Saturday Sunrise on the Slaton Sub.

After moving to Lubbock, TX on Aug. 14th, I've spent that past week exploring the railroad scene in and around the city. I had gotten a small taste of it on an earlier visit in March but that was only an 8 hour period on one day spent driving around aimlessly (125 miles total). That's a story for a later blog.

Being familiar enough with the area and how to find a train to shoot, I decided to get up before the sun on Saturday, Aug. 25 and try my luck. Since we don't have a TV in the apartment yet, bedtime has been at a reasonable hour for the 12 days we've been here so getting up early wasn't much of a problem. I wanted a westbound on the Slaton Sub. due to some potential silhouette angles I had found on a previous scouting trip. This just so happens to be the nearest line to us at 3.2 miles away. To start following the line into the city and towards the yard, I go a bit further west to check the West Texas & Lubbock interchange at the intersection of Frankford Ave. and US 84 (Clovis Rd.). As usual on the Slaton Sub., dark signals and no distant headlight. I continued east on US 84 and eventually wound up at Canyon Junction at the Ave. P crossing. I will eventually be posting more details about the area as well as a railfan guide (somewhere down the line) as I become more familiar with the territory but for now all that is important is that Canyon Junction is where the Slaton Sub. (from the west) and Plainview Sub. (from the north) come together. A quick check of the north (RR: west) end of the yard from 2nd St. yielded nothing but more darkness and idle engines (local power). I figured my second best bet would be to check the south (RR: east) side of the yard to see if there was anything there. The best view of the south side of the yard is from E. 33rd St. accessible from Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. or from the overpass itself (no sidewalk or shoulder access). As I went over the bridge, I saw the flash of freight cars underneath heading north!

I quickly, well, okay, I got lost but I got my bearings and headed for Canyon Junction to see which way they'd be going, west on the Slaton Sub. or east on the Plainview Sub. (yeah, confusing isn't it!) I got to 4th St. (US 82) which goes over the yard and provides a view of the junction just in time to see the head end going straight up the Slaton Sub. Woot!

Again, scouting and chasing on the line on an earlier day had come in handy since I knew that while I was doing 40mph and getting stuck at lights, they would be doing no more than 35mph until Broadview (the WT&L interchange) where the posted speed limit goes to 70mph. Thanks to some clouds to the northeast, the sun was just starting to light things up although sunrise was technically some 10 minutes ago. I found a spot where I could place the tracks above the horizon. It wasn't long of a wait for the 4 locomotive manifest who was now starting to accelerate out of town to get to me.

They were soon up to track speed and so was I as we left Lubbock in our mirrors and raced towards Shallowater, 6 miles to the west. With the lack of a stunning sunrise, I was losing interest in silhouettes and wanted to get far enough ahead to get to the north side of the tracks. By the time we got to Shallowater, I had done exactly that and decided to shoot the first crossing east of town, County Rd. 1540 rather than dealing with long shadows in town.

I jumped back into the car and got in line at the crossing since they were doing all of the 55mph allowed. I wasn't paying attention for one reason or another and was surprised to see a DPU on the rear, BNSF 6992, go screaming by. I fired off one frame before getting back on US 84 and continuing the chase westward. US 84 parallels the Slaton Sub. all the way to Farwell, TX where it joins the Hereford Sub. I took a few shots out through the windshield as I caught the DPU. Being from New Jersey and having only limited time out in the prairies and flatland, I still haven't gotten used to this setup. Miles of fields, highway, tracks, more fields.

 
The towns along the way are all spaced between 10-15 miles apart allowing enough to time to get ahead of trains since the speed limit is mostly 70mph. Since I knew I had two sets of power to shoot, I wanted to be more selective especially for the DPU shot which would be perfectly lit so I aimed for Anton, the next town to the west (excluding Roundup (not even on Google maps)). I had only made it to the outskirts of Anton on a previous expedition so I didn't know what props there would be in town itself. As I got close, I saw the typical skyline of a Texas (or anywhere in the Midwest-ern town) so I bailed at the easternmost crossing, Spade Rd.

