Post your Train shots!

Sandpatch

Senior Member
July 1978 at Ringoes, NJ finds Black River & Western's No. 60 at rest. She's a former Great Western Rwy. (of Colorado) sugar hauler and was built by Alco in 1937.

1978-07 007 Ringoes NJ - for upload.jpg
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
From about 1975, what I think is Train 599 is stopped and awaiting a commuter train to pass by at the end of triple track at Barrington, IL. 599 was a Chicago => Madison, WI manifest which was often heavy with tonnage for the big Chevy plant at Janesville, WI, now closed.

1970s Mid 047 CNW Barrington IL.jpg
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
A northbound Milwaukee Road freight crosses the C&NW at Des Plaines, IL in '75 or '76. Sigh -- F Units, cabooses and semaphore signals, all gone and even the Milwaukee Road itself.

1970s Mid 031 Des Plaines IL - for upload.jpg

1970s Mid 032 Des Plaines IL - for upload.jpg

1970s Mid 034 Des Plaines IL - for upload.jpg
 

crashton

Senior Member
Man how I do love your wayback machine. You sure got some wonderful railroad history photos there. Thanks for sharing them sandpatch I really do enjoy them. :encouragement:

If you have the time could you post what sort of wayback machine you are digitizing these with?
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
... If you have the time could you post what sort of wayback machine you are digitizing these with?

Thank you. It's been a lot of work, but great fun too scanning my slides and negatives. I chose the Epson V800 for my scanner because of its versatility, quality and capacity. I have thousands of slides and negatives and I'll soon be scanning my parent's many slides.

I chose the Epson V800 in late 2019, but Epson quit offering the V800 this year. It's opened a terribly wide price gap between their remaining models -- the V600 ($230) and the V850 ($1,150). The V600 is an excellent scanner. The only reason I didn't choose it was because it scans 4 Slides/Scan, while the V800 (and V850) work 12 Slides/Scan. The V800/V850 also contain internal lenses for sharper results.

I'm generally pleased with the results, but scans of darker slides look terrible and there's nothing that can be done to improve them. Some sharp slides scan blurry on my V800 and there's nothing that can be done to help. I rarely use the Digital ICE feature because it's incompatible with Kodachrome, Plus-X or Tri-X, which most of my images were shot on.

I know a guy who does book publishing and he said that scanning slides is sometimes a strange thing. He has slides that scan great on one brand of scanner, yet look awful when scanned on another brand and other slides that yield the opposite!
 

crashton

Senior Member
Great picture Sandpatch. I sure do miss Alco's. For me they were almost like an honorary steam engine. Lots of smoke & chugging. :encouragement:
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
As part of cleaning out my late mother's home, I'm scanning the family 35mm slides. My grandparents retired in south Florida and once a year, we'd make the long trip south to visit them. From 1966 is this shot as taken by my Dad of a little tourist train that ran through the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park in Ft. Lauderdale from around 1965 to the mid80s. I was young and my memory is hazy, but I seem to recall that the train ride was across the road from the beach. All this for just fifty cents! :)

1966 001 Ft Lauderdale FL - for upload.jpg
 

Marilynne

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
As part of cleaning out my late mother's home, I'm scanning the family 35mm slides. My grandparents retired in south Florida and once a year, we'd make the long trip south to visit them. From 1966 is this shot as taken by my Dad of a little tourist train that ran through the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park in Ft. Lauderdale from around 1965 to the mid80s. I was young and my memory is hazy, but I seem to recall that the train ride was across the road from the beach. All this for just fifty cents! :)

View attachment 349297


Here's a little bit of history on the park.
https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/hugh-taylor-birch-state-park/history
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
As found in a closet at my late mother's home, some 35mm slides that my late father took in 1975 as I arrived from Chicago aboard Amtrak's Floridian at Fort Lauderdale, FL in March 1975. I'm not certain, but I think the station is former Seaboard.

1975 004 Ft Lauderdale FL - for upload.jpg1975 001 Ft Lauderdale FL - for upload.jpg1975 002 Ft Lauderdale FL - for upload.jpg
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
I'm happy to see that it still stands. Its surroundings look much nicer than in '75 when there wasn't anything green in sight.

I was mistaken about the ACL also serving Ft. Lauderdale. It was instead the FEC and their parallel mainline ran east of the SALs. I'll have to check my copy of Speedway To Sunshine to see if there's a photo of it.

9780919783126-us.jpg
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
I didn't do much railfanning in 2020, so tried to get 2021 off to a good start. Grabbed these two shots today as I passed through the Columbia, SC area. In the first photo, NS 191 is waiting for Track Authority before departure from the yard. The crew radioed the Dispatcher and said "We're ready to blast off!" ;) The second image is of the same train underway at Cayce, SC west of Columbia. I like the old searchlight signal here.

2021-01-04 Columbia SC - for upload.jpg

2021-01-04 Cayce SC - for upload.jpg
 
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