no. 85 in Kitchener every weekday. 85's station time in Kitchener is approximately 12:20. Travel time is about 20 minutes to Guelph, another 15 minutes to the defect detector in Acton.
432 does not stop in Georgetown. It runs all the way to CN's MacMillan Yard in Vaughn (north Toronto area). It returns as GEXR 431.
Wow, that really very helpful. I will not waste my time going trackside in the mornings or weekends when I'm in the area. This is the only time I shot anything on that line and it was quite by accident;
(http://www3.sympatico.ca/nixdorf.smith/Print134a.jpg)
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Actually, I guess that was a little unclear. They do run on weekends as well, but are often a small train on Sundays and are sometimes early. On Sundays they sometimes meet 85 in Guelph, or Kitchener.
But yes, mornings - not so much in the way of freight action east of Guelph. Looking more around 1:30-2ish in Rockwood for the eastbound freight.
GEXR has recently (within the last couple weeks) changed their operations slightly. They used to interchange pretty much all general freight traffic to CN at Mac yard in Toronto. Now they interchange all westbound traffic to CN in London. This is now handled by train 433 (Kitchener-London and return) which used to be a hotshot unit autoframe train, but now handles general interchange freight as well.
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Further to what I've said on the GEXR operations so far, here's some observations and rumours:
2 engines, CEFX 6537 and GEXR 3843 are rumoured to be leaving the GEXR in the future. 3843 has been sidelined out of service for a while. Rumour is that 2 engines will be coming down from the Mackenzie Northern, which is being resold to CN.
Today 432 (Stratford-Toronto) and 433 (Kitchener-London) were apparently approximately 80 and 60 cars respectively. Traffic on GEXR seems to be about as high as it gets, considering 80 cars is a good size for 432 before they started interchanging in London as well. 432 used to often be very small or even light power running to Toronto on Sundays, so when they started interchanging in both directions, we wondered if they would continue to run it on Sundays. Given the huge size of both trains, it's likely that 432/431 will continue to run on Sundays, unchanged. 433 used to be 6 days a week; now that it handles general freight and not just frames from the Budd plant in Kitchener, I wouldn't be surprised if it will be 7 days a week now.
There have been times over the last year or two when GEXR will run a 2nd 432 from Stratford. Since they don't have extra engines, this happens after 431 returns to Stratford, which means 432-2 comes through Guelph around midnight when it runs. It's not often, but it's not unheard of.
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For lenny53 and anyone else interested in Goderich-Exeter's operations:
Even with interchange traffic flowing in both directions now instead of only to Toronto, it's becoming quite clear that there is no decrease in the frequency that trains run. GEXR 432/431 to Toronto are still running every day of the week, and the last two nights they have also made extra second runs to Toronto, which even before the change in operations was a rare occurance.
So it's becoming quite clear that the change in operations has no impact in terms of running any less trains; this change makes interchange more efficient, and is clearly necessitated by the increasing traffic on the line.
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Gotta love
those oil cans. Wonder when someone is going to make some...
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Gotta love
those oil cans. Wonder when someone is going to make some...
I've been wondering if the inter-car connections could be made out of neoprene tubing.
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Gotta love
those oil cans. Wonder when someone is going to make some...
I've been wondering if the inter-car connections could be made out of neoprene tubing.
For the HO Roundhouse cars
I used really thin shrink wrap around a machine bolt to give it some texture. The included tubing from the kit was way too small in diameter for the purpose...
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Ok , about that great shot with the class lights . Are they also called markers ? On the LIRR it was either Head lights , or markers . Sometimes both if the train was fewer cars than normal , this way the Dashing Dans on the platform would know to not stand in the last 2 car positions as the train came to a grinding halt , therefore making a quicker loading of passengers . But that's a freight , so whats the rules governing those lights ?
WOW, Dashing Dan :o , theres a term I have not heard in awhile. Hey Richie, do you remember the jingle? ;D :)
Sorry , the only jingle I remember is digging deep into my pockets for monthly ticket fare . I didn't know , or at least don't remember there being a jingle . I think at that time my mode of transportation was a 3 speed English racer . What is that jingle and when was it on the top ten hit parade , so to speak ?
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sean,
shots look good. the rain always screws it up somehow. i wish i had my camcorder on you running for that train. at least i did catch you saying "dirty ba#@&*ds, when the light power move came up, and YOU were not ready with the camera. classic sean moment. everyone else's pics look good too!
matt