The code line along the right away makes shooting on the north side of the tracks challenging but interesting.

After brief contemplation, I decided to go one more town up to Littlefield. Only 11 miles separated Anton and Littlefield so I had to push it to get ahead in time. As I got closer to town, I noticed a small dirt crossing with a set of ex-ATSF searchlight signals right at it so I decided it was better than getting caught by slow speed limits in a town I had never been to. The signals would be the going away shot so luckily, a small farm with one cow and one horse provided the setting for the shot of the head end which was approaching quickly.

I don't know why but I decided to run back towards the crossing and the signals rather than starting the car and reversing back to them. Either way, it was worth it.

It was probably a good thing that I did run because it prevented me from chasing any further. I was already 33 miles from Lubbock and only 56 miles from the New Mexico border. It was still early so I decided to scout into Littlefield and was surprised (and disappointed (that I had not shot it)) to find the Santa Fe depot still standing. I decided to stick around a little while longer just in case an eastbound was holding at the next siding, which are located in every town. No sign of anything so I started heading west towards home.

I decided to do a little more exploring since it wasn't even 10AM and did my best to follow to the WT&L from the interchange to their yard in Lubbock. It isn't the most direct route as they go 5 miles west from the yard, 6 miles north and another 5 miles east to the Slaton Sub, but there were a few spots that I wouldn't mind shooting one day. I eventually wound up at the yard where I was surprised to see not one but two SD90MACs at the west end of the yard. AZER 102 had been brought in sometime after March to join TNMR 113 as the big power on the 107-mile shortline.

 
 I went to see what was happening on the east end of the yard accessible by 43rd St. No F40PHs, but I did find another newcomer to the line, AZER 2501, an ex-SJVR, exx-Kyle, ne-UP, nee-WP GP35.

I got my shots and I called it a day and a successful one at that!

A Day on the Magnolia Cutoff

A week and a half ago I saw this image and knew I had to get down to the Cutoff before the signals were replaced and eventually taken down. First came the logistics. When? Who? How? The when was pretty obvious, as soon as possible. Unfortunately, a check of the weather for the area for the weekend showed rain and clouds from Thursday to Monday. The original forecast had Tuesday and Wednesday as "partly sunny" so I figured I'd try to figure something out for Tuesday-Wednesday. I figured costs would be lower if I could find someone else to go with especially with my only possibly of solo transportation being my gas-guzzling '95 Blazer. My brother has work during the week as do most people who would be remotely interested (read: crazy) in going. I dreaded the thought of going solo in my already-gas-guzzling-truck which has been having other issues lately. Finally, on Friday I had an epiphany and emailed my friend Tom from NE PA whom I've gone away with a few times and always came back with awesome photos to see if he was interested. "Yes, let's DO it !" was the first sentence of the response email. Awesome! Of course, with a trip with a set goal, weather is an important deciding factor so we took the weekend to watch what would happen as the estimated day approached. (He would also be away until Monday night.) Sunday rolled around and the reports had changed (of course) and now Wednesday was to be "mostly sunny" and Thursday "partly cloudy". In response, we shifted the trip to Wednesday and Thursday. A Monday afternoon check of the 'predictions' now show "chance of rain Wednesday" and "mostly sunny" Thursday and "mostly cloudy" on Friday. Well, Wednesday was now out and with a crappy Friday, it was looking more like a one-day event if anything at all. The "mostly sunny" forecast changed to "sunny" by Tuesday morning and it was decided that the trip was a go as long as that held into Wednesday which it did. Friday was still "mostly cloudy" as well, keeping it to a one day trip. As I was packing on Wednesday, I checked the temperatures for the Cutoff and took a glimpse at what they were calling for..."sunny" Thursday and "mostly cloudy" Friday still. I continued getting my things together as departure time of 5PM approached and decided to look once more. Thursday: "sunny" and  Friday "partly sunny". WTH?!?! Where did that come from? Apparently, some discussion would take place on the ride down.

