Scanner Albums: "This is a Test"

Here is a link to a public Facebook album of scanned slides I am building.  The link below it is a prior batch.  At the moment is is just easier to have one album and share it around with the new stuff.  I have a Flickr account too but I'm saving that for digital stuff and it is one thing too many.  You should have access to the commentary on each photo which I would include here anyway.

https://www.facebook.com/brad.conant.9/media_set?set=a.10204169032946308.1073741843.1840922595&type=3&uploaded=7

This is a prior album of scans done previously when I was less systematic. 
https://www.facebook.com/brad.conant.9/media_set?set=a.10200963772896810.1073741837.1840922595&type=3

Northern Recon Trip

Carl and I took a little jaunt up north to see what we could see.  Generally we get around to this about once a year.  Every year there is less to see and we've seen even less.  We actually caught something moving at Brownville Jct. which is the biggest find in several years.  We somehow missed a southbound out of Millinocket despite knowing about it, so that was a disappointment.

Waterville

This pair were sitting at Waterville on the way up.  I usually photograph what I find since it is never the same thing each time.  For a while long ago, it was usually a pair of first generation Geeps.  Now they are newer Geeps.  The GP15-1 really catches my eye because of the "tunnel motor" style radiator and lower horsepower.  The GP40 380 is common around these parts but still a former NS high hood.  The nose bell gives it a rugged look. 


Up the road a piece we saw only the distant lights of a Pan Am unit in NMJ.  That place is getting grim despite the new interchange with CMQ.  Derby was even grimmer.  We headed out north for Brownville Jct. where we saw little at first but soon heard switching on the scanner.  Over at the crossing on the CMQ main on the southwest corner of the yard we caught up with this GP35R and SD40-2.  A very colorful set.  At first the units and crew approached the crossing and they returned down one of the yard tracks. 

Brownville Jct.

Carl and I looked around for an few minutes.  I shot this sign at the crossing and took some detail shots of the yard tracks.   Then we began to hear the units returning with some cars. Quite a variety of tank cars trailed out of the yard and then returned down another track.  Later at home I noticed that nearly all of the GP35's have had the "Santa Fe" painted out on the long hood, unlike this one. 

  

 The units and their cars soon disappeared and we'd shot enough photos.  The scanner came alive with the dispatcher.  We heard him say a southbound was leaving Millinocket at that time (1500 hrs).  We dashed to intercept.  When we were far enough away the train we saw got orders to go south.  We got as far as Seboois and caught this empty track. 

After an hour of waiting at the crossing, we moved on, certain we'd heard a ghost.  The crossing was dirty enough that it couldn't have seen a train.  No sound or scanner activity.  We moved on at 1700hrs.  

Seboois

The yard at Millinocket was as empty as we expected.  We didn't hear a FRED or see a train in getting there.  Apparently we heard wrong or simply missed it in the trees.  I think I saw an NM train photo posted later that night that showed we might have missed it in transit. 

Millinocket

The last bits are from Mattawamkeag.  Someone had posted earlier that the yard was full of cars loaded with ties and that the ties were piling up.  That's pretty much what we found.  We weren't getting home until late so we pretty much went straight south for Auburn.  First along Rt.2 and I-95. 

Mattawamkeag

We didn't get much this year, but Brownville Jct. seems to show the only promise these days.   The units we caught made the trip worthwhile.  Scanner activity as we moved about seemed to center on the vicinity of Brownville Jct. and the various points where the MN/ME/NBSR meet the CMQ.  The newish MN to ME connector seemed prominent in one scanner conversation. 

Oh well.  Enough for this year.
 
BC  8/15/15

Ohio Hotspots Tour Pt. IV - Bellevue and Beyond

Westbound double-stack following the morning sun at Iron Triangle Park, Fostoria, OH.

Part I..............Part II.............. Part III..............Part IV
We began Thursday (7/30/15) at the Best Western in Fostoria, so it was only natural that we take another spin down by the tracks on the way out of town.  We saw some interesting sights as the diamonds cleared up in NS's favor.  We met some more interesting people too.  Among the fans was the author Paul Roth who published a series of 3 books called Railroad Vistas I-III.  He had a copy of III on hand and Charles and I marveled at some of the subjects in the photos.  As soon as I saw a P&WV lashup, I wrote down the info to order all three books, from Amazon as it happens.  He turned out to be an academic, involved with music and from PA so he and Charles continued to talk on those lines. And yes I did order the books once I found the piece of paper about 10 days later. 

