Trackside Log for Monday, June 30, 2008

I woke up in Beckley, West Virginia this morning to a very nice looking day.  I set out to follow the Norfolk Southern for the day in hopes of finding some trains to photograph.  The first signs of life I discovered were in Kellysville where several engines were moving around.  Unfortunately they weren't cooperating with me and I couldn't photograph them.  Onward it was.  One of the locations I wanted to photograph was the tunnel in Montgomery, Virginia.  Shortly after arrival I was greeted with a pair of eastbounds.  Unfortunately the photograph for the tunnel is for westbounds.

• 1353 Montgomery, VA - NS eastbound - NS 2549-NS 9837
• 1411 Montgomery, VA - NS eastbound - NS 9435-NS 6574-NS 6618

While waiting for, hopefully, a westbound a man walks over from a local house and tells me that I'm making the old woman there nervous and she's called the police.  To make life simpler I left and continued eastward.  My thanks to the U.S. government for instilling paranoia in the American populace.  Way to go.  Anyway, I ran across a very nice westbound which would have been great to photograph at the tunnel.  Son-of-a...

• 1528 Shawsville, VA - NS 23G west - UP 8553-CEFX 3153

Oh, and I got screwed by a cloud on this photograph too.  Alright, time to find one of the other locations I was looking forward to, the four track coaling tower in Vickers, Virginia.  I found it easily enough and even had the required eastbound on the way.  I was angling for a nice photograph when I discovered a very angry dog nearby.  I stayed just outside of leash range, took my photo and left.

• 1758 Vicker, VA - NS eastbound - NS 7617-NS 9704-NS 8890

Man, this day is not going well.  I was thoroughly frustrated by this point.  The sun was coming back out again but I'd had it.  I drove to Christiansburg and checked into the Fairfield Inn called it quits for the day.

Trackside Log for Sunday, June 29, 2008

Wow, I got up pretty early this morning. How unlike me. Anyway, I started the second day of my Virginias trip by heading over to the Amtrak station in Charleston to see if CSX would be so kind as to run a train or two.

• 0746 Charleston, WV - CSX eastbound - CSXT 478-CSXT 656 (photo)
• 0803 Charleston, WV - CSX eastbound - CSXT 4842-CSXT 532
• 0821 Charleston, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 5213

That plan worked out rather well. Since I had to drive through Winifrede Junction anyway, I checked out the Big Eagle Railroad again. The two geeps were again missing from the junction so again I drove west along their tracks to find them. I didn't need to go far before I found them dumping balast in Winifrede.

• 0932 Winifrede, WV - Big Eagle westbound - JTPX 2012-JTPX 2011 (photo 1, photo 2)

After a few photographs I continued my trek toward Thurmond, my primary destination for the day. I was following CSX for much of the way and heard a westbound on the scanner in Pratt.

• 1010 Pratt, WV - CSX westbound Herzog - CSXT 369-CSXT 218

A little farther east I found a westbound coal train parked in Handley.

• 1015 Handley, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 5357-CSXT 5463 (photo)

At Deep Water I turned south and enjoyed the drive along some more twisty mountain roads on my way to Pax to begin my search for R. J. Corman. In Pax I found the coal loadout but no locomotives. So I started tracing the track back east toward Thurmond and discovered the three tunnel motors parked at a new office facility in Meadow Fork.

• 1200 Harvey, WV - R. J. Corman power - RJCX 8718-RJCX 8336-RJCX 8569 (photo 1, photo 2)

After a few cloudy photos I drove the short trek to Thurmond where I visited the National Park Service in the fabulous Chesapeake & Ohio station. Then I began the wait for trains. Nothing showed up for nearly five hours but in that time the sun came out. When the westbounds began to flow the lighting was very nice.

• 1502 Thurmond, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 7739-CSXT 4838
• 1700 Thurmond, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 7684-CSXT 5383
• 1715 Thurmond, WV - CSX westbound rail train - CSXT 2220-CSXT 6917
• 1731 Thurmond, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 4755-CSXT 871
• 1750 Thurmond, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 337-CSXT 487
• 1922 Thurmond, WV - Amtrak 51 west - AMTK 152

Scheduled time for The Cardinal was 1847 so it was late. There were still plenty of clouds in the sky but miraculously every train was sunlit and every train was a westbound. I couldn't have asked for more. Well, Amtrak could have been on time.

After the westbound extravaganza I packed up and drove to the Fairfield Inn in Beckley for the night.

