23-01-29 PHOTOS: The Wave

Since the COVID pandemic my friend group and I (along with a lot of other people it seems) decided to engage in more destination type outdoor activities. As you have seen in previous posts this includes places like Alaska and various national parks. Since sitting in giant queues tends to defeat the purpose of outdoor travel, we have specifically looked to go places away from seasonal peaks, or are difficult to access or are simply obscure. One suck Journey that managed to hit all three was to experience The Wave, a natural feature near Page, Arizona that you probably know from Instagram or a computer desktop background. Limited by lottery to a maximum of 60 visitors per day, this wind eroded sandstone amphitheater is notoriously difficult to visit for anyone with a hard and fast travel itinerary. Fortunately for groups without kids and with a retiree who can hit up every iteration of the lottery, the chance of getting an off-peak permit is actually pretty good and in October of 2022 my group hit on a date near the end of January 2023. Flying into Phoenix I was also able to get some actual rail photos driving up through Flagstaff, as well as some other non-rail points of interest such as the Glen Canyon Dam. You can see the full set of photos here ( mirror ).

Visiting The Wave is much like trying to get tickets to a live taping of SNL. You don't get to pick when you go, are assigned a date and you take it or leave it. Getting a date in the January off season was more statistically likely than the in-season, but we dodged one major bullet in the form of Super Bowl 57, sponsored by Levi's. If our date had been just one or two weeks later, travel costs into Phoenix would have skyrocketed. 

For anyone looking for a place to retire, Arizona features Gila Woodpeckers, saguaro cacti and hot air balloons. 

In Flagstaff the former ATSF Main Line and current Amtrak station are right in the center of town. Choosing to eat at Lumberyard Brewing allows one sufficient time to get photos of passing BNSF traffic upon activation of the San Francisco St crossing signals. The first train of that day was a westbound doublestack intermodal led by BNSF ET44AC #3788, C44-10W  #7607, Ferromex SD70ACe #4052 and ES44AC4 #8082. The Amtrak station sees the passage of the daily Southwest Chief in the early morning and evening so during the day it was all freight, all the time.

I was a little late to the party for the next two trains. The first, an eastbound autorack and manifest train, was led by ET44C4 #3994, C44-9W #5234 and ES44C4 #7038. This was followed by an eastbound intermodal with ES44C4 #4246, C44-10W #7611, ES44C4 #6901 and ES44C4 #8323.

This was followed by a westbound oil train with ES44C4 #8090, ES44C4 #6625 and C44-9W #5483 leading and two ES44C4's, #6905 and #6951, on the rear as DPUs.

A second westbound of the intermodal variety soon followed with ES44C4 #4298, C44-9W #4304 and C44-9W #4465 leading. 

Heading out of town I caught C44-9W #5191 hanging out as local power on a siding.

22-05-11 PHOTOS: Yosemite Searchlights

Over the last few years I have been on a bit of a National Parks kick since vacations involving cross country air travel wasn't part of my Childhood repertoire. having visited Bryce, Zion, Rocky Mountain and Great Sand Dunes in 2021, for 2022 I set up a trip to Yosemite with some West Coast friends. Despite the headline attraction, I was still able to slot in some railfan activities with a specific focus on getting photos of former Western Pacific searchlight signals near Lodi, CA and I was even able to get some BART action traveling to and front the airport in Oakland. The set of photos can be found here ( mirror ).

Starting off at Oakland I snagged this photo of an AirBART cable car on its elevated guideway. AirBART connects the Oakland Coliseum station with the Oakland Airport terminal for an additional fare. Replacing an earlier shuttle bus, the cable car system was made by ski lift manufacturer Doppelmayr.

Heading away from Oakland along the route of the BART Pittsburgh/Bay Pointe Line I encountered a mix of A type and D type stock.

Past Bay Pointe I also encountered eBART DMU #1 returning from Antioch.

