7mm US model dabblings

mickoo

Western Thunderer
Just for Dave, I've gone back and had a trawl through all the non arty action shots.

ATSF Dash 9 with modified exhaust
IMG_1769.jpg

ATSF Dash 9 with standard exhaust
IMG_2830.jpg

Patched SP Dash 9, composure is crap, historically priceless.
IMG_2957.jpg

In more general terms, my favoring tight angle power shots does not give good angles for overall general shots but I have done a few or got away with pulling back enough on the big lens to get a reasonable shot. Now I look at the consist at max zoom and if it has anything interesting in, bail out of the power shot,change lenses and step back for general data shots.

CN SD60 I think, blurred due to wrong setting.
IMG_1867.jpg

Ironically this wagon with the same settings wasn't
IMG_1869.jpg

Ex BN SD60MAC I think, no notes here to check, in Executive colours.
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NS Dash 9
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This one made me think of my mum, thought it wasn't breast cancer, just cancer she passed away with, but it triggered emotions I'd not expected but were not unpleasant..
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On a brighter note, my first reaction to seeing this was someones collection of ACE kits white metal castings.
IMG_3035.jpg

I have been banging away on manifest trains with pictures of wagons for reference research.

MD
 

Tim Humphreys ex Mudhen

Western Thunderer
In more general terms, my favoring tight angle power shots does not give good angles for overall general shots but I have done a few or got away with pulling back enough on the big lens to get a reasonable shot. Now I look at the consist at max zoom and if it has anything interesting in, bail out of the power shot,change lenses and step back for general data shots.

Seems like a good excuse for a second camera body:D
Tim
 

mickoo

Western Thunderer
Seems like a good excuse for a second camera body:D
Tim
I do ;), the trusty old 40D, two reasons I don't take it, extra weight to lug around and more often as not you can't relocate fast enough to maximize it's use, if you do have time, then it's just as easy to swap the lens as you walk. But I get the point, if you were to do this professionally then that would be the way to go.

MD
 

mickoo

Western Thunderer
Quiet day today for photos, unless y'all want dozens of modelling detail shots.

Popped down to Cajon depot and Swarthout Canyon first. First up a UP climbs up the cutoff line high up above the wash.
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It's a difficult place to photograph and you're forced to shoot through a small letter box between power line cables and use max zoom, so slightly hazy from the heat shimmer.

Further up the pass and lower down finds a BNSF coming out of Swarthout and into the Cajon depot area.
IMG_3248.jpg

After that a drive down Route 66 to Keenbrook and Devore proved fruitless for photo opportunities so I ended up at West Colton.

First up a light engine move under the bridge then backed up to a train.
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Followed closely by an odd arrival from what is normally the SP Sunset route.If anything BNSF would come from the left high line in the background as that's the link to the Cajon SP cutoff and that would be rare in it's self as BNSF does not use the cutoff line as far as I know.
I've a Flickr friend who has been taking photos from this bridge for years and I don't recall there ever being a BNSF train in all of the thousands he has put up. I'll ask him when I get home and put the large images on my page.
IMG_3262.jpg

A short while later one of Coltons switcher sets rolls out to switch a train, stopping right under the bridge before setting back at run 8, marvelous:thumbs:. All in all three switcher sets arrived with their trains, some shunted, some just dropped of and then set back to the other end of the yard. Bagged nine SD40-2 in the space of 20 minutes.
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Whilst the switching was going on a East bound for the Sunset route rolls by.
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Then another EB heading for the Sunset route was met by a WB, the second switcher set and another light engine move.
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The third switcher set was behind me waiting to run around, it was a real case of a dog in a yard full of balls and squirrels (viewers of Up will get that).

After that it all stopped and after an hour I bailed back up to Cajon for the afternoon. I wanted some downhill shots at what I call memorial curve and like yesterday, dispatch was playing silly beggers and sending most of it down M2 which I'd previously assumed was rarely used, the end result was a lot of back and forth and missing virtually everything, so in the end I just camped out at the memorial and waited and ignored all the other trains on M1, M2 and the cutoff.

Whilst sat dozing on the bench this little critter came and had a look around.
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A short while later what I was waiting for turned up.
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And another lower tighter power angle.
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By this time the sun had pulled round enough to take photos of trains coming up the cut off, just a case of waiting for one, you can just scoot from M1, M2 to the cut off and get trains on either if your quick.
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Followed by a nice DPU as he crosses the upper reaches of the wash and past Mormon rocks.
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Moments later back on M2 I managed to grab a downhill with the sun nearly on the nose as it passes through Mormon rocks and crosses the upper wash.
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Finally back to my near favorite place, certainly for sound as they pass under the 138 bridge.
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Finally, whilst passing up the I15 I'd noticed one or two pull offs for overheated vehicles so decided to be cheeky and pull into the top one. It's a six lane Freeway, on a 6% grade with the inside lane for trucks doing 10-20 mph in crawler gear, so easy to pick a hole and safely stop and more importantly get out again. Anyway I bagged this shot of the upper reaches of Cajon pass.