Trackside Log for Saturday, June 28, 2008

For a little vacation time this year I decided to take a drive through the Virginias to photograph some railway scenes. After work the previous night I drove to Fairmont, West Virginia and stayed at the Fairfield Inn. This rainy morning I awoke and made the short drive to Grafton to see what was going on at CSX. There was a variety of motive power parked at the fuel racks and quite a few LLPX engines leased by the Appalachian & Ohio at the far end of the yard. A CSX westbound was parked under the Bridge Street bridge and provided my only photograph in Grafton.

• 0840 Grafton, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 403-CSXT 452 (photo 1, photo 2)

Very little seemed to be going on at the time so I continued on to the West Virginia Central in Belington. I've been there a couple times in the past but every time I go there's something different. Today was no exception. Fortunately the rain subsided enough for some photography.

• 0937 Belington, WV - West Virginia Central power - WVC 92 (photo)
• 0939 Belington, WV - West Virginia Central power - RT 10 (photo)
• 0940 Belington, WV - West Virginia Central power - WVC M-3 Edwards Motor Car (photo)
• 0941 Belington, WV - B&O C3014 caboose (photo)
• 0943 Belington, WV - West Virginia Central power - WVC 39 Plymouth ML-8 (photo)

My next destination was the Appalachian & Ohio. I stopped by Buckhannon but no motive power was there. I figured the abundance of LLPX engines in Grafton explained that. So onward to Burnsville I drove where I found a pair of CEFX SD90MACs.

• 1112 Burnsville, WV - Appalachian & Ohio power - CEFX 130-CEFX 125 (photo)

While photographing the SD90MACs the sun started to come out which was nice. When I got to the Elk River Railroad it was mostly sunny but a bit hazy.

Every time I visit Gassaway the Elk River geeps are in a different location yet I never get to see them actually working. Well, except for ELKR 4 which never goes anywhere.

• 1158 Gassaway, WV - Elk River Railroad power - ELKR 4 and ELKR 1-ELKR 3 (photo 1, photo 2)
• 1206 Gassaway, WV - Elk River Railroad power - ELKR 2-ELKR 5 (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3)

From Gassaway I began to make my way toward the night's destination: Charleston. This part of my drive was great fun. The route I chose took me through some wonderfully winding two lane roads through the West Virginia mountains. I had a great time winding my Mustang around them. All good things must come to an end though. Shortly before I got to Gauley Bridge the skies opened and it rained hard. I pulled off the road to wait it out near Alloy where coincidentally a set of Norfolk Southern motive power was parked with a coal train. Once the rain stopped I took a few photos.

• 1547 Alloy, WV - NS power - NS 8730-NS 9368 (photo)

Just as I was finished photographing these two engines I noticed a security guard coming out of the coal facility they were parked at. I'm not sure if he was interested in me or not. The fact that I was leaving anyway made it moot. Other sets of mixed Norfolk Southern and CSX power were to be found on the opposite side of the facility and easily photographable from the side of Route 60.

• 1551 Alloy, WV - NS power - NS 7576-NS 9631 (photo)

Next stop was the Big Eagle Railroad in Winifrede. First I stopped off at Winifrede Junction but neither of the JTPX engines were there so I deduced they were out on the line somewhere. I drove west along Fields Creek Road which parallels the track. I ran across the train loading gravel just beyond the town of Winifrede.

• 1628 Winifrede, WV - Big Eagle Railroad eastbound - JTPX 2011-JTPX 2012 (photo)

They were just finishing the load so I drove back along the track to find a suitable location to photograph them again.

• 1654 Winifrede, WV - Big Eagle Railroad eastbound - JTPX 2011-JTPX 2012

With some more time left in the day I drove back to Winifrede Junction and photographed the train as it passed under the CSX line and Interstates 64 and 77.

• 1720 Winifrede Junction, WV - Big Eagle Railroad eastbound - JTPX 2011-JTPX 2012

After a fun day I checked into the Fairfield Inn in Charleston. I had some time to kill so I walked around town and then noticed the lights on at the Apalachian Power Park. I walked over and watched the minor league West Virginia Power defeat the Lexington Legends 3-1.

Trackside Log for Wednesday, June 25, 2008

I was home from work not feeling well today but by mid-afternoon was starting to feel a bit better.  I heard a southbound Canadian Pacific train and walked out behind me house to see it.

• 1419 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 8613-CP 5978 (photo)

OK, that was enough.  I went back inside and laid down again.  It's depressing when you're ill on a nice day.

Trackside Log for Tuesday, May 20, 2008

This was the last day of our 2008 grain elevator extravaganza in Saskatchewan and beyond. We got started in Medicine Hat, Alberta and needed to get to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan that day to catch our plane the following day. No problem, we had plenty of time. Along the way we discovered a number of Canadian Pacific trains on the main line.

