14-06-19 PHOTOS: Utah Canyons

Note: I just realized that I forgot to do the segment from Reno to Winnemucca, NV so look for that next week.

The section of former Rio Grande trackage between Provo, Utah and Grand Junction Colorado is probably the most scenic on the entire Amtrak system. I had the privilege to survey this route back in 2012 and now it was time for a second bite at the apple, this time armed with a better knowledge of my camera's white balance issues.

One advantage to a late running Amtrak train is that it allows one to get coverage of parts of the line that are normally shrouded in darkness. When I had previously covered this line in 2006 I had woken up just a few minutes prior to Train 6's arrival in Helper, Utah somewhere in the vicinity of 6:30am. Two years later with the train running around 90 minutes late I got a nice little bonus photo session before I had to go back for breakfast.

You can see all the photos, including the newly covered segment west of Helper right here.

So just because the line was new to me doesn't mean that I was going to be guarenteed a lot of trains. Most of what I was offered was scenery and signals. Here we have the vintage DRG&W milepost 654 automatics with a Clear indication on Track #1 and a pair of stick type dragging equipment detectors.

A few miles to the east were the twin Kyune tunnels and a pair of repeater signals for KYUNE interlocking located on the other side.

The sunlight is hitting the milepost 637 automatic just right to show off the lower Lunar White lamp for the Approach Restricting indication that informs trains they are lined to enter the Restricted speed siding at Kyune.

More DRG&W styling is evident at the eastern portal of the Nolan tunnels. 

The terrain gets a bit more...rugged...approaching Helper.

Encountering a train of empty coal hoppers west of Helper with UP C44/60AC #7021 and AC4400 #6850 pushing on the rear.

At the head end is AC4400 #6739 with an unidentified Southern pacific painted C40-8W.

In the Helper Yard were also a pair of UP SD40N yard locomotives #'s 1691 and 1637.

Here we see brand new UP SD70AH #8829 along with some of the dwarf signals bracketing the station platform which allows trains to avoid the delay in block rule.

In 2012 new signals had been dropped all along the former DRG&W main line and in 2014 some were still turned with the classic signals still in service such as these at Milepost 588.

Our pair of P42DC's add a bit of solar reflecting particulate matter to the air as they hit a stretch of unrestricted track at MP 563.


Amtrak station at Green River, UT.

 Crossing the Green River on a multi-truss bridge.

Nothing quite says "the west" like Train 5/6.

14-06-18b PHOTOS: Reno 911

Back on my first Zephyr Trip in 2012 the train was running mostly on time and I was able to photograph most of the Nevada Sub with a short break in advance of Winnemucca and upon departing from there I had enough light to shoot a good deal of the Elko Sub as well. This time due to the backup move in Rosedale and a number of other short delays my train was running a little less than an hour late, which I figured would cut a good chunk off the Elko Sub. However my real goal was to try to capture the section of the Nevada sub that I had to skip on the previous run due to dinner.

This was complicated by the impending re-signaling of the western portion of the line as I was faced with the choice of getting a second set of photos of the older stuff or a first set of some newer stuff. In the end I figured I could get away with a quick dinner and trying to do both, but a very slow service in the dining car actually didn't get me back to my position at the rear of the train until almost the exact point where I had gone to dinner in 2012.

Things got worse however when the extreme lateness of the previous day's Train 5 caught up with us. The crew had short turned in Winnemucca, but would not complete their required 8 hours rest until after we arrived. We ended up sitting at the station for almost an hour, killing any chance of getting photos on the Elko sub, which is a shame as that is also targeted for re-signaling.

Anyway, in this set I'll show some shots around the Reno station and continue on to Winnemucca.

Reno continues to be a very popular stop. I suspect most of these people are going overnight to Salt Lake City or Denver, but they might also be heading home to towns not served by good air service.

Once again here are our power, P42DC's #163 and #22.

UP ES44AC #5262 peeks out from behind a welded rail train at Sparks Yard.

The new signals at up as we blast through the equilateral turnout at VISTA and enter the Nevada Sub. If Safetrain clamshell signals are cheap knockoffs of better US&S and GRS kit, what does one call cheap knockoffs of Safetrain equipment? These are bare LED signals with just a small number of high intensity LEDs. Total crap.

Not even brand new searchlights that are probably only a few years old are safe from replacement.