It was a relatively short and uneventful drive down OH-18 to Bellevue.  Our goal was a new railfan park built by the Mad River and Nickle Plate Railroad Museum.  The new Kemper Rail Park sits right in the junction of several lines from all directions, including a W&LE line shared with NS.  Since we arrived right at lunch time, the pizza joint down the tracks looked pretty enticing.  The pizza turned out to be pretty good too.

 The park is relatively new and therefore doesn't have all of the amenities yet.  You can also see why.  The location is completely surrounded by rail so plumbing and utilities might be a problem.  However, with plenty of restrooms at the museum and plenty of local eateries, the nice pavilion and plentiful benches and tables are more than enough to enjoy the place. Just sitting in one of the major rail junctions for the NKP was enough. 


Almost the minute we got there and began to get our bearings, the W&LE showed up.  Not bad, though we could have had a cleaner shot elsewhere.  It wasn't long afterwards that the Toledo line past the museum came to life.  First an eastbound general freight then a westbound local led by an SD40-2.with an NS designed "Admiral Cab"


 I think we escaped for the pizza place at this point but returned in time for this autorack.  Not sure if it went south or headed west on the old NKP Fort Wayne line.  Another fan had dropped by at this point.  He had apparently done a volunteer stint at the museum and was doing some railfanning before heading home.  He was fairly young and had a cool rig he made with a collapsible pole for elevating his camera.  The blue tooth in his camera sent the view to his phone where he could fire off photos.  Apparently it's still in "beta testing" but a cool concept nonetheless.  As we talked we found out that he too was a book author, or at least the prime photo contributor.  His name is Brandon Townley and he has been involved with two books on Ohio railroads; Norfolk Southern in Action and CSX in Action.  They were available on Amazon but I found both at the museum so purchased them there to help out.  I got the last copy of the CSX book and Charles also bought the NS.  We do meet interesting people.



No mistaking the origin of the northbound freight though, you can see the cars snaking back around the bend toward Ft. Wayne.  The lashup was pretty wild including an SD90MAC and a Crescent Cab SD60E.





This southbound out of the yard features yet another SD90MAC.  The W&LE was doubling onto it's train in the yard here.  When he left, an NS westbound blocked our view. 







The offending southbound under the "Mini Plant" signals.

A northbound AEPX (American Electric Power Service) coal train led by an early SD70 curves off toward Toledo.  Like old PPLX coal trains but with far more oddball reporting marks mixed in.





This northbound's oddball lashup not only has a now common SD90MAC but a hard to find GP59.





The last shot of the day before breaking off was this westbound 261 RoadRailer.  This was definitely going to veer off to the west on the Fort Wayne line. Toward the end of our stay the accumulation of fans dropping by was down to just one other guy.  He turned compelling when we found out he was a steam locomotive engineer at nearby Cedar Point Amusement Park.  I didn't get his name but I think he swapped business cards with Charles.  Charles had learned how to fire steamers so the two conversed about such things.  For me they might as well have been discussing nuclear physics.  I have no idea, even elementary, about operating a steam locomotive.  But, I have ridden the very trains this guy runs around the park on the Cedar Point and Lake Erie RR.  On two occasions my debate team visited the park on the way home from nationals.  It's 3' gauge and generally a bit more prototypical than most railroads you see at zoos or parks.  All of us left when it appeared we'd hit a lull.  It was time for supper and check-in at the local motel. 

On Friday we headed for Baltimore.  Once we got to our turn on OH-18 we didn't get far before encountering the town of Monroeville.  This is an old T&OC/NYC depot on the roadbed the line that once bisected the junction at Bellevue.  Hard to tell but the building behind it may have been a substation for an interurban line.  To the left is a junction of W&LE lines.  The SPV atlas proved really handy here to attempt to sort it all out.

