Post your Train shots!

[desmobob]

How does one find their local freight train schedule so they can set up for photos? Or do you have to learn by spending a lot of time waiting?

I live in an old Delaware & Hudson railroad town that had a passenger station, freight house, maintenance shop, roundhouse and large yard. One of my uncles was an engineer back in the days of the D&H's two Baldwin Sharknose diesels. I wish I was old enough to have taken some photos of them. I do have N-scale models though.

Amtrak still passes through town on the route between NYC and Montreal, and there's some traffic to Rutland, VT.

 

[Sandpatch]

Freight trains do move on schedules, but they're generally not firm like passenger train schedules and are not available to the public. I carry a railroad radio scanner to help out, but the transmissions can sometimes be confusing depending on train density, familiarity with the area and train numbers heard. You might try the local Facebook groups and see what's up. There are members who seem to have a pulse on everything going on.

The D&H was an exceptionally cool railroad. I have a few poor quality shots of the D&H at Colonie, NY taken in July 1983 and some others at Hudson, PA like this one taken 10/04/1981.

 

[Needa]

FEC does publish what they call a flexible schedule on their web site. Others may do the same might help get you in the ballpark.

 

[desmobob]

Some old photos (not mine) of various D&H stuff in my town:











And photo of my N-scale D&H locos (with an AMTRAK thrown in) ...

 

[Bikerbrent_RIP]

Some old photos (not mine) of various D&H stuff in my town:

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And photo of my N-scale D&H locos (with an AMTRAK thrown in) ...

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Well! Another old time railroad D&H (Delaware and Hudson Railway) bites the dust. Good
By! :sorrow:

 

[Sandpatch]

Some old photos (not mine) of various D&H stuff in my town ... And photo of my N-scale D&H locos (with an AMTRAK thrown in) ...

The D&H had some interesting steam power and their reknown CEO Leanor F. Loree in office 1907-1938 wasn't shy about experimentation. Love your N Scale models! I model in N too, an anthracite roads fan.

 

[Needa]

@Sandpatch Looks like you got some love from the site.
"Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator"

 

[Sandpatch]

@Sandpatch Looks like you got some love from the site. "Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator"

Argh. I couldn't figure out how to fix it, so will start again from scratch. Again, Train 18D, a solid train of auto racks loaded with new BMWs headed for export from the Port of Charleston, SC. BMW's plant is immense -- this is a daily train.

We've had some really neat clouds in the past week.

 

[bluzman]

Tollie, No. 7, a gear-driven Shay steam locomotive used by the Simpson Logging Company railroad around Shelton, Washington, is currently on static display in the center of Shelton.

The Simpson Logging Company operated and maintained an extensive network of 80 miles of track used to haul timber out of the surrounding mountains and to the mills in Shelton. These rail lines were in continual use for 120 years and became the last privately owned logging railroad in operation in the continental United States.

Lima Locomotive Works of Lima, Ohio, built 2,761 Shay locomotives between 1880 and 1945. Tollie, No. 7, was one of 20 Shays constructed in 1924.

 

[Sandpatch]

Tollie, No. 7, a gear-driven Shay steam locomotive used by the Simpson Logging Company railroad around Shelton, Washington, is currently on static display in the center of Shelton ...

Nice series of photos and thumbnail Shay history Bluzman. :encouragement: Note how the boiler is offset to one side to provide room for the reciprocating parts on the other side, plus help to balance the weight.

I've seen only one Shay, at the North Carolina Transportation Museum as seen here, 06/06/1998. She was built in 1925 for the Graham County Railroad in NC and numbered 1925. It ran at the museum until about 15 years ago when boiler work was required and has beed sidelined since.

 

[Sandpatch]

I just learned that the B&O depot at Deshler, OH was demolished 08/11/2022. It was in poor repair from what I read. The interlocking tower (DR Tower) there still stands, long out of service. DR once housed a Dispatcher and CTC machine, featured in the January 1953 Trains Magazine. Both of these pictures were taken 09/23/1997. You too have some pictures taken at Deshler, right Chuck?

 

[crashton]

Nothing left but memories. It was in poor shape as I recall a coal train derailed there in 2004 hitting the station. It was offered to those who wanted to preserve, but the estimate to move it was over $100,000. Funds never were found. RIP Deshler Station.

The tower still stands & is used by the MOW department.

 

[Sandpatch]

... RIP Deshler Station ...

Great shots. :encouragement: I wish I'd have done as you and backed up some to include the depot and tower in one picture. I shot with a 50mm then and didn't think to walk the distance for a better composition. Oh well.

So many fans concentrate on locomotives to the exclusion of most everything else. While this is fine, there are far fewer images available of structures, signals and freight cars.

 

[crashton]

Yes always chasing locomotives while ignoring trackside infrastructure. There were many things I've missed that were there to be photographed. Sure wish I'd had the foresight to take more pictures of them. Such is life & my eyesight is truly hindsight. :witless:

 

[Peter7100]

A very messy picture but I thought it was a nice backdrop to have at a station

 

[Dangerspouse]

A very messy picture but I thought it was a nice backdrop to have at a station

I don't think it's messy at all. Putting the train in context is environmental. I really think you would have lost the great feel of this shot it you didn't have those beautiful mountains in the background, this historic looking buildings, and the people getting on. They all add up to make this a story, as opposed to just another pic of a rather unremarkable urban transport vehicle. (I will say though that I myself might have used a brush in post and increased the exposure and contrast just a tad on the train car to draw your eye to it. But that's just me. It's still an extremely attractive shot regardless - well done!)

 

[Sandpatch]

... Such is life & my eyesight is truly hindsight. :witless:

I'm grateful to a friend from long ago who got me interested in photographing freight cars. The pox of graffiti was unknown, 40 FT cars could be found and roadnames long since lost were to be seen in many places.

I wish I'd have taken more day trips and weekend trips to hunt trains when I was young. Prior to the Internet and GPS, there was a greater joy in discovery, navigating with paper maps, road signs and reckoning where things might be found.

July 1984, Mt. Carmel, IL:

 

[crashton]

A railcar without paint vandalism is a rare sight these days. It pains me to see it. I missed a lot chasing locomotives. Tunnel vision for sure.

Oh yes paper maps, I just love them. I use GPS as an electronic map but never for spoken turn buy turn directions, that would be cheating.

Once in a while I manage to catch a bit of infrastructure, if only by accident. :distracted:

 

[Sandpatch]

... Once in a while I manage to catch a bit of infrastructure, if only by accident. :distracted:

Oh wow, a lovely B&O CPL, marker lamps and all. Thanks for posting! I just love this kind of thing and it's such a shame that PTC put an end to such individuality. Remember the days when you could drive over a grade crossing and with a quick look at a signal or other lineside detail, know which railroad it was even though you were far from home? Sigh.

 

[Sandpatch]

This afternoon's 15R (Linwood, NC => Columbia, SC) at Blythewood, SC. The influx of UP power continues, with an SD-70AH lending a hand. After several tries, I finally got a sunlit picture here.