We met a westbound mixed freight waiting in the Clark siding. Sitting in the #3 position was ATSF Warbonnet painted B40-8W #770. The ATSF was the only buyer of this particular model and planned to use them in high speed intermodal service. They were also the largest buyer of EMD's rival GP60 and GP60B.

Speaking of GP60's here are #158 and #122 seen here waiting on the main line for us to pass on the Fernley siding.

After dinner I got back to the rear of the train just before we passed through Lovelock, NV. Note the UP branded trailers in the MoW yard.

MoW hi-rail trucks east of Lovelock.

There was a lot of MoW work going on over the Nevada sub and our train wound up getting stuck behind a slow-ish freight for about 40 miles because so many sidings were occupied by MoW kit.

Passing by a cement kiln. The large tube is the actual firebox which rotates and pulls the limestone through with an internal auger.

Interesting high tension power line pylon design.

14-06-18a PHOTOS: Donner Pass Take 2

Well it's not often one gets a second bite at the apple. Back when I originally took the California Zephyr I was not fully aware of the color balance issues that both my new Cannon IS30 and my friend's Cannon DSLR presented. Our 2011 trip was largely cloudy where the problems are not as evident and I had only purchased my new camera about 6 months before. The resulting set of photos was heavily blue shifted and worse, in a misguided effort to compensate for bright sunlight I turned down the brightness a little which made many of the shots look as if I were trying to shoot day for night. I fixed the problems as much as I could in post, but I figured I was just going to have to let it go as a learning experience.

Well thanks to my 2014 trip I got a chance to set right what once went wrong and thanks to the trick of using the "flash" white balance setting I was able to show the California landscape for the parched, brown hellhole it is. This set of photos runs from Milepost 113 on the UP Roseville Sub all the way until just before Reno. It is a testament to the clockwork nature of the dining car that I managed to get back to my post at the rear of the train just on mile before where I managed to do so in 2012. You can find the full set of the take 2 photos right here.

Between Roseville and Colfax the route operates as a split main line as the original alighment was improved upon to eliminate curves and grades, but not entirely replaced. That is why many of the initial photos will show just a single track. Here we are on track two with everything all dead and lifeless from the California drought, but adjacent to the track is a small aqueduct brining water down to a farm or residential community. Can someone say "unsustainable"?

Emerging from the short two-track tunnel at Newcastle.

One of the many times this line will cross over or under Interstate 80 just west of Auburn, CA, which has a station for a single Capitol Corridor round trip.

Crossing over to track #1 at BOWMAN means I get to take pictures on a whole new track segment thanks to the split main configuration. Here the main tracks cross over each other and I got to take a picture from an alternate point of view with some local kids to add some flavor.

While a crossover is provided for Amtrak trains eastbound on track #1 to platform on track #2 at Colfax, a Union Pacific Autorack train was in the way with ES44AC #5284 on point. 

This forced our train to platform using the grade crossing and then run against the current of traffic on the 30 mile section of single direction ABS track between Colfax and SWITCH 9. Just one of several small delays that set out train back about 45 minutes en-route to Reno.

Unfortunately UP is in the process of ripping out the aforementioned classic ABS signaling with the western end of the section having the new masts already up and cut in for ABS operation.

Crossing I80 on a different viaduct I was afforded a good view of the older Track #2 bridge.

Track #1 hits back to back tunnels as it proceeds east from I80. Track #2 was given a new daylight alignment as part of a clearance project.

Pretty S-curve as we climb higher into the Sierra Nevadas. 

View along the American River gouge. 

 Running reverse means getting to see the approach lit searchlight ABS signals all lit up. All the running on track #1 made this second trip almost like running on a different route.

the track off to the right is a baloon track to turn helpers on westbound trains running that have just helped . Helpers cut off on the fly then run around on the loop track before crossing over via the hand throw switch that is provided.

14-06-18 PHOTOS: Bay Area Capitol Corridor

Once again it is time for my annual cross country Amtrak trip. This year was a big different because instead of moving on to the final Transcon route, the Sunset Limited, I instead went back to re-ride the California Zephyr, this time with a father in tow as a combined Father's Day / Birthday present. The method of travel worked as before, flying out via Southwest, spending a day in San Francisco, staying over at my Cousin's house and then setting off the next day from Emeryville.

Despite covering the same ground as my 2012 trip I managed to fill most of the gaps in coverage my first survey of the line suffered from due to my need to eat and sleep. I also have a better handle on the tendency for Cannon cameras to have a disastrously cool automatic white balance and I was able to shoot most of this year's run with the "flash" setting that brought the warm tones back.