• 1005 MDT Dunmore, AB - CP power - CP 5919-SOO 6035 (photo)

Wait a second. That train looks familiar.

• 1029 MDT Irvine, AB - CP westbound - CP 6069-CP 8840-GCFX 3097 (photo)
• 1120 MDT Walsh, AB - CP westbound - CP 9117-CP 9137 (photo)
• 1325 CST Maple Creek, SK - CP westbound - CP 8505-CP 8719 (photo)
• 1340 CST Maple Creek, SK - CP 671 west - CP 8573-CP 9731/CP 8743-CP 9591
• 1454 CST Gull Lake, SK - CP westbound - CP 6604-CP 5757-GCFX 3062 (photo 1, photo 2)

After Gull Lake we left the Canadian Pacific main line and drove to Saskatoon and our lodging. This was a good trip. I we photographed plenty of grain elevators, trains, scenery and generally relaxed. That's why I take these trips.

Trackside Log for Monday, May 19, 2008

OK, we're going to try this again. This is the third time I've been to Sandpoint to photograph a morning train crossing the Lake Pend Oreille bridge. Sam and I got out nice and early and no sooner got on our way when we heard a foreman get a work permit for the bridge. Son-of-a...! That's the third time that's happened to me. So instead Sam and I drove over to the interchange yard and photographed the local power.

• 0840 PDT Sandpoint, ID - BNSF power - BNSF 3009-BNSF 3013 (photo)

I was pretty frustrated so I decided to push north to British Columbia. After a quick border crossing we headed to Cranbrook where we found a westbound just arriving and an eastbound about to depart.

• 1221 PDT Cranbrook, BC - CP eastbound - UP 8287-CP 9702
• 1228 PDT Cranbrook, BC - CP westbound - UP 8259-CP 9556/UP 8303 (photo)

Nothing else was in the area so we continued eastward along Highway 3. Sam and I enjoyed the scenery of Crowsnest Pass and exited the mountains at Cowley, AB. Here we found a meet between two Canadian Pacific trains.

• 1536 MDT Cowley, AB - CP westbound - CP 8754-CP 8800-CP 9707 (photo)
• 1548 MDT Cowley, AB - CP eastbound - UP 8301-UP 8263 (photo)

We figured out that our evening's destination would be Medicine Hat, Alberta. On our way through Lethbridge we checked out the monster trestle over the Oldman River. Sam was suitably impressed. No trains were immenent though so we continued east toward Medicine Hat. At Burdett we photographed our last train of the day.

• 1847 MDT Burdett, AB - CP westbound - CP 5919-SOO 6035

Then it was straight to Medicine Hat for a good meal and night's sleep.

Trackside Log for Sunday, May 18, 2008

Sam and I woke up from a restful night in Consul, Saskatchewan. The first order of the day, after breakfast, was to cross the border into Montana. Our border crossing was remote and opened at 0900. We were about fifteen minutes early so we waited and took a few photographs at the border. After explaining the convoluted rental situation we were allowed into the United States and off we went. The next few days were purely railway and scenery oriented.

The first train of the day would be met in Burnham, Montana.

• 1029 MDT Burnham, MT - BNSF eastbound - BNSF 5413-BNSF 4012-BNSF 8633-BNSF 4441 (photo)

We continued west on Route 2 and saw headlights approaching. It was the Empire Builder.

• 1140 MDT Dunkirk, MT - AMTK 8 east "Empire Builder" - AMTK 206-AMTK 146 (photo)

In Shelby we found two parked power sets.

• 1206 MDT Shelby, MT - BNSF power - BNSF 2349-BNSF 2881 (photo)
• 1211 MDT Shelby, MT - BNSF power - BNSF 880-BNSF 5155 (photo)

From Shelby we started into the mountains and stopped at the Izaak Walton Inn at Essex, Montana. Originally we were going to try to spend the night there but the timing of our trip didn't work out quite right. Another time. We hiked up to the footbridge over the tracks and waited a while but no trains showed up. Getting a little impatient we moved on and caught up to a westbound intermodal train at Pinnacle. Apparently we just missed it at Essex. Bummer.

• 1503 MDT Pinnacle, MT - BNSF westbound - BNSF 4833-BNSF 4971-BNSF 5240

Since the train was headed the same way we were we gave chase and photographed it a few more times.