We met up at the park & ride on PA 33 and took off for the Super 8 in Hancock, MD at 7:45PM. We got to the hotel around 10:15PM. Time for some logistics and sleep. As I sat in bed, I looked over my notes on what signals were in immediate danger (thanks to John Ryan for those!) and found out via multiple sources that the Capitol Limited (Amtrak's Chicago to Washington train over the route) had two freshly painted heritage units leading. Now anticipation was turning into anxiety and excitement. The plan in place was to start on the gravel access road at Hancock and shoot the Color Position Lights (CPLs) as we worked west towards the actual Magnolia Cutoff segment and Paw Paw, WV finding the nearest well-lit signal set as we heard trains.

The next morning we got up at 6AM and walked out the door exactly at 6:30AM as planned. It was a quick stop at Sheetz for food/drinks/ice for the rest of the day as we would be leaving civilization until sunset. We started down the access road at 6:50AM and it didn't take long to get the first action of the day as a manifest slowly crept around the curve towards the Hancock Safetrans signal bridge (~MP 123) with the first sunlight of the day just starting to hit the trees. Note how high the Potomac River is running after the 4-5 days of rain they had over the weekend.

For the sake of covering a 12 hour day in a somewhat short amount of time. We continued west shooting the CPLs at Grasshopper (~MP 125), Ambrose (~MP 127), Dry Wall (~MP 131), Sideling Hill (~MP 135), and the dual bracket mast at Turkey Foot (~MP 137). We came upon the first sign of any work being done when we arrived at the Orleans Road signal bridge and mast (MP 139.1). A new base was in place adjacent to the signal bridge meaning new signals would be put into place soon. It was definitely sad to see. We did a little scouting in the vicinity due to the curving nature of the line, the signals were actually well lit for a westbound despite it being 8:30AM. We continued on down the main road until we saw there was no way back up to track level and turned around to take the maintainers road west from there. We looked over the scene once more at Orleans Road and decided to take our first break of the day and give it 15 minutes. Sure enough within 5 minutes, the scanner came alive and a westbound was asking for permission past the work limits. The foreman gave him permission and horns could be heard as he approached the curve before the signal bridge. What were the odds of getting exactly what we wanted when we wanted it. A good sign of the day ahead perhaps?

With smiles on our faces and relief setting in, we continued west to discover more heartbreak at the Doe Gully signals (MP 141.6) with new Safetrans standing, waiting next to the CPL masts. The road between Doe Gully and Hansrote was interesting to say the least. Taking a Jeep was definitely the right call. We took an access road up to what I thought would be the signals at Hansrote and my heart sank when we came upon a brand new (and I mean BRAND NEW) Safetrans cantilever. We got back to the access road and found another driveway up to the still-standing CPLs at Hansrote (MP 143.6).

We popped into the Magnolia signals to see what was going on but a number of construction vehicles and white SUVs gave us the feeling we shouldn't hang around plus the light wasn't around yet to shoot the south side of the signals. It was approaching [estimated] timetable Amtrak of 10AM. We hadn't heard anything on the scanner of his presence and a brief period of cell service yielded intel that he was late out of Cumberland. None of the signals were spectacularly lit in the area and with two units of importance to see, we decided a broadside at the Magnolia Bridge over the Potomac would be the best bet. Since the river was running so high, there was only spot to shoot between the trees and have enough room for two units but it would have to do. We sat and waited and waited. Finally, the scanner came alive but to our disappointment it was another westbound asking for permission at Orleans Road. Permission was given and we settled for the going away view of it on the bridge. It was Amtrak's turn. They finally made it to Okonoko where they would wait for the westbound empty coal to get by and then get permission through the work limits. 40 minutes after the westbound had cleared up the distinct Amtrak horn could be heard on the other side of the mountain. 25mph through the work limits meant plenty of time to get THE shot of the heritage units leading the Capitol Limited over the swollen Potomac. If we got nothing for the rest of the day, I don't think it would have mattered.

