Post your Train shots!

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crashton

Senior Member
Driving home from an enjoyable back road drive & lunch I heard a train coming. Pulled to a stop & lifted my little Nikon J1 clear of the windshield header. Bam it was roaring Southbound at a very good clip.



 
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Sandpatch

Senior Member
Bikerbrent said:
So sad, so sad my friend. The railroads are going the way of the dinosaurs.
Click to expand...

The freight rail industry is in a massive change now, resulting from the loss of coal tonnage. The loss of coal revenue has kicked the blocks out from under earnings and it's forced the industry to rethink everything. Railroading a high fixed cost business and without steady utility coal revenue to support maintenance expenses, we are likely to see a lot of line consolidations and selling of lesser used lines to regional carriers and shortlines.

All is not bad news however, as other freight traffic (chemicals, auto, merchandise, metallurgical coal, grain, etc.) remains. Even utility coal has made a bit of a comeback. All six of North America's largest freight roads remain profitable (BNSF is privately owned, but I assume their outlook is the same as their peers).
 
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Sandpatch

Senior Member
Okay Brent, I take back everything I wrote in the paragraph above. Waited today in high 90's trackside heat for a lousy backlit shot to see only this -- a 4000 HP locomotive toting an empty lumber rack. Must have been a VERY important empty. ;)

2017-07-13 Killian SC - for upload.jpg
 
B

Bikerbrent_RIP

Senior Member
Sandpatch said:
Okay Brent, I take back everything I wrote in the paragraph above. Waited today in high 90's trackside heat for a lousy backlit shot to see only this -- a 4000 HP locomotive toting an empty lumber rack. Must have been a VERY important empty. ;)
Click to expand...

That or it was carrying a couple of pieces of lumber for some big shot. :unconscious:
 
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Sandpatch

Senior Member
NS's Penn Central "Heritage Unit" is in Columbia, SC today and despite my best efforts in the 95 Degree heat, I couldn't get close enough for a photo and the sun was in a poor spot. If it hangs around, maybe I'll be able to try again. All I was able to get were these:

2017-07-21 NS 1073 [PC] Columbia SC - for upload.jpg

2017-07-21 003 Columbia SC - for upload.jpg
 
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Sandpatch

Senior Member
While waiting, I caught a local switching a steel scrapper. I like the rural branchline feel of the photo matched with diesels built over 40 years ago.

2017-07-21 006 Columbia SC - for upload.jpg
 
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crashton

Senior Member
Those look great to me. I really like the high hood Geep with the brakeman riding the step.

You are inspiring me to get out track side. It's been too long.
 
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Sandpatch

Senior Member
Railfanning in the intense summer heat in the south is tough, so I don't do it as much. While waiting for the PC unit to appear, I caught NS inbound from Macon, GA. That's CSX to the left. There are some interlocking signals behind me, but I couldn't work them into the photo because there are a million utility lines draped everywhere along the street and they spoil the shot. A few other lines snuck into the shot anyway!

2017-07-21 004 Columbia SC - for upload.jpg
 
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crashton

Senior Member
Ted is that 4070 in the W3rd roundhouse in Cleveburg? I remember when that was first restored & running up & down the Cuyahoga Valley line.
 
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