Down the road a few miles we went over three tracks leading into the huge Willard yard complex.  We drew blanks on Willard except that a fan we met yesterday wanted to go there.  We found this intriguing and we wanted breakfast. We did the usual "follow the tracks" through town and sighted engines, some of them, unusually, were red.  We'd found the engine facility and a string of CP GP9u's that seemed to be heading to new homes.  The roundhouse area was to the right, full of the expected CSX units. We didn't know our way around, or the extent of the yard so we kept moving east once we got our photos.  One thing we noticed was a line out of the yard that was following our route.  It is apparently the Ashland Railway now and runs south out of Willard.

This Ashland Railway took us to all manner of industrial park and former military base.  It also passed by the old Plymouth Locomotive Works, along with a W&LE line crossing at a diamond out back by the tower.  The site had many intact buildings and a few unlifted rails.  A freight house across the road seemed to be hanging on for posterity but not highly modified.  The "DT&I Fan" and I visited here in 1999 and actually saw a couple of derelict units on these tracks, and the tower still had a tank on it.  I'll have to dig those up.  We next moved on to Mansfield to complete the Meijer adventure.  Beyond that was a lot of cross country travel through the hills of eastern Ohio.  Not a bad day for it either.

We'd seen the Dennison Depot before.  It was part of our 2012 trek to North Platte.  Only that time we couldn't get inside since we missed closing time.  Here we got in and ate at Lucille's diner and bought a couple of things at the gift shop.  This is now on an Ohio Central line but it was once on the PRR Panhandle Division and as important a shop town as Altoona.  A couple of former GECX B39's passed by WB with a few freight cars while we ate.  Last time we were here we had just missed a westbound too, but we had the scanner going then.





Our day was not complete.  We continued down the OHCR to Mingo Jct.  Here we encountered a local next to the steel works.  Unfortunately we later found the mill will be dismantled despite some attempts to restart with an Electroforge upgrade.  The roundhouse, terminal and yard area has been disappearing for many years.  9 or 10 years ago when I last visited with the "Wheelman" the roundhouse was gone but the concrete pads were visible but there was still plenty of yard.  Not much to see now, though a tank with Conrail Quality on the side is still visible.  A lot of the yard is now gone.  This terminal and surrounding steel mill towns like Wierton and Steubenville were once the home to many large Alco's that hauled iron ore down from Lake Erie. This naturally made Mingo Jct. popular with Alco fans. The declining steel industry has made these places quite unneeded.  A similar scene probably plays out with the Great Lakes ports that handled the iron ore.

That was the last photography we did in Ohio on Friday.  We headed straight for my brother's place near Baltimore since the hour was getting late.  On Sunday we visited the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museums in Baltimore and Ellicott City.  I'll severely limit myself here with a photo of one of my favorite diesels at the Baltimore museum.  BAR fans will know why this one appeals to me.  I took dozens of shots but that's not very sporting for this series of posts.  I did want to include some of the really historic stuff at Ellicott City though, since some of it is recent. 

The Ellicott City branch of the B&O Museum features the oldest purpose built railroad depot still in existence.  You'll note that from the end it doesn't look "normal".  That's because the B&O not only had no pattern to follow, but loco's and cars were so small that they were stored inside the depot.  The "Tom Thumb" and sample car in Baltimore illustrate what was stored there.  This depot once had two doors and two storage tracks inside.  Later a small 50' turntable was placed in front and the depot modified with only one door.  As loco's got bigger than the depot that end was closed off and it wasn't long before the turntable was too small and it was filled in.  In fact, it's only been a couple of years since the turntable pit was discovered and carefully excavated.  Everyone thought the pit was simply a retaining wall until someone dug around it.  Apparently other depots on the line had a similar turntable but this is the only survivor.

On Monday we headed home.  We prudently (lazily) left after the crushing morning traffic and toured the nearby National Cryptologic Museum next to the NSA campus on Fort Meade.  Don't go through any gate with a guard!  We avoided being frisked and checked out by following humorously precise directions from my brother.  I'll spare you most of the pictures but this place is free and seriously cool for history, intelligence or computer geeks.  Our main task of the day was to hang out at one of the newest rail parks - Cleversburg Junction.