We knew there was an intermodal just a few minutes behind, but also knew if we stayed at the bridge we would get stuck there for who knows how long as trains were beginning to stack up. We took one for the team and were just about to Kessler when we saw his cars going over the bridge. Oh well. We knew of one more eastbound and set out sights on the signal at Carothers (MP 147.2). We heard him get permission at Okonoko and within 15 minutes, he was calling the signal on the other side of the tunnel at Paw Paw. Another signal checked off as an eastbound loaded coal train drifted by at 12:28PM. Not long after his hind end had cleared, we heard a westbound waiting at Orleans Road. Things were getting busy and fast. We took the drive to the west end of Carothers Tunnel to the mast signal at Paw Paw (MP 147.9). It was an hour since we had seen the eastbound but we finally heard the westbound call what sounded like "Characters" and the welcome sight of an EMD nose popped out of the tunnel portal and past the signal. Sadly, a look to the west yielded another painful view of new Safetrans signals waiting to take the place of the CPLs.

Things were busy but unfortunately in the wrong direction. Two more eastbounds were getting permission at Okonoko.  We went back to Carothers for the first. We wasted the second at the concrete wall hoping the light was broadside enough for a decent shot which we found out it wasn't. With nothing in the picture we decided to kill time by heading back to Magnolia to snag a quick shot of the signals and hope we hear something somewhere in the process. We had a bit of a delay as three goats and a dog decided to take over the road. We were just approaching Kessler when we heard a westbound already through Orleans Road. We parked as out of the way as we could get at Magnolia but were asked to leave probably due to safety more than anything. Not wanting to leave without getting at least one shot of the signals, we walked up the access road, hung out towards the top until the train came into view, snapped a view shots, and got out of there.

 The next thing on the list was the late afternoon shot at Paw Paw so we made our way west once again. We had a chance to relax and close our eyes for a few minutes until we heard two westbounds getting permission through the work area, one EMD led and one GE led. It was now 4:38PM and we only had two and a half hours of usable light left. We went east once again since we had gotten the angles at Paw Paw we wanted. We scouted the westbound shot from behind the signal at Carothers until we heard an eastbound at Okonoko. With no well-lit signal shot close, we agreed to give the concrete wall another chance since the sun had swung around to the northwest now. We didn't have to wait long after climbing up the hill to the east end of the wall before hearing him call Paw Paw. The light wasn't as perfect as it would be a little later in the year but the autoracks stretched around the almost 90 degree curve looked sweet. The work limits were dropped and with Amtrak time approaching and no way of knowing if it was on time we went to Carothers to kill the rest of the light. Not long after getting into position, an eastbound called Little Niagara. Two tracks were back in service so we decided to bite the bullet and stay in position just in case a westbound was heading our way as well. It wasn't much of a sacrifice as a little waterfall had formed just outside of the tunnel and the light was pretty even in the shadow of the mountain despite it being the best consist of the day.

Shadows were just about to attack the signal mast as we officially called it a day. My coverage of the B&O CPLs had basically tripled in a matter of 12 hours and I was very happy but yet my appetite to shoot the signals on borrowed time was still not satisfied. Another trip to the Magnolia Cutoff is not too far off, I feel.

A Foggy NJT Early Afternoon

After [finally] getting a chance to sleep in and sending Miranda off to class on Wednesday, I decided to take advantage of the fog resulting from Tuesday's rain/thunderstorms. I got to my truck and checked Departure Vision to see when the next train either direction from Long Branch would be. To Bay Head...at...11:30. *Looks at clock* 11:27!!! I took off for the Cedar Ave. crossing which is less than a mile from the visitor parking lot. I got my camera ready and took some practice shots before hearing horns for the Bath Ave. crossing just west of the station. From Cedar Ave. you can usually see all the way to the bend at Bath Ave. but not today. I didn't get a good view of the PL42 leader until he was almost on top of the Brighton Ave. crossing.