Anyway you can see the first set of photos right here!

We begin on San Francisco's Powell St hill where, due to the MASSIVE line of tourists waiting to board the cable car my dad and I felt we should just walk to the place I had identified for lunch. Here cable car #19 passes us on the steep upgrade, however we still would have been waiting in line.

Inbound #18 car at California Ave.

After lunch we managed to squeeze onto a cable car and continued onto the end of the Hyde Line where cars 18 and 3 were waiting their return to service.

Car #28 waiting down by the turntable. 

Alcatraz island as seen from the Municipal Pier.

East coast style sea gull.

It appears as if the Route 15 has been extended across the country somehow. Ex-SEPTA MUNI PCC #1055 in PTC colors.

PCC #1050 on the other hand is painted in the local colors of the SF Municipal Railway.

Seen here at the Embarcadaro with double ended PCC #1009.

Coming down the pike was Minneapolis-St. Paul painted PCC #1071.

Time was getting short so it was down to the Caltrain terminal where we caught a limited stops train to San Carlos. Here is a rear view from the railfan window showing the express portion of the run to San Bruno.


Gallery cab car #4006 departing San Carlos.

Cutting to the next morning here is the southbound Amtrak Train 14, the Coast Starlight, making a brief station stop at Emeryville with an odd mix of power including P40DC #809 and P32-8WH #505.

14-05-23 PHOTOS: Manassas

On the Friday before Memorial Day I cut out of work early to head down to Washington DC to take a round trip on the Virginia Railway Express Manassas Line, which follows the old Southern Railway main line from Alexandria to Manassas, VA, of civil war fame. Normally this sort of VRE railfanning trip is not possible without resorting to Amtrak because VRE operates a peak direction service into and then back out of DC. However on the Manassas Line there is an "early" afternoon departure from DC around 2pm that then service-deadheads back into the city to for another run.

Now the motivation for this trip was an NS resignaling effort on the Southern main between DC and Manassas that would remove all of the old Southern RR signaling. VRE operates with Gallery car type equipment with railfan window equipped cab cars facing in the inbound DC direction. With the reverse railfan window having been blocked off on Amtrak Trains 19/20, VRE was my only other option to get photos of these signals in the northbound direction.

Now I was well aware that certain commuter operators get off on closing cab cars to allow the crews from having to interact with paying customers and I had little information on how VRE would open up its off peak trains. On the outbound trip my worst fears were realized when the reverse cab car was left closed, despite standing room conditions on the rest of the train. I figured that if the cab car would not be opened for a full train there was little chance it would be opened for a nearly empty deadhead. Well it appeared to be opposite day because on the return trip the front car was left open so I was not only able to get still shots of all the signals, but also shoot video all the way from Alexandria through the DC "trench" and First Street Tunnel to Washington Union Station.

Because of the difficulty in riding VRE for anyone not living in the hell hole that is Northern, VA this was my first ever trip on VRE, although I have covered the lines it uses via Amtrak. You can find the full set of photos here

We start on the lower level of Washington DC's Union Station where Amtrak has been using some P32-8WH's on VA service trains. Here is #514 awaiting its next assignment.

Well here is a rare beastie. I think all the MARC GP40WH-2 units had been sent back to MPI and turned into MP32PH-Qs. Guess I was wrong as #68 was puttering light around K interlocking.

So no railfan window means no photos until Manassas. Here gallery cab car V718 departs past the station platform towards the terminal at Broad Run, one stop to the south.

Ticketing on VRE is handled by an innovative Multi-ride POP system. Multiple rides can be placed on a ticket and then at time of validation they can be used up one at a time. Prices were rather expensive however with the 30 or so mile ride to Manassas costing about $9. Compared to older commuter lines in the Northeast VRE has remarkably few stops, but the 60mph or lower line speed results in leisurely travel times. 

The Manassas, VA platform is broken up by several grade crossings.

Here is the Manassas, VA station. Six Amtrak trains stop here with the Cardinal only operating 3 days per week.

Southern RR cabin car X699 on display at Manassas.

The dump track in front of the station is occasionally used for setting out private cars. The electric switch lock uses a General Railrway Signal apparatus.

Rear of the Manassas Station. I like the red tile roof.

Signal displayed on track #1 at MANASSAS interlocking for my return train to DC.

 The train soon showed up. I was expecting the same trainset I rode out on, but instead I was greeted by cab car V715.