Thursday Proto Photo, Aug 27/09

[Lenny53]

[James Costello]

BNSF / UP Junction, Daggett California (2008):

Junction:


BNSF Transcon continues east over dry creek crossing:


Approach signals:


UP leg crossing Santa Fe Street:


and continues north to Yermo and onto Vegas


Of course no trains, until I got in the car and drove off .... seeing a BNSF in the rear view mirrow. Didn't see a single UP train between here and Vegas....

[Philip H]

Keeping up the west coast theme, here's a Tom Mann worthy Santa Fe tank car in the weeds (literally) at Lester, WA.  THis is the last railfanning I did before moving to DC.  Lester used to be a booming logging town SE of Seattle in the Cascades, now its totally abandoned, save for the very occasional BNSF track crew.

[wm3798]

In keeping with the Tracks but no Trains Theme...  Here's a few I gleened from my trip to Hagerstown and environs last weekend.


Ashton Road, between Williamsport and Cherry Run



WM main line west of Williamsport, at Pinesburg, Maryland.  Martin Marietta Aggregates operates a quarry here.  Near here would have been the junction that carried a track across the Potomac to another quarry between about 1910 and 1936 on these piers



The bridge and quarry were wiped from the face of the earth by the massive floods of that year.

Lee

[Packer]

These ones are from March, of last year.

[davefoxx]

I can add to the "Tracks But No Trains" theme. The following pictures are from Lewes, Delaware.  I apologize for the quality of the photos; I used my cell phone camera.  Starting just west of downtown is this sign and depot.  There used to be a dinner train that ran from here, and, sadly, the depot is now in serious disrepair.  I believe that the tracks are now owned and operated by the Delaware Coast Line Railroad (appears to have been operated by the Maryland and Delaware railroad for a period in the 1990s):



This little swing-span bridge over the canal must be crossed to serve an industry at the end of the branch.  Isn't it adorable?  Interesting is that the end of the rails of the swing-span appear (unfortunately, not in this shot) to be jacked up several inches for clearance when the span is operated:


Then the line meanders through some coastal areas and marsh to reach the end of the line, where if it went much farther, it could dip its toes in the Atlantic Ocean.




The only thing separating the branch from the ocean is the Cape Henlopen State Park, which includes Fort Miles, a base used to defend the coast and the mouth of the Delaware Bay during WWII.  A lot of the military base survives, including bunkers under sand dunes, huge guns, and several of these observatory towers:



Lastly, I found these remnants of rails buried in a bike/walking path deep inside Cape Henlopen State Park.  Only the portion in the pavement survives, but I know that these rails used to serve Fort Miles, and I have seen photos of some 12" - 15" gun barrels hauled in on flat cars in the 1940s:


Dave

[Dave Schneider]

Wow!

So far these posts look like my typical attempts at railfanning. Tracks but no trains indeed! I'm sure they will be along as soon as I leave...

Best wishes, Dave

[David Leonard]

[Philip H]

Nice shot!  Where is it from?

[David Leonard]

Nice shot!  Where is it from?

Thanks! It's from my collection.  ;D

Seriously, I lived in Bloomington IL in the mid fifties, and I grabbed this shot in 1958. It was taken by the old Alton engine facility and yards. Not much left there on UP now. I'm currently decorating an N scale caboose for GM&O, and my own photo is the only one I have to work with.

[Dave Schneider]

As a Wisconsin native transplanted to Alaska, I offer this compromise from my collection: An ARR rebuilt troop sleeper box car on the Milwaukee Road at Waukesha Lime and Stone in 1975. I have the parts to make this car and plan on using it at the Tews Cement plant on the Beer Line (whenever I get to building it).



Speaking of the Beer Line, here is a nice F-M switcher waiting for duty at Humboldt Yard. Wouldn't this engine be a great addition to the Atlas Line? The Tews plant is a couple hundred yards to the right, and the Yard Office (produced by Walthers in N scale!) is a behind the photographer to the left.




Best wishes, Dave

[Hiroe]

Speaking of the Beer Line, here is a nice F-M switcher waiting for duty at Humboldt Yard. Wouldn't this engine be a great addition to the Atlas Line? The Tews plant is a couple hundred yards to the right, and the Yard Office (produced by Walthers in N scale!) is a behind the photographer to the left.


Best wishes, Dave

Dave,
I would agree with you, that such an FM switcher would make an excellent addition to the atlas line. However, in the meantime, you could just drop an old Trix FM shell onto the atlas VO-1000 mechanism?

--Drew

[Dave Schneider]

Dave,
I would agree with you, that such an FM switcher would make an excellent addition to the atlas line. However, in the meantime, you could just drop an old Trix FM shell onto the atlas VO-1000 mechanism?

--Drew

Drew,

Thanks for suggestion. I have gotten this far. I have the pieces parts for three of these (it takes two Trix shells to make it the proper length). This is a reasonable approach for the later model H12-44 (Milw units in the low 700 series), but I have not been able to produce the nice overhanging cab.

Best wishes, Dave

[Philip H]

Drew,

Thanks for suggestion. I have gotten this far. I have the pieces parts for three of these (it takes two Trix shells to make it the proper length). This is a reasonable approach for the later model H12-44 (Milw units in the low 700 series), but I have not been able to produce the nice overhanging cab.

Best wishes, Dave

Dave,
How about using very thin sheet brass to bend the round portion of the cab rook, and the making the sides out of very thin styrene?  Or just bend the whole thing out of brass?

[Hiroe]

Drew,

Thanks for suggestion. I have gotten this far. I have the pieces parts for three of these (it takes two Trix shells to make it the proper length). This is a reasonable approach for the later model H12-44 (Milw units in the low 700 series), but I have not been able to produce the nice overhanging cab.

Best wishes, Dave

Dave,
How about using very thin sheet brass to bend the round portion of the cab rook, and the making the sides out of very thin styrene?  Or just bend the whole thing out of brass?

Dave,
Looking good so far!
As for the roof and curved stepwell sides, i've seen someone do just what Phil suggested, using .010 or .005 styrene, and covering the entire cab roof and overhang in one piece. Making them of similar-thickness brass sheet would give it a bit more strength, too.

--Drew