 Not completely satisfied, I checked Departure Vision again and saw a northbound would be leaving in about 15 minutes. I drove past the station and saw the engine was on the south end and decided to go north and try to find something blooming. I noticed that a northbound and southbound would almost meet at the Little Silver so that would be my target location especially since I had never shot there before. I only had a few minutes to spare before the northbound would catch up to me when I saw a tree blooming at the south end of the platform. I missed the turn for the station parking lot so I was going to go around the block. I pulled up to the Shrewsbury Ave. light when it was red. Sitting...sitting...finally the "NO LEFT TURN" sign lit up. Crap! I knew what this meant, yup, lights start flashing and the gates go down. Like an idiot, I continued to sit in the left turn lane. Finally, I realized no one was behind me so I backed up to the entrance to the lot and swung into one of the 15 minute parking spots (thank you, NJT, those are really convenient!), grabbed my camera and hurried to the end of the platform. They started rolling just as I got past the engine and only had a few seconds to rattle off a few shots.

I started walking up the platform to find an angle that worked for the southbound due in 3 minutes. I had only gone a few yards when the gates went down again. I was going to just watch but I scrambled for a grab shot. I went for a blur because of the fence with focus on the classy New Jersey Transit Corp. bench.

I called it a day after that needing to get home to pack for a one day blowout on the Magnolia Cutoff the following day!

Branching Out

It's felt good to have the camera in my hands almost every day this week after shooting only 9 times since Florida (February 28, 2011). One thing I want to try if this trend continues is getting out of my comfort zone and shooting other things such as landscapes, wildlife, architecture, etc. on nice days instead of being track side all the time. Of course I will still want to cross things off my railroad to-shoot-list but a decent mix would be nice.

We had a fire going last night to burn some old wood (from a willow tree we cut down more than 10 years ago) since we've had to cut down a few trees around the house this spring. While watching, I got the itch to shoot and attempt to catch the flames (and also learn how to in the process). I ran and got my camera and guessed at the settings for the seemingly bright fire, WRONG! Not only was I too dark but my shutter speed was too slow to stop action. When watching it you don't notice how fast fire actually moves. Dark logs = needs more exposure. Bright flame = less exposure. That means flash was going to be needed. I didn't get the external so I just used the on-camera flash for fill light only for the sake of time. This time a much better result.

1/250 @ f/5, ISO 1600

Even in the 5 minutes I spent shooting the fireplace I actually learned a lot:
- fire is fast a fast shutter speed is needed to freeze (ha!) it
- an external flash is optimal to shoot faster than the 1/250 the pop-up allows
- a controlled light source is important
- sometimes you should just give up after the first shot (the next dozen shots were all rejects)
- pay attention to settings that work
- what our eyes see isn't always what is captured on 'film' (see photo below)
- fire is HOT

1/250 @ f/8, ISO 800

I was seeing a flame like the one in the first photo but I had changed my settings and focal length changing how the camera was catching the flame. It became almost transparent and floating rather than full and engulfing the wood.

Lucky for me there is a nearly endless supply of firewood in the backyard to get more practice.

Route 615/522 Crossing Replacement

After checking Browns Yard and seeing that both usual geeps (NS 5277 and CSXT 4431) were missing, Sean and I decided to follow the line down to Jamesburg and then over to Freehold to see if we could intercept SA31 heading down the Freehold Industrial Track (FIT). As we got to the junction in Jamesburg, I noticed a Conrail truck sitting on the Amboy Sec. as we turned off of Mott Ave. When we got to the stop sign at Route 615, it was pretty clear why. ROAD CLOSED. They had the crossing across the Rte 522/Rte 615 intersection closed to put in new concrete crossing panels and new rail.


They have already replaced the rail leading up to the crossing to the east and put in the new crossing panels and rail up to the west edge of it. As I shot from the end road on the north leg of the wye, a worker informed me that the interesting work would be done tomorrow when they rip out the switch and rest of the north leg and replace it with new rail seen below.


With that information and my obsession with track work, I'll be taking a trip back in the morning to watch the new switch and rail go into place. When I finally get around to doing a photo guide or gallery on the Conrail lines around the area, I can do an entire segment on the track work done on all the lines in the past three years or at least before and after photos of all the crossings and new tie work.

Here are the rest of the photos I took of the crossing/track work. More to come tomorrow hopefully.