IMG_3587.jpg
Every other time I've driven past this spot there's a train somewhere in the picture, but not this time, I only pretended to breakdown for a few minutes and just as I left and got up to speed a BNSF TOFC rounded the bend on M1/M2.

On the left is the SP cut off and the link line to M1. M1 and M2 run side by side in the middle and M3 is just veering off and dropping at a steeper grade than M1/M2 at this point.

The new cut/scar for the 138 at Summit can be seen mid left of centre, the 138 has been closed for the last two days, so no chance of getting to Summit or Hill 582; not that I'm overly bothered. I'd like to get to this area though which is called Silverwood where the cross over is; Hill 582 is to the right off picture.

This is one of the hardest areas to get to since the 138 has been rebuilt, many of the forestry roads no longer join onto the 138. Besides, the 138 is used by the local Banzai Kamikazes who do not take kindly to tourists browsing around or even doing the speed limit and now that the new road is straighter they just drive faster! Hopefully tomorrow being the weekend will see less of the lunatic commuters and I may just pull of at the Hill 582 forestry road and park there and hike up to Silverwood.

MD
 
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Jordan

Mid-Western Thunderer
I tend to think some of the Basement Empire layouts look a bit unrealistic with "tracks everywhere" on a big scenic section.
Looking at that last photo, I guess maybe they're not so wide of the mark, after all..!! :oops: :rolleyes: :)
 

mickoo

Western Thunderer
Jordan, certainly not, lot of track here and a big area too, it's just vast. What the photo doesn't show very well is the deep gullies and crests you need to climb up and down to make any head way, you probably do more vertical distance than linear.

Another bitty day and trade dropped off at around one, with nothing of any significance or volume for the next three hours and with it clouding over I bailed out for an early evening.

First up though was grabbing this at Lugo.
IMG_3597.jpg

A friendly wave elicited I think the 'finger' from the engineer, an unusual response but with tinted windows difficult to determine, but it kind of set the day really and niggled me more than it should of.

Silverwood works better in the afternoon but there's a lot of clutter so very hard to work with.
IMG_3600.jpg

UP 7400 again climbs up the hill toward Summit.

Moments later a BNSF MT stacker rolls around the curve at Summit.
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Followed by another BNSF coming up the hill.
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A move to Hill 582 picked up some early trade.
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A BNSF train swings around the curve on the straight past Hill 582, it's a nice gully and would reward further investigation when traffic and light picks up.

IMG_3628.jpg

As he passed a UP was going down the cutoff on the higher level. Another one at a tighter angle.
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And later another with a CREX unit trailing.
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This little hillock is just about level with the exhaust stacks and the Dash 9's really bark and crackle as they pass. Next up one rolls down toward Hill 582.
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DPU's whining dynamics holding back the train as an uphill one passes behind.
IMG_3716.jpg

By this time the weather was hotting up and the near horizon misting up making images difficult to process.

A UP train rolls down the cutoff toward what looks like the edge of the world.
IMG_3721.jpg

With DPU's following.
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A wider view up the hill toward Silverwood and Summit finds a UP rail train coming down the grade, it does try and show how steep these lines are.
IMG_3746.jpg

And a wide view just west of Hill 582 showing some of the terrain.
IMG_3766.jpg

MD
 
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mickoo

Western Thunderer
Okay, an update, Sunday was good, managed to get to the old parking spot on Summit, which meant a 'trespass' on the new construction site, but being as they were not working it shouldn't of been an issue, as it turns out when I came down an owner/worker was repairing his grader, 'Stan' didn't give a......' laughed and said make the most of it because in about two or three weeks time the view would be gone or almost impossible to access.

Then it was down to West Colton for more stock and engine detail shots.

Monday was a write off, clearly MOW day like Tehachapi, saw ten trains but only photographed two due to them swapping lines and there being two hour gaps between blocks of two or three trains, after the tenth miss at 14:00 I threw it in as a bad deal, went back to the motel, turned on the A/C and watched the weather channel!

Today was the drive back to Kingman AZ with a stop at Barstow, they have a sort of museum and the stop was one of the non negotiable items on the itinerary, mainly for the exhibits outside, they're a bit tired but they do allow you to climb all over them....well according to the foot marks I saw all over them. No one chased me off so I made hay.

The primary item was this.
IMG_4320.jpg

Want one! With several hundred photos and a tape measure I have just about enough to make a wild stab at scratch building one.