• 1518 MDT Nyack, MT - BNSF westbound - BNSF 4833-BNSF 4971-BNSF 5240 (photo)
• 1524 MDT east of West Glacier, MT - BNSF westbound - BNSF 4833-BNSF 4971-BNSF 5240
• 1607 MDT Whitefish, MT - BNSF westbound - BNSF 4833-BNSF 4971-BNSF 5240 (photo)

At Whitefish we left the tracks for a while because Route 2 diverges from the main line. Having not heard very much we drove all the way to Sandpoint, Idaho. We were exploring town a little and before long heard on the scanner that an eastbound was on its way. Perfect! This was my third visit to Sandpoint and the other two times I'd been hosed on photographing trains on the bridge over Lake Pend Oreille. This was the reverse vantage point from what I really want, but I'd take it.

• 1905 PDT Sandpoint, ID - BNSF eastbound - BNSF 9895-BNSF 9570/BNSF 9175 (photo)

Finally! The photograph looked great so it made an excellent cap to the day. The light was waning and I hadn't heard any more trains in the area so we found a place to stay for the evening and some food.

Trackside Log for Friday, May 16, 2008

Today started at a car rental agency. The previous day we discovered that our rental Grand Prix had a malfunctioning fuel gauge. This is not good when you're driving around remote parts of Saskatchewan. You really want to know how much fuel you have in the tank. We made arrangements to exchange cars this morning. Our first replacement was a Toyota Sienna but when we got it up to about 80 km/h on the Trans-Canada Highway the trim around the windshield vibrated and made a rather annoying screaming noise. Back to the rental agency where we got our next replacement, a Buick Century. All this took a couple hours. What a pain.

Anyway, when we finally got on the road we found a Canadian Pacific westbound in Ernfold.

• 1101 CST Ernfold, SK - CP eastbound - CP 5936-CP 5956

After photographing the grain elevator in Morse we espied Canadian Pacific eastbound coal train from the Trans-Canada Highway.

• 1134 CST Herbert, SK - CP eastbound - CP 8794-CP 8601/CP 8551 (photo)

Next, after photographing the Paterson elevator in Herbert we find yet another Canadian Pacific eastbound. This time it's an intermodal.

• 1202 CST Fauna, SK - CP eastbound - CP 8862-CP 9543

This was the first Vancouver 2010 Olympic locomotive I'd seen.

After traipsing around some remote areas of Saskatchewan south of Swift Current we arrived in Assiniboia where the Great Western Railway usually stores their engines. Today we found three. One of their newly aquired M-420s was absent.

• 1610 CST Assiniboia, SK - Great Western Railway power - GWRS 2004 (photo)
• 1612 CST Assiniboia, SK - Great Western Railway power - GWRS 2000-GWRS 2001 (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3)

Our destination for the evening was Weyburn, Saskatchewan. We followed branch lines all the way there and discovered a Canadian Pacific baggage car parked in the small yard in Amulet.

• 1859 CST Amulet, SK - CP 404925 tool and cable car (photo)

I have no idea why it was in Amulet which is pretty much the middle of nowhere.

Trackside Log for Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Today was the first day of my grain elevator excursion to the Canadian prairies for 2008. Once again Sam was with me to take in the scenery and help with the photography duties. As always, the primary purpose is to photograph the dwindling number of country grain elevators in the prairies. Any trains I happen across are merely a bonus. The exception this year is that we're taking a side trip to Montana and Idaho purely for trains. The first train we encountered was in Landis, Saskatchewan.

• 0810 CST Landis, SK - CN eastbound - CN 2266-CN 5748 (photo)

Farther along the Canadian National main we find a second eastbound.

• 0833 CST Cavell, SK - CN eastbound - CN 2509-CN 5504 (photo)

After switching to the Canadian Pacific tracks we run across a CP eastbound.

• 1054 CST Senlac, SK - CP eastbound - CP 9644

Now following the Canadian Pacific branches we see a set of two Canadian Pacific GP38-2s in the yard in Kerrobert, Saskatchewan.

• 1224 CST Kerrobert, SK - CP power - CP 3048-CP 3068 (photo)

The remainder of the day was spent on low volume branch lines so we didn't see any more trains this day. We found a nice motel to spend the night in Kindersley, Saskatchewan and reflected on a fine day of photography.

Trackside Log for Thursday, May 1, 2008

I wound up in Austin, Texas for the week.  I was at the IBM research centre there with two others from work to learn about upcoming technology.  I had some time to myself on Thursday morning so I walked from the hotel down to the Amtrak station to have a look at the Texas Eagle.

• 0916 Austin, TX - Amtrak 22 east "Texas Eagle" - AMTK 4 (photo)

After a couple photos I walked back to the hotel to meet up with the others.