A Neat (Read: Nerdy) Observation

Amidst all the hoopla of BNSF 8647 being 'in town' this week, I came across something I find very interesting. I've taken over 400,000 total photos since going digital in 2004 with about 250-300K being of railroad subjects. Because of this, coincidences are bound to happen such as shooting the same locomotive in different places or shooting locomotives with the same number such as BRW 752 and WW 752 (both GP9s) which is exactly what I realized yesterday while going through the shots of 69Qs power. The consist for the trip west (and was for the trip east) would be NS 9581, BNSF 8239 and BNSF 9647. Hmm, NS 9581, just so happens to share the number of my favorite engine, BDRV 9581. I kept thinking about how cool that is and then I thought about it some more. While they were wying the power, I shot NS 9581 on the PRS and CCS diamond. When BDRV 9581 was on the Winchester & Western I had shot that on a diamond as well in Vineland. So, that means I have a shot of two different 9581s going across different diamonds both in New Jersey.


It may not be the most fascinating thing in the world but its just another thing that makes the hobby fun. =)

One of a Kind

No, seriously, I promise there will be more posts soon!

I thought of a good one the Tuesday morning but by the time I had gotten photos that went along with my idea, it was on to the next project. That next project just happened to be the arrival of BNSF 9647 in New Jersey on NS 68Q. For those who have no idea what I am taking about. BNSF 9647 is a locomotive in a one-of-a-kind paint scheme. "The unit was decorated in this fashion to celebrate the approval of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe merger by the Interstate Commerce Commission on the 20 July 1995." (from: http://www.qstation.org/9647/) Sean and I caught it trailing in the 3rd spot on its way into North Jersey on Tuesday evening just after the sun had set in Manville, NJ. We both went back to Sewaren, NJ where the ethanol is unloaded at Motiva Enterprises but saw no movement.

Earlier this afternoon, I got a text from Sean (thank you, thank you, thank you!!!) with a heads up that a Conrail crew was pulling the empties out of Motiva. I knew I had at least an hour or two to get up to Port Reading (PR) to watch the run around. Lucky for us here in New Jersey, foreign locomotives cannot lead west of Harrisburg so to save headaches later, the power has to be wyed for the return trip. This is the ONLY time in 68Q/69Qs journey that the trailing locomotives are open or unfrontcoupled. After a quick half-lunch I took off around 2PM for PR and Carteret. As I got to PR, OI16 was just pulling down to PD to work the yard along side the rear (actually front) of an ethanol and I saw a headlight behind the last car which meant the power was already uncoupled. I grabbed a few shots of OI16 and took off for Carteret. Upon arrival I saw two CSX engines under the ramps. I walked to the tracks and looked south...nothing...looked north...and :-D. The unobstructed nose of BNSF 9647 sitting just south of the drawbridge at RH. I ran back to the truck to get my camera knowing the sun would only give me a few seconds of opportunity when it did appear. By the time I got back no more than 30 seconds later, the conductor was already on the front and they were starting south. Electrical line poles line the right of way here limiting the openings to shoot it. Just as they got close to the edge of the opening before ducking under the Turnpike ramps...SUN!!! Too good to be true.




The 'chase' was on as they slowly made their way down the Chemical Coast Secondary towards Port Reading. They made it end of their train and put a EOTD on and waited until OI16 was out of the way. I made sure I got to the crossing north of PD before they did. The sun was in and out as the conductor lined the switches but when it needed to be out it was...again!



While they took the east leg of the wye, I got back into the truck and headed to the stairway that leads up to the CR 604 bridges over the Port Reading Secondary (PRS) entrance to the yard and Chemical Coast Secondary (CCS). Having been removed from the bridge in a cop car once before, I prepared myself this time by bringing along a Railpace with two of my photos in it. I got into position looking down the CCS at PD (the diamond crossing of the PRS and CCS) and crossed my fingers that they would get permission across quickly. They did and the welcome sound of NS 9581's bell could be heard as they started west. The sun was muted this time but I didn't even care at this point. The only two trains (light power) that I have shot from that location have been a KCS Retro Belle and the one-of-a-kind BNSF 9647. Crazy.



I made it back down to the crossing to get a few last shots of the would-be NS leader and headed home. There was no way I could top what I just shot the passed two hours!