Second item was this.
IMG_4471.jpg

Same comments apply.

Another apparently really rare item is this, some sort of Alco with GP7/9 repowering, will look it up when I get home but I think it's only one of one, so very rare, not really my cup of tea so just the four corner views.
IMG_4777.jpg

One for Yorkshire Dave ;) I know he likes these sorts of things.
IMG_4795.jpg

Again just the four corner views.

Of more interest was one of Barstow switcher sets.
IMG_4748.jpg

There were a couple of others , one with a GP60B unit I think but he decided not to shunt when I got to the bridge. There is no sidewalk on this side of the bridge so you have to time it right between traffic or run the risk of broken legs or abuse and horns from passing motorists, luckily I manged option one as traffic was sporadic.

Moving East I jumped on the Route 66 at Ludlow, well followed it all the way out from Barstow and saw nothing, leaving Ludlow and just before passing a hillock that obscured the line, spotted a WB coming down the hill, a quick U turn and race back to the crossing two miles away bagged this with seconds to spare.
IMG_4859.jpg

Moving on there were a couple of other trains, but too far away and when the line was close there were no trains. It was in the high 90's and I was in no mood to wait, should of really as there were plenty coming around the bottle neck at West Amboy.
IMG_4865.jpg

A west bound autotrain runs through the siding at West Amboy and around the EB manifest stopped on the west bound main line.

As soon as he passed headlights appeared on the horizon and ten minutes later.....the horizon is a very loooong way away!....the 'worm' appeared, this is one of the heaviest trains on BNSF, so ample power supplied; same as a mega 16K stacker but no where near as long.
IMG_4877.jpg

Again he has used the siding and is now rejoining the main line. By now it was 103 outside, not overly unpleasant as the humidity was low. There were three mid train DPU's and a pair of DPU's on the back for a nice going away shot.

Note in the above picture the high green (high ball) aspect for an EB. Sure enough, moments later a...I think Q.... train comes hammering downgrade through West Amboy.
IMG_4903.jpg

At some point he will switch to the EB track to bypass more stopped trains up near Goffs. The road I wanted to use was still closed, so a ten mile diversion found me back on the freeway and after another 40 miles I could pick up Route 66. As I approached the turn I spotted our Q train in the distance so the chase was on to get ahead to Goffs and get another shot, all be it into the sun.
IMG_4912.jpg

View from the dash, at this point he's pulling a good load (over a mile long) up grade at a whopping 55 mph, it took some time to catch him and the old 66 isn't the best road to be doing those sort of speeds.

The reason for the track swap was this intermodal stopped on the EB track.
IMG_4920.jpg

The weather and sun angle was perfect, the scenery stunning, so I binned the chase and took several shots of the DPU. In the next block ahead was another autotrain on the EB main, both clearly stopped to let the higher priority Q train pass. There were a couple of other trains, one I could of spun around and captured further up the hill but it was getting late and I needed to be at Kingman to check in.
 

Temeraire

Western Thunderer
Just for Dave, I've gone back and had a trawl through all the non arty action shots.

ATSF Dash 9 with modified exhaust
View attachment 86766

ATSF Dash 9 with standard exhaust
View attachment 86770

Patched SP Dash 9, composure is crap, historically priceless.
View attachment 86773

In more general terms, my favoring tight angle power shots does not give good angles for overall general shots but I have done a few or got away with pulling back enough on the big lens to get a reasonable shot. Now I look at the consist at max zoom and if it has anything interesting in, bail out of the power shot,change lenses and step back for general data shots.

CN SD60 I think, blurred due to wrong setting.
View attachment 86767

Ironically this wagon with the same settings wasn't
View attachment 86768

Ex BN SD60MAC I think, no notes here to check, in Executive colours.
View attachment 86769

NS Dash 9
View attachment 86772

This one made me think of my mum, thought it wasn't breast cancer, just cancer she passed away with, but it triggered emotions I'd not expected but were not unpleasant..
View attachment 86771

On a brighter note, my first reaction to seeing this was someones collection of ACE kits white metal castings.
View attachment 86774

I have been banging away on manifest trains with pictures of wagons for reference research.

MD

(Pendant mode) Mick your Ex.SD60MAC is actually an SD70MAC, the clue is on the solebar under the cab, but you're right on the Executive colour scheme! (Pendant mode off)

Stunning shots. Thanks for sharing them!
 

Temeraire

Western Thunderer
Pedant mode on...
Spelling of 'pedant' (it's not 'pendant' unless you're referring to a light fitting?)
...Pedant mode off!
Dave

Good point, well made Dave! :thumbs:

(in my defense I was holding on the phone for my insurance company when I typed that and had been for a good 40 mins - my
brain was mush-like) :confused:
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
At the risk of rolling further off topic, when I used to work in the graphics studio of a printers, we had an ex-Fleet Street proof reader. He taught me a lot about my design and typesetting trade, and had ways he pronounced certain words to ensure he caught them when reading. He also had a habit of saying "pendantic", as a joke, and it's rubbed off on me!
 