We did the "follow the tracks" routine when we exited I-81N at Southampton, PA which meant we turned right (north).  After tracing tracks a couple of miles and seeing nothing we headed back zig-zagging from the other side.  Naturally we found the park back near the interstate where we started. If we'd gone left and turned at the first left, Airport Rd. we would have gone right to it.  Yes, the map clearly shows this.  Anyway, the place is very nicely appointed with ample paved parking and spacious shelter.  They have a scanner running and there's plenty of picnic tables spread around.  A town building nearby has restrooms.  This is part of the NS's former Reading Lurgan Branch that connects to the old N&W Hagerstown Branch.  It's an important and moderately busy line these days for north-south traffic.  But, we hit a mid-day lull and got skunked.  We left at 4pm after about 90 minutes. The scanner was silent.  

We headed out for the Railroad House Restaurant in Sinking Springs on the NS Reading Line to meet Charles' wife for dinner.  Just approaching the crossings in town we saw two trains.  Then, two more went by as we ate.   Finally, a train approached again as we left.  This last photo was taken as we made it about 100 feet from the restaurant (opposite side of tracks).  It was nearing dark so that was the last shot of the trip.  The train turned out to be a very late "All Day 11J" auto racks returning west to Detroit, MI from Newark, NJ.

That's all folks!  I returned to Hebron from Mohnton the next day without any diversions for rail sites.  Boring but a lot quicker.  Charles and I did have breakfast at the Exeter Diner before I left though.  They do breakfast right, and they even had a palatable version of scrapple.  We did see some old PRR and RDG ROW's on the way, but I'm not counting those.  I'm getting too old for long days, especially when they're connected. 

BC

Part I..............Part II.............. Part III..............Part IV

Ohio Hotspots Tour Pt. III - Fostoria

Part I..........Part II........... Part III...........Part IV

We spent Tuesday (7/28) and Wednesday (7/29) nights at the Best Western in Fostoria because it was handy to Deshler.  This gave us the bonus of spending extra time at the Iron Triangle Railroad Park.  This place is probably the fanciest rail park in the country.  The "triangle" between the three sets of diamonds is largely, though not completely, filled with a fenced off lawn, well lit facilities and paved parking.  A covered platform with benches, vending machines and rest rooms complete the place.  You can hang out here for hours and not have to run off for a "coffee exchange" at the nearest fast food joint.  Better yet, plenty of other railfans drop in so you are never lacking for conversation or guidance.  The Toledo fans at Deshler told us of Dell's on Main St. for BBQ excellence so we filed that for Wednesday lunch.  Once we checked into the hotel we spent the evening at the park.  Unfortunately, the bugs seem to emerge as the sun goes down.  We had repellant but were tired enough to leave once full darkness, and a lull in the action appeared.  Someone actually set up with a pop-up camper to stay the night.  We heard later that that's actually okay.

http://www.fostoriadells.com/

I took no photos on Tuesday night but took dozens of photos on Wednesday.  I'll attempt to caption each and vent on the notable ones.  I do know that they loaded in whatever order they wanted to, but you weren't there so it doesn't actually matter.  I found information for specific units all over the web, so "RRPicture Archives", "RailPictures", "The Diesel Shop" and other places get almost all credit for specific historical data.  I usually look for more than one source of anything since I've been led astray in the past, but don't take my comments as gospel.  My brain only gets credit for picking the units out of a crowd and most simple ID's of type for my own photo. 

NS westbound at the platform. 

CSX #600 was leading a coal train north through the diamonds on the old Hocking Valley/C&O line from Columbus to Toledo.  The train was mainly recent model black CSX hopper cars.  AC4400CW #600, is one of three "pre-production" units built prior to the AC6000CW's which start at 604. 601-"Spirit of Waycross" and 602-"Spirit of Maryland" were the others. Steerable trucks were a new thing too. These were regulars on the Boston line once, back in the days when I saw too many "washing machines" with a few of the W.F.P.T. crew.



 
Nothing like a tasteful patch on a "Grinstein" SD70MAC. This  newer"swoosh" logo is a new combo to me.  I've been curious about these units since I first captured a photo of these in pure BN paint (below). They were delivered to Burlington Northern just prior to and during BNSF merger time, long ago. They have since been catching eyes and spreading the gospel of widespread AC traction ever since.  For reference I put in this shot of a 2001 encounter I had with the paint scheme in Monument, Colorado on the "Joint Line".  Just a logo swap.  The AT&SF inspired BNSF logo of old was more common on these guys.