Traversing the Sacramento River Delta involves a bunch of two lane roads and drawbridges. A surprising gap in California's renown system of freeways. Below are the drawbridges at Threemile Slough and the Mokelumne River.

Exiting the delta I managed to finagle a stop at the east end of the Thornton siding on the former Western Pacific Sacramento Sub. Somehow this line segment has avoided getting hit by a signal replacement program.

The searchlights are of US&S manufacture and block signals still use the split configuration for right hand placement. Hints of the WP's distinctive mint green paint can still be made out.

So yeah, I did all the Yosemite National Park activities including hiking to the top of Half Dome, but this is a rail oriented blog and you're not here for vacation slides. ;-)

21-10-14 PHOTOS: MOAPA

The National Parks are America's Best Idea, however sometimes it can be challenging to incorporate sufficient rail content into a national parks trip. During my 2021 visit to Bryce and Zion National parks in southern Utah I was able to identify a rail related point of interest in the small Nevada town of Moapa, just a mile or so off Interstate 15. Due to various circumstances I was able to finagle a stop there on both the outbound and inbound legs of the journey from Las Vegas and despite long odds, I was ultimately rewarded for my perseverance. You can find the full set of photos here ( mirror ).


The Moapa station/siding is located on the Union pacific Caliente Sub on what used to be Amtrak's old Desert Wind route, until that service was cancelled in 1997. The siding is 384 miles from Las Angeles and I visited the northern end due to its proximity to a paved road and potential fire fuel. Although the Caliente Sub had been resignaled during the great PTC purge, the old pole line had been abandoned in place and provided some interesting visual content.

The railroad location of MOAPA is about a mile north of the town of Moapa and within spitting distance of Path 27, a 500kv HVDC power line running from Salt Lake City to the Los Angeles basin.

Because I was with non-train people I only had limited time to take some photos of the location and I was not expecting to catch a train movement. While my friend gathered wood I was treated to some A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft flying out of nearby Nellis AFB.

Just before I was about to head out a Clear indication on the approach lit westbound mast signaled the presence of an approaching Union Pacific freight train.

It was a doublestack intermodal train led by Union Pacific SD70ACe #9048 and SD70Ms #4832 and #4543.

21-09-24 VIDEOS: Olympic Planes

When visiting Ketchikan and Mt. Rainer in the fall of 2021 I knew that I wasn't going to see much rail content in Alaska, but I figured I'd be able to find something near where I was staying in Olympia, WA. Well it turns out I was wrong on the second question and having my new camera phone die due to the damp weather in Ketchikan further limited my ability to take photos. Nevertheless, I did have access to one form of historic transport in the form of a DeHavilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver float plane that a pilot friend used to fly my group out to the Misty Fjords National Monument. Seeing as I had a bevy of videos from the flight I figured I might as well throw it up for this week's rail adventure post in addition to some still that you can find here ( mirror ).

Best known for its stillborn Bridge to Nowhere, Ketchikan is the southernmost city in Alaska and a general hub for local transport, fishing and recreation. As road transport is limited to Gravina and Revillagigedo Islands, all other areas must be accessed by boat or floatplane. The Ketchikan waterfront is home to a large number of providers, mostly servicing the summer season tourists on package cruises.

My friend flies a 1950's vintage DHC-2 Beaver floatplane for Island Wings. It is powered by 450hp R-985 Wasp Jr. 9 cylinder radial engine fueled by 100 octane low lead avgas. The low lead part is actually relative and is about the same that would have been found in 1970's leaded automotive gasoline.

Although it features some modern flying aids, the cockpit of the DHC-2 is largely stock.

A typical tourist run involves a round trip to the Misty Fjords National Monument, punctuated by a lake landing and photo op. The Misty Fjords are described as Yosemite only replicated a hundred times over with more spectacular scenery.