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
Another apparently really rare item is this, some sort of Alco with GP7/9 repowering, will look it up when I get home but I think it's only one of one, so very rare, not really my cup of tea so just the four corner views.

This was the ATSF Cleburne Works 'BEEP' - the only rebuild of a Baldwin VO with EMD power and long hood.
 

mickoo

Western Thunderer
Spent all day in Kingman Canyon, like previous days there was MOW and no EB trains for four hours, fair few WB, but due to the sun and the canyon there's only one real area you can work, so it got a little over worked.

First of the west bounds rolls down the grade with a manifest train.
IMG_4931.jpg

And another, this time a 12K stacker with mid train and rear end DPU's
IMG_4946.jpg

Next up the 'worm' made it's appearance with a nice clean SD70ACe on the point.
IMG_4953.jpg

Moving further down the canyon with the sun angle finds a manifest with eight engines on the point, can't recall if all were under power, probably not.
IMG_4958.jpg

Another double stacker swings over bridge 518.3
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And finally a higher view of the S curve.
IMG_4988.jpg

With the sun moved around I thought I'd try from the other side, even though it's only 5-600 yrds away it's a near 3 mile drive around to route 66 on the other side of the canyon, even then, this one caught me off guard.
IMG_5007.jpg

I wanted to be another 300 yrds down the road where the line swings round. About this time the first and second Z train EB's rolled up the hill and over the bridge in the above image. Knowing there would/should be a glut of backlogged trains it was time to switch sides again to a little canyon I'd spotted in Bing and Google maps. The sun angle wasn't perfect but workable.
IMG_5025.jpg

Thundering up the grade, the exhaust bounces back and forth between the canyon sides. Wider angle at the entrance to the rock cut.
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The problem with working tight angles in narrow spaces is that you miss foreign power like this.
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And the NS unit in the DPU at the rear.
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It was a long wait until the next EB and they sent it up the other track! and then only a few minutes later another, pointless trying to take anything except side on data shots, however both trains were Z trains, so it stood to reason that there may be a slower train on my EB track and sure enough up the hill he came.
IMG_5051.jpg

I did bottle it a bit and pull back on the zoom too early, should of waited another few yards so the engine really filled the frame, but then you'd loose the rock face on the left. Despite the sun angle, it's a good spot and the cut amplifies the sound of the exhaust and flange squeal, and yes, the ground does shake a little.

By this time I'd been up here too long in the sun, there is one further outcrop a little further up, and a nice angle from on top of this outcrop to the right I want to get tomorrow.
So it was down the rock face to try and get at least one shot of the bucket list bridge to the south, even though the sun was all wrong. It's really an early morning location.
IMG_5072.jpg

The lighting is horrible and hard to post process and the sandy area makes it really bright. I'll try again tomorrow morning if there's no MOW.

Moving back down and no sooner had I got down, when another EB rolled up the Canyon, so the obligatory late afternoon shot of the bridge was in order.
IMG_5084.jpg

A quick race back up the hill for one final shot.
IMG_5093.jpg

MD
 
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mickoo

Western Thunderer
David, not seen or heard a rattle snake yet out and about, did see a snake of some sort slithering across the freeway not sure what type it was but it scuttled back as I passed by. It was a big one too, good four or five feet long.

Not sure if the critter was a lizard or gecko, if you sit very still they get quite close.
 

mickoo

Western Thunderer
Helpers are manned and cut in and out as required on hilly sections. These are not, they are fully automated and linked to the lead engine and remain with the consist for the entire journey or section.

Around here they can cut on or off (rear end) DPUs at Barstow, Needles or Winslow, these are only the rear ones mind, mid train DPUs remain for the entire journey. If there's a head end failure then they may cut extra engines on the front to retain the required power to weight ratio for the section ahead.

In the past two days I've seen several Q trains which would normally be a 4x0 set up running as 2x2. I didn't see any of these on Cajon all week, they would of been 4x2 minimum which suggests they may be pulling two off at Needles.

There are still one or two helper sets left in the US but from what I've read they're very rare now, everything has gone over to remote and automated DPU.

MD.
 

Tim Humphreys ex Mudhen

Western Thunderer
Mick,
You need to visit Helper Utah where you can see helper sets sitting waiting for action. I spent a couple of hours there about three years ago sitting the burning heat and dust waiting for trains. After that stop on our journey my wife was 100% sure I've lost my marbles.
Still enjoying the snaps, keep them coming.
Tim
 
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