This BNSF SD70MAC is not the kind people think of when they think old BNSF.   It is a 1999 model and judging by the fade on the paint, it's been through the washer at Barstow.  (old unattributable story, but apparently the washer there was inadvertently set up so it prematurely faded paint on a few units.)

The SD60 design has always been one of my favorites among recent EMD styles.  I always enjoyed seeing them lead in Conrail blue paint, especially when they still had the red "bug eyes" on the nose.  NS tended to patch over the marker lights as soon as possible.  This CSX SD60M shows it's Conrail heritage with those lights still in place.   





C40-8 "Spartan Cab" that looks like its days could be numbered, unless the neglect foretells a rebuild in its future. Roanoke will update their Dash 8.5's with an "RLS" wide-cab, Roanoke Locomotive Shop variation on the NS designed "Crescent Cab" used on some EMD's rebuilt in Altoona.





 
Just another Soo 60xx series SD60. They seem to be the only Soo units I ever see in North America. I've seen them on the old D&H (CP) and Southern Tier, out west on the UP and BNSF, and outside Montreal on the CP.  Even when they run off to a leasing company, Soo paint equals 60xx series when I'm around.

WB intermodal about to cross the C&O line. Charles looks on with his video gear.

CEFX 3155, former UP 3554.  Feels like CNJ paint.

UP is unloading Dash 8's. This is one of 3 or 4 headed east with some MP15's and "Green Goats". These pre-date "wide cabs", been around forever and were as common as dirt at one time. With only a small shield on the nose, they were usually the plainest looking UP units around.  Now they also look small next to new power.

An auto rack turns from west to north at the tower.

Very early BNSF paint on C44-9W. This paint scheme only went on standard cab style units after phase 2 orange paint came along. In fact, many of these units were delivered and run with paint but no logo decals for a while in the early days of the merger. FURX leaser 3029 was built as PRR SD40 6066.

Remote yard power kept emerging from the south yard.  Love those old Geep slugs.

Common AC4400CW and "spartan cab" C40-8.

 

CP AC4400CW 8653 + CEFX AC4400CW 1052

Roadrailers make daily appearances on the old NKP line.  This one is 262 which runs from Fort Wayne to Bethlehem. Funny how many screen savers and desktop backgrounds I've made over the years of this very train. 

Westbound on the old NKP crosses the old C&O

One of several retired MP15's heads east to a new home.

One of several short-lived "Green Goats" heads east.

Former C&O SD40 rebuilt to SD40-2.

Eastbound grain from the platforms.

Former SP/UP now NREX SD45. Now an SD40M-2.  Built as PRR.

EB rail train slowed for the curve.  Lots of physics here.

Miles of coke cars meets impatient intermodal

And thus ends our stay at Fostoria.  Wednesday evening the two movers and shakers that got the park built stopped by at different times.  Apparently they want to be sure they are on the right course for future improvements.  For "Parks and Recreation" fans, the woman city councilor who drove the bureaucracy can only be described as "Leslie Knope".   She was friendly and intense about the hurdles, grants and details.  The other guy might be a "Ron Swanson" since he was more down to earth and the leading railfan on the project.  Apparently they just barely get along since the two clashed over the details one railfan wanted versus the public survey data and non-railfan common sense, not to mention the liability hurdles built into the beauracracy.  So, "Ron's" pile of dirt to see the tower was thwarted by "Leslies" data about the view, not to mention landscaping sense.   I think the railroads and legal council dictated where the entrance went, not to mention the extensive fencing.

Anyway, Thursday's trip to Bellevue starts in Fostoria with a morning dose of Iron Triangle Park.  Plus, did I mention the Dell's was a five-time Ohio State BBQ champion!  That was a neat place for lunch.  The BBQ was great and there was no shortage of diner character.  And, the place had a serious lunch box collection around the whole joint.  '60's through '80's people would recognize the logos for movies, TV shows and products common in those eras.

On to other things...

Part I..............Part II.............. Part III..............Part IV

BC