20-11-08 PHOTOS: Winter Park

After visiting the eastern portal of the Moffatt Tunnel back in July 2020, upon my next visit to Colorado I made plans to visit the western portal which just happens to be located at the site of the Winter Park Resort rail station, western terminus of the famed Denver Ski Train, where some luck and timing allowed me to catch the westbound run of Amtrak's California Zephyr. Later that weekend I had some extra time to visit the new Denver RTD commuter rail stations at 41st-Fox and Denver International Airport. These and other Denver related photos can be seen upon visiting the entire gallery located here ( mirror ).

The Winter Park Resort station has served as the terminus of the Denver Ski Train since the days of the Denver, Rio Grande and Western Railroad. After issues with insurance and the Great Recession caused an extended hiatus between 2008 and 2014, the Ski train officially returned as an annual Amtrak sponsored event in 2017. Demand was such that a fresh platform was constructed at the Winter Park Resort terminus to better support the ridership. Fun fact, this is the highest point on the Amtrak network at 9300 feet.

The reason for the Ski Train's popularity is the proximity to the ski lifts at the Winter Park resort and the limited highway capacity dictated by the mountainous terrain. If the Berthoud Pass or I-70 are blocked or congested the only alternate routes in the winter are a 190 trip via South Park or a whopping 260 mile detour via Fort Collins.

As a plus, the station platform is located directly adjacent to the western portal of the Stephen Moffatt Tunnel. While not as involved as the eastern portal with its crazy fan plant, it is still treated with the same marquee label and dates. At 6.2 miles in length it is not the longest tunnel in North America, but it is pretty important cutting many miles off the previous Tennessee Pass route and delivering water to the City of Denver.

The western portal area is equipped with anti-intruder sensors and a repeater signal for the East End of the Winter Park siding.

The approaching Amtrak Train 5 could be heard from quite a distance back in the tunnel and took a white to emerge despite the 40mph track speed.

The Covid shortened consist was powered by Amtrak P42DC's #69, #133 and surprise 3rd engine #62.

20-09-04 PHOTOS: Lowell Searchlights

In September 2020 I seized upon an opportunity to reach the summit of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. Because I wanted to get my T-Shirt and my friend was adamantly opposed to either the expensive/steam free cog railway or the auto road, I went up the old fashioned way. Unlike my auto-road journey in 2017, this time I got a taste of the World's Worst Weather and therefore I saw no need to hang out on the summit for some additional hours with zero visibility and 60-75 mph winds just to get some bad photos of The Cog. Therefore I shifted my rail activities to the following days where I would be recovering from my 8-mile/12 hour hike. The majority of my activities involved covering potentially endangered Boston and Maine signaling in the Lowell, MA area, although I also stopped by Meriden, CT to see the new Amtrak / CT Rail station there and finished my road trip with an Acela Express journey between Philly and Baltimore. You can find the entire set of photos here ( mirror ).

My previous trip in 2017 was done in clear weather with almost unlimited visibility. Well, Mt. Washington only sees about 12 of those days a year where as it registers sustained hurricane force winds on 180 days a year, so while the weather at the base of the Mountain in Pinkham Notch was warm and clear, 4000 feet up on the summit was distinctly less so. As the highest point east of the Black Hills in South Dakota, air flowing unobstructed for over 1000 miles is abruptly forced upwards resulting in adiabatic cooling that creates a standing cloud around the summit. 

 


The summit itself was distinctly less photogenic with almost zero visibility and sustained winds between 65 and 75mph. It was still quite a bit more exciting than the clear day!



Returning from Mt Washington we decided to take the back way through Conway and while pulling into town our vehicle was number one at the crossing as a Conway Scenic Railroad excursion train pulled in with ex-B&M GP7 #573 leading a mix of former DL&W and LIRR commuter cars. As I had already toured the Conway Scenic back in 2017 and was pressed for time I chose not to re-visit the station complex.

The next day I checked out the New Hampshire statehouse in Concord and returned to Portsmouth for another walk around the harbour area where I captured video of the Memorial Bridge going up and down. This bridge was rebuilt around 2017, replacing the original span from the 1920's.